#i can’t get there at 7am and be ready for 8 hours of customer service.

[lavender-femme]

I deserve someone who will stick around when things get hard.

[siren-virus]

There's some stuff that has been going around in my head regarding Luckuboy!AU, so I'll just dump everything here and see how you might adapt/change/evolve some of these ideas, or don't use any of them since that's perfectly valid too and it's your au, not mine :3 anyways, this is a long idea that can be divided, so I'll do just that and make a paragraph for each sub-idea.

1) Ben's daily schedule: Ben most likely has a morning schedule in the coffee shop, and as such he would get to work early, now idk how they work, but I imagine Ben's day to day life would go something like this: Ben's alarm goes off at 7:00, he wakes up and leaves bed at 7:15, breakfast and shower before arriving at work at 8:00 (do shops open at 8:00? 8:30? idk :V), keep working until 16:00 with lunchtime tucked in the middle, hang out with friends/relax/naps until 20:00, start his own vigilante work until 2:00, where he goes to sleep and repeats. If his patrol is slow then he would go home earlier to sleep more, if it's hectic and he doesn't get enough sleep, then the afternoon/evening would be used in powernaps.

2) Ben the info brooker, I imagine that Ben would eventually get to know a lot, and I mean A LOT, of information about everyone and everything important that's going on in Undertown (which, considering the situation of Earth and the Plumbers, is probably the only alien world center, would be everything), and when he hears of someone having some kind of trouble, he gives them a nudge in a certain direction for them. Eventually word gets out that there's a new information brooker in town that has scarily accurate info, he works at a coffee shop and you better give him a big tip if you don't want some of your info to get out fast (how real this info is nobody knows, and since Ben hasn't heard of it he can't correct them)

2.5) One day Argit appears and asks for a coffee under a different name, when it's ready Ben calls for him (he used a fake name) and writes with an alcohol marker on the cup "Argit", scaring the hell out of him. "How did you know?" "I'd be shitty at what I do if I couldn't recognize you *wink*", then he tells him that as long as they do nothing dangerous near him he won't tattle him and Kevin to the Plumbers, or worse, Gwen. "Don't you dare" says Argit aghast, "Try me bitch" answers Ben grinning, almost double daring him into doing something dangerous only so he can call his cousin and set up a date

3) The coffee made in the shop is delicious, caters to every species needs, alergies, likes and dislikes, and everyone agrees that the place is the best of the best in the whole world for these reasons and more; thus the shop has been a tentative neutral zone for years, however the lack of "people" (idk what word to use that captures everyone, human or alien) that knows how to fight there has severly dampened the opportunity of it becoming one. Cue Ben beggining to work there, in the beggining it's nothing special, he's just a human who makes good coffee and is surprisingly charming, come a few weeks and months and everyone starts noticing how he's the infamous information brooker that has been the talk of Undertown, thus gathering a bit more attention. Eventually someone (Plumber, civilian, villain, whatever you choose) is more rude to him than needed and tries to get some info from him, even if it's by force... Ben decks him, like, he kicks their ass, defenestrates them, break a chair on them and hands them unconcious to the closest Plumber, bleeding and all while still being intact himself. Everyone glares in awe at the show of badassery and oficially the coffee shop becomes the new true neutral zone, where everyone can get coffee, exchange information and form unlikely friendships. Whenever someone tries to mess with the shop, if Ben isn't present, is busy or it's too much for him, everyone else, Plumber, villain and civilian joins him in defending the shop and getting rid of the nuisancess that mess with the shop.

4) With all the info that Ben gets both as a barista and as a vigilante, one would think that he would give everything out as long as you paid the prize, but surprisingly he has a strong code that he never breaks. If he EVER learns that a piece of information he has with himself is considered confidential, then he'll never speak about it with anyone, no matter how much they offer to pay him. He can't answer for the ones who talks about this info in the shop without saying in any moment that the info is supposed to be confidential, he can't read minds, but everyone catches on fast on this, and some say the keyword when talking in the coffee shop. However many still forget about it once in a while, since the calm atmosphere of the shop is too powerful and slip up often happen. Still Ben can't be blamed, how is he supposed to know if some piece of info is confidential if no one ever says it is? Again, he's not a mindreader nor a telepath.

5) Any info on his vigilante persona he never gives out, however it's not because of not wanting to give out any of that info, but rather because another part of his code is "If I haven't heard people talk about something, then I don't know information about it. All my info is second hand, so unless someone else already knows about it, I won't know about it". That can come in very handy considering the surprisingly little info there is about his vigilante persona out there, despite how famous he kinda is. This more often than not drives Jimmy mad.

Love brainstorms, hate the alien.

1) Most cafes open at 7am from my knowledge, 9am if you're in a sleepy town, so it'd be more like a 6am wake up, optional breakfast- (who eats breakfast these days?), straight to the cafe around 7ish to help with cleaning and setting up for the day.

This cafe is more of a 24/7 place. With 24/7 breakfast! (don't you hate it when places stop doing breakfast at a certain hour?)

Apart from that love what ya got there.

As for the vigilante side, he starts whenever is easiest, it's all dependent if things are hectic or not. Sun goes down roughly 7PM (pretty late I know, but where I live (during summer at least), sun won't go down til 9PM). Sometimes he finishes at 2AM, sometimes a few minutes before work (Incoming animatic!)

2) Love everything about that too! I'd like to think Ben has no idea about it at first, he just notices some days the tip jar is fuller than others. He chocks it up to his charming personality. But eventually he catches on.

Another thing to add, at some point if people wanted to get info from Ben they'd order a "whipped caramel latte with icing sugar, honey, and salt" (gross) Ben has no idea of this, but the weird amount of customers ordering that and asking for intel, kinda makes him think about it.

2.5) This!! good shit right here! Except, you can't call a customer a bitch, trust me... Karen's and Kevin's exist in all shapes, sizes and forms. So Ben uses the kill them with kindness, customer service attitude.

Additionally, sometimes Kevin, although rarely, comes by, hovers around the counter. He'll order a coffee and glare at Ben until, he gets his attention.

"You staring at me for a reason?"

"I need to know about Gwen 10."

Of course, at this Ben would grin devilishly and respond with, "Oh, you wanna take her on date? She loves sappy romance movies, she's also a nerd, so get her a math book instead of flowers."

That always shuts Kevin up, makes him leave most occasions.

3) Everything about this is just!!! Love it. Wouldn't change a thing.

4) Yes yes!!Sometimes, a customer will demand classified info (those that aren't initiated to how the cafe works). When Ben refuses to squawk this can lead to some shouting from a customer sometimes, which leads to a coworker, or a regular shoeing the nasty customer away. Ben can hold his own against most people, as a human, but sometimes they're just a little too big or a little too tough to be able to defend himself against.

5) I like that a lot too.

I also like to think that sometimes, if Ben wants to mess with someone, especially Jimmy. He'll slip a piece of information out that no one else knows.

"I heard from a plumber, that the vigilante guy likes smoothies- specifically [insert favourite smoothie flavour of the week]"

Cue Jimmy buying several of that smoothie to try and lure Luckyboy (still haven't thought of a namee!!!) out. It works, and Ben gets free smoothies almost every week.

This could backfire immensely though.

Woo, sorry about the delay there, been working a few shifts. Work is kicking my ass as usual...

[fuck-customers]

This is a bogo deal with customers making me want to rip my hair out! Happened about a month or so apart, but they’re at the same retirement community where I’m the dishwasher. As a side note: do the residents count as customers if they live there?

On the weekend, it’s just me and the morning chef until the closing chef gets in around noon on Saturdays and 11 on Sundays. On Sunday, the chef would fill the three carts first before having me serve the residents that eat in the dining room. This wasn’t a problem until things were a little slower than usual and I was behind in serving the residents. I was going as quickly as I could, but I can only move as fast as the chef. Some of the residents were getting annoyed and saying stuff like how their food had finally gotten there. And I get it, I really do! But it’s only me serving 11 people, and I can only bring out one tray at a time. After breakfast, I told the chef we couldn’t do it that way anymore and he agreed. Then, these two caregivers that I don’t much care for came down about a resident that apparently hadn’t gotten any food. At that point, breakfast was cleaned up and we had no food. I told them this, and they both started yelling at me about how the resident had diabetes and she filled out a menu so why didn’t she get her food. I’m still frazzled from serving and having one of my favorite residents be disappointed in me, so I raised my voice to tell them I was only the dishwasher and they needed to talk to the chef. Later, the more bitchy of the two caregivers came to get coffee and said she thought it was funny how I’d told them I was only the dishwasher. I nodded and made some non-commitsl noise in place of snapping at her that I was serious when I said that and that if she’d done her damn job, and gotten the residents menu when we’d asked, that wouldn’t have happened. I almost cried in the walk-in I was so stressed and shocked at how quickly my job could feel so thankless.

Here’s the second one, in which I almost called a resident an asshole to his face. We serve breakfast from 8-9, and if the resident comes down at 11, we can’t legally serve them their food because it’s been out too long. So, this one resident comes down at 11, and I bring him some coffee and tell him that we don’t have the breakfast food out anymore, but I can bring him some cereal and milk. I’ve already made 3 trips to and from the kitchen at this point, for his coffee, his menus for tomorrow, and to ask the chef what we can do for food for him. The resident won’t give me a straight answer and starts spouting shit like: “you’re getting paid, I’m just a slave here.” “Why do they get breakfast and I don’t?” And the one that really made me want to bite his head off: “go act like you work in a kitchen and bring me some food.” Like, sir, I am here from 7am-730pm. I am getting paid because I work 12.5hrs and then take an hour bus ride home in the dark. I am good at my job, and all you have to do is come downstairs before 11! We’re not asking a lot here. It’s not my fault that he was too lazy to come downstairs for breakfast. I was also in the middle of getting ready for lunch while he was giving me the run-around and treating me like an idiot. I can do service-with-a-smile no problem, and all I ask in return is to not be treated like an idiot, and blamed for something that’s not my fault or my problem. Thankful for the mask and face-shield so he couldn’t see me gritting my teeth and frowning.

These would have felt worse if my coworkers weren’t such nice and lovely people. I love where I work, and it’s hands down the nicest, cleanest, and most well run kitchen I’ve ever worked in. At my other two restaurant jobs, incidents like those above would’ve given me an anxiety attack and ruined my whole day. But now, I can dramatically throw my hands up once I get back to the kitchen, and the chefs and other dishwasher will agree with me and we can all laugh about it. And, even with those two less than stellar things, I really do like all the residents that eat in the dining room, and they all seem to genuinely like me, too.

[osnapitzwei]

BLK Cosmetics Face Stack multi pot Review

Skin type: Oily with large pores and textured skin

Complexion: Fair, neutral undertone

PRODUCT CLAIMS

SMUDGE-PROOF; Foolproof formula doesn't budge nor smudge

INTENSE PIGMENT; Stark pigment delivers dramatic color

LONG-WEARING; Literally lasts all day and night—no need for touch-ups!

Hey dudes and dudettes! Here’s my own review of the BLK Cosmetics Face Stack Multi Pot line. I got Tan Lines, Room Service and Wanderlust. I didn’t get Jet Setter, Staycation and Pool Party because I wanted more OOMFPH for a highlight on my face, even though I’m oily enough to achieve that glow alone. Pool Party’s shade isn’t really my thing, sorry. I personally don’t enjoy vibrant colors on my skin but hey, if vibrance is your thing, I applaud you for rocking it because I can’t. So I tested these products with a base product, I used Face Republic’s Perfect Cover BB Cream, together with their Super Sunscreen Sun Gel SPF 50+ as my moisturizer/sunscreen/primer. I wanted to try it on bare face IF ONLY I looked as good as their models and if I’m not insecure enough LOL!

DISCLAIMER I am no professional makeup artist, I am just a makeup enthusiast and a skincare junkie who loves to review products. I am not affiliated with the brand, I am only a consumer testing out these new products purchased with my own money, for those of you with the same skin type or complexion as mine, to see if it works for me then it might work for you too!

So let’s start!

Tan Lines - 8/10

Okay for light-skined gals, it only gives a very subtle cheek contour but forgiving when used on the nose line. I used it to contour my forehead as well and it looks okay, I mean a five-head’s still a five-head but the contour is there. I could skip the cheek contour with this and I could get away with just the nose and the forehead snatched. But I also think it needs more warmth because it’s too cool that it might look ashy on morena gals.

Room Service - 10/10 Fave shade!

Works really really well for overall - eyes, cheeks and lips. Perfect shade for a drunk blush look. It is matte and it lasts long on the cheeks. I did a wear test from 7am to 5pm, a good 10 hours and even let my oils come through. It definitely faded on the lips as you eat but you can always do a quick retouch with it since it is what it’s marketed for; always ready for on-the-go makeup and retouchés. (Yes, I made it sound fancier)

Wanderlust - 9/10

It gives me Nars Orgasm vibezZz but a cream type because of its shade. It has micro gold glitters so expect that it has just a little bit of shimmer to it. I wouldn’t recommend using it on the cheeks of you have large pores like me, the shimmer will definitely emphasize textured skin though it is great used on the eyes. It slightly creased on my oily lids and it’s still there throughout the day.

Packing - 9/10

Such a great concept, though if they wanted it to be more eco-friendly and totally reduce plastic packing, I hope they will soon release and sell it in pans for replacement in case we hit pan so we won’t have to buy the magnetized plastic packaging again. The magnet holds on pretty good just don’t drop it, it will definitely fall apart. The pan size of the product is small, I wish they had made it bigger

Price - 9/10

For 299 you get 2 grams of product

399 with the lid

I really love the idea of BLK Cosmetic’s Face Stack Multi Pot since I’m one of the dudettes who is always on the go and as much as possible, I would like to lessen my makeup ritual from a 2-hour full glam to just a 15-30 minutes BLK-ed look. NEWSFLASH: They really are smudge-proof, intensely pigmented and long-wearing. By the way, I prefer using them with a brush instead of using my fingers because yes, I’m THAT maarte, and you never know the germs that might go to the makeup and to your face. I might use my fingers when there comes a time that I really don’t have much of a choice but I will make sure that I washed my hands and used my 99.9 percent of alchohol, 70 percent will do but y’know I’m THAT bxtch LOL! You may purchase BLK Cosmetics Face Stack Multi Pot at any SM stores and makeup outlets/online stores that I know of such as BeautyMNL, Shoppe and Lazada. Grab yours now and customize your own personal on-the-go Face Stack!

www.blkcosmetics.com.ph

[adultingrefs]

sometimes days are just shit

so i worked 47 hours in 6 days last week (with no overtime or break, technically legal because of the way Lowe’s splits up its weeks) and my foot ended up hurting because of it, and i was exhausted. I spent most of yesterday in bed so I could function this morning. 

i have no one else to blame that I stayed up way too late for my 6 o’clock wake-up time and the i didn’t do my laundry. but i wake up and i’m still exhausted right? step out of bed and right onto my microphone stand. it gives me a blood blister on my already-injured foot. it’s shower day but I don’t have any clean clothes to change into and i’m somehow pressed for time anyways. i forgot to take the garbage out last night so i’m have to do that as well, and the wood i’ve recently foraged is in the way (again, something i have no one but myself to blame for).

i’m cold. i throw on a sweater (I later find out it’s got dirt all over it). it’s raining outside. i don’t have my umbrella because i brought it inside for some reason. i have a broken umbrella in my car. i have to go back inside to get a trekking pole to help me make it through a 9 hour shift. i can’t find the umbrella because why the fuck would i hang it back up where i’d look for it. 

so i’m exhausted and in pain but i make it to work on time and ready to work. and i’m not in a great mood but i’m trying. i get sent upstairs on my first break to continue computer training. i can’t really focus on the words but i’m trying. i make it to lunch with all of the computer stuff done and then just a few walking around activities to do. I ask an ASM if i really need to do every single square of the busywork (because I know my coworkers didn’t) and she said yes. okay whatever. i keep going. 

i’m about like 1/3 through when i run into the Operational ASM and approach her to fill out one of the squares of the busywork. She looks at my pole and was like “okay what’s with this” and I was like “um my foot hurts” and she was like “why” and i was like “uh because I worked 47 hours in six days” and she was like “how” and now im like ??? this isn’t something new for this store i’m pretty sure. like “okay i can’t have you on the floor with something like that without a doctor’s note or with you going through accommodations.” and then she starts asking me questions about my training. i can’t really answer because i’ve been caught off guard and i’m shocked and upset and confused. and then she escorts me up to the computers to look at my training.

she then said “okay just go home once you’re done with all the computer stuff. also you said you had open availability and could work all the hours so what’s this?” and just. i had already told my scheduling manager not 2 hours ago that I can do 32 hours max instead of the full 39. and just because i have open availability doesn’t mean i’m available to work myself to death. i should also note that open availability was pushed on me because I don’t want to work Sundays because of my religious beliefs (in which every person should have at least one regular full day of rest a week, typically set aside for holy shit, e.g. commandment #4 from the 10 commandments), but I ‘have’ to be able to work both Sundays and Saturdays. I now have accommodations for my services on Sunday but that’s it.

so i was sent home for my mobility aid. i want to know when I was supposed to get a doctor’s note or accommodation between Saturday 7pm and Monday 7am?? also i’m not allowed to call out. Calling out without sick time accrued is an occurrence. I’m only allowed 3 occurrences in a year period. but apparently sending me home like that doesn’t count as an occurrence. I want to know why I can’t have a mobility aid that in nowise affects my work. like it wasn’t “if you are in pain and would like to go home, you can do that” it was “because you apparently can’t function without this aid, you have to go home.” if I had fucking known i was allowed to call out, i would have. I’ve been talking myself into going to work because I need the job because I need the money. but i can’t just call out when i’m feeling a little overworked because I only get 3! fucking! occurrences! and then i have no job! 

i like the work & people at work. i just don’t like being worked to death. i’ve done everything right, been on time every day, and learned quickly. according to both manager and customer, i am a fucking excellent cashier. i got to work today and was doing what i was supposed to be doing.

anyways i stumble through the rest of my computer training because now i’m crying. i clock off, get my shit, and go home. i wish people wouldn’t ask me if i’m okay or what’s wrong. 

when i get home, i eventually take a four-hour sleep because i’m fucking exhausted from work and now from crying. i wake up and wander into the kitchen, then ask if i can have some of my sister’s expensive Easter-present apple juice (martinelli apple juice, which i got her, which is $8/gallon). she says yeah of course. i pull the jug out. i immediately drop the jug on the ground and it breaks, flinging a gallon of apple juice all over the floor. i just wanted some fucking apple juice.

after cleaning up the apple juice (or soaking most of it up with every available towel, anyways, the floor is still sticky af), my older sister goes and fetches a new jug from the store. (now we’re $16 in this.) she brings it to me and puts it on my bed and i’m like “haha you’re goign to leave me with the juice i broke last time” and she was like “lol yeah.” she turns around, i start to open the apple juice. it spurts all over my leg and bed.

i got my apple juice but now i have no sheets to sleep on. the apple juice, for the record, is tasty, but idk that it’s worth an arm and a leg for all this trouble. i’m so tired. and im crying again. i hate crying.