"Wrong one, Nanami-san!"
Welp guess who the cat done dragged back out of hell and outta her shell. Quick lil post, and yes I did just get braids.
Rating: PG | warnings: cursing probably, one asscheek squeeze, poorly edited
introducing Bambi, my newest reader stand-in
"Wait, you said you took zelle?! I didn’t bring cash.” Bambi looked back at the woman, bewildered. It was 3:40 pm, and she had been in the small braiding shop since 7:30 am. Her head hurt, her leg started cramping, her stomach been growling since noon, and her ass was numb like she got injected with novocaine on both cheeks.
The struggles of being a bad bitch.
“No, no, no. my sister does zelle, but she is not here. I only do cash.” As she spoke through with accented tongue, the braider had begun retracting her hands, resting the tools of her trade that had been working non-stop all day. Bambi could feel her irritation grow. As much as this whole situation peeved her off, she would be damned if she returned home with half her hair done.
“Okay, lemme call my boyfriend. He’ll bring the money.”
“Okay, honey. Call him now. I take break now.” Bambi nodded, getting out of the worn stylist chair to get her blood circulating while her fingers tapped on the phone screen. The call was brief, all she had to do was ask for him to stop by with the money. A question from him had Bambi call out to the braider, who had moved to the front of the shop to check in with her family and other clients.
“Gena? What time will we be done?” The woman paused her vivid storytelling to respond to Bambi.
“Two more hours. Remy, come help me finish and we’ll leave after. Okay?” Called to attention, a little girl no older than 12 removed her earplugs and put down her iPad.
“Okay, momma.” Bambi relayed the message to the receiver, smiling, and pressed the red end button when he promised he would personally come to deliver the money.
“He coming with the money, hunny?”
“Yes.”
“Good, good. Okay, let’s finish.”
Two hours passed torturously, her focus spit between pressing down on whatever braid was being tugged on to relieve pain and prevent her follicles from getting ripped out, and watching the foreign romance drama playing on the mounted tv via the mirror’s reflection. In the two hours, Bambi watched with envy and scrunched nose as two of the seven other clients leave, the scent of hairspray and small drips of boiling water showing their trail.
“Stay still, hunny.” With a minute nod, Bambi did as she was told, steam licking the fine hairs of her ears and neck. “Almost done. Where is your boyfriend?”
“He’s-” the sound of the old bell above the door being ringed silenced Bambi. Call her crazy, but she likes to think her senses were acute when it came to her boyfriend. She could tell by the summer breeze that filled the room he was in the room.
“Bambi?” Yuji’s upbeat voice reached all the way to the back where she, Gena, and Remy were stationed.
“Here.” He followed her reply into the back, pushing beads that separated the front from the back out his way. He gave a soft smile, in awe of seeing her in such a state. It wasn’t often anyone got a glimpse of her primping and preening. Most of the time the group only got the end result, hair and accessories already perched in place. The Bambi in front of him looked vulnerable, unease written clearly in her expression.
“Who do I give it to?” he looked at the other two people in the corner, fighting the muscles in his face wanting to keep his expression neutral.
“Gena.” Without hesitation, Gena got up from the chair, hand out, ready to accept her payment for almost twelve hours of labor.
“Thank you. Your boyfriend is very handsome, Hunny.” Gena quipped as her fingers ripped open the sealed envelope.
“He’s not him, Yuji, where is Nanami?” She could feel young eyes peep up to her, to Yuji, towards the front, before refocusing on dipping the ends of the braids. Remy’s mother gasped, done counting her payment.
“Too much! Almost ten thousand.” She uttered, mind frazzled at the amount in her hand. Bambi gave a scrupulous glance at the braider before looking at Yuji, who had turned a soft pink.
“I’m sorry, give me one second!” Ripping the money out Gena’s hand, the young man flounced back to the front, ringing the bell as he opened the door to talk to his boss.
“Wrong one, Nanami-san.” The occupants of the shop went hush, waiting on how the mysterious man that had been pacing back and forth like a predator, talking swift and curt on the phone, would respond. A few still chirped on though.
Bambi heard the bell ring once again, ignoring the whispers between mother and daughter trying to speculate who the hell was in their shop. Bambi liked Remy’s guess of ‘conman’ the least. Nanami would never do something so lowbrow as conning.
That was her territory.
He came in with the next gust of wind, trenchcoat flowing behind him like a cape. The conversations come to a full halt then, all the patrons and workers fixated on his simple movements. Bambi swore even the beads moved out of the way for the man as he crossed over to the back, the phone still pressed to his ear, the ticked-off expression he wore morphing into a fonder one. He tapped the mute button on the screen to address the room.
“Sorry, ma’am. My mistake.” He said nothing more, producing a new unopened envelope for Gena. This package was noticeably less dense. Just as she accepted her payment, Remy squeezes the last of the boiling water out of the fibers of synthetic hair. Bambi can’t control the groan released from her spirit.
Yuji followed his boss back in and was about to offer a hand to help her out of the chair until Nanami gave him an unreadable expression. She got her boyfriend’s hand instead.
Bambi smiled cheerily as he gently pulled her out of the chair, raising their joint hands towards the yellowed fluorescent lighting. He looked at her like a king does his god. Her long braids flew behind her when she fell into his embrace. Letting go of her hand, Nanami wrapped his arm around her waist, securing her to him.
“Absolutely stunning.” His low tone sent shivers down her spine. Already she could feel skin melt and stick to his aura. He didn’t care about the others in the room with them, he only had eyes for his Bambi.
“Thank you,” Swallowing the lust in her throat, Bambi turned to Gena and her daughter. “Thank you, see ya’ll next time.”
“Okay, hunny. Goodnight.” Gena spoke automatically, her focus refusing to move from the stack of money in her hand. It was still twice as much as she charged. She didn’t even attempt to cover her daughter’s eyes or admonish the couple when Nanami gave a quick but strong squeeze to his girlfriend’s ass.
“Let’s go. I have to make another stop and get a new envelope and-” The voice on his phone increased its volume, reminding everyone he was on a call. Kissing Bambi’s gleaming forehead, he mouthed a sorry as he pressed the mute button again.
“Yeah, I’m here.”
Bambi waved as she left the shop, happy to be free from the pain and suffering. The door hadn’t even closed all the way when she heard the explosion of conversation they left in their wake. She turned to Yuji and poked him in the cheek, right under his scar.
“Make a stop at Whataburger, yeah? I’m craving a shake.”
“Sure thing, boss.”
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Since it is world book day, I thought I would share once again one of my most heavily annotated, scrapbooked, lived in books- Good Omens.
I usually scrapbook inside my books, but this one is the only one that has things in almost every single page. These are just the pages with double spreads.
To the book that saved me and to Terry Pratchett and @neil-gaiman , thank you 🥂.
I did add some image descriptions. So you get some clues about all the things I put in each spread.
(Because someone asked in the tags: “how can you read it? Reread it??”
Well simple answer: this edition,like many others, happen to have black pages with just the days of the week printed on them, which I left visible, and plenty of empty spaces where I glue/draw everything else, so nothing is covered at all. Plus having so much stuff inside has actually made it easier to open. )
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New stuff in the Portland Button Works Spiral House Shop December 6, 2023
Candy Colored Cauldrons! Blue, Green, Pink, or Red!
Mini Candle Holder with Finger Ring
Conjuring the Commonplace: A Guide to Everyday Enchantment & Junk Drawer Magic by Laine Fuller and Corey Hutcheson of New World Witchery Podcast
Lighting the Wick: An Intuitive Guide to the Ancient Art and Modern Magic of Candles by Wright and Leanne Marrama
Goblin Mode: How to Get Cozy, Embrace Imperfection, and Thrive in the Muck by McKayla Coyle
Slingshot #138 Winter 2023 (FREE! Just pay shipping)
Myth & Lore Zine Issue 7: Witches, Warnings, & Windershins
Witches on Film Zine from Myth & Lore
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Realized that in my Immortality Speedrun AU, even though Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing likely wouldn't have had the opportunity to get thrown from Heaven since they'd be working overtime at their posts, Ao Lie very much would still have the opportunity to land himself on death row as a prince, so.... Sun "An enemy of Heaven is an ally of mine" Wukong gets a roommate for buddy comedy reasons
[ID: 1. An illustration of Ao Lie and Sun Wukong. Ao Lie is in his princely attire, but notably disheveled. His green outermost robe is hanging half open, with burnt and ripped hems. The red sash at his waist is hanging in tatters as well. His hair is loose down his back and he's holdining a sword in his right hand. Sun Wukong is in his human disguise, wearing an open checkered daoist's robe. His white inner robe is not tucked into his pants and a red dudou is peeking out from underneath it. He's staring at a book in his left hand while chewing on a piece of willow, his right hand scritching his chin thoughtfully.
2. A sketched comic, with Ao Lie in teal and Sun Wukong in orange. In the first panel, Ao Lie bursts into a cave in a rush.
In the second panel, Sun Wukong is sitting on the floor of the cave next to a table, looking at Ao Lie at the cave's entrance. SWK says, "Uh. Hi? This cave is already occupied."
In the third panel, Ao Lie attempts to pull otu his sword in surprise, crying out "Stay back!" before he's interrupted by Sun Wukong casting a freezing spell "定!".
In the fourth panel, Sun Wukong has a cheerful but annoyed facial expression as he approaches the frozen Ao Lie. He says, "LOL Nice try, punk- Now what the hell are you doing in my cave?", then, "Wait a min-".
In the fifth panel, Sun Wukong is looking up at Ao Lie with a surprised and incredibly amused expression, exclaiming, "Wait- You're the Ao kid who managed to set his father's palace on fire underwater!". Ao Lie looks back at him with a tense expression, saying, "Please don't tell me you're gonna hand me in." To which Sun Wukong replies, "Hell no I won't!"
3. A sketched comic, again with Ao Lie in teal and Sun Wukong in orange. In the first panel, Sun Wukong is reading some plans in the foreground and Ao Lie is in the background. Sun Wukong says, "Xiao Long, could you head out and fetch me some lingzhi? I'm fresh out.
In the second panel, Ao Lie responds, "I'm a prince who has an active warrant out for his arrest, and you're just some rogue brewing illegal immortality. Wouldn't it make more sense to go out yourself?"
In the third panel, an unimpressed Sun Wukong presses a basket to Ao Lie's chest. Sun Wukong says, "I've got arrest warrants for crimes you wouldn't even imagine. Plus, it's my magic and my cave keeping you hidden, so pull your weight, Princey." Ao Lie rolls his eyes and has his hands up in a mock defeated pose. End ID]
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