starter blog

“ ooh  ,  that  is  so  not  your  color. ”  words  fly  into  the  air  like  a  full  on  rainstorm  ,  sweeping  over  new  york  without  a  single  drop  of  warning.  she  can’t  stop  it  anymore  than  she  can  stand  in  horror  that  inner  monologue  has  been  left  to  drop  upon  stranger’s  ears.  “ sorry—  unsolicited  advice  is  almost  as  bad  as  a  dick  pic. ”  humor  masks  absolute  mortification.  poorly  but  ..  enough  that  she  can  take  a  step  back  to  examine  the  bigger  picture.  since  she’s  already  started  ;  “ here. ”   flash  of  hands  through  the  air  ,  plucking  different  color  but  same  style  and  silhouette  off  the  rack  without  second  glance.  “ totally  going  to  leave  you  alone  now  ,  but  just  …  humor  me.  promise  you’ll  love  it. ”

savannah is on her third shirt of the night. the first one having fallen victim to drunken spills and the next to an unfortunate run in with one of the patrons of the bar. she's over this shift, a need to get out and not be here settling deep in her veins. it's starting to bleed into her interactions with customers and she can only hope cody won't fire her when he hears how over this shift she is. "just a fair warning, if you order some 'secret' shot off of tiktok, i will pour it over your head." the words are directed at the first patron she sees, eyebrow arching in challenge. "other than that welcome to tilted stage where our spring specials are lemon lavender gin, spiked sparkling basil lemonade, a peeptini for easter."

he wasn't sure what possessed him to get a(nother) tattoo, but he'd played a good game, was a little bit drunk, and they had an off day tomorrow, so when ty passed by the tattoo shop on his way home, he'd stopped in his tracks at a lit up sign for flash tattoos. he had a little extra money in his pocket from a bet with one of the guys and it was practically burning a hole in it, so an hour later, he left the shop with a freshly done rose on one forearm. "oops, sorry," he said, sidestepping someone on the sidewalk as soon as he exited the store and rubbing the back of his neck. "didn't see you there."

Matías moved quickly, arms loaded with drinks for him and his husband back at the shop, and a bag stuffed full of way too many baked goods. He couldn't decide which one he wanted to try so he bought one of everything. Sue him. In his haste, he backed up straight into the patron behind him. He felt the wetness of their recently grabbed drink seeping in through the thick material of his sweater and he threw his head back and groaned. Just his luck, the klutz that he was.

Sam heard the tinkle of the bell over the door as someone walked into the bookstore. He waved, setting his book down upside down to save his page. "Welcome in! Feel free to take your time browsing the books. This old place has been known to suck people in for hours though, so I will warn you, if you're short on time, you might want to be mindful of the clock." Sam chuckled and pointed to a few that were strategically placed among the overcrowded bookshelves full of used books. "Or if there's a time that you need to be out of here by, just let me know. I'll do my best to come find you and remind you."

he didn't actually have a record player of his own, but he always liked to stop inside the record store thumbing through them when he was in this part of town. as he was making his way around the store, slurping on an iced coffee, he caught sight of another patron holding up his band's ep. "electric touch, huh?" theo asked, shaking his coffee cup to stir it a bit and taking another sip. "are they any good?"

kids birthday parties weren't exactly jo's idea of a fun way to spend her evening, but she didn't know this kid's parents, so she hadn't wanted to stray too far. jake and his friends were upstairs in the arcade, so jo decided to waste a couple of hours at the nearby bowling alley. unfortunately, it seemed like a lot of other people had the same idea. so, nursing a beer, she approached someone who looked to have a lane to themselves. "no fun playing alone, is it?" she raised a brow. this person was probably waiting for their friends or family to arrive, but until then...well, jo was an opportunist.

in the beginning of this endeavor, cody hadn't been nearly as confident as he may have been a decade prior. the location, while not entirely ideal to him, had proven to be in dire need of some nightlife. he know that he wanted a proper club to go to without taking a cab, but he didn't realize that this much of the neighborhood was apparently in agreement.

tilted stage stayed busy, teeming with life and movement. it made him proud; prouder than he thought he'd ever been, but certainly not as proud as he should be in the future. as such, he never seemed to find himself in a bad mood when he was working the bar. at new soundtrack, the hours could drag, depending on the night, and the music was never quite to the level that he considered worth dancing to, though people definitely tried. he'd always find himself counting the minutes to the end of his shift.

this was never the case behind his bar.

it felt as though he'd just gotten to work an hour prior when he glanced down at his watch and saw the time. ❝ shit, ❞ he muttered, taking a few steps down the bar and pressing a button tucked behind a few bottles against the wall. there was somewhat of a collective groan when the lights pulsed a bright cyan to signify last call, pulling a laugh to his throat as he greeted the first patron who'd made it there for their final drink. ❝ last call. what can i get you? ❞

it's a lively friday evening, and cecil is looking forward to finally catching some z's over the coming weekend (maybe), but for now, he's here. the music a little too loud for his preferences, a few too many strangers at this night out with friends, but he's just along for the ride with a virgin drink, happy to see others being happy.

though he's mostly able to maintain smalltalk-mode and chat to people, at one point he does go to a quieter corner to nurse his growing headache. just a brief timeout, but it doesn't last long; he looks up to realise he's being approached, and smiles his greeting. he puts down his drink and holds some invisible papers. "hi, welcome to my office. how can i help you today?"

location: holy ground

status: open

carter was never a big fan of valentine's day, whether she was single or not. now that she was supposed to be in the honeymoon phase of a new relationship, she had to keep up appearances. she had suggested to the owner of holy grounds that they needed to decorate and somehow ended up doing the decorating herself. carter looked over to one of the patrons after she finished pinning up a heart banner, "how does that look? does it look straight to you?"

jo was in between classes but wouldn't have time to swing by home for lunch, so she stopped in one of her favorite lunch spots. they made a mean grilled cheese. she wasn't the only one to have the same idea, though. the line was nearly out the door, but jo had time to kill...and she was really craving one of those sandwiches, so she scrolled through her phone until her turn to order and staked the place out for an open seat. an older gentleman had just finished up so jo took a seat on the open stool and turned toward the person next to her, trying to decide if she knew them or not. she wasn't sure, but-

"i know you, right?" she narrowed her eyes slightly, trying to place them. "how do i know you?"

okay, so when he'd seen the sign for coffee, he hadn't realized that he was walking into a cat cafe, but now ty was glad he had. how he'd missed the cat-shaped sign or the name was beyond him, but now he was sitting in a comfy armchair by the window with a purring tabby in his lap and pretty delicious latte, so he couldn't complain. he also couldn't leave, because waking a sleeping cat was one of the worst crimes one could commit...even if he kept sneezing and his eyes were watering. he was allergic to cats, but he'd just take something when he got home. "do you have pets?" he asked the person next to him. "i don't. this is like free therapy."

theo's jobs meant a lot of laundry, and the small apartment he shared with his roommate didn't include a washer/dryer, so he spent many a sunday afternoon at the laundromat coaxing the machines into actually drying his jeans this time. this sunday was no different. he was sitting on top of the dryer with one of his loads in it, paging through one of the ancient magazines from the stack at the front of the store when he noticed someone having some trouble with one of the washers.

"sometimes you just gotta kick it a little," he said, lowering the magazine slightly and raising a brow. "always works for me."

the sound of children's laughter always brought a warmth to cassie that she never seemed to get from anything else. every once in a while, she liked to debate the reasons why; maybe it was something primal, something just written into her DNA. or maybe it was simpler than that. maybe it was just that her own childhood was so void of smiles, at least in her time outside of the schools she'd attended. if she really concentrated, really focused, she could remember a few trips to the park with her mother, but she questioned whether that strain was really worth it.

either way, she supposed that had to be the reason why she so often found herself settled on a park bench. even in spite of the years she's spent sleeping on one, she still found comfort there. the screeches and laughter of the kids on the playground floated to her ears like clouds as she hunched over the planner settled on her thighs. her legs were folded beneath her, knees bent to bring the paper closer as she scribbled out the next month's upload schedule down. she hardly noticed when people approached, assuming they'd pass her by rather than take the empty half of an occupied seat.

The week leading up to Valentine's Day tended to be one of the busiest in the shop, right alongside Mother's Day. After decades of running the shop together, Matías and Gabriel worked in tandem like a well oiled machine during their busiest season. While Gabriel ordered the flowers and created beautiful arrangements for their customers, Matías manned the front of house, taking orders, fulfilling requests, and facilitating pickups and deliveries.

@corneliastarters location: the animal shelter who: open!

piper was loving her time volunteering at the shelter. she didn't mind the dirty work of cleaning out shelter kennels that came with it, especially when the work with the animals was so rewarding. she had been volunteering for a couple of months at this point, something to fill her days when she wasn't working on any of her freelance or comissioned projects. she'd forever be greatful to her time at the shelter.

@corneliastarters location: betty's garden who: open!

gabriel was no stranger to early saturday mornings at the betty's, he actually preferred them. he'd always wake up before his ever-sleepy husband on saturday mornings and make his way down from the loft to betty's with tulip, the orange tabby shop cat in tow.