#and I know more about using depop too

[galariangengar]

Since when is it against the rules to post or talk about trades and “in search of” listings on Mercari?? I’m more familiar with depop and know this happens all the time there, but I had no idea it’s against mercari’s policy?? I’m trying to find someone who’s going to any of the remaining shows for Melanie Martinez’s Trilogy Tour and who would be kind enough to get me a poster cuz they ran out when I went to my show last night

[citylawns]

what are those websites you recommended? sorry if you already answered this but i cant find it - also! do you know the name of the docs you posted? i love the stitch detailing on them

The Docs are the Church/Monkey Boots! There will be loads secondhand, don't pay full price for them. Take it from someone who worked for that company for 4 years lol. They're my fave style of docs I wish I had taken a lifetime supply when I was there.

eBay is the best secondhand website! I use it for so many things it's really worth it once you figure out how the filtering and search system works. I love it because you get high quality for cheap and it feels like a treasure hunt :')

the next one I use is depop - it's great for curated secondhand and vintage. I look for shops that sell styles I like rather than using the search function, when you 'like' items the algorithm shows you more of that kind of clothing and there's a 'suggested for you' page that works really well. it's more expensive sometimes but it's worth it imo because you're paying for people to curate selections for you which is the labour you would do by hunting yourself, just depends on whether you enjoy that or not!

another great one is vestiare collective. some people have issues with it because they have apparently purchased fakes even though the platform has an authentication system but I'm not the kind of person who buys high resale value designer so I'm never worried about that lol. you can set up saved searches for wishlist items like 'Ann Demeulemeester Boots (filtered by size, country it ships from, colour, etc)' and then every time there's new items added you can scroll through. It works best for me when I'm looking to buy from a specific designer and get inspired rather than searching for a specific item. Here are the brands I love searching for on there:

one I would use if I lived in the USA is the real real! this is the goat. insane clothes for dirt fucking cheap but only if you live in the US because shipping and customs to the UK is prohibitively expensive, like over £100 so it's not worth it for me to buy an £18 designer dress. although I've been considering it recently for an item I'm really in love with.

the other ones I browse through but haven't purchased from yet are vinted and thred up. the search function on vinted was a little annoying for me to use but its good once you figure out how to filter out all the SHEIN and H&M and fast fashion. it's another one that's good to search by brand/designer but people can be really lazy on there and size and list things incorrectly, rip labels off fast fashion items and market them as "x style or x inspired" to put them in the mix of results when you search for a specific designer.

my personal tip is when you're out shopping and see something you like, make a note of the brand/designer. do this on depop too when browsing through shops that sell styles you like, then take that designer/brand and search for it on the other platforms. for example I found one of my favourite brands Costume National that way, so I always search for them on ebay, vestiare, etc

btw if you want a link to any of the items you see here just let me know bc I'm not gonna purchase any of the stuff I have shown

[ros3ybabe]

Daily Check-in: April 24, 2024 🎀

Wednesday started out so rough, I had a really bad stress breakdown from the pressure I was putting on myself for the exam I have today (Thursday), but luckily my dad was able to calm me down over the phone and my boyfriend motivated me and encouraged me. I don't feel as stressed out anymore, I know that I know the material and I'll do great! (it's a chemistry exam)

🩷 What I Accomplished:

studied chemistry for a good bit

completed 3 chemistry homework assignments

scheduled a make-up quiz for my psyc class

did the Total Body Pilates video from Blogilates

did the 11 minute Wake Up Yoga from Yoga with Adriene

did my morning skincare and journaling

actually, just did my entire morning routine and felt great about it

shipped off shorts I sold on depop

went to chemistry lecture to review for the exam

went to my virtual appointment with a registered dietitian and set some goals for the next 2 weeks

decided to join a step challenge with my health insurance company to win points (they have some cool things in their points shop, plus extra steps during the day is good for my health!)

washed my laundry

made a brain dump list for the remainder of the week

💞 Good Things That Happened:

I really like the dietitian I met with and have another appointment with her in 2 weeks

I really enjoyed using my new 40oz Simple Modern insulated tumbler cup

didn't let my stress breakdown make me go home, very proud of myself for sticking to my plans

went to sleep early

sold another item on depop!

I felt very reassured that I know the content that is going to be on my upcoming exam

the guy who makes sushi at my campus food court made sushi for me and held it until I went to get it so no one would buy it, i could've cried it was so nice of him

I drank coffee on campus and it didn't hurt my stomach for once!

💔 What Could've Gone Better:

need to put less pressure on myself

had some issues with food after my dietitian appointment (sometimes thinking too much about food can be triggering for me, tbh, but my goals are nutrient based which is helpful!!)

started crying before I went to bed because I was feeling oddly emotional (I think I'm starting my period soon)

had to turn down a work shift because I had too much school stuff and that appointment (I need the money so bad tho)

did not drink near enough water

need to be more patient and gentle with myself

also need to really figure out what's going on with my priorities, I keep struggling to do the things I say I'm going to do which is difficult for me to deal with sometimes

need to remember progress over perfection, 50% is always better then doing 0% of something

💗 Stuff For Thursday

clean my room

listen to a podcast episode

maybe do some more laundry

make a grocery list

clean my bathroom

therapy today over video call

reschedule a morning appointment

chemistry exam tonight

try to ship off the shirt I sold on depop

do some more planning and organizing for my life

that's all for now! Thursdays gonna be good. My exam is gonna go great! I have confidence in myself, and my knowledge and I know I've got this!

til next time lovelies 🩷

💕 Song of The Day: Baddie by IVE

Gotta remind myself of this sometimes <3

[starlit-mansion]

I've decided that i want to disrupt the strightsized/midsized thriftblogger industrial complex for my fellow actually fat people. I havent been as small as a size 18 since senior year of highschool and my waistline is sitting comfortably at around 50 inches these days and i thrift but it's frequently humiliating. Here are my tips.

one: there isn't nothing. It might be slim pickings. It might be a single rack in a 2 story shop. It might be only 2 pairs of pants in the whole place. But you've been on the street and in the grocery store. You know there are other people your size in the world and their stuff ends up a thrift store too.

two: avoid trendy areas like the plague. do you live in a smaller town? do you have reason to go to one? go to a thrift store there. if you know there are more people your size in an area, then that's a good sign for your chances. you aren't looking for designer pieces at a steal; you are looking for some gently used lane bryant and this is where it lives.

three: it isnt all or nothing. you can get some things thrifted and some things you're probably going to have to buy at a plus sized store. Getting a few nice blouses for cheap can free up your budget for a pair of new pants from a plus sized retailer. For instance, I really cant thrift a pair of shoes for shit because i have extra wide feet and cankles for days, but my partner who is a similar weight has regular sized feet and could thrift shoes easily, and that's a lot of money that could be saved there.

four: if it only almost fits, put it back. if you're anything like me, the fact that you can button or zip it is going to feel like a miracle, but if it hurts or digs in any way, it'll sit in your closet for weeks while the things that don't hurt get worn many times in a row. we don't always have the luxury of everything in our wardrobes sparking joy but it can at least not spark pain.

five: be honest. if you aren't going to fix it or take it out, don't waste your money on a project piece that's going to sit around for the next 2 years and go back to the thrift store from whence it came.

five point five: be a little adventurous though. especially with shirts and dresses. maybe you've never tried that color before but it looks good in the store. this is a low stakes way to expand your style. you can always get rid of it if you decide against it, either within a return window, or donating it back. If your thrift store gives coupons for donating, taking a small grocery bag with a few pieces will get you the same discount as a car full of old furniture, so donate small amounts and often.

six: if you're thrifting online, thrift the brand you trust. like i hinted above, i trust lane bryant. i also trust torrid because i'm tall and torrid is for me and the transfems. search on shopgoodwill or depop or whatever by the brand you know the sizing of. hell, you can also seach the box store brand like time and tru or ava viv on there if you miss that one piece from a year or two ago that was cute and fit you perfectly. Speaking of...

seven: goodwill gets target overstock. you can find new overstock stuff from last season on the racks. i've seen many a thing go from clearance at my local target to on the shelves at the goodwill. keep it in mind if you're broke but used clothes yuck you out. you can find new with tag stuff in plus sizes, either from stores directly or people who just aren't fussed about money.

eight: you have to go a lot to find stuff. that's how the bloggers do it; they made it their side hustle in some way. i don't suggest doing it if you have no interest in it, but if you can put aside a half hour once a week or twice a month to check while you're running your errands, you can start finding stuff. Keep your trips and your budget small, and start looking for stuff for the next season months ahead of time to keep the pressure down.

nine: save a treat. either literally go for a treat afterward for being a big brave bestie and confronting the fact that you have a corporeal form and it needs clothes, or look through the fun thing that relaxes you. Looking for silly mugs? trying to find fine leather purses? want to look at ugly figurines and take pictures of them to text your friend and say "it's you'? Do that. Every time you go to the thrift store, add in the fun thing. If looking for work clothes can't motivate you, maybe looking through the children's paperbacks to try to rebuild your collection of animorphs books that you got rid of in 2005 will.

lastly: cut out the middle man. if you have a friend or relative of similar size to you: TRADE the pieces you're pruning from your wardrobe with each other before you donate them. It will give you the spark of newness that you both are looking for. Also you can reference the "those shoes... look familiar..." vine when you see them wearing something you gave them.

tl;dr: thrift often and in small doses, make it fun for yourself if you can, and also i just heard a tip where if you want to check a waistband size without trying it on, have the waistband fully closed and hold it to your hip. if the ends of the waistband reach your spine and bellybutton, it'll probably fit. So that's pretty handy.

[cuddlebugzz]

Hey everybody! This is definitely tmi, but since I would've liked a first hand account when I was nervous with doing new agere things - I thought it might help others! Today I'm going to talk about my experience with buying agere items, specifically, a paci, a sippy cup, goodnites, and more! Full experiences under the cut, this is gonna be a long post.

The bullet points ☆ are in the order of the pictures, except the first, I don't have a picture for it. ☆ <- mystery box ☆ <- caterpillar ☆ <- paci ☆ <-onesie ☆ <- coloring books ☆ <- sippy ☆ <- goodnites

☆ The first item that I got was actually an agere mystery box from etsy. I was really nervous about buying it, but really eager to get some agere stuff. I specifically wanted a sippy of bottle and a paci, but didn't have a lot of money, so I bought a small mystery box - I'm pretty sure it was about $15. I didn't want to buy items on their own in fear that it would be really obvious somehow - I still lived with my family.

It came in a cute but discreet envelope, and it had some snacks (fruit snacks and animal crackers, I didn't end up eating them), a crayola bath bomb, some stickers, play dough. Like most mystery boxes, I didn't end up using most of it "^^ However, the last item was the baby paci! I was really excited to have it, I'm pretty sure it was white with a manta ray on it.

It took me a few nights to use it, it lived in a box under my bed until I was ready. When I finally did use it, watching cartoons in bed while everyone else was asleep - whoops! I didn't like it "^^. A lot of the fault lies in it not being a proper adult paci, I think. I didn't fit right in my mouth so it felt weird and uncomfortable. Either way, I was excited to get an agere collection going!

☆ Another item of note I have is a baby toy, a rattle caterpillar from a baby store. Long story short, I was doing a gift drive there, and we bought some toys to put on the table as examples. We sat out there for a long time, so we were bored, and the other volunteers were entertained by the toys, even though they're for babies! I actually had one of these caterpillar toys as a baby, and we couldn't donate it because it wasn't properly packaged- so my dad let me keep it. No one thought it was weird, and the only comments I've ever gotten is about how cute it is. Goes to show that buying "baby stuff" might not be as weird as you think. More on that later.

☆ The next item I purchased was from the amazingly awesome @princeminnow ! I had wanted an adult paci since the other one didn't work, but I don't like the design of deco pacis. I just wanted one that looked like a regular nuk paci - and minnow had just that! The paci I bought from his is the blue one pictured up top, it has a sleepy bear and it glows in the dark! I'm pretty sure his stuff goes for around $14, but it's worth every penny. He's really nice and his stuff is unique and great quality! Same discreet but cute packaging, with a wonderful note :) Go check out his shop!

As for using it, I liked this one more than the other for sure! I like how it glows in the dark, and it actually fits in my mouth this time. Even if I don't really suck on it like some do, I like to chew it, and it's perfect for that. I still don't reach for it too often though, pacis just aren't as soothing for me as I thought they'd be :p Totally a personal experience though - and I'm really glad i tried it!

☆ The next thing I bought was a onesie off of depop. It was second hand from a shop called lil k1nk boutique, which was super not fun, but it had a pattern I loved in my size so I bought it anyway. I was really nervous because there was confusion with shipping, I didn't know if it would show up at my house or my dorm. It ended up at my dorm. I had a roommate who was nice, but probably would not understand agere, so I was nervous about her seeing, but luckily she was gone most of the time so I got to try it on without fear of her being in the room. I couldn't keep it on the whole night cuz I was nervous, bit I was still so excited to have it!

I wore it again at home, and honestly, as with the first paci, not my favorite thing. Like its nice, but I underestimated the autistic opposition to an unfamiliar cut of clothing (long sleeves no pants) and I was still nervous to wear it. I haven't tried it in a few months, maybe I'll give it another spin! I bet it'll be better in the colder months, when I have fluffy pants over it. Even though it didn't work out on the first try, once again, I'm still happy to have it!

☆ Another item I thought I'd mention are my justice league coloring books, because I ordered them to my dorm. I was nervous about my roommates thinking it was weird, but by this time I'd moved into a much more nuerodivergent space lol. My roommate, who is absolutely wonderful, had put together a coloring activity literally the day before, which I declined because I was busy and I don't really like adult coloring books, they're too complicated to relax me. The next day when my justice league stuff arrived (activity book and a water wow) I felt comfortable telling them about it. I explained that I always wanted these kind of coloring books, I think water wows are really cool and justice league is my special interest. Everyone I told about was very supportive, and glad I got something fun! Another example about kiddie stuff not being as weird as one might think - especially in nuerodivergent spaces.

☆ one of the most recent items I've bought was a sippy cup, the first thing I've bought in an actual store. Like a lot of age regressors, I could look at the baby aisle for one million years. But I haven't, because I thought that'd be weird.

Spoiler: it's not weird at all. I have actually been to the baby aisle with my friends before, just to look at all the cute stuff. Also, if you were to see someone in the baby aisle, you would just assume they were... buying stuff for a baby. Doesn't even have to be for a daughter or son, they could babysit. So once I was actually there looking at all the cups, it was not as weird as I thought I would be.

I went to target, and they had a good selection of sippies. I'm glad I bought one I'm person, because I would have waaay underestimated how itty bitty some of these are. Like, so tiny, they're for babies after all. And it helped me pick one, because on the internet I feel like I need the perfect one, because the internet has everything, and I'm disappointed when I don't find it. But in a store, I'm like, "aw I like that :)" and buy it. Which is exactly what I did - and I think it's perfect! It's gender nuetral, it even has stars like I wanted! Good size too, it can hold a regular drink amount. I just went through the self checkout and bought it with my other items, easy peezy.

I got home and tried it that night, with my door closed. I got some ice water in a regular cup and poured it in my sippy in my room. And let me tell you - I looooove it. For one, this thing does not spill. They are not lying this cup must sippy, liquid is not coming out any other way. It's the perfect size like I said, and once you get passed the learning curve of drinking - pro tip, press down with your teeth and a lot more liquid comes out - its wonderfully soothing. The only con, and this is lightly embarrassing, three plastic cover top is hard to open. It's a childproof cap for obvious reasons, and I have tried to uncap it only to unscrew the whole thing way too many time. Other than that, its a dream come true! Highly recommend!

☆ last but certainly not least, my latest purchase, the goodnites. I've wanted nappies (diapers) for a pretty long time. I waffled between nappies, pull-ups, and training pants for forever, but the former and latter had too many factors that put me off. Mostly bulkiness. At least for a first time, I don't want them to be bulky. But I did more research, and discovered that XL goodnites should fit me - I'm 5'2 and 100 pounds - and best of all, they have a space print!! They're perfect!! I ordered them on postmark (a spare package someone didn't want), it came out to around $15 for 9 pull-ups. It was listed as $8 but shipping was a lot xp Whatever, I bought them anyway.

(This is where its gonna get tmi, skip to the conclusion if you don't wanna read it!) I spent a lot of time nervous about my family finding them, as always. One thing that did bring me a little comfort though - I'm actually on my period right now, and I've actually heard of people using adult diapers for it. Like, it's not common, but I live with all boys, they wouldn't know that. Is it farfetched? Yeah, but it makes me feel better. And honestly it made my feel much better putting them on - they are really not that different from pads I use. I hate my period sooo much, pure autism hell, but honestly I think this might help.

A big reason I wanted nappies in any capacity was a, comfy, and b, I honestly do have issues with going to the bathroom sometimes. I think it's an autism thing, I have a lot of anxiety around getting up and going to the bathroom, especially when I'm in bed, and it gets so bad sometimes it makes me stomach hurt. I'm not sure if I'll test how these can help, as I've heard they're not super good for that, but maybe that's where I'll try real adult nappies. You can get samples on abu for under $10 sometimes, maybe I'll try that over the summer.

Conclusion: highly recommend. They're very comfy, so cute, and discreet too. They don't make any noise when I walk and they're not bulky. I love them! Great first nappy!

Anyway, that's all I have for today! Thanks for reading my incredibly long rambling, I hope it could provide a little help for anyone who needs it!

[samstclair]

Tommy Shelby's Barmaid

Tommy Shelby X Reader

Anonymous Request - 

Good morning/afternoon/evening/night Sammy Sammy yes I am! So check this out - I just saw Oppenheimer and came to the conclusion that I really miss seeing Cillian Murphy's face. So that night I began rewatching Peaky Blinders and am just in awe. So you know the point. I want to be his barmaid. No hate to Grace, love her, but let a girl just imagine. And that's where you come in. So yeah I wanna be his barmaid and sing to him. Maybe we're off to the races? Do your thing or else I'll might do a thing and report your account! :)

Word Count: pretty long

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"And where are we off to, Miss?" 

"One ticket to London, please!" you told the airport cashier, (or whatever they're called I'm not sure tbh), with your gleeful, bimbo smile. "The UK, one, thought. Not the Ohio one! Can't have that happening again!"

The lady didn't respond, she instead gave you a soft customer service fake ass laugh pretending she knew full well what you were talking about and kept her eyes down on the computer, securing that flight. You no longer trusted yourself to use computers or laptops, thanks to those Benadryl pills you used to be addicted to. But now that you were evicted from your New York apartment, you lost those pills in the process, and honestly all of your personal shit, so you've been forced to quit cold turkey and was actually experiencing withdrawals at the very moment. But, you couldn't let anyone know this! You needed to leave America fast. 

"Okay, to confirm your name, Y/L/N, Y/F/N, correct?" 

"Yes, ma'am!" You passed her your credit card and she did her magic, charging you a fuck ton of money!

The printer pooped out your ticket and she passed both that and your card back to you. 

"Enjoy your flight. Safe travels," the lady wished you. 

"Oh my god, girl, you too!" you wished back. You turned around and found your terminal, buying an expensive Starbucks drink of your choice and plopping your big butt down on a chair. You sat and looked around, sipping your coffee like a mother, taking in your surroundings of this little JFK airport they got going on. 

"I'm really a world traveler right now...like, I'm on some Lewis and Clark shit right now," you thought to yourself. 

You looked down at your luggages, or perhaps, just luggage. All that remained after your eviction just filled one Hello Kitty-themed suitcase you bought from TJ Maxx. You also had your rare vintage Juicy Couture purse you bought from Depop, thats faux leather was literally peeling off like dead skin, filled with all your essentials - lip gloss, nearly dead Elf Bar, crumpled up two-year-Goodwill old receipts, wired headphones because that's what cool people use walking down the street, crystals, loose hair ties, a baby Calico Critter, wire-exposed phone charger, and more that aren't too important to mention. You did miss all your other knick knacks and items that were lost, but since you were traveling light you 1. saved more money since it was just carry-on and 2. looked mysterious, just a girl on the road on her own adventure. 

"After all, items are just like - items. Things." you thought, trying to convince yourself that all material items are just not real and people don't really need those things. This is what you repeated to yourself over and over but in all honesty it wasn't helping. You were fucking pissed you lost all your shit. 

With all your items was your go-to airport fit - a Juicy baby blue tracksuit. So now you resorted to old PJ's you had shoved to the bottom depths of your drawer, wrinkled to the house boots down and forgotten of existence. They were a pair of Nike shorts and a baby tee that read "I <3 Surfer Boys". You then looked down to your white Crocs with the knock-off Jibblitz - the ootd would just have to do. 

As you sat in your terminal, waiting, you thought about what adventures UK would bring to you. You wondered what people you'd encounter, what new storylines you'd get wrapped into, what NPCs would say to you - it really did feel like you were fast-traveling into another country in a video game. 

Safe to say, you were ready for liftoff! Whenever that liftoff! would be because your flight was delayed like three times cause that's just airport things! This was the start of a new adventure! New and humble beginnings! No more America and their never-ending obsession with you committing financial fraud or whatever the IRS loved to say! But never mind that don't ask don't PUSH!!!!!!

Some hours later, you were finally able to board your flight. By this time, let's just say - people were fucking pissed about their flight being delayed, but you didn't really mind it. Yes, you were in a big time rush to leave America as soon as possible, but all that time waiting allowed you to finish the only downloaded show on your phone: LPS Popular. Shit was finally getting heated, Savannah Reed was def the no nonsense type of girl you envisioned yourself to be. 

Anyway whatever you boarded on, took your window seat and went through the usual bullshit of waiting for everyone to board on and take off and turbulence and random ass baby crying and shitty food and whatever. 

About a half hour in the sky, you looked through the catalogue of movies available - none which caught your interest. 

However, after scrolling for another half hour - you found the one. 

"Oh my god, a movie about two lovers flying in the sky staring Cillian Murphy and Rachel McAdams?!" you thought excitedly. "That's some good shit right there."

You hit that play button, scooted deeper into that seat, propped your patas up, and was subsequently locked IN for the short ass movie Red Eye. 

The majority of the plot went over your head because you were to entranced with the Irish actor's cunty little face, sassy little attitude and blue big orbs for eyes, causing you to replay certain scenes over and over. (Specifically that bathroom scene. You didn't miss SHIT there). That hour and a half passed by and the movie had finished. Safe to say, you were NOT expecting any of that shit to go down.

"If that were me, I'd call that fucking hotel before he even told me to. Shit. I get Mark Wahlberg, if I was on that plane, things really would have gone differently," you thought, shaking your head. ]

After your almost seven hour flight, you had finally made it to London Town. It was indeed a stormy day, he was right, but you could go outside and roam around, contrary to popular belief. In order to prep for this trip, you stuck to just watching British films, trying to get an overall vibe of what those little redcoats were like. Pride and Prejudice (2005), Love Actually, Trainspotting, Little Women (Greta's version), Clockwork Orange, Barry Lyndon - let's just say, your Letterboxd was going crazy. You sobbed pretty disgustingly to all of them, except Trainspotting and Clockwork, which made you feel just icky. And Barry Lyndon just made you angry fuck that guy fr. 

A/N - I just realized that Little Women, both Greta's version and the older 90s Winona Ryder one take place, in FACT, America. Oops! So yeah disregard move on u horndog <3

You once thought you were well-rounded on what chaos was, after all, you've been 1. in theater school, 2. briefly in the Medellin cartel, 3. worked in corporate America - but all of those experiences looked like fun Sunday pastimes the moment you stepped your fat butt off of the plane into London's Heathrow airport. Nothing could've prepped you for this shit. Too many people all doing different things in different directions was NOT your favorite place to be in! Let's just say - shit was hectic. 

You boarded off, left your terminal and gathered your one Hello Kitty-themed suitcase and bolted the fuck out, running at your highest speed possibly, your Crocs locked in their sports mode, you just ran. It's what you did best, your superpower some might say. Maybe since Ezra Miller is canceled for being a kidnapper, you could possibly replace the Flash? Who knows tbh. 

You ran so fast, miles and miles, (kilometers here!), you didn't realize you were now standing in front of the Big Ben. It was, admittedly, pretty big. Too bad you couldn't read time like that. 

You looked down to your phone to see your receipt - you needed to be back in three hours for your next flight to Glasgow, Scotland - your actual destination. This London shit? Yeah it was only a layover. But you couldn't miss it. 

You ended up missing it. You fell asleep on the big red bus, thinking you could sneak a little tour in before having to return for your next flight. By the time you woke up, it was morning, and you were alone, just you and your carry on. 

"Ello Miss? Miss?" 

Your eyes fluttered, adjusting to the brightness. A big English dude with missing and fucked up teeth was poking you awake. 

"Bro what?" you muttered, pushing yourself up. 

"Miss, it seems you've drifted off to sleep," the man said.

"Wait," you collected your thoughts, looked around at your surroundings, then down to your phone - your flight was seven hours ago. You felt your heart fall to the acidic pits of your stomach - 

"Ain't no fucking way I'm stuck in London", you blurted out.  "AIN'T NO FUCKING WAY!"

As if you took ten shots of DayQuil, you jumped up, scrambled for your shit and rocked the bus side to side as your Crocs took you across it, out to the exit and back onto the cobblestone streets of London Town. It was cloudy as always. 

"Oh no. Oh fuck. Oh no. NO I CAN'T DO THIS I CAN'T!" you yelled, running back towards the direction of that hell of an airport. You needed to get back. You NEEDED to get back to Scotland, you literally saw Trainspotting just for Scotland!

But alas, it was too late. By the time you made it back to Heathrow, there was no refunding. You would have to pay another fat BUCK to get on another flight. 

"Oh fuck that," you told the English lady. You walked back out, no way this little kingdom was gonna make a profit off of your ass. "I'd rather walk!"

And then you began to walk. Not run, you were a little hungry and needed some energy for that amount of dedication. 

You stopped by a tea place and thought that you might as well have a crumpet or whatever, which sucked ass. They charged so much for what?  A pastry with like three grams of sugar? Girl bye. 

You sat on the curb, looking down at your phone and opening a map, you could literally just walk to Scotland. Yeah it'd be a pretty fat walk, but you might get a crazy BBL ass for free from all the walking. 

"Babes? Are you alroight?" you heard a strong British voice call. You turned and there it was - a chav. A real fucking chav. 

"Oh my god, you guys exist?"

She furrowed her dark over-filled brows as she smacked her nude-lipsticked lips on a piece of gum. There were other chavs behind her, all bleach blonde, overly tan and red ass cheeks. It was like your friend group, but in an alternate universe. 

"Wot?" she asked again, more confused than offended. 

"Listen girl, I don't know if you can tell - but I'm not from here. I need to get to from the UK to Scotland. How does a girl like me do that?"

"Babes? Yor in the UKay, loike, this is London?"

"Huh?" you asked, like Trisha Paytas in the car. 

"Babes," another chimed in, "the UKay is loike, mooltiple places poot into one? Loike, England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales -"

"Oh, so they're all like, the same?"

Their faces dropped with fear. 

"Babes, don't say that. I've just met you, but I'd definitely tell you loike, don't say that around other peepol," the main chav warned. 

"Especially the Irish, yeah," another said. "They'd be mentool."

"Oh, no worries here. I'm an ally to all," you assured, "so do you know where I can rest for the night?"

"Babes!" the chav said excitedly, "I've got family in Birmingham! It's up norf, already on the way for yor travels! I'll text me nana so you can stay there fo free!"

"Babes," you said, you're cheap frugal ass getting hyped, "you're such a babe! Thanks girlie!"

You ended up dropping some money to take an Underground from London to Birmingham, because you then really realized your Crocs could only momentarily take you so far. Also, tat withdrawal wasn't doing you any favors. Anyway you enjoyed the ride, drinking some complimentary tea with your headphones in and disassociating as you looked out the window into the cement walls. You started to regret not bringing some sort of sweater because who would've thought a baby tee and Nike shorts would be enough. Shit was chilly. 

You stepped off into the platform, feeling a strong GUST of wind rush past you. You first kinda enjoyed it like it was some sort of main character moment, but the moment that ghastly smell of smoke hit your nostrils - you went frozen like Mitch McConnell. 

"Jeeeeeesus CHRIST!" you bellowed, "who fucking farted?"

You looked around, but soon became even more confused. Everyone was giving you the hardest stares you've ever received in your lifetime. But it wasn't their stares, no, you've been stared at before for worst things, it was cause of their - fits. 

Everyone was dressed like some 1900s shit. It reminded you of the show Downton Abbey, the show your old boss Logan Roy used to binge. Little particles of what looked like dandruff floated around you and everything else just seemed gray. 

"Wait, are you guys filming?" you asked in your bimbo self, smiling, "did I just walk onto set?"

No one replied. They really thought you were insane. There you were - rough looking, mid-withdrawal, I <3 Surfer Boys, old high school Nike shorts, Crocs, Five Below socks, Dollar Store sunnies, Hello Kitty-themed suitcase and Juicy bag, Elf bar in one hand and your phone with dangling earbuds wrapped around it. They were petrified. 

You grew angry. You just stood there as they stood there too - both you and the Downton Abbey cosplayers were in a stand off.  

"Okay whatever," you said, rolling your eyes. "Stay hating!"

You whipped around and began walking down the pavement, calling, or as the English say "ringing", that chav's nana. However, it rang and rang, you dialed and dialed, the lady was not picking up. 

"Um, what the fuck?" you said looking down at your phone, "can this girl pick up?"

You continued to dial, your other hand to your waist like a Karen. You continued to look around as it rang, really impressed with the set. 

It had been very foggy, and the cobblestone roads led down between old brick buildings where people in their 1920's costumes walked along, smoking and dodging the occasional explosion from the coal-burning coming from inside the buildings. Horses were trotting, carrying hay and other shit. People were yelling in their crazy accents and the dandruff kept raining down. Pillars up in the sky let out dark clouds of smoke. That gross exhaust smell still lingered, and no matter how much Nicki Minaj body spray you put on yourself, there was no way to mask it. 

"Great. I'm homeless AGAIN!" you thought, giving up on that nana. "Whatever. I didn't even want a roof to sleep under anyway. C'est la vie honestly."

The stares did not cease. In fact, it got worse. You knew you were hot but like what the fuck can't a girl just walk and bitches mind their business?

Things were getting worse. The cobblestone ass road made it hard for you to pull your suitcase, so you were just essentially dragging it, you phone was on ten percent, you were hungry and thirsty because let's be real you did not eat much on that train, and honestly just over it. 

You passed all the workers, dodged some random explosions, evaded random running children, spit some of that dandruff out of your mouth. Safe to say, you were angry but needed to persevere!

Eventually it was nighttime. You couldn't really tell if it was night or if it was just the pollution in the air at first, but after asking a random man he assured you it was indeed nighttime. 

"I don't know how you guys live with all this dandruff," you told him, shaking your head. "You guys must be getting paid good as extras."

"Dandruff?" the man said, "that's ash, luv!"

"Thank god, that makes more sense. I was thinking I was gonna need to buy some Heads and Shoulders. I hate Heads and Shoulders."

He continued to look at you weird while he smoke his, what you were pretty sure in the span of you two talking, sixth cigarette. "Heads and shoulders? Fuck are they to do with your hair?"

"I know, horrible branding. I feel bad for the people in Pompeii. They probably thought it was like, a dandruff epidemic."

Eventually the man directed you to the Garrison, which was supposed to be this pub or whatever that all the locals hit up. You really just wanted a drink of water and like Taco Bell or something. Maybe a "Macky D's"? By the time you made it to the establishment, it was midnight, since you took forever cause you kept getting lost. 

It was situated in a weird spot, where several men would occasionally run out and throw up bad on the dirt floor. It sounded hella noisy and rough in there, which was something you were not looking forward to. But again, you're hungry. 

"I'm fucking starving," you thought to yourself as you pushed those heavy doors open, your suitcase getting caught in them. A surge of anger caused you to yank it past the swinging door, causing the it to slam against the wall and crack the glass. You got scared cause you didn't wanna pay for it, so you applied the "hear nothing, see nothing" tactic. It always worked <3

Nothing could've prepared you for when you entered. The energy was just not it. Heathrow vibes for sure. Hoards of drunk ass English men doing, well, things that drunk English men do. They were yelling, cursing, fighting, just being overall very annoying and overwhelming. It took you by surprise, you were just in awe that English were real. It was literally like a Call of Duty lobby but the English colonized it as they always do.  

"These motherfuckers are crazy bro," you thought to yourself, getting a seat at the bar. The bartender made his way to you, and after some hesitation on his end, he finally spoke. 

"Em, what can I get you, ma'am?" he asked, looking at you confused. 

"Y'all got a menu?" 

"I'm sorry?"

"Food, bro. I want food." You were not having it. 

"I'm sorry, I'm afraid there's just drinks here."

"Fine, fucking alcoholics," you said, holding in your hangriness, "what about water?"

"Huh," he thought, "no one ever asks for water. I forgot we served it!"

He turned around and as he began to pour some crusty water into a dusty glass, you felt a tap on your shoulder. But before you could even turn to ask what the fuck whoever wanted what, another big burly English drunk dude was all up in your face. 

"ELLO MISS! MIGHT I HAVE A CHANCE AT BUYIN' YA A DRINK?"

You were flabbergasted. Dude REEKED of some ale. 

"Uh, you stink," was all you could muster, pressing your fingers on your nose. 

His face fell into a very angry one. "YOU FOOCKIN' JEZEBEL!"

You weren't sure what 'jezebel' meant so you just rolled your eyes and turned back to the new glass of water placed in front of you by the bartender, and before he could walk off you downed the entire thing. He, too, like McConnell, was frozen at your abilities. 

"Sorry about that man, Miss," the bartender said as he poured you another. "You're very pretty. Must be getting used to it by now around here."

"Yeah, like, about that," you started, taking your time with the water this time because you didn't know how much they had left in this place, "why is everyone cosplaying? Like, people here are DEEP into their character, which, don't get me wrong - I respect. I used to be a theater major myself, so I get it. But this is like, crazy. I know the English love their theater, but god."

The bartender, with a hypothetical gun to his head, could not for the life of him understand what the fuck you meant. You kinda got that vibe when he didn't reply right away. He actually looked worried for your mental wellbeing. 

"Um, why did you just like, disassociate?" you asked. 

"I'm sorry, Miss," he chuckled nervously, "you've just confused me, is all."

"Yeah, all that alcohol is giving you that early onset dementia. Do you know where I can get food around here?"

"Hmm," he thought, "I don't really know, to be honest with ya. And it's quite late, so I'm not sure what's open."

You could cry. You hated being hungry and tired at the same time, added to literally everything else that was happening around you. You were able to tune out the drunken men yelling behind you, but only to a point - mama was close to blowing. 

"Oh my GOD," you started. "WHAT'S A GIRL TO DO TO GET SOME FUCKING FOOD AROUND HERE?!" you caught yourself. The bartender was growing more concerned. "I'm sorry," you cleared your voice, "it's just like, your queen for real sucked."

"Queen?" he asked. 

"Wow, you're really dedicated to the craft. Like I said, I respect." You continued to drink your water. 

"How'd you end up here in London, anyway?" he asked, leaning against the counter. You later found out his name was Harry, like Styles. 

"Oh, buddy," you said, "what a story I have for you."

You then began to blabber on about what brought you to this point, which helped because it made you forget about your current grievances. Soon, the entire pub went dead quiet, tuned in to your story time. You felt like Tana Mongeau, and these were your viewers. You get why the majority of YouTubers were lowkey conceited. (Not Tana though she's funny love you girl <3). It was like a big kindergarten story time. 

About half an hour later, you were mid-way through. 

"And so, when my boss literally fucking died, I was like, 'oh shit, I've like lost my job by like, proxy'? It was scary."

"How'd he pass?" one of the drunk men asked. 

"Dude, get this. He died getting his phone out of the toilet. Like, some Elvis shit," realizing they wouldn't get what you just said, you thought it best to move right on, "anyway, I was like, 'maybe this is a good time to move on, maybe America isn't the place for me.' I was also wanted by the Men in Black, too. They don't fuck around."

"Who's the Men in Black?" Harry asked. 

"The IRA were after ya?" another asked, in shock.

"I. R.S. It's not important. So, after he died, one of his kids had to be chosen to take over the company. Imagine like a Game of Thrones sort of thing. My on-and-off boyfriend, Kendall, is the oldest so you'd think it'd be him, right? Like, his name was underlined and everything. Or crossed out, you know, is the dress blue and black or white and gold? The day of, I snuck into the building for the board meeting. I wasn't supposed to be there, cause you know, I'm not a share holder or whatever, but I thought 'if I act like nothing happened, maybe technically I'm NOT fired cause my boss died, maybe nobody will say anything?' Confidence takes you a loooong way let me tell you! So at the board meeting, I voted Kendall, but his stupid home alone ass brother Roman was like 'oh YOU'RE still here?'. Then he told me to fuck off and that I should've died with Logan? Could you believe that?"

They were all in shock, muttering angry English curse words to each other. 

"And then I was like, 'no fuck you. What ever happened to democracy? I don't have a vote?'. But whatever, Kendall didn't win and he left the building. No, Horton Hears a Who Tom won, and while everybody was celebrating I was like, 'guys? GUYS! ALL EYES ON WINDOWS! WHERE DID KENDALL GO? All eyes on windows!'. Then I got like, kicked out or whatever. I kept spamming Kendall, texting him and calling him and nothing. Like 'Kenny, wya???'. He was ghosting me. Then I saw right after he put his phone on Do Not Disturb. Targeted, really. I saw his location at Central Park, facing the water, and this had me WORRIED. Kendall and bodies of water? Yeah they don't mix well. I needed to talk to him before he jumped! But when I got there, his new dumbass body guard was like, 'Can you leave? He's not seeing anyone'. I kept calling him, and he wouldn't turn to look at me. He was like, mega dissociating watching that horizon."

"Must've killed him that he's no longer the number one boy," a drunken English man said, somber. 

"Def," you said.

"So you and Kendall?" another asked.

"No more. He never picked up, so I thought we were done," the men in the bar were devastated. "Yeah, really sad. I already mourned, though. So, yeah, I was like, 'what do I do now?' Logan gave me some money, so I can really just do anything? I was walking down the streets of New York and saw a random man in a suit I thought was the IRS, and it hit me - I'm lowkey a fugitive? I need to like, leave. Logan isn't there to protect me anymore, you know? And then it hit me - I'll go to Scotland! In Logan's honor! Like, his hometown. Plus, I thought Scotland didn't have extradition, but it was actually Venezuela. But it's okay, same shit. And that's why I'm here."

"But this is Birmingham?" another man said. 

"Oh, yeah, don't worry I fully aware. But yeah, that's it."

Again, the pub had been silent. They'd been intrigued, captivated. You waited for someone to speak up and break the silence, but about two minutes later you realized that wasn't gonna happen. 

"Okay? Anyway, so nothing to eat here?" you asked Harry. 

He shook his head, stunned. You then slowly crept off the chair, gathered your shit and saw your way out. "Weirdos," you thought. 

You exited back out, it was now fully dark with few lampposts shining light onto the falling dandruff. It all reminded you of exactly where you were - stuck. 

You slumped against the wall, onto the ground where you didn't see any of the mud that splashed all over your shorts. You were too tired and over it to give a fuck. You pulled out your phone, and saw the battery on 2%. 

"Man FUCK!" you exclaimed, "I know damn well none of these Lin Manuel Miranda stans built an electric socket." 

You went on to scroll mindlessly through your feed, which barely loaded because of the lack of signal. You were in the middle of spamming the refresh button until you received a notification from Snapchat that read, "One Year Ago Today". You clicked it open, forgetting you still had that app downloaded, and its contents nearly pushed you over the edge to start balling. 

You clicked play. 

"Oh, don't be a pussy, Greggguh!"

"Mumusdsfjks," Greg said, shoving more marshmallows into his mouth, "Chubb Bunif."

"Sorry, buddy, couldn't hear you!" Tom said, giddy, shoving his own marshmallow down Greg's mouth.

"You got it Greg!" you heard yourself say. 

You wanted to cry. You wished you could just go back to Waystar in that moment, playing the Chubby Bunny challenge with gay lovers Tom and Greg. 

"Man, I miss them," you thought. But alas, that was all gone now...

You quickly closed the video, going to your bank app to see how much money remained. After all, Logan DID leave you with enough, but you couldn't help yourself on those McDonald's breakfast orders through Uber Eats.  

Your tears quickly evaporated like they were put through the snap of Thanos when you got a glance of your credit score though. Oh no. 

"OH MY GOD?!??! MY CREDIT IS AT 400????!!? I'M LIKE, FUCKED?!???!"

"What's a credit score?"

You nearly shit yourself at the deep, sullen voice. You looked up and let's just say - you were intimidated. It's the terrorist dude from Red Eye. He wore a flat cap and a tweed little suit type of fit. 

But it wasn't the tweed that had you transfixed - no, it was those eyes....they were familiar. The last time you felt power of being in a trance like that were those Furbies... it forced you to look at them, you had lost all ability of self-control. They made you question yourself, your purpose and whole life being. They were commanding you with their uncanny valley vibe. Their immense gravity caused all time to slow...

"Dude, put those away!" you yelled, forcing your eyes shut and looking away. 

He didn't reply. 

"I'm sorry," you giggled, realizing he wasn't gonna reply to you and instead just stood there. "I'm just really hungry. You got anything?"

He thought for a moment. "Actually...we don't eat." He had a little sassy, matter-of-factly tone of speaking you fucked with heavily. 

"Yeah, that's why your official dish is tikka masala," a glance of that dish popped into your head. "Man I could fuck that up right now."

"I can take you to my office, I might have something there," he said. You agreed right after, anything would have to do. Little did you know, this would be the man who would save you. Not in a self-fulfilling sense but he'd grab you something to eat. 

You two made it to his office, some ways away. It was just a big ass dark room with tables in the middle, which you would later find out the betting on his horse racing took place. 

You sat down and he took off his coat and goofy ass hat, then went to the back for a moment. You looked around, you felt like you were in a dungeon. You looked down to your phone - shit was dead. 

He came back moments later, with a single loaf of bread he placed in front of you. He then took a seat across from you, took out a cigarette and did what the English do best, smoke. 

You were a bit taken aback, and it definitely showed, since his little sassy face got more sassier. 

"Well?" he bellowed, motioning to the food.

"Honestly," you started, not wanting to offend cause he did scare you (in a hot way), "I don't know what more I was expecting. I know Panera bread when I see it."

You began to eat, he just watched you. You would be annoyed had this been anyone else, but man was too fine. 

Some minutes went by, and he just smoked while you ate. He was definitely a man of few words. 

"You're so mysterious," you said. "Is that your character?"

He took in a big puff and put his feet up on the table like he owned the place, cause he literally did. "You don't belong here."

"Yeah, no fucking shit. I'm supposed to be in Scotland."

"What's in Scotland?" he asked, tapping his cigarette into an empty whiskey glass. 

"Bagpipes, I've heard."

He then leaned to the side, grabbing his cigarette case out and offering you one. You declined. 

"It's okay, I don't like cigarettes. They're gross," you went inside your bag and pulled out your crusty geriatric Elf Bar that was on life support, "here, try this! She's my sidekick!"

He stared at it, not a thought behind those eyes. He then rose up. 

"What about a whiskey, eh?" He went to a table against the wall and poured two glasses. You shrugged at his decline of your Elf Bar, and took some shitty hits cause girl it's dead give it up. 

As he had his back to you pouring the glasses, you really thought about how manly he was, in a way all those Ryan Gosling Drive stans love. He reminded you of those mafia boss fanfics you used to read. The way he spoke was so low and serious, but it made your feet rock like crazy!

He turned back around and placed your glass in front of you. Before he sat, he took a swing of his and literally drank it all in one shot like an animal. Wanting to impress him, you did the same, but soon regretted it right after. You'd tried whiskey before, but that was just not good. It was so strong it burned your esophagus, causing you to feel like you had strep throat all over again. You nearly gagged and threw it up but you couldn't let Tommy see you that way. He was staring. 

"Jesus Christ," you said in a raspy, chain smoker voice, trying to smile through the pain, "that's some real shit right there. I'd much prefer a BuzzBall."

"What brings you to the UK?" he asked again, a little more interrogating. 

"Fine. I'm avoiding parole."

"Parole?"

"Have you ever been on parole?" you asked. 

He took a moment, your question hit hard. "Ever since men like me got back from France, we've always felt we were on parole under the king." He had a sadness to it, which then made you kinda sad. 

"Aww, you're a parole baby <3."

He rose his brows in a "yeah this girl off it" way. 

"Does France give you bad memories?" you asked, wanting to know both out of being a nosy bitch and seeing if you could break him. 

"Most nights," he said. 

"Don't worry, me too."

"You served?"

"I might has well have," you replied, thinking of that past life living with your old boyfriend. 

"I wasn't aware women served."

"We always do," you assured. You kept looking into his eyes like it was a staring contest. 

"What's it you're looking at?"

"You have a very, no-nonsense cunty face. Like BBL," you first smiled telling him that, but it then reminded you of when you told your old boyfriend Kendall the same thing. The thought of him made you sad, you wondered where your number one boy was now...

You didn't realize but Tommy noticed your change in demeanor, initially believing you were thinking about your time during the war in France. He rose and grabbed another drink, placing one in front of you as he killed his in less than a second. 

You snapped out of your sadness. "Oh, no thanks. I don't think I can have anymore. This trip will definitely be very detoxing for me."

You two then sat in comfortable silence for some time, as if you two were both mourning after the innocence lost before France. You were something different for him, a new comfort he couldn't find much else in that polluted ass city. And you found comfort in him, he really did seem like he needed fixing. But that's not what you do, no no, he's a grown ass man and can fix himself. You'll just watch from the sidelines <3. 

Eventually, you stayed in Birmingham. Once you were aware that your money had no value in the UK, you realized you needed to be employed again to save up for Scotland. Dollars, turns out, did not equal shillings and pounds or whatever. Tommy hooked you up after finding out your situation and generously gave you a job at the Garrison as a barmaid, along with Harry, who in time, became your BFF. It wasn't that hard of a job, these men never mixed any drinks and would instead have their alcohol straight like a bunch of monsters, so you kinda ate at this job. Another perk was that these 1920s bitches loved thin eyebrows, so your Y2K overplucked eyebrows fit right in! Full circle shit!

But perhaps the best perk was when Tommy would come in every so often and give you a little LOOK. Oh that shit made you rabid yes it did! It made you all hot down there and you couldn't handle it! You two barely spoke, as he would go into the side room for meetings and whatever mumbo jumbo he got up to with his brothers, but when you did you did your best to bring out that old femme fatale. You knew damn well he'd fuck that shit up. And let's be real so did you. 

You knew that you had Tommy in your CLUTCH when he was once lecturing you - basically there was talk about some Billy Kimber dude amongst him and his brothers and the members of the gang, but you couldn't get past how fun it was to say the man's name, especially in their wild ass accent. You kept incessantly shouting it, to what you thought was a joke, "BILLY FACKIN KIMBA" in every possible moment you could, but it would send all the men into a paranoid shock thinking Billy boy was just around the corner. Obviously, he wasn't, in fact you couldn't point out who Billy Kimber was in a crowd of English, but let's just say - it sent them for a sheer panic. They would constantly tell Tommy to get you to stop, since it was bringing back war trauma basically and never felt fear like that since the war. You personally thought they were being a bunch of pussies but whatevs. 

Anyway Tommy found you at the bar after closing and wanted to have a serious talk with you - no more random BILLY FACKIN KIMBA. As he was lecturing you on the dangers of it, you actually started to disassociate in those eyes of his. You then started to think, 

"What if I just grabbed his hat?"

Those intrusive thoughts grew stronger and stronger as the moments flew by and the more his voice became a bunch of muffled nothing. And they won. 

"GOTCHA HAT!" you spat before taking his flat cap off and running with it, jumping over the bar on some parkour shit and pushing those doors open onto the grimy streets of Birmingham, in an excited manic.  You ran for nothing, since you didn't notice in the adrenaline of it all he didn't move an inch and instead just stood at the bar, stumped. From that point on, he knew you weren't like other girls. Cause let's be real who in their right fucking mind would do that to Tommy Shelby? You did girl xoxo <3

But when your image with Tommy REALLY hit home for the guy, it was one night. One very special night...

You were working the night shift at the Garrison, again. It was another rainy day in London Town, and you were all alone cleaning up. You started to think about Gabbie Hanna, and how low key right she was. You continued to rap to yourself, 

"♪ Overwhelmed, overworked, overpaid. I'm on top of the world sitting pretty ♪ -" 

The doors flew open, causing you to jump pretty high up. You looked to the entrance, it was Tommy. And man was drenched and tired looking, your fave combo. 

He walked over, behind the bar and poured himself a glass of whiskey. He was always a little emo and to himself, but something about him now was really depressing, like man's definitely going through it.

He then took a seat at a table, and looked at you with dead eyes. 

"What's with the frown?" you asked, trying to lighten up the mood but was severely unsuccessful. (Unbeknownst to you he literally just had to put down a horse he thought was cursed :/ it's a canon event!)

He didn't reply. Surprise surprise instead he just drank his whiskey done. You chewed your gum, clueless. 

You just continued to clean, continuing Gabbie's rhyme in your head. 

"♪ Overwhelmed, overwork, underpaid ♪ -"

"Can you sing?"

You turned around again. He fr sounded sad asf. It shocked you, cause did he like, read your mind or sum? 

"Uh, yeah. You want me to sing?"

"Every barmaid knows how to sing."

"Okay, sure. Like acapella?"

He just stared at you, lost again with your mumbo jumbo. 

"Well, I know Lana, I know Nicki, my ex had a song L to the OG-"

"Lana. She sounds nice."

You nodded. "She really is, I love her. Okay, I think I know a song."

"Stand up there," he pointed to a table. You were a bit hesitant, the last time you did that you ate shit like that one girl on YouTube who was also singing on a table and ate shit. But it was for Tommy so you did so anyway. 

You climbed up, took out your gum, flicked it in a bucket, cleared your throat, moved your hair out of your face, and fixed your posture - this was your Pose moment tonight, and Tommy's Billy Porter. 

You then started to sing White Mustang by Lana, but the moment you got to the chorus, which was, well, White Mustang, he told you to stop. 

"Something else, please," he asked demanding yet softly.

"What? Too close to home? Don't worry, Lana does that," you assured, "here, I'll sing a song that hits close to me, it's called How to disappear, it's what do when I'm trying to run from the IRS."

You cleared your throat again and started to sing and girl you ATE THAT SHIT!!!!!

You hit those fucking notes, you were lost in your little own world envisioning yourself in a music video. You understood why America's Got Talent contestants were nervous, cause the pressure? Yeah it's real. And not only is Tommy Billy Porter, he's also Simon Cowell - a yes from that Brit would secure your spot.

Speaking OF Tommy, because momentarily you forgot he was there with you - the man was enthralled, ENCHANTED. He sat silently, the rainwater dripping down his face, as he was taking in every small gesture you made, taking in every musical note that came out of your BBL mouth, (even the voice cracks), and just taking, well, you in. At that very moment, he was in love. YOU were the femme fatale he needed in his life, the one that would complete him, make him feel whole, and would give him purpose. 

Once you were finished, you snapped back into reality and realized you actually weren't in a music video. You looked to Tommy, whose face barely made any other emote other than the one where he looked like he was annoyed, staring up at you. A wave of anxiety flooded over you - you were the center of his world right now, and that pressure was too hot!

You quickly climbed down, and flashed him a big smile. 

"So?" you asked, now LITERALLY feeling more grounded on the ground. 

He didn't respond at first. Moments later, he did. 

"Do you have something nice to wear?"

"Like what?"

"A dress?"

"Um," you thought, trying to remember the contents of your Hello Kitty-themed suitcase, "maybe. Why?"

He rose up, getting ready to leave from the fear and insecurity of the emotions he just experienced. "I want to take you to the races."

"We're gonna race?"

"Horses. Horse races," he corrected you, making his way to the exit. "Be ready by tomorrow, I'll collect you before noon."

"Oh my god, like a date?" you were too slow to come to the conclusion because by that time he'd already left. The excitement quickly mixed in with the anxiety, which wasn't the best feeling in the world. You knew in anticipation for tomorrow you were gonna need SOMETHING to take the edge off, so before closing up you snatched some bottles of alcohol to take to your flat. You weren't really sure what exactly they were, but what you did know was that it was gonna taste like fucking ass. But when mama needs her go go juice, she TAKES her go go juice.

The following morning you woke up at the crack ass of dawn to get ready - you knew you needed TIME. Not that it takes a while for you to get all pretty, girl you're already naturally stunning! but time and place - you needed to stunt today. Also, you already weren't a morning person so you didn't trust yourself to snooze. Actually, you barely slept at all last night since you were too caught up about what makeup you were gonna do, how you were gonna style your hair, what dress to wear and most of all, your ass was just asked out by Tommy. You wondered if this is how nervy the soldiers felt when they encountered bin Laden's bunker. 

You had already finished your makeup and hair, looking pretty snatched. Too bad your phone's been dead for the past couple of weeks and you couldn't take pictures. But anyway you did the usual 1920's makeup tutorial you remember watching on some Buzzfeed video a while ago, pretending you were doing a Vogue makeup tutorial in your mirror and talking step by step your process. You curled your hair into the 1920's bob they were obsessed with back then, packing on an obscene amount of gel just to keep that wave stiff. You struggled but nonetheless you got it girl. 

You were now staring at the remaining contents of your Hello Kitty-themed suitcase - let's just say, you had nothing. That's a lie you did have SOMETHING but was it appropriate for the time? No. Like if you're going to the Renaissance Fair, your ass isn't gonna wear some Skims ass dress. But guess what? That's actually all you had. 

It was a black, tight, spaghetti-strap slip-on dress that was above the knee - definitely NOT the vibe for the era, maybe a bit too revealing? But what other choice do you have? You're I <3 Surfer Boys tee? Exaaaaactly. 

You slipped it on and was taken aback - you know how you forget how good you look when it's been a while since you've dressed up and you actually surprise yourself? Yeah that was you right now. Kim would be proud to see you in that dress, in fact, she'd probably cheer you on to wear it proudly at the races. Even though she wasn't your favorite sister, you imagining her company right now really did help.  

You kept feeling yourself in the mirror - girl you looked GOOD. You put on some black heels, some perfume and that was it - you were simply that bitch now. 

"Oh my god," you thought to yourself, "Tommy's gonna flip. Shit, I'd get with me."

And just like that, you heard the honks of a car coming from outside your flat. You peered through the window, and there you saw some vintage, rinky dink ass car. 

"Oh, fuck!" you shouted, mainly to yourself, but they heard. "Coming!" you called out the window. 

It was actually happening - oh fuck he's here oh yes he is. Quickly, you grabbed one of the bottles you confiscated and took the fattest swig. It was the most horrendous, grotesque warm vodka you've ever consumed. But it would have to do.

You quickly made it downstairs, taking a moment before appearing outside to calm yourself down and make it seem as if you effortlessly just went down some stairs without a care or worry in the world. You made sure to grab a fur coat, faux of course, and your keys. 

Down by the car was Tommy in the driver's seat, with his two brothers, Arthur and John, seated in the back. They all looked at you in awe - they had never seen so much of a woman's legs in their entire life. 

"Bloody foockin' hell, Tommy! What do we have here?!" Arthur exclaimed. 

"Jesus, Tommy," said John, "I didn't think it was bloody possible for you!"

Tommy stared at you for a few seconds longer, a bit taken aback himself. 

Tommy ignored his brothers and exited his side, helping you into the passenger's. You got a whiff of his cologne that brought out an animalistic, innate horndogness of you that you remembered to keep in check. Now was not the time but it was admittedly hard cause the man just looked so good. 

He climbed back into his side, then started driving off, the cobblestone road causing you to feel even more nauseous than you already did. You didn't realize it, but you were mute for the first ten minutes from how disassociated you were. That vodka was hitting deep and swimming in circles in your empty tummy - you hadn't had breakfast, essentially raw dogging and running on nothing, because you knew if you munched on some Panera bread, you would've thrown it up from the nervousness. You were now really accepting the fact that it was a grave mistake. 

"Well, what's wrong with her?" Arthur bellowed, "is her bloody tongue cut off?"

Tommy gave you a quick little side eye, then fully turned to you after realizing you were, indeed, gone. 

"Are you alright?" he asked, concerned with a TOUCH of attitude. Or maybe they were both the same you couldn't differentiate it when it came to Tommy. 

"Uh, yeah," you cleared your throat and sat up straight, "just really taking in the moment, you know? It's my first race."

Tommy turned back to the road. 

"You guys look great!" you complimented, wanting to move on. 

"Why thank you, Miss Y/N. I shall wear your kind words like a medal from tha war," said Arthur. "You look like one of them silent film stars!"

You blushed. "So, wanna listen to some music?" you suggested, hating sitting in quiet cars.

Tommy scrunched his brows. "What do you mean?"

You looked down to where the touchscreen on the car WOULD be, forgetting this car was quite literally just a box on wheels with an engine attached. AUX and Bluetooth are not in the vocabulary of these people's brains for another couple more decades. 

"Like, carpool karaoke," you suggested. 

"What?" John asked. 

"Bloody hell is that?" Arthur also asked. You also forgot, these English men wouldn't face the atrocity that is James Corden in ALSO a couple more decades. 

Tommy scoffed, a small little smile on his face but nonetheless a smile. He gets it. "Singing. She likes to sing."

"Is that right?" smiled Arthur, "wow, you've really done a number on Tommy boy over here! He's now a fan of the musical arts!"

The two brothers began laughing and smacking Tommy on the shoulders and head in a playful, men-in-a-gang, manner. He smirked. 

"I'll start, I have the perfect song - this one's called Off To The Races," you turned to Tommy, "also by Lana."

You two smiled at the little inside joke y'all had going on now. You then started singing, really into it like the night before. You were hitting those "scarlet, starlet" notes a little too good. Once you wrapped up, you left the three men in a silence that lasted for a couple minutes. Except Tommy, he was always silent. But his brothers were a little confused, but decided to just roll with it since you made Tommy happy. You thought they were just floored by your abilities. 

"Lovely," John finally said, hesitant and low to break the silence.  

"You've got yourself a bloody mental one here, Tommy," said Arthur. Tommy smiled, you were indeed a little unwell but it was okay to him. So was he <3

It had been about an hour after your arrival, you had been helping yourself to a shit ton of food by a table, stocking up like a bear ready for hibernation. You were literally the only one there, and you assumed so because the cigarettes and alcohol these Brits were fucking up were acting as appetite suppressants. Your fat ass wasn't complaining. 

Besides being the only one actually eating something of nutritional value, you were getting HEAVY looks and side eyes for your outfit. You didn't care, your ass looked good from all the walking around the pub you've been doing. Upon entering, Tommy noticed the looks to. You whispered in his ear, "it's cause none of these interbred Habsburg jaws know what a real woman a real BITCH looks like 💅." 

He didn't get exactly what you meant, but got the vibe and he liked it. He, actually, loved that you were the center of attention here, as you SHOULD be. Afterwards, he told you he had some business to attend to and knowing you were hungry, led you to the food table. He said he'd get you after he was done, and man was taking his time. But again you didn't care you were just munching away. 

"Try the scone, darling, it's absolutely dashing!" a rich, socialite said to you. Her costume was just as amazing as everyone else. 

"You know, I've been avoiding it but, maybe I will. Why not?" you smiled, grabbing one and taking a chomp. It tasted like actual ass but you have a great poker face. You moaned like Mark Weins, even hitting his crazy facial expressions. "It's great!" you mumbled. She smiled and talked on about something you didn't really pay attention to. 

Eventually, Tommy came up behind you and grabbed your arm gently. Had this been any other man, you would've pistol whipped them in the face with the rock of a scone in your hand, but it was Tommy so you just got all the butterflies inside. You turned and smiled, chewing your food and swallowing it almost hole to say something and not just stand there. 

"Fhey Tomyif," you mumbled through the dry scone. 

"Feeling better, eh?" he said in a low tone. He seem a little more cheery, which made you cheery. He was enjoying himself, as he should. And so were you, as you should. Let's just say, the vibes were good. 

"Omg, def," you said, finally swallowing the last bit of food, "you know, you should try eating something. I know you don't do it much, but, I feel like it can be a great experience for you."

He looked into your eyes. He loved that you cared. A soft smile came on his lips. 

"Not hungry."

You thought for a minute. "But like, I'm pretty sure you haven't eaten since France."

"Maybe later. Do you dance?"

"Do I dance? With a little spicy marg in me, Tommy, it's over." But alas, the bartender would have no clue what a spicy marg was, so you kinda had to retract your statement, "But no yeah I can dance sober too no biggy."

"Good," he said, grabbing your hand gently and leading you to the crowded dance floor. You turned back to wave at the socialite lady, who gave you a little wink. My girl knew you scored. 

All you knew was that the Brits LOVED their Charleston dancing, something that you definitely needed Just Dance to teach you. But she wasn't here. You were frightened at the thought, but when Tommy pulled you in, and you two just started going at it, it was as natural as your BBL ass. That one Pride and Prejudice dancing sequence had you mastered in the art. 

With his hand at your waist and the other in your hand, and your other hand around his neck feeling his buzzcut, there was no force on this earth that could stop you. You honestly just moved your legs around and were great. 

Up close to him, you were again in touch with his cologne. You needed to control yourself, but it didn't help that he was like three inches from your face. In this sea of people, it just felt like you two and no one else. 

As you two were fucking up that dance floor to that 1920s jazz music, you looked around at the other faces of people dancing around you. Some you caught staring, others pretended not to. You smiled at the fact your hot ass was intimidating. 

"Man, if I were to do the Woah here, they'd all lose their fucking minds," you thought. "What if I like, just started twerking? No, I can't. I can't let them win."  You knew those intrusive thoughts cannot get another W against you again. The last time that happened, you were expelled from theater school. You couldn't, you couldn't embarrass Tommy - but the urge was too strong. 

Almost as if Tommy read your mind, he pulled you aside the dance floor. 

"I want to introduce you to someone," he said. He then took you to a table where a man with the craziest middle part and mustache sat, beside another who looked like an owl with glasses and other carbon copies of English dudes. At the table was a fuck ton of coins and money, along with drinks and clouds of cigarette smoke from ashtrays. 

"Y/N, this is Billy Kimber. He owns the tracks here," Tommy said. Oh my god it's him, its Billy fackin Kimba...

You weren't sure why Tommy would introduce you, but you took it as a compliment. Maybe he just wanted to stunt on this guy? Who knows. 

The man with the goofy ass fucking name had a wry grin on his face that you did not like at all. The vibe was not good no more around this guy. He stuck out his hand to you, and you obliged very hesitantly. He grabbed your hand and kissed it. With that a wave of disgust flew over you, feeling as though you've been stained. Ew gross. 

"Lovely ta meet ya," the man said. He rose, "Mista Shelby, might I ask your lady for a dance?" 

"Oh, no thanks! <3" you said, a welcoming smile on your face. Tommy and Billy both looked at you as if you just said the most out of pocket shit. The owl man and English robots also gave you daring looks.

"Wot?" Kimber spat. 

You almost laughed. 

"Uh, yeah like, I don't wanna dance." you said, mimicking Tana Mongeau's "a bleach and tone".

Billy saw absolute red. He was livid. He turned to Tommy, who, too, was speechless. 

"The fuck are you on about?" Billy spat again. You really weren't sure what he didn't understand.  

You then realized - there was no getting out of this. You didn't want to cause a scene, cause you kinda already did. So you again invited those intrusive thoughts. 

"Fine," you said, clearing your throat and standing straight. "I'll dance."

You then pretended to throw something in the air, looking up in an anticipatory, worried way. They all looked up too, confused. 

"Oh my god, do you see it? Mr. Kimber, where is it?!" you said as if a bomb were to fall. 

He looked up and then to you, growing increasingly worried. He was too in shock to speak. 

"Where is it?! Where is it?! Do you see it?!" you kept looking up at basically nothing, but you knew it was something. You kept them on their toes, scared at this point. Your feet dancing softly, they were ready for impact. It was time to come down. "There! There it is and -"

With that, you pulled it down and committed the hardest, most nastiest Woah you've ever done. The last time it was that riveting was during middle school lunches. 

When you brought that down, the pose you ended on had your head down and body limp, as if you were Aang in the Avatar state during the episode where he was fighting Zuko's papa and had to unlock and harness such force.

You left them taken aback, disoriented. They didn't know what to do or how to react. You looked fucking insane. 

You took a deep breath and stood back up straight, satisfied. Once you realized that the room had fallen completely silent, even the musicians, you felt you needed to excuse yourself. 

"Um, so," you struggled to find the words. You felt the anxiety creeping up again, the lightheadedness arising. And most of all, it was time for you to empty yourself. "I've, uh," you thought harder and harder - "I'VE GOT AN ITCHY BUM!"

You split, running and running as fast as your pumps could take you. You ran and ran, it was always the most liberating activity honestly. All that dancing with Tommy, the nerves piled up along with the hors d'oeuvres - they lead to this very moment. 

You searched round and round, desperately for a bathroom. No where in this bitch was there a sign or indication, and time was running slim. This was some real Mission Impossible, Tom Cruise is on a time crunch, shit. You pushed through crowds of drunk, belligerent and yelling people, feeling your body slowly succumb to the intense body heat. 

Eventually, you spotted a familiar face. You ran. 

"Arthur!" you yelled. He spun and looked back to you. 

"Y/N! What is it?" he asked, worried. You looked a bit wild. "Are you alright? Where's Tommy?"

"He's fine, he's," you thought, "somewhere. Look, it doesn't fucking matter."

"The mouth on you -"

"Where the fuck is the bathroom in this bitch? Huh? The loo? The toilet? The washroom whatever the fuck y'all call it?"

"Well, I was on me way. It's just over there -" he pointed and you bolted. 

As you were entering, you literally ran full force into the socialite from earlier. She wasn't angry, just like Arthur, worried. 

"You look absolutely GHASTLY darling!"

"Girl move -"

You went into one of the stalls and laid your worst. Thankfully since it was a Skims dress, all you had to do was pull your Victoria Secret thong off and go. You felt bad for the ladies in their dresses and stockings and shit here - convenience was definitely not a factor yet. 

After you cleared your business, (and subsequently the whole bathroom), you stepped out of your stall, refreshed and effortless. You washed your hands, fixed your hair and makeup just a bit in the mirror, and felt yourself again. You took mental selfies, since it was all you had. 

As you left the bathroom, you heard the grunts and yells of men. It wasn't an uncommon occurrence, but it sounded like some shit was fr going down. You crept to the source of the noise, coming from the men's bathroom. At first, you thought someone was probably constipated, but instead it was Arthur, John and a few others absolutely rocking this guy's shit. They were beating him, cutting him with the razors sewn into their goofy caps, and curb stomping his head into the sink. So sink stomping? 

You made a gross face and walked back out. "Yeesh."

After all, it wasn't the first time you were so close to the mob.

 You remember your number one golden rule you learned from earlier during your time with Pablo: Hear nothing, see nothing!

After walking past the dance floor again, you were relieved to see that everyone and everything had gone back to normal - people were back to dancing, drinking and chatting - back to the script. You actually forgot this was supposed to be a horse race. 

But, there was no Tommy anywhere. You searched and searched, yet you couldn't find that 75% shaved head anywhere. 

You then walked back outside by the entrance, where you saw a woman smoking. You went up to her. 

"May I bum a smoke?" you asked in your best English accent, trying to speak their language. She turned to you and pulled one out, lighting it for you. "Thank you so much, you look lovely, darling."

The woman smiled. You loved hyping the girls up!

"You too. I must admit, I find your choice in wardrobe absolutely admirable and daring!"

You smiled, "Aww, really?" you quickly corrected your accent, "Oh dear, many thanks, many thanks yes."

You took a hit of that cigarette. Shit was gross. But when in Rome...

You and the woman spoke for some time, deep in conversation. It was refreshing to meet another girl here, safe to just talk shit and have a break from all the drunken men and oh no there's Tommy. 

You saw him approaching you and he looked again, upset and emo. It didn't exactly burst your bubble, you really liked Tommy, but were afraid that you possibly embarrassed him in front of the Bilbo Timberland from earlier. 

You bided the woman goodbye and walked towards Tommy. He then took you two back to his car and started off onto the road. By now, it was nearing evening. The car ride was pretty silent, you were looking out admiring the brief countryside. Shit was beautiful like a Microsoft Home Screen. 

"So, what's wrong?" you asked. "You're like, down in the dumps again. And where are your brothers?"

"They'll find their own way home," Tommy said, low and serious, the usual. 

"So is that it? Y'all got into a fight or something?"

He let out a deep breath. "I told Billy Kimber he could have a dance with you."

"Ew, why?"

"Well," he didn't want to say 'business', cause like okayyyyy shout out to 1920's gender roles!, "because you look...nice. You look pretty."

You blushed hard, trying to control your smile. Seeing this side of Tommy was like a sneak peak, it was so exclusive!

"Oh my god, Tommy, are you flirting with me? I didn't even know you had that setting available!"

He smirked, his frown OFFICIALLY being turned upside down. He chucked in disbelief of himself. He was falling. 

Once you made it back to the neighborhood, the sun had gone down and the streets were once again pretty dark. Smoky depressing England like what the Smiths wrote about you get the vibe. 

Anyway he took you to his flat, saying that he wanted to "show you something". You weren't sure what that something was, it could've honestly been like a dead body but actually it wasn't! It was dinner <3

"I've uh," he started, not crazy about the fact that he was falling for you, "I've prepared dinner."

You gasped and made a very soy ass face. How absolutely gentlemanly of him!

"Oh my god, no you didn't Tommy!" you said, "You're so sweet, that's like, so sweet! You shouldn't have!"

He smiled softly, in a "yeah I did that" sort of way. And he did just that. You were 90% sure whatever was inside he didn't cook, but it's the THOUGHT that counts!

He escorted you inside like the gentlemen he was, shutting the front door behind you two. The lights inside the flat were dim, and by the table were two plates. Upon closer inspection, you were absolutely FLOORED!!!!

"No way - tikka fucking masala?!" you exclaimed. He chuckled and it was hot. 

You walked closer and saw two very familiar, VERY FAMILIAR, colorful orbs. You turned them to the side. All this time since you'd last seen one, you forgot what they were or looked like. 

"AND FUCKING BUZZBALLS?!?!?!" you said. "Tommy, how the fuck did you even get these?"

He pulled the chair out for you, and you scooted your big fat butt in. 

"I know people. It's my job."

You couldn't help but smirk.

"It's so hot when a man has connections," your dirty Jezebel mind thought. 

He cracked the BuzzBalls opened and poured them for each of you, like it was some high end expensive ass champagne. You watched him, relishing in the moment - you had your GRIP on this man. Chivalry was in fact, despite popular belief, not dead. But it was also the 1920s so you forgot about that bit. 

You looked down at your plate - you were going to fuck. this. up. He'd never seen this side of you - the side that would tear your meal like a fucking ape cracking open a coconut with a rock for water. You thought if you should warn him, but told yourself - he needs to know ME for ME. 

You gripped that naan, grabbed a fat ass chunk of that chicken - and the moment it hit your lips, you had started giggling like Mark Weins again but subtract the poker face. You had forgotten the long lost love of spice other than pepper and salt. You could've cried if it hadn't been for the fact your makeup looked too good. 

You two dined and wined (there's no wine) for the next hour, talking and talking and chewing and chewing. Seeing him eat was hard for your mind to process, you just never thought he was capable of it. Anyway as he was talking you felt bad because you were zoning out looking at him as if he was another dish of tikka masala. He had such a sigma vibe to him, maybe alpha? (I don't know I'm not familiar with gym bro brain rot TikTok lingo but you get the vibe.) He was just so manly and yet so gentle and calculating, it kinda scared you because like he could literally have everything set up to kill you right now and you wouldn't know cause you were too charmed. But then you realized, he wouldn't have done all this shit for someone he wanted dead. No girl, he just wanted YOU! Your toes tickled at the thought, and those butterflies? They were fluttering. 

For the first time, you had anxiety but hadn't felt the need to shit yet. You weren't sure if it was the alcohol calming your nerves, or the chill vintage ambience going on, or Tommy's comfortable/intimidating presence. In other words, this felt natural and you were fucking with it. 

There were several times you needed to burp, but forgetting you weren't with your girls, you had to swallow that shit deep. After all, girls don't burp. You tried to keep your femme fatale composure. 

You were the light he needed in his very dark emo life. It had been a very long time since he had a genuine laugh, despite the fact he might have had no idea what the fuck you were talking about or saying half the time, but seeing you all bubbly and happy made him feel content. He was finally being vulnerable, letting go a little and just, well, living life. Being free. #livelaughlove

"What will you do? When you've saved enough for Scotland?" he asked. 

The idea brought you down a bit. You forgot about that shit. "Oh, well, I don't know. I kinda like the barmaid stuff, so maybe I'll try to find something similar there?"

You were eating his leftovers. He didn't eat much but liked watching you eat like it was a mukbang. He loved a girl who eats. 

"Why don't you stay?" he asked, avoiding eye contact with you as he poured himself another BuzzBall. You could tell he wasn't a fan but drank it anyway for you because you liked it. 

You again couldn't help but smirk. You loved seeing a guy CRACK!!!

"Do you want me to?" you asked, biting your tongue like the white mom. You hadn't done that in a while either, this English life didn't permit it. 

He took a sip from his drink. "Perhaps you'd be interested in working for me."

"Aren't I already, low-key though?"

"Garrison's not mine," he said. "Do you know anything about bookkeeping?"

He lit a cigarette and offered you one. You took it, not wanting to offend. 

"Well, I gotta tell you," you said, "math is NOT my forte. But oh my god yes babe thanks!"

You ran over and jumped to hug him, he hugged tightly back, he then threw you on the hard table, pushing everything to the floor and you felt his member pressed against your leg. He began kissing you, his tongue licking your lips for entrance. You let him in. Your tongues fought for dominance but you let him win. He eventually started going down on you, taking your Skims dress clean off, and started kissing your labia.

"This...this is a bloody fucking labia," he says. 

You lifted your legs as he began to eat you out, his wet breath on your cooter. He held your foot up and raised himself, ready to press his member into your entrance. Your eyes were closed, ready to take the boy from Birmingham in. This is it. No missed flights, no drunk men to call you Jezebels, no lung cancer from cigarettes and factory smoke, no IRS or IRA, nothing - just you and Tommy.

You and Tommy laid on his bed, in each other's arms. Since his bed was high-key smaller than a twin, it was pretty cramped, but neither of you minded. You two were smoking (him a cigarette and you your Elf bar), reminding you of that one band Cigarettes after Sex and how Tommy would've liked them, but they wouldn't drop music for another couple years in this time zone. 

You two talked softly as the rain patterned on the window's glass, some of the street lights peering through the curtain. If there was some incense on, it'd be a vibe. You originally thought his opium pipe was an incense holder but you were very mistaken. 

" - so yeah, that's why people picked team Jolie. But in all honesty, I feel bad for Jennifer, you know? Like, he literally cheated on her. Over what? A fucky boof ass movie? It was ass," you hit your Elf bar, refusing to accept it was dead. "I guess it doesn't matter now, cause NONE of them are together anymore. So what do you think? Aniston or Jolie?"

He took a drag of cigarette as he stared at the ceiling. He made an unsure face. 

"I'm not familiar with them."

"True. Fine, let me think of something you'd know. Like something English drama," you thought. "Okay, team Blur or team Oasis? I hear there was a lot of blood shed during the battle of Britpop."

He again took another drag of his cigarette. Anyone would be looking at this and thinking he found you hella annoying, but he didn't. He just genuinely thought you had a great imagination. 

"Neither, I guess. I don't have time to listen to music."

He was right, which was why he loved when you sang at the pub and most of all, to him during your private Lana concerts. 

As time went on, you were in DEEP. Scotland? Yeah never heard of her. Not only were you working for Tommy doing whatever bookkeeping is, but he had even introduced you to his family, which you KNOW damn well is a sign that shit is serious. 

You loved the Shelby's, even though they were a bit off their shit sometimes. But it wasn't anything new, you'd been well familiar with crazy families before. You loved talking shit with Polly, going to the 'cinema' with Ada, fucking with Arthur until he got mad, supplying John with his toothpicks and making little Finn believe in the fake number 'derf'. You got along with them well, they saw you as a perfect fit for the family - something different, vibrant and bright! You loved them and they loved you! Polly would even tell you in confidence that you made Tommy a happier person, something he lost after the war. Getting Polly's stamp of approval was literally it, that's all you needed. 

And you and Tommy? Yeah y'all were a thing. An item. During work hours he'd give you little looks here and there, and so did you, as if it was some secret office romance. But it wasn't secret literally everyone knew you were his girl. And that's power. 

You learned the ropes pretty fast, again it wasn't your first rodeo in the mob. It was like Colombia all over again, but we don't talk about that. Tommy fucked with you having a secretive criminal past, he thought it was pretty hot. 

Besides bookkeeping, you still worked in the bar. All the patrons loved when you sang Lana, it just went on to prove that she's indeed a poet. They eventually memorized them and sang along, which annoyed you sometimes cause you just wanted to hear yourself and they sounded like ass when they were drunk. But you just go along with it! 

Some of the songs you in the pub (and Tommy's room) sang included:

Bartender (cause hello? You're LITERALLY at a bar)

Shades of Cool (for Tommy's big blue ass eyes (you wished they could hear that guitar solo cause the acapella didn't do it justice :( ))

Cola (singing this for the fist time made you realize you had to censor a couple things, they weren't a fan of that intro)

Stargirl's Interlude (Lana's part obvi, but it's again for Tommy cause he's your starboy <3 he loved when you hit those high notes)

Brooklyn Baby (you avoided it cause it reminded you of your ex)

Video Games (hello it's for Tommy)

Love Song (this makes them all cry)

Money Power Glory (again hello it's Tommy, but this wouldn't hit until he's a member in Parliament)

National Anthem (being in England for so long made you forget the United States anthem)

Fucked My Way Up To The Top (literally you rn)

Speaking OF a bunch of drunk men, the gang loved you. You thought you were like the comedic relief of the little theater thing they had going on here. You had to admit, you admired the method acting everyone had done so far. It only, to you, proved that it worked, since you were GENUINELY left in deep in a psychosis where you're just a 1920's flapper girl. 

There was some rules and etiquettes you needed to remember, however. One, was of course, the "BILLY FACKIN KIMBA", and another was you finding out Tommy did NOT fuck with brujeria or anything dark magic related. You thought it was kinda funny, he reminded you of those Reddit r/atheist accounts but at the same time, he was low-key scared of zodiacs. Not that he didn't like it, he was paranoid at them. You literally asked his zodiac sign and he responded very sternly and seriously, 

"Y/N, don't."

You then said. "That's a very Capricorn thing to say."

Besides that, everything was great and chill.

It wasn't long before this annoying ass Irish inspector dude pulled up to the pub. Once he saw you, he locked eyes with you and approached the bar. You didn't like his vibe in the slightest. In fact, no one in the pub liked his vibe either. They all fell silent when he entered. 

"Excuse, me, ma'am," he said. You turned, not really wanting to talk. 

"Yeah, what?"

"Do you know about a Thomas Shelby?" 

"Yeah, what about him?" you didn't fuck with anyone who referred to Tommy as Thomas. Like?

"Do you know where I can find him?"

You were really starting to not fuck with his vibe even more. Something was def fishy. 

"You should really go back to being with the dinosaurs," you said. He didn't like that. 

He leaned in. "Do you know who I am? Who do ya think you arrrrrre?" the R's went very crazy. 

And just in time, as if he was your guardian angel, Tommy opened the doors to the little room beside the bar. Babes was hearing everything and he was NOT gonna let this dude talk shit to his girl like that. 

"You need to speak to me? Inspector Campbell, is it?" he said. "I've read about you in the papers."

Tommy then took Campbell soup outside to speak. Before leaving, he (Tommy) gave you a wink and you winked back. You knew that was code for 'let's hit my flat later'. Little did you know, this would be the last time.....

P.S. - when you asked one of the men at the pub who he was and someone replied IRA, you originally interpreted that as the Irish IRS and shat yourself. You didn't know how to tell Tommy your time was ticking, they'd located you - but you were not going down without a fight. 

You were both in his bedroom as usual, he was lying in bed smoking, you were hitting the Elf bar, rain pattering, English people yelling outside yeah you get the vibe. Anyway, he asked you to sing - a request you took quite seriously. You knew this was his only time of relaxation and you had to make the best of it before you break the news you needed to escape again.

You rose, sitting up and looking down at his BBL face. 

"Lana or Nicki?"

"Lana."

"Can I do Nicki? You never ask for her."

He took a drag and nodded. "Go ahead."

This, now this would be where you fucked up. Let's just say, you wish you could wipe out this night from your memory. Alas, all things need to come to an end, even the good ones, unfortunately. You'd never thought it would be like this though tbh. 

You stood up on the bed, as usual, cleared your throat all that bullshit. You thought and thought, "what's a good Nicki song? What's fitting?"

And then it hit you - it was definitely a deep cut. 

He had a soft smile on his lips, watching you as you were thinking. Little did he know, you were going to harness a part of yourself you hadn't seen in a while. This was a mode you unlocked that was such a release after, and you knew you had to go all or nothing. 

You cleared your throat. 

"Okay, so this one's kinda not AS well known, but it has British themes I think work well," you prefaced. "Okay, here I go."

The moment you opened your mouth, you let the spirit of Nicki come in. And once she's in, there's no going back. And Tommy was not prepared for that. You then started Nicki's verse in Sean Kingston's "Born To Be Wild".  

"♪ If you will die, then why would you try and if you reply, a suit and a tie is what I will buy then you will be mine because you and I were born to be wild, I am Martha you King Arthur who knew you would land me, I’ve been known to eat these rappers, cook em like chef Ramsey - ♪"

You were too deep to notice Tommy's rapid increasing worry and fear as you spat out those lyrics. It was too overstimulating for him to handle. You ate, but that was just want concerned him - he didn't know you were rapping. In fact, no one at this current time did. 

" ♪ - Mission accomplished, your my accomplice cover of vogue yeah ima go topless ima go bonkers ima go crazy ima get reckless then have a baby then hang the baby off the balcony teach him to moon walk tell em he's Japanese - ♪ "

No, he thought you were putting a curse on him. No, he was CONVINCED. 

"Stop! STOP!" Tommy rose from his bed, pushing the sheets off of him. 

You were shaken out of your trance, confused. You became worried, what happened? Did you miss something? Were y'all in danger?

"Wait, Tommy -"

"Enough! Stop!" you had never seen panic in that man's eyes. Never. And you didn't like it. He was looking straight at you, talking to YOU. 

"Stop what -"

"You're a bloody fucking witch!" he yelled, rubbing his hand through his hair while the other TIGHT on his hip. This was his evaluating stance. "That's what this is - that's what it's been."

"Uh, Tommy," you said, more annoyed that he interrupted your moment, "I'm no witch. I'm just, well, Y/N."

He took a deep breath, now facing away from you. He couldn't believe it. All this time, all that mumbo jumbo that came out of your mouth, all this time - they were just that. Curses. No wonder he didn't understand them, you were literally speaking in tongues this whole time. 

You walked towards him, slowly. This man needed that opium right now. 

"Tommy -"

"Leave. LEAVE!" he yelled, grabbing your messy bun, and doing what you didn't think would happen again for a very long time - he beybladed you. 

Spin. Spin. Spin.

"LET IT BLOODY RIP!"

And there it was. 

And there you went. 

He twisted you in the air round and round, ready for a different kind of liftoff. He flung you out the window, you crashed through and onto the cobblestone streets of Birmingham. 

That was it. All these months, all this rehearsing - it all came to an end. On a random Tuesday evening? The Tommy you once thought you knew was no more - after all this time, he never trusted you? Didn't he know who you were? Like dude he watched you be vulnerable at fuck up a tikka masala. TWO of them at that. 

Anyway, you realized maybe the entirety of UK just wasn't your vibe, anyway. With this 'IRA' now in town, your ass needed to be grass. Before leaving, you broke into his horse racing betting place whatever it's called and committed a little fun heist, taking all the money. What? A girl needed to sustain herself in this economy. Dog eat dog world shit. And plus, all your stuff was back at his apartment and you were DEF not gonna go back. Who knows? Was HE working for the Men In Black? Wining and dining you to gain his trust and he turned you in? Maybe he did you a favor in the end. 

And maybe you could upgrade to the latest iPhone when you got to London with all this horse money? With a shilling and a pound, the possibilities seemed endless. 

You walked down the streets, sad, but again more confused and a little relieved, onto your next destination, wherever that maybe. Anywhere Y/N went, it was all just a big adventure of a girl having fun being, well, just a girl having fun in this world. And THAT'S all that matters. 

Hope you enjoyed!

xoxo, 

~Sam St. Clair

[oatmealmika]

FEM! TRAFALGAR LAW HEADCANONS BECAUSE I LOVE WOMEN

a/n : sometimes i just wish law was actually written as a girl cuz DAMN

first off, CLOTHES SHE'D WEAR!!

i'm getting major streetwear/chola style vibes from fem! law

like i mean ripped up baggy jeans, croptops, hoodies, oversized t-shirts, sports bras, long clickity clackity nails (if she really wanted to but very occasionally), and of course (his? her?) their hat

she got her earrings done when she was too little to remember so it's just annoying to have to redo them every so often

i have no clue who'd do her tattoos since she most definitely wouldn't trust some sketchy guy to do them

maybe herself but i don't think that's it either

and whenever you ask her, she makes up a different story (like that one blond guy in "ratatouille" who has a criminal record)

"woke up with it" "they're stick n pokes" "this guy i knew who would only wear bucket hats" and of course "nunya"

she is half german and half mexican (may or may not be self projection with the mexican part)

i get HUGE ymir from aot vibes with fem! law

she appears rude, hardheaded, and pessimistic, but she really does care about others and does have some hope in her (wishing her crew likes her horrendous hawaiian shirts)

her music taste is rock, rap, indie dream pop (tv girl), and then sad spanish songs that slap way too hard (i'm thinking "no me queda mas" by selena, a bunch of vicente fernandez songs my mom loves to play at full volume, and "amor eterno" by rocio durcal)

def not straight i mean just look at fem! law fanart on tumblr bro like honey... and man, am i glad she isn't straight cuz GODDAMN

if you go out with her, you need to order for her pls she can't do it on her own

but she will take the bill, no excuses

i think the type of person she needs as a partner would have to be okay with silence, they have to be outgoing and fun but mature with intense situations, and yeah

plays the bass guitar and has been for years

also plays the drums but her main instrument is bass

really wants to be in a band but not really since she hates the idea of having to be nice all the time for the public

at a mall, she either hangs out at hot topic, barnes and nobles, or justice the whole time

got a bunch of piercings all over her but that's a secret lol nobody knows...

UNTIL I TELL YOU: bellybutton, industrial, conch, ear lobe, tragus, bridge, middle tongue, hip, nipple, and then a bunch of genital piercings i will not be discussing any further XD

her most used apps are photos, notes, tumblr, pinterest, depop, and....... ao3

OKAY OKAY as hard as it might be to believe this, this is NOT self projection it is TRUTH

she doesn't religiously read fics or anything, just occasional oneshots about her nerdy crap when she's bored or something

my girl out here reading her "sora, warrior of the sea" 10k+ fics 💀

if you take her home to meet the family, at first they'll be thrown off by her intimidating looks, but soon enough they'll realize what a little loser she is! the cutie patootie she is <3

LOVE LOVE LOVES cringy 70s/80s/90s movies (think "grease", "the princess bride", "pretty in pink", "10 things i hate about you", etc.)

she doesn't know why. she hates the dumb stereotypes and all that stuff, but she just can't help it! she's so real for it too

idk why but i feel like she'd LOVE spiderman???? like as an obsession?

she is pretty normal about the live action movies, it's just SPIDERVERSE THAT MAKES HER GO CRAZY

she also wants to be good at art but never has motivation to do it

she def has an upside down smile (that what it's called? i think of it more as a "oh that's cringy look and stare y'all" smile)

is she scrawny? muscular? i can't decide honestly. like yeah guy law has some brawn, but he is still a pretty lanky guy, so that's why i see fem! law as a lanky chick. but i love muscular women... goddamn she is just lanky. she obviously has some meat on her bones, but not much.

that being said, i don't think she's very curvaceous either (let's pretend oda didn't draw her the way he did). she is no doubt an a cup, and while her butt is fairly larger, she's still pretty flat.

she also only ever wears sports bras since she thinks regular bras are uncomfy and a hassle.

for a va to replace masc! law's, i would say for japanese romi park. for english, i'd say either trina nushimura or elizabeth maxwell.

for one piece live action, i would want like zendaya as fem! law 😭 aye anything for queen zendaya

only bepo knows this, but she wears socks and sandals on sundays no fail.

has a tattoo somewhere of bepo's name inside a heart with an arrow through it (think those tattoos that tough guys get, with instead of bepo, "mom" is what's written)

fem! law still wears ugly ass hawaiian shirts, don't get it mixed up ✊

that's all for now :)

likes and reblogs are appreciated <3

have a good day!!

[celestie0]

Girl I was balls deep in my attempt to make fanart for u a couple months ago

Like I had the reference pictures collated and I sat my ass down and picked up an pencil with the intention of actually drawing something after ages

cause basically I became a lil sad cause I felt like I forgot to draw bc last year in school I took an external art subject and it didn’t occur to me that doing a hands on subject through distance study wasn’t the brightest idea

anyway that fucked me over and led to me dropping and taking up fucking legal studies 😭

Even though I’m a bit more STEM based I can still fw the wordy subjects but not this someone pls save me why am I being assessed on the bi cameral structure of parliament

saur yh I’m super lazy as is with anything so that situation just put me off drawing and art completely

congrats to me setting every world record for yip yapping and going off track

ummm yh for context it was like my 10th read through of the kickoff chapter 6 scene that compelled me to collate a bunch of reference pics that ranged from twitter smut comics to bathroom sinks and eventually I gave up because anatomy is a bitch

I changed into a dress with the same type of neckline I think reader was wearing bc of the way it tucks under her boobies and I was this close to just shamelessly positioning myself in front of the mirror to make my own references

then ofc I got distracted by a half baked portrait of Rose from titanic that I drew when I was like 15 and ended up drawing a two hour long remake of the same picture

only for my friend to tell me it looks like Mary Shelly’s ghost

Should I know who that is

To be fair it looked nothing like her but I mean it was an improvement from thinking all my ability just went poof and I drew better when I was 15

never the less I was somewhat disappointed with the product and I haven’t drawn since

wait I wanna show u actually lemme try

https://share.icloud.com/photos/0edTRG9Tb54pRh9Qe5unszRrg

the Mary Shelly in question

do these links work I’m scared I’m gonna accidentally leak personal details or my whole camera roll lol

also IM NOT AN ARTIST don’t judge me peeps I’m just a girl idek how to drive yet

I feel bad every time I send an ask I feel like I’m force feeding u Ellie babes u have the patience and commitment of a saint

also OMG IF YOU MADE ART FOR ANY OF MY FICS I’D SOB!!!!

I want to 😞🫶 but alas prospect of fanart from me will most likely never see the light of day

that crack scene in ihm was tempting tho everything u write is just so visual

♥️ mwah my gorgeous gorgeous writer wifey

hellooo my dear PLS the ramble of this ask is legendary and i found it very entertaining xD

ouuu the dress that reader wears in ch6 of kickoff is actually based on a dress that i own, here's some pictures of it!! i'm curious if the dress you have is similar!! but yea this is the official outfit reference hahah

looking at it now it's kind of a mild sweetheart neckline lol n yea def tucks under the boobs very nicely xd i was actually gonna sell it on depop a couple months ago when i did a closet cleanout but i was like nahhh i gotta keep it bc it inspired that scene

taking your OWN reference pictures sounds so badass. and its ok babe it's the thought that counts haha <3 i feel u about the losing passion/talent in art thooo aaa i used to draw too but ehh hobbies fizzle

ahh i can't see the cloud photos :(( but anywho thanks for the yap my dear!! i ate it up. also side note but i'm so glad my writing comes off visual to you!! i always worry there's not enough description in my scenes so that's reassuring to hear. much love!

[preciadosbass]

1/8/24

woke up at 7 but went back to sleep and woke up properly at 10. finished listening to slipknots’ the gray chapter while scrolling through my pinterest feed and got dressed into camo jorts + a skinless shirt and put on all of my bracelets. i love making up new outfits because i always theme the things i wear and make the colours match my shoes, jewellery, etc.

also, i had a pretty odd dream last night, so i’m gunna try and explain it. i met gerard way while i was just about to get to the venue mcr we’re playing in. he was really friendly and i took a few videos with him but then he obviously had to go and play. most of the dream was just me and him talking but i don’t remember what it was about. after he left i continued making my way to the venue and saw them play around 3 songs until i decided i was going to change for some reason?

so i went out of the venue to change and they wouldn’t let me back in so i didn’t see anymore of the show and it was really sad 😭 i woke up thinking it was real and i checked my camera roll for videos of me and gerard and then i realised.. lmaoo — i’m still mad it didn’t happen cuz like even though i only saw three songs that’s still three songs!! and i befriended gerard!! i think i had this dream because i was thinking about mikey ways instagram story before i fell asleep. but like.. he was SO NICE oh my god i know it wasn’t real but i honestly think this is going to trigger a gerard hyperfixation he was so much like how he is in videos and stuff

after getting ready i went to the garden to collect a few stinging nettles so i can make tea later. i ended up getting these weird spikey seeds all over my jorts and hair. there were barely any that weren’t turning yellow but i’m not too bothered because i don’t like the taste anyways, id rather have a smaller amount. i’m only having it because it’s apparently healthy and water makes me sick although it’s one of my favourite drinks.

once i got back inside i made a pinterest board dedicated to alt/punk diy’s i can try out sometime. ive started making patch pants/patches/bottlecap badges/bleached clothes [etc] + i’m currently collecting can tabs to make a bracelet/chain for my trousers but i don’t have enough and ive unfortunately lost my fabric paint for my patches. either way, i still like looking at patch inspo and stuff and i could try and use bleach instead of paint.

i came across a post of a soup can tab with beads threaded onto it with that bendy copper metal stuff and attempted to make one with a normal can tab and a skull bead id chopped off a bracelet i got for 10p at a bootsale. it didn’t look anything like the original and the photo i took of it [shown at end] makes it look 10x more horrendous than it actually is but it looks cool when i wear it.

after looking through some 2023 gerard pics i put fight club on because i’m finally not too tired/busy to watch it!! i briefly played roblox while watching it because i’m the worst at keeping my attention on one thing without getting distracted, i was just as bad while watching beetlejuice. i went out to living room to have something to eat [this feels so embarrassing to say omfg] and came back to my room to carry on watching it at 2:50.

it finished at 4:30 [i honestly thought i’d understand it better, but quite a lot of it just went right over my head. anyways, i liked the way the characters talked.] and then made my ‘this user’ posts, collected gifs for my future posts, + made them drafts up until 5:50 when i finally made my nettle tea. i thought i’d boiled the nettles too much like i usually do but it was actually really weak.

i drank about half because it was making my throat feel really weird so i went out to the driveway and sat with boris while i started making a basket thingy on depop. i think it was making me feel weird because the last time i made it [which was ages ago, i often forget how it tastes] id add honey while i’m boiling it. it could’ve just been too raw, or maybe it’s because of my heightened senses.

i found some really cute stuff. i added a monster energy beanie, a bat belt buckle, a beetlejuice pin [cuz i can never have enough pins], a bat necklace, a cookie monster cap, a long black beaded necklace, a blue fox cap, and a long sleeve black and red striped shirt that i’ve already made up an outfit for etc. after some time of that i went back inside and got ready for my walk. me and my mum walked around where my old primary school was so it was really nostalgic.

i ended up picking up like 30 blackberries because they’re starting to come out now and had a few after looking up how many cals they are. after being back home for like 10 minutes i watched my dad play natural disaster [it was hilarious he got so confused everytime he died] for like ages up until we had to be quiet because my sister was ‘trying to sleep’ so i watched a few clips of mcr interviews and cuddled boris.

i ranged from being in my room to cuddling boris for a while until i had a bit of a smoothie + went upstairs to ask my parents questions about boris. beforehand my dad was giving me advice for the lighting on this picture i took of the smiler when we went to alton towers at the start of july. i then asked the questions [took just about as much time as it usually would and came downstairs to boris at 1:20 [or something.]

i gave him his last meal of the day, told him about my day and finished saying goodnight to him at 2:14. i give him these treats he really loves every night but he was extra happy about me handing them to him today. i wrote the rest of my journal entry thing at 2:17 and went to sleep at 2:30. i am not excited to wake up early tomorrow.

have a good day/night -_<

[the1975attheirverybest]

What I mean with she’s not like the other influencers I meant that she doesn’t commodify her life like the others, I mean there are certain influencers that literally share everything they do, including how many time they piss during the day. I’m not a fan nor a hater of her, I just noticed that she could easily share more things about her private life to gain more popularity, especially now that she’s dating Matty and she literally doesn’t. Also i think it’s safe to say that she does more things as a model than as an influencer these days? Like she has done quite a good number of campaigns and walked the runway for a good number of designers, so idk it feels a bit reductive to say that she’s simply an influencer. All that being said I know that she comes from a wealthy family and I think she knows that since she never made a mystery of her origins. I genuinely take at her face value and I only pay attention to her when people share things on twitter since I don’t even follow her on instagram (that being said, I want to specify that I understand the criticism of Matty’s love life, but at the same time I don’t because even if his choices are not ideal, I still think that I don’t him personally and I never will, so if he’s happy with Gabbriette so be it. I think it was way more hypocritical of him dating TS last year since he publicly criticised her lack of substance and her approach to music from a business point of view). Again, I mean no hate to you or any of your anons, I just think this is a interesting conversation to have since it’s very nuanced

Yeah. I get what you mean!

Okay, I think that the way that we’ve been talking maybe conflates different types of social media use so let me be more specific:

I think that being an “influencer” isn’t just type of job. A lot depends on the platform and what your “niche” is or whatever. We won’t go into the nitty gritty but suffice it to say Gabbriette is not a “day in the life” tiktok influencer who has to put out 5-8 videos a day with stuff like morning routines and evening routines. And “here’s where I went today” and “get unready with me” she’s an Instagram model. The can’t be an irl model (this is not me shitting on her btw this is just fact. She’s too short for it and stuff like that) so she had to tailor her content to that. Naturally she’s gonna post about clothes and jewelry and stuff. This is not because she understands the moral depravity of monetizing your entire existence for clicks and stuff. This is simply because she has to be brand friendly for her type of work. Brands won’t wanna work with her if she acted a certain way or posted certain types of content.

Her job hinges upon her being aspirational not relatable.

It only takes a few moments of thinking when you look at how she used to look and act during her stint in Nasty Cherry vs now. She’s just hopping on the succubus chic thing rn. Once that’s fades, she’ll hop on some other trend.

Being an IG model still depends on those qualities that I find dangerous, the foster self-centeredness, exploiting people’s parasocial relationship with her in this aspirational way of wanting to be like her so they buy her clothes off depop or buy whatever she promotes or copy her eyebrows or whatever, is extremely materialistic, and depends by and large upon being brand-friendly, being likeable (literally and figuratively, she needs people to hit like on her content), and all those gross things that make this a problematic career at best and a downright evil one at worst. Again, all which matty has come out staunchly against.

There are reasons that not all influencers are content creators and not all content creators are influencers. I’m not saying you can’t have an online presence and be a morally conscious person. You just can’t have the kind of presence that she does and be a self aware person. Most content creators who care about social economics and justice have hard lines about brand deals and what sponsorships or collabs to take and stuff like that. That’s why they can never be an influencer. Gabbriette definitely is one. She’s one that has a niche in food and fashion so she’s obviously not gonna make other types of day to day stuff. But that’s not out of the goodness of her heart that’s just how being an IG model works.

[abigail]

hi abigail! i hope it’s ok to ask about this - where do you get your amazing jewellery from and do you have any tips on building up a collection? every time you’re draped in gorgeous layered necklaces it’s like 💔💔 so so good!! kiss!

hi lovely !! thank you so much omg and of course it’s okay to ask :-) honestly happy to share anything i can when it comes to styling stuff lol but yes !!

i’ve had a lot of my jewellery for years tbh and if i’m honest and a lot of it is secondhand ! i’m lucky to have lots of charity shops/vintage stores in the area i live/work so i always like to nosy what there is whenever I can, i really recommend if you’ve got any secondhand stores near you to never miss the jewellery section, often it’s not a lot of stuff but you can find some beautiful stuff sometimes !! if you’re able to too, if you go to an area that’s got a lot of like.. rich people living in it (lol) check out the secondhand stores there ! because i’ve found charity shops in areas with more people with money usually have more jewellery than other charity shops idk ! but also there’s online too like vinted/ebay/depop/etsy - just of course have an idea what you’re looking for and use the search tools to really narrow it all down !

i do buy new quite a bit with jewellery though, some of my favourite places to get them is regal rose (i usually wait for them to do a sale though unless it’s something i know i realllllyyy want), livia wednesday (everything is handmade and so beautiful ! because it’s handmade it is a bit more expensive but in my opinion it’s totally worth it.. i’ve got quite a bit from her and i’ve never personally had any issues !! easily my favourite place to get jewellery with pearls and whatnot hehe), i’ve also got a bunch of things from mysticum luna before (i haven’t so much these days because their recent collections haven’t quite been for me but i do still love the things i have and really recommend them !!), and for cheaper stuff/costume jewellery i do like asos !! they’ve got sooo much stuff and i love the tool bars because it means you can really narrow down what you’re looking for which is helpful and doesn’t mean you’re scrolling for hours through thousands of products ..

another thing i do is buy charms and add them to my own chain or earring hoop !! charms are everywhere and usually pretty cheap, so if you get various chains of different lengths and thicknesses or pearl beads or whatever you’re wanting, you can add the charms to them (i find them a lot in charity shops too and they’re always like £1 or something super cheap) - going off this too i like to move my jewellery about, like today for example i have a locket with a skull on and i changed it’s chain to a shorter one so then it can be stacked different with another necklace than what i usually do y’know ? it just means i don’t always have to do the same stack of necklaces every time, i can change them about to work with my outfit easy too and it keeps it all a bit more fresh looking i suppose !

oh and see if your parents/grandparents have any old jewellery they’d give you !! honestly you’d be surprised, i asked my dad not long ago and he gave me a lot of old rings from dead relatives i had never met and some then random but very cute bracelets hehe :-) and if there’s anything you don’t really want anymore see if any of your friends would wanna trade with you (same with clothes too if you have friends who are the same size and have the same style as you !)

for building up a collection honestly i’d say to just get pieces you know you’ll keep for a long time (hopefully forever !!) and getting pieces that you know you can wear with loads of different things etc if you get me ? like easy to dress up or down !! and of course make sure you look after your jewellery :-) i’m not sure what else i can suggest other than that i’m sorry !! but yeah i hope all of this was some help to you at least :-) take care <33 mwah mwah

[like-a-masquerade]

Coord Breakdown: January 30th, 2024

A rather fancy look to go shopping today. It's my first time wearing this blouse and I'm sooooo happy with it! Full coord comments under the cut.

Blouse + jabot: Lilizi

Skirt: Fanplusfriend

Bracelets: Offbrand (Rainbow)

Boots: Offbrand (Betsey Johnson)

Earrings: Offbrand (Spirit Halloween)

Hairbow that you can't see from the front but I swear it's real: Offbrand (???)

I love this coord, and especially the blouse, so much!! Purple is my favorite color and I am quite the fancy goth, so when I saw this blouse on Lolibrary I absolutely fell in love with it. When I got some Christmas money, I splurged and bought it through 42Lolita's Buy For Me service. It was my first time using 42Lolita and it was pretty nice tbh! Very easy, lovely customer service, shipping was relatively fast. Of course the shipping cost wasn't exactly the cheapest in the world, but... well... you know how it is with shipping as an overseas lolita lmao. Anyway, the blouse itself is comfortable and very well made, and seems surprisingly durable. Absolutely gorgeous, 10/10.

The skirt's been a favorite of mine for a long time now, after buying it off Lace Market a few years ago. It's a beautiful black satin damask with tiny black rhinestones on the lace trim, and I'm nothing if not a lover of glam, so of course I'm all about that shit. The skirt definitely pairs really well with the blouse!

The boots I found at a thrift store a few months ago for about $13, iirc. They're nubuck leather. They're kind of hard to see here, but here's a picture of another pair in their original form from a Depop listing:

Now, I thought that they were simply very worn and dirty, and with a little TLC would be revived to a vibrant purple with uncrushed pleats. No. No, apparently these are simply "distressed". As a punk I think the concept of making expensive items and faking them to look worn out is fucking stupid (at least distress them yourself, goddamn it! Don't do it in the factory!), so I took it upon myself to un-distress them using some Angelus leather dye. This was my first time dyeing shoes, and the color came out gorgeous! Unfortunately I put on way the hell too much, so between that and all the work and rubbing alcohol it took to get rid of the excess dye, I... think they dried up and shrunk a bit... But wearing them a few times softened them up. I'll probably look into treating them with some leather conditioner when I get the chance.

As for the eyeshadow, it's all Juvia's Place as usual, a combination of the Violets palette and the black from the Saharan palette. Typically I put the darkest shade on the inside corner of my eye and give it a sharp unblended edge in a vaguely tradgoth look, but I wanted my makeup to be a bit less harsh for this coord, so I instead put the darkest color on the outside and blended it all like a normal person. I think it looks cute!

I'm also wearing a nice black satin hairbow my best friend gave me for my birthday. It has a nice delicate, old-timey look. She's made a tradition of giving me a black hair bow every year, because one time she gave me one and I accidentally lost it and she refuses to let me live it down and keeps jokingly buying me more black bows "to replace the one you left on the goddamn train". Love her!!

[lambotel]

hey! i don't mean to sound rude but i have a few questions ❤️ so i know you have a lot of dolls but i just wanted to ask how did you start your collection and why? are your dolls haunted? where are they from? how much were they? and do you buy them yourself or are they gifts? not that i want you to tell me your whole life story i'm just curious and have asked others similar questions! ❤️

hi lol, its ok. and idk how to answer any of this but i will try. already struggling w the first one, dont know how or why. i have always been used to my dad gifting me and my sister cars because he would rather get me, her and my brother the same gifts and always went with what was more boy-ish for whatever reason. always made us match clothes and everything, everything was almost the same, so it's crazy how we eventually did grow up to have different interests etc. mine became colelcting antique dolls because one day my dad just boguht a really big beautiful porcelain doll home (when i say big, not extremely big, just bigger than the others) for me. and he wanted /me/ to have it. part of. me believes he did it randomly but out of love, while the lther part of me believes he was guilty and upset when he saw how jealous i was seeing everyone have dolls that can literally sing. he never wanted to make me feel singled out in things or different from others, even though i was, and even though he was terrible in some doings- this was kind, and special. like a way to see i didnt need a singing stupid doll when i can have a very old antique one WITH the letter of authenticity.

growing up i noticed similar looking dolls in the charity shops i went to, they were expensive but also not cheap. i used to get bulloed really bad in highschool and college (yes, in college too lol), i had no friends and spent most of my days with my mum because my dad always worked. me and my mum always went to charity shops because the clothes and house stuff was just way cheaper. i dont want to say they let me buy what i want out of pity, but i know they were always trying to get me back on my feet again - thats the thing with asian, immigrant parents. never being able to tell you words of affirmations, but always somehow showing it in their actions. my mum knew i would look at a doll or two here and then, she always picked it up without asking or saying anything. brushing its hairs and putting it on my shelf for me and organising my books too. my mum bought me all the books sitting on my bookshelf rn.

if you want to start your own collection, i think you should start looking in charity shops or antique stores. a lot of old people, or family members of old people, dump their stuff there all the time. i have many memorable items from charity shops that aren't just dolls. they're worth a look. and dont worry about not getting an authenticity certificate - if you are bothered, you can always describe your doll online, however some antique sites (?) will ask you to pay in order for you to get info from them. so be careful. you can always ask straight from the person youre buying, if you look on places like depop or etsy, but who knows they might be lying lmao. i personally wouldnt care too much about it. i just am informative on it because my first doll came with it, i was hyper fixated on it for ages.

i hope this answered everything. i might delete this later if i decide to feel like i have over-shared on this platform.

[cindylouwho-2]

Etsy Third Quarter Earnings 2023 - It's the Economy, Not Upper Management's Fault (Apparently)

Slide 12 from Etsy's 3rd Q earnings call, © Etsy; they are definitely going all out to let US buyers know about the Purchase Protection changes.

Etsy's third quarter 2023 didn't show any real sales growth, and upper management is projecting an even weaker holiday season. However, economic issues and geopolitical instability bore the brunt of the blame, along with ecommerce competition that is spending too much money on ads (compared to Etsy, of course). The top brass doesn't think it has made any big mistakes, and surprisingly, didn't announce any new ideas to get things moving again, largely repeating what's been said for the past year or more.

That doesn't mean we didn't learn anything new, though, so let's dive into the aspects that will most interest sellers. In portions where I am reporting on what was said or posted, I will put my personal commentary in square brackets to separate it out.

First, here are the resources that you should read/watch yourself, if you want to know more:

the press release

transcript of the conference call

slides from the conference call

video of the call (click on “Webcast” under “Latest Quarterly Results”)

my summaries of the third quarter 2022, and the second quarter 2023 for comparison

Second, the basic numbers (covering July to September 2023, compared to the same period in 2022):

Sales on Etsy were $2.7 billion, up 1% 

Total sales for all 4 marketplaces (Etsy, Reverb, Depop, Elo7) were $3.0 billion, up 1.2%. [Elo7 was officially sold in mid August, meaning it was only included for half of the quarter]

Etsy’s revenue (including all 4 sites) was $636.3 million, up 7%

Seller service revenue was up 16.2% to $175.4 million, while marketplace revenue was up 3.9% to $460.9 million

Net Income was $87.9 million, up almost $1 billion due to the loss taken on Depop in the third quarter of 2022

Active buyers on Etsy alone stand at 91.6 million, a second consecutive all-time high

Active sellers on Etsy alone are 6.7 million, the third large jump in a row compared to the previous quarter; numbers had been stagnant through the end of 2021 and all of 2022 [Note that “active” means one charge or transaction in the past 12 months; many “active” shops currently have nothing for sale.]

Sales where the buyer and/or the seller was not in the United States were 47%, up from 43% last year, but most Etsy buyers are still in the US

Sales on mobile are now at 68%, up from 67% last year [this includes both the buyer app and mobile browsers]

The Economy, Pricing & the Consumer Appetite for Discounts

As you may have heard, the economy is not great, especially for lower-income households, and that affects certain products more than others. CEO Josh Silverman actually stated "the volatile macro climate is going to make it challenging for us to grow this quarter." Strikingly, both VP of Investor Relations Deb Wasser and CFO Rachel Glaser urged people to buy their holiday gifts on Etsy [which hit me as a bit desperate during an earnings call!]

However, households in US areas that average above $100,000 in yearly income are actually spending more on Etsy, and the top 10% of US households (by income) spent 20% more on Etsy this quarter than last year. Glaser pointed to this as evidence Etsy was doing fine, all things considered, and a better economy would once again lead to more growth. [That's a fair take based on that evidence; Etsy certainly is doing better than some other ecommerce marketplaces right now.] Is there an overarching plan if the economy doesn't improve? Investors weren't let in on any such plans during this call.

Despite all of this, sales were actually up a bit each month of the third quarter, while dropping in October. Glaser stated this matched US ecommerce trends. Non-US countries were up 7% this quarter, including the UK, Germany and France, continuing the trend of bigger international growth.

"In this economy, we are seeing that mass merchants who sell essentials and whose brands stand for low prices and deep discounts are generally gaining e-commerce share broadly at the expense of most others." Hence, as I pointed out last quarter, Etsy is leaning into discounting and stressing affordability to try to drive sales. This includes at least 3 approaches:

offering discounts paid by Etsy, such as the "GET5" coupon and the $10 off of $40 orders promotion. The former drove orders and paid for itself; the latter did not. They will continue to test these types of offers.

promoting sales that sellers already run, such as through links on the home page and through emails. [This would seem to include the lengthy holiday sale that Etsy is pushing, with at least 25% off.]

giving sellers more data on pricing, including when and how to put items on sale. They touted the [mostly useless] pricing tool as part of this plan, since "our sellers don't have pricing departments, giving them insights into things like how best to price each item and how or when to use promotions. So we need to be the ones to provide those insights and be their advocates."

They also talked a lot about the fact regular Etsy prices can be affordable. [It may be difficult to convincingly present that position to prospective buyers. Spinning shopping on Etsy as buying direct from the maker with no "middlemen" is a bit rich, considering Etsy is the middleman, taking an ever-larger cut in the past few years, through fee increases, Offsite Ads charges we didn't have to pay before 2020, and ever-increasing margins on Etsy Ads.]

In short, consumers are very price conscious right now, and Etsy is aiming to provide them with what they want.

Search - Branching The Biggest and Most Generic Queries

As they have been discussing for a few years now, one of Etsy's biggest goals for search is to better narrow down large searches, which currently produce an overwhelming number of results [a fact not helped by the continuing growth in seller numbers and Etsy adding items to results that don't have the search terms anywhere.]

They are now happy with the relevance of large searches - "[w]e've made a ton of progress on relevance" - [even though smaller searches can be quite poor, as I discussed last quarter], so they aren't going to focus on that as much going forward. Instead, they are finally testing better ways to offer multiple branches from large searches, or "open-ended head query items" [head searches are the opposite of long tail searches, so this is only being done in a small percentage of the total unique queries overall].

Here is the example given in the call, from a test ran recently:

Slide 6 from Etsy's 3rd Q earnings call, © Etsy; shows a test on breaking down a generic search into more specific ones.

This version had multiple rows of top items in specific narrower searches, before the full search results appeared further down the page, which led to a lot of scrolling. However, I am not seeing that version of the test any more when I check. I am seeing this one instead:

Search for "tree" on Etsy, November 3, 2023.

Note that the normal search results are much higher up the page with this one, plus you can see the 4 different options to narrow the results down without having to scroll. While the 4 sub-topics look like they might be categories, clicking on them simply leads to a search using all of the terms, i.e., a search for "tree home decor" instead of a search for "tree" filtered to the Home Decor category.

Note that Etsy plans that these options will ideally include personalization and contextualization, and are also likely to feature more "quality" items [which so far seems to mean items that have the Etsy's Pick badge in other areas, even though that hasn't happened in this type of test, or at least not that I have seen up until now].

Other changes in search mentioned include "utilizing ML [machine learning] models designed to determine the visual appeal of items and incorporating that information into our search algorithms." [It's hard to say how far they have gotten in testing that versus using it across the site; often these types of musings during calls turn out to be works in progress instead of live algorithm factors. I am trying to formulate a few tests on this, though, so stay tuned!]

Enforcing Etsy Policies To Entice More Shoppers

Etsy is finally aware of the negative image it has in some circles, and is making a big deal out of how it is now enforcing the rules and removing more handmade violations. "Handmade policy takedowns are up over 120% for the third quarter" sounds great [but they didn't mention that the overwhelming majority of their takedowns - roughly 95% - are wrong, and that innocent sellers' businesses are damaged when this happens.]

Because the job of cleaning up handmade violations is so overwhelming to program bots for, they are now approaching it by trying to deactivate the most visible items first, and claim that "we've nearly cut in half the percentage of visits where a buyer comes across a violating listing." [This explains the glut of long-time sellers complaining that their best sellers have been deactivated for handmade violations. Etsy is going for the items with good quality scores first, and as I have noted, they do a poor job of distinguishing real violations from legitimate listings. Aiming to remove non-handmade items from the biggest searches etc. first is a good idea, but you would need competent programing and quick human review to do this fairly and effectively, and Etsy has neither. By the way, despite promising in late September to review all handmade bot flags within 48 hours or reinstate them, and to deindex listings from search rather than deactivate them entirely, they are still not doing that.]

One of the investment group reps said they had seen an improvement in enforcement, and asked how much it was affecting sales. Silverman replied "I'm also proud to say that we are seeing no deleterious effect to GMS from that. People don't come to Etsy wanting mass-produced product, and we're finding that as we do even more to suppress those listings on the site, the site experience only gets better." [In other news, I am not at all proud to say that the packaged snack seller who is violating Etsy's gift basket policy by selling mass-produced foods in cardboard boxes is still on Etsy, and is now a Star Seller, despite me reporting them twice in 2 1/2 years. Since the corporation isn't removing this stuff - which sells well - I am not surprised that the gross marketplace sales have not been affected yet.]

Purchase Protection and On-Time Delivery Guarantees

As shown at the top of this post, Etsy's recent changes to the Purchase Protection Plan - officially stating that eligible orders arriving after the last estimated delivery date will be fully refunded after a case is opened - are a key part of the holiday marketing plan in the United States only, even though the policy applies worldwide.

Slide 9 notes that over 98% of orders were delivered on time in the US last holiday season [but of course sellers could enter their own custom delivery windows then, which is no longer possible in the US or the UK]. The slide did not note if that included items where tracking doesn't always get updated on Etsy, such as envelopes with Pitney-Bowes labels, or services Etsy doesn't program the tracking for. Were those part of the late items, or were they not included at all? We just do not know.

[Remember, if your order qualifies for seller protection, Etsy is the one who pays the refund, not you. They've been doing this for over a year now. Of course, some countries and classes of items are less likely to quality for seller protection, largely due to shipping and tracking differences. Review how seller protection works if you are concerned.]

Advertising

One of the most interesting parts of the call was both Silverman and Glaser blaming Temu and Shein for running massive ad campaigns that were not sustainable if they wanted to be profitable. They explicitly stated Etsy may reduce the spending on Offsite Ads if the other companies are driving bids up higher than they are worth, and also said they are increasing paid social media as one way to compensate. [So if you rely on sales from Offsite Ads, watch those number in the next few months.]

Overall, Etsy spent more on marketing/advertising this quarter than the previous year, up 9% to $161 million. As part of that, new commercials will come out in the UK and the US for the holidays, while Etsy tried TV commercials in Austria and Switzerland during the quarter.

"Etsy Ads was the primary driver of [services revenue] strength as we optimized our XWalk functionality to better value potential listing conversion and pricing into our ad ranking system." [Since I don't use Etsy Ads any more, I can't test this at all. They've previously said they incorporated listing prices into the search algorithm, but my testing demonstrated little effect. This is something I will test in search again.]

Miscellaneous

Etsy alone has added nearly 1 million sellers over 3 quarters after that number being relatively flat for a year, and Silverman says they've done nothing to go after those new folks. More people selling on Etsy was attributed to economic factors [but I suspect AI availability is also involved, as the tutorials for setting up an AI-generated shop on Etsy are all over the web now. Note this increase means that while gross marketplace sales have been roughly flat this year, the average amount per seller has dropped.]

Etsy spent around $1 million covering the October bills of sellers affected by war in Israel and Gaza.

Depop had an excellent quarter; "GMS and revenue both grew double digits on a year-over-year basis with growth in active buyers sparked by strong new buyer growth in the U.S." Reverb was down a bit, but kept ahead of other musical instrument businesses.

Silverman has mentioned that Etsy isn't the first place many people think to shop for certain types of items over several different calls now. For example, "Only 12% of buyers will name Etsy top of mind as the place to shop for gifts." They don't seem to have any updated numbers showing how they've been improving that situation. [It's time to go after that "enormous opportunity", Josh!]

I wish I could report there is a light at the end of the tunnel, but just waiting for the economy to improve is probably not the best way to increase sales. Yes, economic factors are a big part of Etsy's sales stagnation, and Etsy is doing better than many of its competitors, but they are going to have to present some new plans soon if they expect to keep investors happy.

Don't be surprised if there are major site changes in 2024, because this can't continue.

[inkofamethyst]

January 2, 2024

So what defines "her"?

"her" is assertively feminine, doe eyes with a scheme behind them. "her" inserts blackness into atypical spaces. "her" is intellectual, academic. "her" is curious, ready for adventures. "her" is green, black, cream, brown (and burgundy, and goldenrod). "her" is dainty flats and hefty boots. "her" is pleated trousers and collared blouses. "her" is vintagey purses and hair ribbons.

I really like my "vision board of sorts." This was an excellent exercise in seeing what speaks to me now and being intentional about what I select in response to that prompt. Instead of a broad collection of outfits I want to copy, I think I've curated a mood that I want to emulate through symbiosis of clothes, hair, and beauty (I'm a degree-wielding biologist and can use "symbiosis" however I want, thank you). And I think that's more personal. We'll see how well I manage to reflect it. Since I'm on a savings kick I may not be able to invest much into this project until my emergency fund and travel fund are done, but I'll do what I can with the plenty that I own (maybe I'll follow the advice I gave my sister though and do a planned fun purchase <$30 once or twice a month for whimsy earrings or depop shopping). And maybe it's for the best, as it's almost never a good idea to buy new clothes after reevaluating one's style anyway.

Four years later, I believe the Cute Campaign has reincarnated. I seem to be a person of cycles, huh. From fashion manifestos to learning new instruments, certain life events seem to group together with others in familiar ways.

Ages ago I might've mentioned how I felt kind of weird about buying so many sleeveless mock necks because they were probably just a trend, but I consulted the depths of my pinterest boards to construct "her", and I now retract that statement because I've actually loved that look for years but have just never found any in stores or affordably online (not for a lack of trying). So, really, I'm just taking advantage of a trend to nab items that will likely receive years of wear and care (until I get comfortable sewing knits, that is--then it's sleeveless mocknecks all summer baby).

It does sadden me a lot that I have to leave home again, actually. I mean I'm sure living here all the time could become incredibly grating, maybe, but right now it just feels like love. I know I am loved even when I am far away from but it feels so close while I am here, like a warm blanket against my skin (as opposed to knowing that the blanket waits for me on my bed while I'm out and about during the day, just to extend this metaphor). I didn't really experience homesickness while I was away after those first few nights in my apartment, so I thought leaving would be easier this time, but it's not, not really. My new city does not feel like home, my new school does not feel like home. I hope that they do, one day. Because I hate how the last few days of being here are marred by my looming departure.

(I think that maybe part of it is a lack of community and creative outlet there. I don't have my sewing or my friends or my instruments. So I feel insular and antsy.)

The Winter King is an adult romantasy, the first I've ever read. The.. "adult" bit is admittedly new to me, uhm, so we'll see how I feel about it as I get further in. It certainly fits the angst I said I was looking for, no doubt about that.

Today I'm thankful for the absolutely darling necklace my mother gifted me to wear with the formal gown I thrifted. It's the literal perfect shape for the neckline and matches the shoes I intend to wear with the gown. Now I just need to figure out how to go about hemming the dress a few inches (...might pay a tailor to do it bc I'm scared).

Today's goals: complete alterations (2(?)), pack, redo the skirt waistband (UGHHH (the skirt is rly cute but I measured something wrong when cutting out the waistband and made it too small)), wash clothes. Maybe watch PJO. [edit: did not complete all but did complete other things and I spent a few hours shopping with my sister which was fun and I also made a simple but delicious dinner for my fam]

happy new year :)

[petrovna-zamo]

What does it mean if Katya is putting up her costumes on depop already, new costumes? Their tour ain't even finished yet.. admittedly it's only the leotard/skirt from NY and the final number.. but im too emotionally attached to this tour that I don't want any of it sold 🥺

Well, if you want to commiserate about the fact that Katya will literally touch a piece of fabric for one second and then immediately sell it on her Depop… You’ve come to the right place! It makes me so sad too. I know she loves to immediately clean out her closet to make space for the new and she’s always done this but still it stings a little. Normally I’d say get the bag sis go ahead and overcharge for the privilege to smell your smoke and sweat soaked garments but in this case (and actually all cases because I’m sad every time she’s does this) I’m like… is nothing scared?! Katya you don’t need the money please save something! I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again but in 10 years time Trixie will have a whole museum dedicated to everything she ever wore and Katya will be living in the woods without a trace to remember her by.

But if it means anything? Besides the fact that she’s definitely not as attached as us lol… No I don’t think so. She’s selling the previous versions of costumes she’s since updated and she’s done that before. Also I don’t think there will be a lot of new changes or updates for the last couple of shows since there’s only 11 left. You never know though! But it is sad that she’ll sell stuff she and Andrew/Astor Yang have made as well as pieces from drag and costume designers like Marco Marco/Dallas Coulter/Amie Sarazan… these are all very talked people and I want their work appreciated by all… but I don’t necessarily believe that means a resale is needed. The only perk is that we now know more about the clothes like the fact that she has at least two leotard versions (makes sense it’s good to have a backup). But all of this does give me an excuse to talk about the changes in the costumes she’s sold so far…

During the first leg of T&K live for the NY/NY number their dresses/leotards were a brighter pink/red sequined fabric but more high cut around the legs and they complained about it during the live pod in Austin (you can see their shapewear and after the skirt reveals they were always adjusting their outfits like it was uncomfortable) so it makes sense they updated those. The newer versions are more full coverage around the legs and are lined around the neckline. I will say I don’t like the almost silvery sheen to the sequin fabric they used this time because the dress colors look more muted? But maybe it was just what they had available. Just in my opinion the originals captured the light better in photos.

For the closing Chicago number they added the fringe to the bodysuit and gloves. 10/10 improvement. Turned cute leotards into flapper fringe mini dresses perfect for dancing. No notes.

Now for the robes they went from sequins to shiny and I think they look sleeker and more distinctive from all the other shades of red and pink they’ve previously used in the show. A+++.

The iconic Cекси outfit… loved the upgrade from the first leg to what she wore in AUS/NZ but this final version is the perfect combo of the original outfit and the more sexy update. Plus it fits better and she can move around in it more. All excellent choices here but they settled on the best for sure.

So while I’m sad about all of these original costumes being sold I don’t thing there’s anything deeper going on here besides it’s definitely ending and she’s definitely not saving anything despite all of us definitely wishing that was not the case!

If anyone has their eye on anything, especially the updated versions of the costumes, save up now and turn those notifications on because there’s a 99% chance she’ll sell them one day. Honestly there’s a lot I would be tempted to buy because I love literally everything she wears but I’d rather shes hang onto it in the off chance she wears it again. Maybe once this tour is all said and done I’ll do a full T&K Live costume retrospective and then a follow up with an in memoriam post once she inevitably sells everything…