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starsxblazing · 8 months

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Iridescence

I was listening to Iridescent by Linkin Park and all of the ideas for this AU were impossible to get out of my brain so this is what I pumped out within thirty minutes

Summary: Living in the slums of San Antonio, your train wreck of a life with your abusive boyfriend seems to be never ending. A new neighbor slowly pulls your attention towards him.

Warnings: descriptions of domestic violence, drugs, abuse, violence, description of blood and gore, death, personality disorders, depression, angst. So much angst.

Azriel x Reader

You sat in front of your full-length mirror propped on the floor, flinching when the front door to your trailer slammed shut, before examining the bruises covering your face. It had been a miracle that you had learned how to use makeup enough to cover up the evidence so that no one asked any questions. There were no longer any voiced concerns from anyone that you worked with or the only person that you had left in your life that you could consider a friend and it was a small relief.

Memories and thoughts turned over in your mind as you started the task of covering up the bruises adorning different parts of your face, searching to figure out where things went so wrong. Your relationship with James had been going on since you were sixteen and it had been tumultuous at the very least. He had always been on a downward spiral but you always kept the hope that he would be the person that you knew he had the potential to be.

His attitude had gotten even worse since the move. The small town that you both grew up in had a high crime rate that always made you afraid to do anything and there was a terrible problem with the lack of jobs. The latter was the biggest reason that you had moved to San Antonio once you had been accepted into one of the colleges here. You had been in the top five of your class, more than earning your bachelor’s degree in business. Despite your majors of finance and human resources, you struggled to find a good job in a good company.

Your two minimum wage jobs were barely enough to keep you afloat which resulted in the tiny, rundown trailer park that you now resided in. James refused to find work of his own and when he did, his employment never lasted long. It didn’t take a genius to know that he was purposely sabotaging his opportunities and making a bad name for himself but there wasn’t anything that you could do about it.

The fight that started as soon as you got off of work had lasted throughout the entire night all of the way up until he finally just left to do whatever it was that he did. You were exhausted and didn’t know how you were going to make it through your eight hours in the factory and then the retail job that you had immediately after.

Your car was just as bad as your home, nothing but a simple rust bucket that decided on its own some days to not start. Every wrong noise came from it during your commute to work and you couldn’t help but wonder just how long that it would last. The thought spiraled your depression further because you didn’t have the money to make any payments on even the cheapest of cars, unable to even afford to get any repairs that needed to be taken care of.

You forced the thoughts away while throwing on the simple t-shirt and a pair of jeans before slipping on your steel toed shoes and looking around your room, unable to linger on the many holes in the walls. The entirety of the small area constantly smelled of mildew, the leak in the roof from rain that followed the dense dry heat only making it worse by the day. What you could tell was once white carpet was now brown and littered with black spots that caused the putrid odor.

The bed, if you could even call it that, wasn’t in much better condition. The mattress, which was second hand, sat on the floor since you weren’t able to afford any form of a bedframe. You had gone without eating for almost a week simply by buying your also second hand couch that was barely usable. The small journal that was now on the floor from James’s violent outburst had been knocked from the tiny dresser and caught your eye just as you were about to leave.

As you flipped through it, your heart dropped at the list of bills and the ones that were due in just a few days. Your bank account had been drained yet again by your boyfriend and there was no way that you weren’t going to be past due. The thought brought tears to your eyes because it would only cost you even more money that you didn’t have. You cursed the horrible economy and the overpriced hell hole that you lived in.

Making your way into the small living room/kitchen combo area of your trailer, you stopped to look at the thermostat. A snort left you at the irony because it didn’t belong there. It wasn’t like it had worked since you had moved in five years ago. The common sight of a scurrying mouse from the corner of your eye pulled your attention to it just before it ran across your feet and through a hole at the bottom of the wall. A variety of roaches scattered across the walls from your presence but that was also nothing new.

Dirty dishes were piled in the sink, causing you to sigh because that had been another point of your argument from the night before. James didn’t work or contribute anything to the house. Not even cleaning. You were hardly ever there so it wasn’t like any of it was your mess to begin with. It was a never ending futile battle but it never failed to bug you at the end of the day in your exhaustion.

Your next task was searching for your phone and car keys, which had been thrown somewhere in the process. It had been hard at the time to know what he did with them since your vision had blurred at the time from where James had elbowed you in the nose. To the best of your knowledge, your keys were in the front yard somewhere but your phone was a different story. The broken window that overlooked the backyard told you enough. It was probably somewhere amidst the tall grass that was past due for a cut but your lack of a lawn mower made that impossible to do. It would die soon enough anyway since the cooler air of winter was slowly moving in.

Just as you suspected, your phone was in the damp backyard with the battery completely drained. There was also a new crack on the screen but you couldn’t be bothered to worry about it because it was too close to time for you to leave. Your keys took a bit longer to track down since there were no obvious signs of where they landed.

The sight of a moving truck at the front of the trailer next door pulled your attention away from your task, the new emotion of curiosity a welcome one. Your neighboring trailer was the nicest one in the park but it was far from being considered homey. It was a one bedroom just as all of them were and extremely overpriced for the condition that it was in. You had looked at it before moving into the one that you now lived in and it was in complete working condition, a far cry from being similar to your own.

Your gaze on the sight next door was enough to have you stumbling over the very item that you had forgotten about, nearly causing you to tumble to the ground right as someone was exiting the home. Heat rose to your cheeks when your eyes connected with the man’s across the small yards that you both had. You weren’t sure if it was because of the fact that he almost saw you fall or because he was the most beautiful man that you had ever seen.

Shaking your head to clear it, you snatched up your keys and hoped that you would make it to work without any problems.

@amara-moonlight @allygrace74 @sidthedollface2 @historygeekqueen @hnyclover @kalulakunundrum @historygeekqueen @bubybubsters @thisblogisaboutabook @mybestfriendmademe @caroline-books @justvibbinghere @wisdomofthebrain @nighttimemoonlover

#azriel x reader #azriel x you #azriel #azriel shadowsinger #azriel angst #azriel acotar

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honeybeeofficial · 23 days

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okay I know your post was about how annoying it is when people make comments about selling your craft and while I certainly can’t speak for other people I would spend mmmmh I’d say $450 on horseshoe crab bag. I have $450 in my bank account right now and would use it to buy a horseshoe crab shaped bag.

This illustrates another piece of the issue that maybe I didn't fully spell out in my post about how badly people underestimate the cost of handmade goods– which is that even when a non-crafter hears "handmade crafts are expensive," they still often don't really grasp the scale we're talking about.

When the same friend I mentioned in the original post found out that I handmade the journal I carry around, he asked if he could pay me to make him one. He said he would happily pay $15–20 for a good journal. I laughed and told him that the labor involved would make it a lot more expensive than that, and he went "oh, like… 30–40? Yeah, that might be more than I'd want to spend." …The actual cost for that journal would likely be around $80–100.

What makes me think you didn't fully comprehend my original post is that in that post, I gave a rough estimated overview of what the cost would be. I said that if I'm charging what my labor is actually worth, $615 is the bare minimum for that item, and that it would likely be more.

After updating my math and factoring in things like packaging + shipping, the "fair price" for a horseshoe crab bag comes out to $780 USD. That's with me charging $25/hr, which is less than I make at my actual job even though leatherworking is more physically taxing. I made a post about how commissions would work if anyone actually wanted to spend that much.

I'm not mad at you, anon (nor am I mad at the friend I've mentioned), but it's clear to me that the original point about how expensive handmade goods are didn't really click for you. Fast fashion and mass industrial production have really degraded our sense of how much things are actually worth, because you can get just about anything almost instantly for a tiny fraction of what it would take an individual to produce.

For the same reason, I've ruled out ever taking my graphic design career in a freelance direction– anytime I've taken a freelance project, or considered it, I get to the point where I calculate what to charge and I just wince and shy away from the project entirely… because I have a gut feeling that something like a logo "should" cost around $100–200… but when I do the math for my time, I would actually have to charge $600–1000 (for a logo! Just a logo!), and I'm just mentally incapable of enforcing that for myself day in and day out to make a living wage.

If you have 5–10 minutes, I'd recommend this exercise to anyone:

Think of a project or task you've done lately. Pick something with measurable start and end points, such as an art project, folding laundry, washing the dishes, writing an essay, etc.

How much do you think you would pay someone else to do that task for you? Write that down. This is "A."

How long did that task take you to do? Write that down (in # of hours). This is "B." Approximate number is fine.

Did that task require any special tools? What about materials? Even basic things like sponges, paint, etc. Roughly estimate the cost of all the tools and materials you used. Because you'd likely get multiple uses out of most tools/materials, divide that number by 5. Write down the new number; this is "C."

What do you think is a fair minimum wage for your area? Many people have been fighting for $15/hr for a long time, but arguably this is still too low. If you're not sure, use $15/hr as a baseline. Write that down. This is "D."

Multiply B by D. Add C. This new number is "E."

How close is E to A? I'd be willing to bet that E is quite a bit higher than A. Remember, the hourly wage you used to calculate this might not even reflect what this work is actually worth. Does this give you a better idea of what you would actually need to pay someone to do that task for you?

Not all work is quantifiable in this way, and modern technology does allow for processes to be combined and optimized in ways that won't be reflected in your process. For example, buying a single bagel would not cost $60, because a bagel shop can make lots of bagels at the same time, using the same materials and equipment. But this absolutely does apply to things like hiring someone to clean your house, do your homework, or– of course– create handmade crafts.

#lamppost #horseshoe crab #crafting

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katyspersonal · 3 months

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I played more SOTE today!! I have mixed feelings because today just happened to be pure RAGE because of my awful skill issue.. but at the same time I feel so ALIVE xD (two parter)

1) So first of all, I got back to Specimen Storehouse to finish whatever was that business with Ansbach and Freyja! She gave an interesting dialogue about how yeah honor and shit but what Radahn would actually like is to live so he could wage war forever 💀 Definitely the character of all time gghguj

2) So I decided to explore a little more of that Church District below before I continue to seek my way to upper area! Turned out that Tree Spirit did NOT die due to a bug..... but it did now. XD

And dropped edgy (literally) sorcery lol

3) NEW NAMED CHARACTER!!!!!!!

Yeah, I've been noticing that this area has Fire Knights with another variant of the head piece! I even had an idea to grind these guys for it, but I just felt as thought it'd be pointless. And I was right! This mask dropped from non-respawning enemy! So yeah, the fire zombies raising in this area were given lore, I was pleased by such amount to detail yet again 🤔

4) So I kept looking for the way back in the Storehouse, but took the turn I did NOT try to take, and ended up in that weird golden-black area on the map that has been making me curious for a while!

5) ....ъ_ъ So, I was running around, surprised by how empty it was, and even questioned whether it was pointless sort of? So I decided to just check the giant flower and.. ..... oh my fuuUCKING God.

6) So it was another time where I kept howling about how awful/unfair/hard/etc this battle was and wanted to quit except I didn't! You see, at first I was playing as usual, and the stage 2 was a surprise. But the LEVEL of my skill issue started to show up at its finest here, because I absolutely could not dodge its briars attacks and I barely managed to heal in time!

I had to die MANY times, learning from my mistakes and just trials what to do and slowly adapting.. You see, it SHOULD have been obvious that hitting the "face" was the most effective, but nope! I only figured many attempts later! Just as how """pointless""" critical hit before phase transition was not pointless at all! At least I learned to 1) block strike attack and roll magic attack 2) that I can't use magic so it'd be better to place all 14 flasks at Crimson 3) figured to summon mimic in a creative way; since it gets summoned in the equipment I had at THE moment of summon but AI can't be trusted with blocking normally, I summoned it while two-handing the weapon so it hits stronger and then got my shield back XD

7) .........

I swear, sometimes I regret not being able to stream, because y'all should have seen my reaction when it turned out that this enemy had THREE stages, not two...... :')

8) I actually died just just JUST the very last moment ;-; I screenshotted it, it is on PS for now, it was SOOO infuriating. I can't even explain how I resisted the urge to scream and throw my controller because that required inhumane willpower. But hell if I didn't feel ALIVE at that moment xD

9) AND I KILLED IT EVENTUALLY FGFGCGGB

^ Got genuinely surprised by this drop!

10) I came back at Storehouse, FINALLY, and THIS TRAITOR @val-of-the-north IS NO LONGER MY FRIEND!!!!1

I asked him about this symbol being here since as I said earlier, I assumed that the reoccurring symbol with a fire and a circle on flags and such found here and there represented Messmer and Rellana; an impression I've got because I first saw it in her castle!

....but then Val, this RAT, casually said that it is actually likely another symbol of Messmer: snakes rather than fire. And of course. God of course it makes much more sense. It is all over this Storehouse. Yes we found a shield Rellana used for the ritual to prove loyalty to the Erdtree once here, but the overlapping circles straight up coil like snakes. And yet you TRAITOR never corrected me when I wrongly assumed that the symbol of fire + two circles overlapping meant Messmer and Rellana being allies. Goddamit STOP LETTING ME LOOK STUPID ON PUBLIC *bonks you with the newspaper*

11) So after some running and collecting (got a golden spell that some Fire Knights use), I've found my way out and first ran into some really strong knight that used GRAVITY MAGIC! I attempted to fight him but like, no. Nope. So I left him for later, and Val recommended me to use 'O, Mother' gesture to finally open the secret passage to where I was actually looking.

12) And hoooo boy... I already suspected where this was going because even on the map there were depictions of Golden leaves (on the Finger Ruins) part.

It was THE spoilered area itself!

13) What instantly struck me was that I could SWEAR it had to be the exact same flowers as on the painting of 'healthy' Midra Manse. I did not have a good image as I hit it early by a mistake, so I asked Val to fetch me the image, annnnd....

Look, sure, it could simply be blue curtains and obviously just a 'normal' flora of this realm, so of course it still exists in THE one place Messmer didn't burn, but dead everywhere else. (Here because of Frenzy + no sunlight). But also Hornsent Inquisitors did bully Midra and his followers (which did lead to Frenzied Flame business), and Ymir mentioned something about Marika's roots being placed in madness? Who the hell knows anymore...

14) NOOOOO WAY, WHEN YOU GET TO THIS POINT, A FRAGMENT OF THEME OF MARIKA/RADAGON STARTS PLAYING ;-;

THE IMPACT

15) Definitely visiting this place by myself felt more impactful than simply reading/watching this part of the lore..

16) I got SO angry at the Tree Sentinel though that for the first time EVER I decided to try and fight while on Torrent! And it was so effective that it gave me an idea to not follow further today but go and get that boss' ass from earlier like this! Which was the start of a big waste of time, but perhaps I am getting ahead of myself.. -_-

(Will share in the next post because Tumblr doesn't respect the way I choose to share screenshots for the girls ( @heraldofcrow ))

#elden ring #elden ring dlc #sote spoilers #screenshots #gameplay log #sorry I am not very delighted with the idea to have my ass kicked by messmer yet #exploring optional bosses and side quests a bit for now #soon tho......

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munson-blurbs · 2 years

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Fight My Battles (Eddie x fem!reader)

Lots of angst + fluff. You’re home from college and working at the record store with Eddie. Plans get interrupted by an unwelcome blast from the past.

Warnings: allusions to sex, language, attempted assault. Contains sensitive topics. Billy Hargrove makes an appearance.

Pulling into the record store lot, you throw your car in park and take a deep breath. First days were always nerve-wracking, even if it was just at a summer job back in your hometown. New York City, where you went to college, was too vast to be personal; a stark contrast from Hawkins, where everyone knew each other.

You step out of the car and smooth down your black skirt and check your shirt for any lint. Good to go.

The bell on the store door gives a little ring as you walk in. An older, balding man--your manager, Greg--looks up from behind the register. When he sees it’s you, he smiles and waves you over. “Y/N!” he calls, “welcome!”

“Thanks!” you chirp back. “I’m a little early, but I figured you could give me a tour of the store or something.”

“Actually,” he stretches, “I have to run out real quick. My wife’s car broke down at the grocery store and she needs a knight in shining armor to save her,” Greg grins, “but Eddie would be happy to show you around.” He cracks open the door to a storage area and calls out, “Hey, Ed! Care to give the new girl a tour of the place? Show her the ropes?”

And just like that, Eddie Munson appeared at the door. You recognized him from school, you know, when he actually showed up. You two had never really talked or ran in the same social circles. He stuck with his D&D buddies, while you preferred the company of the theatre kids.

Now, he offers you a smile that makes your heart beat a little faster. “For sure. I’m Eddie,” he says, holding out his hand for you to shake. You accept it and introduce yourself.

“Y/N. I think...I think we went to Hawkins High together for a bit. I graduated last June.” you offer for context.

“Oh, yeah! You looked familiar. I just graduated this year. Third time’s the charm, I guess,” he replies sheepishly. He runs his ringed fingers through his hair. “Anyway, let’s get this tour started so you can get to work and I can get back to doing the bare minimum.”

Greg gives him a small smack to the back of the head and hurries out the door. “I’ll be back soon. Y/N, keep an eye on Eddie for me, will ya?”

Oh, that certainly won’t be a problem.

Eddie gives you a full tour: the stock room, the front end, how to take inventory, place orders, and use the cash register. All of the new information has your head spinning, and he notices.

“Don’t worry. You have any questions, just ask me. And if you make any mistakes, blame it on me.”

“Won’t you get in trouble?”

He just shrugs. “My uncle is always fixing Greg’s wife’s car for cheap. If he fires me, he’s gonna have to pay a lot of money for someone to fix that hunk of junk.” Fair enough.

A small silence stretches out in front of you until you ask, “How long have you been working here?”

“Just a few months. I needed a new gig, a legal one, and Greg was telling my Uncle Wayne that he needed someone to help with the store, and,” he punctuates with a sweeping gesture, “here I am.”

You giggle. “Here you are.”

“What about you? What brings you to Wrecked Records?”

“Needed a summer job, and it’s too expensive to live in New York City year-round on minimum wage, so, here I am.” You mimic his gesture kindly.

“Here you are,” he murmurs, then clears his throat suddenly and checks the clock behind him.

“What time does your shift end?” you ask.

“Uh,” he stammers, “half an hour ago.” “Eddie! Go home!” you chastise him teasingly.

“I’m not leaving you all alone on your first day,” he retorts. “What if you burn the place down?”

You roll your eyes and plop down on a worn leather couch. “I’ll be fine. Greg should be back any minute.” And he does come back 15 minutes later, and Eddie’s still there, reorganizing the inventory for the fiftieth time. Greg’s surprised to see him.

“Normally, I can’t even get you to work your full shift, and you’re staying late now?” he says, “Y/N must be a good influence.”

“The best,” Eddie flashes his signature grin. “See you tomorrow,” he calls as he heads for his beat-up van.

The next few weeks are filled with shifts at the record store. You’re pretty sure Eddie’s flirting with you, always teasing you and playing with your hair when the store is empty. Your favorite is Thursday nights. It’s your day to close the store. Eddie’s supposed to leave at 6, but the store doesn’t close until 11, and he waits around for you to close so he can walk you to your car. Every time, you think he’ll make a move, kissing you or even asking you out, but nothing. Just a “get home safe,” as he closes the door behind you.

Maybe you’ve been misreading his signals. Maybe he just has a flirtatious personality.

Tonight, he is in a goofy mood. He’s been having more of those since you started working at the store. He blasts Cyndi Lauper and sings along in what can only be described as a screech.

“They just wanna! They just wannaaaaa! Girls just wanna have fun!” You’re laughing so hard that tears stream down your face.

“Fuck, Eddie! You’re gonna make my mascara run!”

“You know you love my singing, sweetheart! Don’t deny it!” This only makes you laugh harder.

The song ends and you check the clock. Only 8 PM. You notice Eddie grabbing his keys from the back and raise an eyebrow.

“I’ll be right back. Just gonna grab some food. You want anything?” You shake your head, and he laughs. “Yeah, okay. I’ll get you some fries so you don’t steal mine. Again.”

“Food just tastes better when I’m stealing it from you,” you reply simply.

Eddie leaves and you hear his van starting up. There’s just one person in the store, a woman checking out some Pat Benetar records, and she leaves a few moments after Eddie does. You’re picking at your chipped purple nail polish when the bell rings. “Finally, you’re back with--” you stop, because it isn’t Eddie. It’s Billy Hargrove.

Billy Hargrove, your high school sweetheart, although sweetheart was too generous. You dated for half of your junior year all throughout your senior year until you left for college. You wanted to make long-distance work, but Billy had other plans. Other plans that involved other girls.

“Hey, college girl,” he says roughly. “I heard I could find you here.”

You say nothing, hoping he’ll get the hint and leave, but it doesn’t work. If anything, he feeds off of your discomfort.

“Since when did you get so shy around me? Don’t you remember chasing me down, throwing yourself at me like a pathetic little slut?” he sneers and finally gets a reaction out of you.

“I’M the slut?” you shout. “You’re the one who was fucking other girls for half of our relationship, but I’M the slut?”

He feigns shame, but his eyes give him away. “I know. That’s why I’m here; to get you back. I missed you, missed those perfect tits, missed how good you feel.” He goes to cup your face with his hand, but you pull away. “Don’t you remember how I made you feel? I could take you in that back room and make you feel that right now.”

“No,” you croak. “Leave me alone.”

“Aw, come on, college girl,” he drawls. “I know none of those little frat boys made you moan like I did.” He creeps closer to you until you’re backed into a corner. He places his hands around your waist and pulls you to him. You try pushing away, but he’s too strong.

“Get off of me!” you yell, but it’s useless. You pick up your foot and kick him in the shin. He stumbles back slightly but comes charging back to you.

“What the fuck was that?” he snarls and grabs your arm, tight. “Who the fuck do you think you are?”

“Stop it, Billy! Stop it! Leave me alone!” you sob. In the background, you hear the faint sound of the bell but can’t process what it means. It’s only when you hear his voice that it clicks.

“Get the fuck off of her!” Eddie drops the food, fries tumbling across the floor. He grabs Billy’s shoulders, whips him around, and punches him in the nose. Blood drips down Billy’s face, staining his teeth red.

“Oh, is this why you won’t fuck me? Because you’re fucking the Freak?” he laughs meanly.

“She won’t fuck you because she doesn’t want to, you piece of shit!” Eddie swings again, but Billy catches his arm in one hand and uses the other to punch him back. Eddie falls to the floor and Billy kicks him in the stomach.

Thinking quickly, you grab the gun from behind the counter, the one Greg keeps there in case of a robbery. Well, this wasn’t a robbery, but you didn’t think he would mind.

You aim it at Billy and scream. “Leave right now or I’ll shoot you right between the fucking eyes, you pig!” You clock his fear as he backs out with his hands up.

“I’m leaving, I’m leaving. But I’m not finished with you yet,” he growls. Exhausted, you collapse onto the ground in a pile of tears.

“Y/N! Are you okay?” Eddie runs over as fast as he can. “Well, of course you’re not. Did he...did I get here in time?” You nod, and he breathes a small sigh of relief.

“Let’s close up early. Greg won’t mind; I’ll explain it all in the morning. Then I’ll get you home.”

You shake your head. “But I drove here. What will I do with my car?”

“Leave it here.”

“Okay, then how will I get back tomorrow?”

“I’ll pick you up,” he says simply, “if that’s okay.”

You nod and rest your head on his shoulder. “You saved me, Eds. I don’t know what I would’ve done if you didn’t come back in time...”

“No, no. If I didn’t leave to get food, he wouldn’t have...” but you stop him.

“Eddie, you punched Billy Hargrove and saved me. You’re my hero. Take the compliment.” you joke lightly.

Fuck Billy Hargrove.

That’s all Eddie can think as he drives from your house to his trailer. Tonight was going to be the night he asked you out, maybe gave you a kiss on the cheek or the forehead. He was ambivalent about it, knowing you’d be back in New York soon, but he didn’t want to let the chance slip by.

And then Billy Hargrove showed up, and hurt you, and Eddie very well couldn’t just ask you out after all that. He wasn’t going to take advantage of your vulnerability.

He pulls up to the trailer and Wayne greets him with a smile. “So, how did it go?”

Eddie fills him in on the night’s events, watching as his uncle’s grin turns into a frown. “What are you going to do now?”

“Kill Hargrove?”

Wayne gives a small chuckle. “Besides that. You can still ask Y/N tomorrow. Just be extra gentle about it. Don’t want her pulling a gun on you, too.”

Eddie’s rehearsed what he wants to say, over and over again. You were still on edge the next day, but markedly less scared, so he plunged ahead with his speech. He didn’t have to work that day; he was only driving there to drop you off, so he knew it was now or never when he pulled into the parking lot.

“Y/N, I have a question. And I don’t want you to, y’know, feel any pressure to say yes or anything. But I’ll kick myself if I don’t say something.”

You twist in your seat and look at him. His hands are gripping the wheel even though the car is in park. “What’s up, Eds?”

“Do you want to go out with me tonight? I know it’s last minute, but I wanted to ask you yesterday, but then...” he trails off, not needed to finish the sentence. “I just don’t want you to think that you owe me anything because of what happened, because if you say no, I’ll still be your friend and fight Hargrove for you any day of the week.”

That gets a giggle from you. He’s about to continue babbling when you grab his hand. “Eddie,” you start, “I’ve wanted to go out with you since the moment you gave me a tour of the store.”

His eyebrows raise. “Really? Huh, no shit,” he mutters. “And here i was, waiting around like an idiot.”

You look at him mischievously. “Well, then, we’d better start making up for lost time.” You planted your lips on his, tasting stale cigarettes and black coffee. His hand snakes around your waist, pulling you as close as the van will allow. You bring your own hand up to his face and cup his cheek, giving his lower lip a slight bite as you pull away. He groans and slumps back in his seat.

“Now I gotta wait until 6 to do that again?” he whines, but he’s smiling as he says it.

“Be nice or I’ll make you wait until the end of our date to kiss me again,” you tease. You kiss his cheek as you leave. “A parting gift.”

"Try it, and I’ll sing Cyndi Lauper until you lose your mind.”

You bound into the store, well aware that Eddie can’t tear his gaze from you. It’s going to be a long shift.

#eddie munson #eddie stranger things #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson x you #eddie munson x f!reader #eddie munson x female reader #stranger things #fanfic #eddie munson angst #eddie munson fluff #angst #fluff

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allthecanadianpolitics · 11 months

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I want to second that other anon on the Brampton situation as someone who was born and raised there until I moved away at the end of 2020; yea its the fucking city planning and infrastructure that sucks. Apologies for long ass rant:

Every. Single. New house in Brampton built since before I was born has been a 3-5 bedroom, single family cookie-cutter home. Its especially obvious in the north side where all the recent development is. Every neighborhood is a labrynth, I lived in the same house for 20 years and could still get lost walking around my neighborhood cause of the damn maze-like layout AND CAUSE EVERY HOUSE LOOKS THE DAMN SAME. It takes 20 minutes on average to walk to your nearest bus stop and anywhere between 20 mins to an hour for the bus to show up. If you don't have access to a car, you're fucked.

But even if you DO have a car, there's still nothing to DO there. 90% of the city is JUST HOUSES. Heart Lake, Chinguacousy Park and Professor's Lake are like the only major recreational areas, and out of those Heart Lake is the most amount of nature left there; almost EVERYTHING is zoned for residential. Besides that, there's the big malls, and that's basically it. If you work IN Brampton, you probably either work an industrial job, or a minimum wage service job. Most 9-5 career jobs are in Mississauga or Toronto, which you then have to commute by car CAUSE THERES BARELY ANY TRANSIT INFRASTRUCTURE. I have a whole other rant about the 410 too, but at this point I'll just say it makes the 401 look like a pleasant drive.

Brampton doesn't suck cause of the people living in it, Brampton sucks because it doesn't function like a city should. And it doesn't function like a city should cause it was never designed to be more than a place to hold workers for Mississauga and Toronto when they aren't working.

Also more housing in Brampton won't help the housing crisis in the slightest, unless they're forced to be stupid affordable. New homes are easily several million, even 25yo houses are selling for over a million. Five years ago $1k/month for a 1-bedroom basement apartment was considered dirt cheap, its definitely much more expensive now. There'd have to be legislation involved to force the prices down.

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sciencetynan · 1 year

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I feel stuck in an impossible situation

I have a degree and a diploma in Environmental Chemistry which in the time since I have gotten these accreditations have become so devalued that I can barely compete for Technician positions, which I should be overqualified for.

Actual Chemist/Bachelors jobs now almost always require a Masters/Phd, or 5-10 years experience, or so many MS/Phd people are in the same position as me that they are the ones applying for lower level positions, outcompeting me.

I can’t go to grad school to get more qualified because of undiagnosed ADHD and Autism lead my GPA to tank and I have $45,000 in student debt. No grad school would accept someone with a C to C+ average, and even if I could, I couldn’t justify increasing my student debt.

I live with my parents in a rural area, making it incredibly hard for me to earn any money on a monthly basis. I don’t have the money to move to a larger town or city to network within my field or even work in a minimum wage job. Jobs are so scarce here that the only money I earn comes from blogging and the odd tech support clients I get locally (If I’m lucky I’ll get 1-2 people a week, but often no one for weeks at a time).

I just feel that I have no way out of this. And the whole time I’m stuck here I have no social life, friends or relationship and no way to do anything other than watch tv, play video games and apply for jobs.

Things could be worse. I don’t have to worry about most cost of living expenses living with my parents, but I feel permanently stuck and feeling like I’m just wasting my life waiting for something, anything to happen.

#me #Capitalism is fucked #Chemistry #STEM

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pepprs · 1 year

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ok. im going to make this post but i REALLY shouldn’t but i just am so devastated rn and need to not be alone in it and you guys are the only people i can talk to candidly about moving stuff rn for a lot of reasons. the reason im crying rn is because i just found out i made a massive error in my budget and it turns out that my net pay is barely over minimum wage and i cannot afford to live by myself. at all. unless i live off of savings in addition to income but even then that’s only going to help me for a couple months and anyway it’s extremely unwise bc i should save that money for getting a car etc etc. this is not entirely a bad thing because a) at least i can afford to… you know… live. and b) living with roommates will not be bad especially if i live with friends and/or strangers i come to be friends with. it’s just i really… i don’t know i just feel so sick to my stomach. it’s just that recent events have made it so clear to me that i need to teach myself how to live independently before i can live with other people (let alone function in the world, heal from trauma, etc.) healthily. i know it so deeply. and it can’t happen for me. this is confirmation. this is confirmation and there’s nothing that can change it. rent is too high (even for shitty apartments in the area which let’s be real most of them are… it’s too high!) and over half of my income is going to taxes and deductions and bills and student loans. i feel so hopeless

#an di still have homework to do LMAOOOOOOOOOOO as if im not having a crisis over this issue which is more important than any hw assignment #will ever be. fuck my stupid baka life but i mean it so sincerely.#purrs #delete later #again. i know even being able to consider living alone is a MASSIVE privilege and there will be joys in having a roommate especially if it’s #someone i love. but it’s going to create sooooo many more steps in this process for me and i will have to compromise my needs yet again (#even if i genuinely want to!) when what i need right now is to have as little compromise as possible. to FINALLY experience what it’s like #to live without having to share (most) things or silence myself. moving out at all is going to be huge and helpful no matter if im living #with roommates but. god god god. this feels like thinking a door is open but it’s just painted to look that way. im so sad #also btw i found out that i am not actually being overpaid im being UNDERpaid. which is a solvable problem that will be fixed this week but #even when that gets corrected i still am making a little over minimum wage so. 😃🔫

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oonyula · 1 month

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Decided to condense what I have so far for my Grand Theft Auto/Crazy Taxi crossover AU... so here it is! go girls go! 🎀🐩🍨💕💐

Don't Talk To Me Unless I've had My Morning Cup of Big City Crime!

Gus owns a taxi depot in SA and hires a few guys (Gina Axel Joe). maybe sometimes he makes some side income taking 'hot' calls (he plays getaway-driver-for-hire and makes a little extra cash on the dl and makes a lot cos he drives crazy)

cos in Gus' lore or whatever in the og arcade game, he starts driving Crazy Taxis (haha) cos ppl tip him more when he drove fucked up and fast. Then he got more crazy ass drivers to join his gang/business.

According to Axel's background, he's been a fan of crazy taxi style driving since he was a kid. Like says he was born in a taxi, etc. I think it would just be so funny and cute if in this AU he always heard of the crazy cabbies who drove as getaway drivers for the right price... seeing some of the chases online and the odd sighting in person....

In game canon, Axel also claims to have been born in a cab, that's how much he loves being a cabbie. Take that for what you will??

Axel is the newest cabbie right. He doesn't show up for calls and doesn't seem to be at the depot much. He's straight up pulling small time jobs rather than work, like robbing gas stations and boosting cars.. until Gus one day gets a hot call at some pharmacy or store, and when he picks up his eh, Client....

IT'S AXEL!!! It'd be more of a Spiderman pointing moment if Gus wasn't so pissed at this fag twink for losing him fares ajskf. This legend is his oldfuck boss who hates him because Axel is a slacker LOL

After they barely get away w their lives, screaming down the Senora Fwy and all the way into the grand senora desert they get into a huge fucking argument over Axel's work ethic and maybe he'd almost be getting his severance package as a punch to the teeth...!! If he wasn't as excited as a kid meeting Batman about his boss maybe being THEE coolest cabbie there ever was to drive a shitbox for minimum wage.

Cabbie Info

Gena and Joe are like ok whatever dude. We don't care what our boss does in his free time. They're friends in and outside of work, despite their deoffefenr social circles. But both of them have the mentality of "I just wanna get paid and do my job to the minimum." But you knowwwww...

Gena is trans and mostly cares about tuning up her car for the underground LS car meets and is roommates w Cinnamon from Crazy Taxi 2 (somewhere in Murietta Heights/Mirror Park). She LIVES to work on her car and someday wants to own her own garage. All her paycheque that isn't sucked to rent or her medication goes to her ride. She could really use the money to fund her little dream...

Joe is an average guy who's a bit of a favourite with the few regulars Gus has. He's easy to talk to, rolls with the punches, and thinks of himself as being pretty funny. He lives in the Vespucci Beach area in an apartment by himself, and when he's not working, he's doing DJ sets at the clubs around LS. He's always on the pulse of what's hot in the club scene and has a few friends in interesting places, being a niche social media micro celebrity. Joe can often be seen in the VIP booth at the most elite clubs with his friends Bixbite (Crazy Taxi 3) and Iceman (Crazy Taxi 2). The thought of getting insane clout from this crazy side hustle and being the first on a new trend is really interesting to him...

#ghoul.txt #Grand Theft Taxi #thatll be the tag for it i guess hfndnffmfmf #feel free to ask me questions or anyhthing!!!!!!! :3 #crazy taxi #grand theft auto #gta 5 #crossover au

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idrellegames · 2 years

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Hi!

First I want to say that I love your Wayfarer game! It's the first interactive narrative game I have both played and then immediately backed - the quality knocked everything else I have encountered that was not created by a professional studio out of the water.

That being said, with the expansion of the game into something bigger than you initially anticipated, would you ever consider hiring a team with the funds from Patreon or approaching a professional game publisher (e.g., Wadjet Eye Games) for assistance now that you have a couple of episodes out and a better idea of how expansive the game you want to create is?

Thank you so much for the lovely message!

To answer your question: hiring a team is a much more difficult thing than it looks like from the outside. Wayfarer is funded through Patreon, yes, but it is also my full-time job and my primary source of income. I currently do not have the funding to be able to pay team as well as myself (to be very frank and to put things into perspective - the amount I am making on Patreon barely meets minimum wage for my area).

To make the game, I need to first pay myself and ensure all my living expenses are covered as that gives me the time to write, code, manage my social media, and all the other things that come with being an indie creator. I would need to be making substantially more than I currently am to even consider hiring others and ensure that they are being paid fairly for their work. But even then there are other development costs that take precedence before something like that can happen.

At this stage, reaching out to a publisher is also not viable. Despite the amount of content available, Wayfarer is still in its infancy and a full release is a long way off. I'm not really in a place where I can negotatiate with publishers while also developing the game.

I am also not sure what a studio could offer me at this point. Writing is the thing that takes the longest in terms of development; the only way to speed up that process would be to hire a team of writers, which comes with its own complications (there's a huge difference between being a single writer working on your own and being a narrative design lead heading a team). Because of the way my process works, this is not the type of project where having multiple writers can work. Wayfarer's writing is so very much my own; I cannot see anyone else contributing to it and merging their style with mine, even if it did speed things up.

#wayfarer #wayfarer if #answered

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wasongo · 2 years

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Edit: Found someone to help me out! Thanks for the reblogs!

I put up a notice on my website for this but I'm gonna try putting out a call for help here too.

I am currently looking for people to help me format and design a KomuBak fanbook and/or a 58k illustrated novel for printing. I've got a terrible eye for font and color design and would really appreciate some help. I've never printed a book before and could use some tips.

I plan on printing a very small batch of these in memory of my late friend Eden with whom I had originally planned these projects, and who wrote the novel. She always dreamed of having The Three-Ringed Path printed as a nice book so I'm hoping I can make that a reality. As such I am not looking to make a profit from them. I plan on donating most of the digital sales of the fanbook (if any, cause let's be real there's like 5 komubak shippers out there) to charity.

I am still willing to pay or offer art/commissions for any help given (though please keep in mind that I can't pay professional hourly wages since I barely make a living wage myself), if anyone feels like giving me a hand. These two books I want to print will be a labor of love for my late friend Eden, so ideally I'd love to have someone who loves DGM or KomuBak help me with this.

Details for the books:

Novel : The Three-Ringed Path

5-9 color illustrations

58k word count

fancy cover with shiny spot gold or silver foil accents

KomuBak Fanbook

page count TBD

collection of my artwork and some of Eden's fics

simple cover with maybe some spot gloss areas

For the fanbook I want to make both a SFW and NSFW version, so if you'd like to help me with this you'll need to be comfortable with NSFW artwork.

I realize formatting a 58k novel might be very different than formatting an artbook, so if you might want to help with just one of the books and not both, that's fine.

I don't have a deadline for any of these projects, so any help given will be on your own time with no pressure whatsoever. I've put off working on these projects for nearly 3 years since Eden passed away because of grief, but I would finally like to put them together and have them printed in her memory. If anyone can help me out, even if you can only spare a few hours every month, I would really appreciate it.

If you want to reach out about this please contact me at [email protected] with the subject "Fanbook/Novel Help"

Reblogs are appreciated! I don't really run in any fanzine circles and have no idea where to ask for help with this.

#d.gray-man #dgm #fan zine #fanbook

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unknown-writez · 20 days

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Misfit Toys

Chapter One: Memories - Part Two

After that night my parents split up, maybe because of all the stress I always put on them as a kid or maybe they just weren’t right for each other. Either way my mom left Gotham with my perfect straight A sister thinking something bigger and better was out there waiting for them somewhere in the world. Guess I didn’t make the cut. I remember the day they left. I cried “Please don't go! I need you! Please! Don’t leave me!” salty tears running like a faucet streaming down my face dripping off my chin. My sister said “goodbye.” no I love you or I’ll find you just a barely audible goodbye. She didn’t even look at me as my mom pried me away from her. I held on for dear life to no avail. The result of everything being them leaving out the door without looking back. As far as my dear old dad goes he went down a spiraling black pit full of alcohol and drugs till there was nothing left of the man I knew. So I decided to leave a weight lifting off my shoulders as I threw that part of my life away. Now I live by myself. I have an apartment in a not so nice area of Gotham that I pay for with my minimum wage archivist job at the GCPD. It’s not much of a life but it’s better than where I was. Opening my eyes I squinted against the light coming into view bright at first but I got used to it. Grabbing my phone that was next to my pillow I looked at the time 7:00 AM. Good. I hadn’t overslept like I usually do. Stretching I shake away the faintest traces of my dream like memory and my thoughts before getting out of bed. Putting on a pair of green dickies and a black oversized button up as close to business casual as I can get in my wardrobe I went to the kitchen and started my coffee before heading to the bathroom. Doing the morning essentials I threw my long wavy orange and purple dyed hair into a green claw clip. Applying some quick makeup before leaving the bathroom. Afterwards, I went to my room to put on my Mary Janes. Then grabbing my bag, coffee, and keys I quickly left so that I had time to walk to work. Who pays money for a car when you live in the city? Besides, I like walking. It’s peaceful and sometimes interesting with all the wackos in this city. A person can come across some weird scenes. Not to mention the amount of friendly furry alley cats you can pet. My relaxing morning however was shattered when I arrived at work. The GCPD was in absolute chaos packed out full of circus performers. Everyone being questioned in different areas. Weaving my way through the crowds and desks I found Kris, the woman I work with right outside our department door watching it all. “What's all the hubbub?” I asked intrigued with an eyebrow raised, almost having to shout over everyone’s talking and arguing as I opened our door going into the filing cabinet filled office. Kris following behind me. “Last night Jim and Lee found a dead woman at the circus. So they brought everyone here for questioning.” She informed me as I sat down at my old brick of a computer. “Wow hot shot Jim Gordon does it again.” I said sarcastically, joking doing a little spin in my chair making the women laugh. “Speaking of Gordon, do you think you could bring this file to him? It's everything I could collect about the new case. I’m about to clock out.” she asked, “Sure thing.” I said putting my bag under my desk before getting up and grabbing the file. “Thank you!” she said hurrying out the door leaving it open for me.

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yahoodarling · 2 years

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If you had to choose one genshin male character to give yourself to like as a servant who would it be? To me thats Kaeya. Ill help him after his partols, cook him food like a good male wife and brush his hair nice and smooth for him. I dont even care if he has another love interest, he can go fuck Diluc and i dont mind being at home and cleaning as long as i eventually get some action. Hed treat me right if i was his servant which is cool but im sure hed also use me to destress and thats all im asking! Also, can i be 👻annon?

Of course you can be! Lovely to have you on board this ship on sail to the dark waters of depravity my dear!

NSFW mentions

Now we are talking! Kaeya would be such a good balance of nice and mean as a master too. Hed acknowledge your efforts, warm food on the plate, coming home to a clean home and can just relax with his pretty servant, giving you the desperate attention you so do crave, whispering sweet thanks while stroking your hair, a soft pleased look on his face. He knows the responsibilities he has of a master, he cant let you out the house (you cant get all dirty) you cant interact with anyone else (he cant have you not focusing on him), even if Kaeya already has a pretty wife, a love, someone hes dedicated himself to he knows he needs to treat his servant right and give them a little love too, that little bit of love being heated nights in the sheets as you serve to him as you have claimed your life to, using you like a cocksleeve and causing such a big mess hed refuse to clean, thats your job after all but its a little hard to do anything when your entire lower half has been spent out, unable to walk and left to simply crawl on the floor as kaeya demands you clean your filth up. Again, hes nice, he makes sure you are happy, gives you cuddles when he can and makes sure your dedication to him has its value.

In my opinion though... Baizhu, swearing yourself to the sleezy snake man, living in his back quarters, sorting leaves and papers, keeping areas clean and neat all while he smiles and helps clients at front with an innocent smile, leaving them unknowing of the pet he has waging their tail for their master. Hes another good example of kind and mean in balance, if you keep his office clean, service him right and withstand his teasing mocks hes sure to reward you with close contact sessions, boundless praise and even some feel good treatment with a few herbs hed consider using on you, however, mismange his stuff, rebel against his commands and act amock and Baizhu may need to teach you a couple lessons in manners befitting of a servant so lucky as yourself to be able to aid him, to remind you that working for him is a huge honour and should be done correctly.

I do not make the rules here, one of his punishments would be leaving you tied up hanging from the roof, unable to twist your limbs and just flail in the air bare naked for a solid 24 hours, no contact, no food, no light but hes such a caring man, he will come back, clean you of your mess, bath you and feed you and tuck you in for the night after your punishment is done. Baizhu is so nice :)

#yahooasks #x male reader #genshin x male reader #x gn reader #genshin x gn reader #dark content #kaeya #Baizhu

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2boldlyqueer · 1 year

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help a disabled queer fix their car this pride month (please!!)

Me (left) and my cute cat Cosmo (right) for attention

I am trying to raise $1500 to fix the transmission on my car, as it's currently undriveable. I have been out of work since early February due to a drunk driver rear-ending me while he was going 60mph. My family is helping me as much as they can, but it's going to take months to scrape this kind of money together without help, and until then I'm totally dependent on others being available when I have doctor's appointments. I haven't been able to go to physical therapy as often as I'm supposed to because of it, and I'm in a lot more pain because of it.

DONATION LINKS

Paypal https://paypal.me/tastreg

CashApp https://cash.app/$tastreg

Venmo https://account.venmo.com/u/TonyGo12

GoFundMe https://gofund.me/df8d4896

(If I happen to get incredibly lucky and get more than my goal, that money will go towards getting a new pair of glasses, since mine have been broken and held together by glue for two years now! TT-TT)

If you can’t give, please consider reblogging this post.

Thank you for reading!I hope you have a lovely day <3

More detail below the cut if you want it:

The Car

The transmission on my car is failing, and I can't drive it without fear that it'll give out any moment. There have already been a few scary moments where I thought I was going to be stuck in the middle of the road. I was able to get to the mechanic and get a quote, I need $1500 to fix the issue. (And that was before a second issue popped up on the way home, so it’s possible it’ll be more.)

Where I live, it's impossible to get anywhere without a car, so I'm really stuck and relying on the kindness of others to get me to my doctor's appointments, since I also can't afford taxis, plus Uber/Lyft don't service around here. This has already caused issues, as I've had to cut back on my physical therapy appointments due to not being able to get to them, and I've been doing a lot worse since then.

My Health & Monetary Situation

I've been unable to work since early February, as I've been recovering from a major accident, where I was rear-ended by a drunk driver. The car I had then was completely totalled; thankfully his insurance paid out just enough to get another cheap, used car. I've been dealing with major pain and health issues since. Pain and spasms in my hips and legs make it difficult to stand, sit, or walk for any amount of time. Multiple vertebrae throughout my spine are out of place, which cause a ton of constant pain and unpredictably variable numbness that makes my arms and hands useless when it happens.

My work prior to the accident involves a lot of lifting and carrying, as well as repairs that require full control of my hands, so I haven't been able to return to it. I've actually picked up a new job remotely tutoring due to monetary needs, but it doesn't offer much in the way of hours and is difficult with the on-and-off brain fog and fatigue I've been experiencing since the accident. I'm in the process of being assessed for post-concussive syndrome because of that and new difficulties with language & numbers (which are driving me up the wall, I love writing and now I have to really work at it. This thing took me multiple days to write out when normally it would've taken me about half an hour.)

My credit cards are all maxed out from my last health crisis in 2021 and my credit score is too low to get another credit card right now. I'm just barely scraping by on lost wages from insurance and help from my family. Unfortunately, they can't support me any more than they already are, as we’re all straddling the poverty line and live in areas with high costs of living. I do have a civil suit pending against the man who hit me, but I don't expect that to resolve for at least a few months.

Thank you so much if you took the time to read all that. I really hope you consider donating -- even a dollar will help! Whether you donate or not, please consider sharing, it would really help me out. I hope you have a wonderful day! <3 To reward you for reading all that, have another cat pic :3

#mutual aid #donations #please donate #signal boost #please signal boost #help

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