#I’m not getting paid the right wage at work and I can’t correct it because the guy in charge us never there | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

samyelbanette · 2 years

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Hi, I’m Kelley. I’ve been a debt collector for about three and a half years now.

Disclaimer that my experience is limited to credit card debt, and my advice may or may not be relevant to debts of other kinds (medical, etc). My knowledge is also limited to United States based debt collection practices.

But if you’re American and you owe a credit card company money….let’s talk:

- First off. When we talk to you, we have to verify your identity before we can give you any details. We normally ask for the last 4 of your SSN, your date of birth, and your address. Why? Because according to the FDCPA (Fair Debt Collection Practices Act), we cannot reveal the fact that you are in debt to anyone but you (or your spouse, if you have one).

If your mom or dad or boyfriend or girlfriend calls us, we cannot give them any information. If you want us to disclose information about your debt to them, you need to call (or email) us and tell us that.

-We are required to state, verbatim, on every call: “this is an attempt to collect a debt, and any information obtained will be used for that purpose”. Yes, TECHNICALLY, if we don’t say that, you can sue us for up to $1,000. But good luck finding a collector who is that stupid lmao?! In most cases, we’re looking right at a script while we’re on the phone with you…. 🤦‍♀️

-We used to be able to call you 3 times a day. Per new legislation, we can only call one time every 7 days….unless you give us permission to call more often. We will ask for that permission. Do not grant it.

-If you’re being harassed by calls, try saying “I would like to be placed on your do not call list” or “I am asking you to cease and desist.” Note: this will block future calls, but it won’t stop the credit card company from suing you.

-We will ask you where you work. It is in your best interest to (politely) avoid answering this question.

-If someone stole your identity and opened a credit card in your name, file a police report. In many cases, we can’t file a fraud claim without one.

-If you don’t recognize the debt we’re talking about (i.e. “I might have opened that card but it was so long ago I don’t remember”, “I had that card but the balance you said doesn’t sound right”, etc), ask for validation of debt. Basically we would then have to send you all the credit card statements we have on file and prove that the balance is correct. Any reputable collection agency will have these statements available, so this isn’t a get-out-of-jail-free card. But, we can’t make any more attempts to collect on the debt, until we confirm that you got those documents in the mail. So this is a good way to stall/buy time.

-If you’re ready to start making payment arrangements, don’t take the first offer we give you!! For example: someone owes us $1,000. I’m gonna offer them a plan of $83.33 per month for 12 months. Only after they say no, will I tell them that they also have the option to do $41.66 per month for 24 months. Why? Because I’m making commission on this shit lmao

-Ask if you qualify for a settlement. A settlement is, like, a deal, where we offer to let you pay less than you actually owe There’s normally a percentage we can’t go under. At my current job, that’s 60%. So, for example, if you owe us $100, I could offer you a settlement deal of $60, and you wouldn’t have to pay the remaining $40!

Settlements usually have to be paid as a lump sum, but sometimes you can get away with a monthly payment plan. Ask your collector.

-If you receive notification that you have been sued, call us before your hearing date and set up a payment plan voluntarily. If you let this go to court, 99.9% of the time, the judge will side with us, not you.

-Once we have judgment against you in a court of law, we can try and collect the funds involuntarily. In most cases, that means a wage garnishment. (This is why we ask where you work). We go directly to your employer and take 20-25% of your paycheck, depending on what state you live in.

Please note that yelling at your collector will not make the garnishment stop. 😭 We normally don’t file a garnishment unless you’ve been dodging our calls for years.

-Lastly, remember that collectors are people! We’re trying to make a living, just like you.

Debt collection is one of the best jobs an “unskilled” college dropout can get tbh! It pays way better than retail or food service. I get to sit at a desk, instead of standing in front of a cash register all day. And I get dental! Lol.

If you don’t verbally abuse your collector, they will normally try their best to come up with a payment plan that fits your budget. If all else fails, idk, lawyer up. 🤷‍♀️

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atomicblasphemy · 3 years

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Blight Industries Board Meeting

I have some thoughts about that EE episode. Being myself I just couldn’t put them out in a sensible fashion, so I put on some crust in my headphones, amped everyone’s cynicism, and here’s the result.

O: Good evening everyone and welcome to the Blight Industries board meeting of number...

Ed and Em shoot glances at each other as confused about how they ended up there as when it happened for the first time.

Al looks longingly at his workshop door.

Amity glares.

Am: Mom, can we try to have dinner like a normal family which, according to Merriam-Webster at least, we technically are? For once at least?

O: That can wait, Mittens. Anyway, I called you all here to announce I shall be making some changes to our company. Namely, I shall change the job titles of the three of you. I’m still CEO, Alador still development, research and, well, the assembly line I suppose. As for you, Emira, Edric, you’re now in charge of security. I don’t want to hear about company secrets leaking out, okay? Mittens, you’re our new marketing department.

Am: Marketing?

Em: Seriously, mom?

Od: Dearests, this is a meeting please use our appropriate titles.

Ed: No no no no. They have a point. Okay, let me see if I understand your thought process. So, you’re the head of a company, right?

Od: I don’t like your tone, Edric. But okay, I’ll humor you. Yes I am, go on.

Ed: And said company essentially sells only guns.

Od: Mhmm, what’s your point?

Ed: And you think that the best way to convey that is by using your local annoyed teenage lesbian that half the time looks like she would be rather doing literally anything else? Is that a correct assessment, ma’am?

Od: Oh, and I suppose you have a better idea?

Em: Yeah, we do. ANYONE ELSE. We *frantically and repeatedly points her finger from herself to Edric* could do this, I mean we tried to leak our sister’s journal just a few weeks ago so we clearly know nothing about keeping secrets. You could do it. I mean, no offense, but putting up a show seems to be your only useful skill because if this your idea of how to run a company, we... aaaaand now I’m suddenly starting to realize where we get our decision making incompetence from. Anyway. This guy *points at Alador* could do it if you just made sure to remind him that that’s what’s funding his little research. Heck, you could hire Luz. She’s pretty charismatic and just took a shot at the Emperor himself. I’m sure having someone like that vouching for our products would do wonders for our business. See? That’s how you make a half-decent marketing strategy. Besides, I hear Luz could use the money and I’m sure Mittens would be happy to have her working here.

Am: Yup, normally I’d have other reasons but honestly I’d just be happy someone else is doing this particular job.

Al: *woop there goes gravity* Why? I told you this wasn’t the best idea. Besides, we agreed, twice at least, that I would take care of the abominations and you’d be in charge of everything else *leans in closer to whisper conspiratorially to Odalia* I don’t like dealing with them *points at their very loving children*.

Ed, Em, and Am: HEY!

Al: *sighs* Listen to your boss, children.

The children huddle closer, they are the conspiratorial ones now.

Am: We’re gonna end up broke and starving, aren’t we?

Em: Yeah, isn’t it weird though? I mean, you’d think they’d have found someone better to... sponsor by now. Apparently that’s not the case. Moreover, why do they, our parents I mean, keeping putting so many resources into product development then? And it’s not even like we’re branching out into new markets, making some groundbreaking products. Nope, just shinier versions of the old stuff.

Am: Hum... Can either of you teach me how to write a resume?

Ed: I... uh... was going to ask you the same thing.

--------------------------

Later.

Em: Okay, let’s recap the recent events, shall we?

Odalia and Alador were sat side by side in flimsy wooden chair at the factory’s storage area. Their children loomed over them with stern faces.

Am: First off, you decided to entirely restructure the company, you know, the one with our name in it. And you did so by making all possible wrong choices. Especially putting me as the face and head of marketing.

Ed: Then, secondly, when you realized that wasn’t working due to Mittens, justifiably I might add, wanting to do pretty much anything else with her time. So you two in a strike of parenting brilliance decide that the best way to deal with all of that was not to, oh I don’t know, hire some specialist or anything like that for the position and let her, and us, be teenagers like any normal parent would do. No, instead you think: “Hey, I’ll double down and alienate the one of my children giving me a hard time from the only people she seems to like.”

Al: In our defense...

Em: AND THEN, when one of said people decide to actually do something about, and in a very diplomatic fashion given the circumstances, mind you, you go ahead and try to commit murder in front of a large audience of potential witnesses. Granted, not a particularly morally upstanding audience given the type of products they were trying to buy, but still. Do you have any idea how many people would want a piece of you if you actually hurt the human? You have three of them standing in front of you right now.

Od: Well, Emira dearest, you can’t argue with the numbers. Tonight’s sale was an astounding success.

Am: And she still has her poise despite all the failures... Look, the three of us, we’ve been talking. We somehow are also part of the board, right? Moreover, we are, despite all evidence on the contrary, still employs of this company. So we put things through a vote.

Ed: First off, we’re unionizing. And your first demand is better working conditions...

Od: I’m not putting apple blood fountains in the factory floors. That’s off the table. I already told this Edric. The abominations take a surprising liking to the stuff.

Em: We can discuss the specifics later. We have other topics at hand.

Al: Okay, like what?

Em: You two are out. Actually just you mom. We still need dad for development of new products and stuff.

Od: WHAT? You can’t do this.

Am: Let me rephrase what Emira said: you’re not CEO anymore. She is.

Al and Od: EMIRA?

Ed: Yes, Emira. I’ll be in charge of supply and distribution as well as any other duties dad still had besides research and develop. Mom, you’re the new Mittens. I mean, marketing. You’re in charge of marketing now. Just marketing and literally nothing else. I’m sure we won’t regret giving you this much responsibility. And, by the way. One mistake and we’re hiring Luz for the job. AND we’re giving her enough shares to sit at the board.

Od: *starts chuckling while reaching for a small book in her vest* I can’t say I’m not angry at the three of you, but it is indeed nice to see you trying to take a more active role in the company. But there’s a big flaw to your little coup. You see, according to article 15 of the Blight Industries statute, Alador’s vote, as well as mine...

Al: I’m voting with them, Odalia.

Everyone else turns to look at him, wide eyed.

Al: Look, I’m not ecstatic about this or anything. But at the end of day if Edric is taking half the load off my shoulders then I’ll have the more time in my workshop. And away from them. Odalia, don’t look at me like that, I told you the other day I was wanting us to develop magic powered air fryers. Now I’ll have the time for that. We can tap onto more markets this way, more money.

Od: ... You’re sleeping on the couch tonight.

Al: *sighs* How about Mittens, what will she do now?

Am: Librarian. That’ll be my new job title.

Al: We have no use for a librarian, Amity. You know that, don’t you?

Am: I know. I’m not working here anymore. Gary had been telling me for some time about this internship opening. I start Monday. But don’t go thinking I’ll leave the board. I’m keeping my shares and besides, Ed and Em agreed to keep me as an adviser.

Od: Oh look at our daughter, Alador. Going all out on that daily grind, making the minimum wage. Are you sure you can handle it, Mittens my dear?

Am: Well, you paid me in passive aggressive comments and threats so far. I consider minimum wage a raise if anything.

Od: Whatever you say... In any case. I suppose I’ll now be some sort of glorified secretary then.

Em: What do you mean, mom?

Od: Oh, right. You weren’t there at the time. We struck a big contract, big enough so we won’t need to worry about marketing for the foreseeable future.

Em: What? HOW?

Al: That uhh... That kid, what’s his name again? The new head of the Emperor’s coven. He came in after the sales ended, said we should go around building Frankenstein mercenaries, and that the Emperor would be buying all of our Thanos thingies aaand on top of that the state would fund all our future research.

Ed and Em: Oh... Oh... Ohh Titan... Didn’t he get ahold of Eda’s portal? Mittens, we have to tell Luz.

Am: *chuckles* Yeah, good luck with that, Emperor.

Ed: I... Are you okay? Shouldn’t you be worried?

Am: Eh... I mean... First things first. Yeah, I know he’s building an army to invade the human realm and yeah, I know we’ll be supplying the weaponry and that I should probably give Luz a heads up. But, you know. That’s pretty stupid of him when you think about it.

Ed: What?

Am: I mean, think about it. He is getting a supplier that he knows, for a fact, has a positive connection to his enemies. Meaning it would be in our interest - especially mine, you know, the other Blight with Abomination know how and the one closest to the one human living in the Boiling Isles, as proven today - to put some back doors in all the tech we’ll be selling them. Moreover... Sure humans don’t have magic but they make up for it in other ways. Luz was telling me about her realm the other day and... Well... Let me put it this way: we are not humans, meaning we are not covered by the Geneva convention. Best case scenario once Bellos opens the portal we, not them, become a colony. And humans don’t make a habit of treating their colonies with any decency. So, you know... Anyway. Worst case scenario, they’ll just start pumping napalm, anthrax, mustard gas, and all sorts of fun stuff chemical and biological weapons through the portal. Meaning we’ll die. Painfully. Heck, they can even make good on their anti-nuclear proliferation treaties and just throw it all here and make it go boom. Trust me, that alone will be enough to finish sinking the Titan.

All the other four Blights look at her wide eyed.

Am: Eh... But you know, I’ll go and tell Luz and Eda. Fir witchkind’s sake or whatever. So... See you guys later.

Od: *shaking the shock away from her head* Oh... Quite a hurry to go and see Luz, aren’t we Mittens? *a sly smile forming* I’m sorry... I meant YOUR Luz.

Ed and Em: Oh yeah, I forgot about that. Damn, missed the joke.

Al just nods in agreement.

Am: What are you people talking about?

Od: Oh, it’s nothing really Mittens, my dear child. It’s just that, you seem to be rather attached to her, aren’t you? In a very weird way, but still.

Am: Weird? Weird how? You’re talking non-sense.

Ed: No, Mittens, the lady has a point. I don’t get your thought process tonight either.

Am: I have no idea what...

Ed: No, seriously. I mean, no need to beat around the bush here: you have a gargantuan crush on her. That’s plenty obvious to everyone here.

Am: *blushing* No comments.

Ed: Whatever, I’ll take that to mean you do. So, you see your crush up on the stage. She’s fighting dad’s Thanos thingy. Which, might I add, was being controlled by him. Seriously, what the hell, dude? Is this a way to meet your potential daughter-in-law? Anyway. She’s potentially in mortal danger. And your first thought is: I’m gonna woo her.

Am: That’s... not what I thought...

Em: Yeah, Mittens. Sure. That’s why the first you did was to turn around and start climbing the ladders.

Am: I... They were fighting up there, I wanted to get to close quarters.

Em: Nope. Not buying it.

Ed: We were watching it all unfold Mittens, you started climbing the ladders before, long before, they were up there.

Am: But... the crowd.

Ed: Dispersed pretty quickly, and knowing Abomination magic, as you do, you definitely knew Thanos would have that effect.

Am: I... But... I wanted to fight close quarters... and I wanted... the higher ground.

Em: So... You are up in the pipes, and by then Luz and Thanos are already back in ground level. So you position yourself in the spot with the best lighting and a means for you to quickly climb down - I swear, I’m certain I saw you double checking to make sure you were positioned just right. Then you take your sweet time pulling your hood back up. And finally, then and only then, you go to Luz’s rescue by using your magic. And you do that before you climb down, meaning your magic has enough range, as we��ve all always known, to be effective without the close quarters or the higher.

Ed: Come on, Mittens. Just admit it. You wanted to do a super-hero landing in front of your crush. Come on...

Am: I... Do you think it worked?

Everyone, expect for Amity, looks at Alador.

Al: I dunno, why are you asking me?

Ed: Because somehow out of all of us you’re the one most likely to pick up that sort of stuff.

Al: Right, and I’m also the one least likely to care.

Am: I’M YOUR DAUGHTER.

Em: *taking a deep breath* Okay, lets pause for a second here. Ed, Mittens. Pat yourselves on the back. Come on, do it. Look, I’ll do it too. *begins patting her own back in tandem with her siblings’ more tentative display*

Am: Em... Why are we doing this?

Em: For not succumbing to drugs and alcohol (shrewd ad campaigns on Twitter aside). *Edric and Amity begin patting their backs more enthusiastically, Emira turns to their parents* You know, you two. You should pat yourselves on the back as well. I mean, sure, we’ll need years of therapy to undo all the damage the emotional neglect the both of you show us has caused so far, but no one can say we don’t get plenty of variety.

Al: Are you done being passive aggressive, Emira?

Em: What can I say? I’ve learned from the best. *looks at Odalia, who just rolls her eyes*

Al: *sighing* As for your previous question. The human seemed to be blushing as well. So my best guess is that Amity’s little... spectacle... did work.

Od: See? And you dare say it was a bad idea to put her on marketing.

Am: That’s because I had a reason to care when I was doing all that.

Od: Ohh right, then what do you suggest I had done to make you care about our, emphasis on our, business.

Am, Ed and Em in unison: Pay us for our labor.

Am: I mean, seriously. You guys built a whole business model around Abominations: a.k.a. free labor. Sure you could afford to pay us, a.k.a. self aware creatures that are not (and I’ve checked this) Abominations, something.

Ed: So... again to recap the day. Mom and dad lost their company, Bellos shot himself square in the foot. Hell, even this new coven head pretty much proved his lack of intelligence gathering competence by doing business with us. Today was a failure on every front. Even Luz when you think about it.

Em: Luz?

Ed: Yeah... She trusted... her *points at Odalia*.

Em: Ohh...

Od: HEY! I’m still your mother.

Em: Nominally, maybe. Jury still out on that one. Anyway, that reminds me. I want all our financial books for the past five years i my desk, formerly yours, in two days.

Am: I think my day was pretty successful. I have reason to believe my crush likes me back and I’ll know what a healthy professional and financial life looks like for the first in these 14 groolling and long years of existence. So things are looking up for me. Anyway... Are we done here?

Am: I guess so, why?

Am: Cool. Gonna head out.

Em: Oh, going to let your Luz know of the Emperor’s plan and bask in her presence.

Am: Emira, I swear in the Titan’s name that if you ever address her like that in front of her they will never find your body. But yes, that’s the gist of it.

Em: Fine. Actually, wait up. Lilith is living there now isn’t she? I wanted to talk to her.

Am: Lilith as in Lilith Clawthorne? Eda’s sister? Former head of the Emperor’s Coven? My former mentor? That Lilith?

Em: Yup.

Am: Why, pray tell, do you want to talk to her?

Em: Wanted to hire her. We need a new accountant.

Am: And you thought of her because...?

Em: Lack of options?

Am: I... You know what, fair enough.

Ed: Hold up. I’m coming with. I don’t like being around them *points at Odalia and Alador*.

Am: Sure.

They leaving. Only Odalia and Alador are left in the room.

Al: Wow.

Od: I know.

Al: Just... wow...

Od: I know.

Al: I don’t know how to process any of this. It happened all so fast.

Od: I know.

Al: Like... no sense of pacing at all.

Od: I know, Alador. Titan do I know.

Al: Almost as if everyone’s words were being written by an extra-dimentional entity that reaaally wanted to rant but didn’t want to put out their opinions in a more reasonable manner, and wasn’t even remotely concerned with making it sound like a normal conversation.

Od: I know.

Al: Anyway. We failed as people, didn’t we?

Od: *sighing* I know.

#THE OWL HOUSE #Edric Blight #Luz Noceda #amity blight #odalia blight #emira blight #Alador Blight

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reading-writing-revolution · 4 years

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Ron Howard

January 24 at 5:41 AM —

I'm a liberal, but that doesn't mean what a lot of you apparently think it does. Let's break it down, shall we? Because quite frankly, I'm getting a little tired of being told what I believe and what I stand for. Spoiler alert: not every liberal is the same, though the majority of liberals I know think along roughly these same lines:

1. I believe a country should take care of its weakest members. A country cannot call itself civilized when its children, disabled, sick, and elderly are neglected. PERIOD.

2. I believe healthcare is a right, not a privilege. Somehow that's interpreted as "I believe Obamacare is the end-all, be-all." This is not the case. I'm fully aware that the ACA has problems, that a national healthcare system would require everyone to chip in, and that it's impossible to create one that is devoid of flaws, but I have yet to hear an argument against it that makes "let people die because they can't afford healthcare" a better alternative. I believe healthcare should be far cheaper than it is, and that everyone should have access to it. And no, I'm not opposed to paying higher taxes in the name of making that happen.

3. I believe education should be affordable. It doesn't necessarily have to be free (though it works in other countries so I'm mystified as to why it can't work in the US), but at the end of the day, there is no excuse for students graduating college saddled with five- or six-figure debt.

4. I don't believe your money should be taken from you and given to people who don't want to work. I have literally never encountered anyone who believes this. Ever. I just have a massive moral problem with a society where a handful of people can possess the majority of the wealth while there are people literally starving to death, freezing to death, or dying because they can't afford to go to the doctor. Fair wages, lower housing costs, universal healthcare, affordable education, and the wealthy actually paying their share would go a long way toward alleviating this. Somehow believing that makes me a communist.

5. I don't throw around "I'm willing to pay higher taxes" lightly. If I'm suggesting something that involves paying more, well, it's because I'm fine with paying my share as long as it's actually going to something besides lining corporate pockets or bombing other countries while Americans die without healthcare.

6. I believe companies should be required to pay their employees a decent, livable wage. Somehow this is always interpreted as me wanting burger flippers to be able to afford a penthouse apartment and a Mercedes. What it actually means is that no one should have to work three full-time jobs just to keep their head above water. Restaurant servers should not have to rely on tips, multibillion-dollar companies should not have employees on food stamps, workers shouldn't have to work themselves into the ground just to barely make ends meet, and minimum wage should be enough for someone to work 40 hours and live.

7. I am not anti-Christian. I have no desire to stop Christians from being Christians, to close churches, to ban the Bible, to forbid prayer in school, etc. (BTW, prayer in school is NOT illegal; *compulsory* prayer in school is - and should be - illegal). All I ask is that Christians recognize *my* right to live according to *my* beliefs. When I get pissed off that a politician is trying to legislate Scripture into law, I'm not "offended by Christianity" -- I'm offended that you're trying to force me to live by your religion's rules. You know how you get really upset at the thought of Muslims imposing Sharia law on you? That's how I feel about Christians trying to impose biblical law on me. Be a Christian. Do your thing. Just don't force it on me or mine.

8. I don't believe LGBT people should have more rights than you. I just believe they should have the *same* rights as you.

9. I don't believe illegal immigrants should come to America and have the world at their feet, especially since THIS ISN'T WHAT THEY DO (spoiler: undocumented immigrants are ineligible for all those programs they're supposed to be abusing, and if they're "stealing" your job it's because your employer is hiring illegally). I believe there are far more humane ways to handle undocumented immigration than our current practices (i.e., detaining children, splitting up families, ending DACA, etc).

10. I don't believe the government should regulate everything, but since greed is such a driving force in our country, we NEED regulations to prevent cut corners, environmental destruction, tainted food/water, unsafe materials in consumable goods or medical equipment, etc. It's not that I want the government's hands in everything -- I just don't trust people trying to make money to ensure that their products/practices/etc. are actually SAFE. Is the government devoid of shadiness? Of course not. But with those regulations in place, consumers have recourse if they're harmed and companies are liable for medical bills, environmental cleanup, etc. Just kind of seems like common sense when the alternative to government regulation is letting companies bring their bottom line into the equation.

11. I believe our current administration is fascist. Not because I dislike them or because I can’t get over an election, but because I've spent too many years reading and learning about the Third Reich to miss the similarities. Not because any administration I dislike must be Nazis, but because things are actually mirroring authoritarian and fascist regimes of the past.

12. I believe the systemic racism and misogyny in our society is much worse than many people think, and desperately needs to be addressed. Which means those with privilege -- white, straight, male, economic, etc. -- need to start listening, even if you don't like what you're hearing, so we can start dismantling everything that's causing people to be marginalized.

13. I am not interested in coming after your blessed guns, nor is anyone serving in government. What I am interested in is the enforcement of present laws and enacting new, common sense gun regulations. Got another opinion? Put it on your page, not mine.

14. I believe in so-called political correctness. I prefer to think it’s social politeness. If I call you Chuck and you say you prefer to be called Charles I’ll call you Charles. It’s the polite thing to do. Not because everyone is a delicate snowflake, but because as Maya Angelou put it, when we know better, we do better. When someone tells you that a term or phrase is more accurate/less hurtful than the one you're using, you now know better. So why not do better? How does it hurt you to NOT hurt another person?

15. I believe in funding sustainable energy, including offering education to people currently working in coal or oil so they can change jobs. There are too many sustainable options available for us to continue with coal and oil. Sorry, billionaires. Maybe try investing in something else.

16. I believe that women should not be treated as a separate class of human. They should be paid the same as men who do the same work, should have the same rights as men and should be free from abuse. Why on earth shouldn’t they be?

I think that about covers it. Bottom line is that I'm a liberal because I think we should take care of each other. That doesn't mean you should work 80 hours a week so your lazy neighbor can get all your money. It just means I don't believe there is any scenario in which preventable suffering is an acceptable outcome as long as money is saved.

Copy & paste if you want.

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chrishoughton · 4 years

Note

Are you afraid of getting the Coronavirus.

Not sure if this is bait but there’s a lot to unpack here and I took the day off from work so...

I’m not “afraid” of getting the virus because I’ve chosen to believe it is real and therefore, I’m taking a lot of precautions in my personal life to avoid getting it.

I don’t want to get Covid-19 because a.) It sounds miserable. b.) It’s a NEW virus with a lot of unknowns. Unknowns should be treated with caution. We’re also finding out that most people will survive Covid, but it may also contribute to a litany of life-long health issues. And c.) I want to help contribute to stopping the spread of the virus to people who aren’t as healthy as I am.

Sadly, not everyone agrees with this way of thinking. The US has become a country where our most protected freedom is the freedom to choose our own reality. You don’t have to listen to “experts” and facts have become “opinions” at best, and “propaganda” at worst. To make matters worse, these naysayers are correct! There is a lot of skewing-of-facts, it’s just that both sides can’t seem to agree on any kind of universal truth.

Conspiracy theories, fear-tactics, individualism, and a general lack of education, especially around public health and hygiene have come home to roost. I’m not surprised our country is acting the way it is, but it’s very sad to watch. In many ways, science is the study of cause and effect. And I think we’re simply experiencing the effects of many of our choices as a society over decades. Mainly, the non-stop need for growth/waste fueled by corporations/lobbyists and supported by all of us. (“But that’s just like, my opinion, man!”)

I feel horrible for the essential workers who have been risking their health for months. Now, on top of everything else, they face an idealogical challenge: customers who don’t believe the virus exists. This puts everyone at risk and (ironically) violates the rights of working class individuals who don’t have the choice to not report to work.

All of this, and for low wages. I’m deemed non-essential which means my job is simply not necessary for our society to run smoothly. Yet I get paid way more than any essential worker AND I’m able to work from home. It’s messed up, so at the VERY least, I should use my non-essential status responsibly. Do I want to go to the beach this summer? Do I want to get my haircut by a professional? So I want want to do whatever I want without someone telling me what to do? Of course! But I’m an adult and part of being an adult is not always getting everything you want. I’ll be fine if I don’t get to do “fun stuff” for a while. Just think of how much fun we’ll all have if this worse or develops into some type of modern civil war.

I don’t have any answers on what should be done because I’m an artist, not a policy maker. I have friends who have been furloughed, or have had to close down their own hard-earned businesses. I’ve also heard of people I know and care about contract this horrible virus and I’m now connected to a handful of people who have died from it. There’s no easy solution to slowing the virus while also avoiding serious economic suffering. Pandemics are inherently messy. I’m just frustrated that there are a lot of people making this even harder than it already is.

Personally, I’ll be fine but a lot of people won’t be. I care for my fellow Americans and have been feeling very overwhelmed by the thought of what this country will look like in the months/years ahead of us.

So, I’m not afraid of getting Coronavirus. I’m afraid of our response and inaction towards it. I’m afraid of how broken so many of our systems are. And I’m afraid that if we all don’t start working together soon, that things will get much worse.

#anon-answer

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fatebreaking-a · 4 years

Text

// @regina-tenebris / Don’t ask what modern AU this is, I don’t know. I just went off apparently.

------------

Emilia’s eyes trail up, up, up - higher still to the titan of a woman who stands a full 40 centimeters over her. It annoys her somewhat, perhaps more because of who it is than her height.

“Do you have business with me or do you intend to keep staring?” She drawls out, her patience especially thin with the other woman. Perhaps due to how they had met, perhaps due to all that came after... She sighs and shakes her head.

Sona stares down at her with a bemused, nonplussed look. Irritation swells in Emilia at the sight before she huffs and turns around, crossing her arms. That woman always seemed to get under her skin, right from the first. “If it’s nothing, then I’ll get going.”

She can’t help but remember all that had brought them to this point.

-------------------------------------------

“Valet, park the car.” The driver of her car had called out to a tall woman standing at the receiving area, dressed in a vest and slacks of some kind. Teal hair? Is that some sort of fashion statement?

“Are you deaf? Here, keys.” Emilia had stepped out of the car at this point to see the exchange, marveling somewhat at the beanpole woman who simply shrugged and shook her head. Strange woman, but she had other business at this company.

--------------------------------------------

“You? Aren’t you the...” Once again, she had run into the beanpole woman, but in a rather unexpected place. Emilia’s eyes narrow as she steps into the orphanage, step by step with this strange woman. Especially that unfrazzled look of calm, it was borderline unnerving how different her sense of poise was from Emilia’s. It was like watching the edge of the ocean, watching things was over her again and again... Strange woman. And worse, this beanpole lady was only raising an eyebrow in response.

“The valet from PeraPera Corp.” The ‘valet’ smiles somewhat bewitchingly at that, then shakes her head in refusal. What’s with that... She clearly took my car. And she had walked out from inside the company... Hmph. Emilia’s thoughts stop short as the excited chirp of children fills her ears. This was what she was here for anyway. Not some strange lady.

“Big sis LeBlanc!” Yes, that sounded good. Big sis LeBlanc. A somewhat reserved smile blooms on LeBlanc’s face as a few children run up to her, waving to the tall lady as well. The beanpole offers them a small wave of her hand, then turns her attention to the child who was tugging at her long sleeves.

“Hello to you as well. Do you kids know that woman?”

“Oh, she’s Auntie Asteria!” ‘Auntie’? Emilia stares back at the woman, raising an eyebrow. Perhaps even more surprising is the cry for ‘lift, lift, lift!’ from a few children as that beanpole ‘Asteria’ lifts up four children at once and carts them around. She can’t help but stare at that. She hides her muscles well underneath the loose clothes and long sleeves, huh? Most people would struggle to lift even one person...

-------------------------------------------

“You’re certain no one called ‘Asteria’ works in this company?”

“Y-Yes, Chairwoman. We don’t have anyone like that here.” She lets out a little huff and turns around, shaking her head. So was Asteria lying to those kids? Why? It wasn’t as though she needed to act big... Well, she hadn’t heard it from the horse’s mouth, but rather what the kids were saying.

“Chairwoman LeBlanc!” Some sniveling man was rushing behind her as she walked through the company. Not hers, though they were in talks of a partnership. She waves him off and continues to meander until she at last reaches a strange hallway with one door on one side and plenty of doors on the other. Faintly, the sound of music plays from inside.

‘For entrance, please text XXXXXXX’ Chairwoman Leblanc scoffs at that and tries the doorknob. Locked.

“Open this.”

“Uh-”

“If I’m to do business with this company of yours, I’d like to know if you have any strange rumors floating about or wastes of money. This certainly qualifies.”

“Y-Yes, very well.” The door unlocks slowly, revealing a large space covered wall to wall in sound proofing. It’s necessary, as music is floating throughout, and all sorts of paraphernalia is placed throughout. A desk, an easel, a music stand, a fold-out couch... and typing away, hard at work, is...

“Sona? That’s your name?” ‘Sona, Consultant? Does a consultant get this kind of office?’ Sona turns her head up and puts her laptop to the side, standing and dipping her head in greeting. She’s dressed in some weird fashion again today, some sort of long embroidered robe... The longer she looked at this situation, the more she felt that this was unnatural.

And Emilia hated any secrets that didn’t belong to her.

--------------------------------------------

“I apologize, for last time. I didn’t know about your condition.” Emilia stares up at the beanpole - no, at Sona - as a grim frown floats across her face. Even she could recognize impropriety, and she had gone a little too far. Sona just returns that same smile as always, nodding in acceptance, as they walk through the doors of the orphanage and the squeal of children can be heard.

“Son-” Emilia stops mid-sentence as Sona shoots her a surprising glare and shakes her head. “Asteria.” Sona’s face immediately relaxes as she nods and turns her head towards the children screaming ‘ups, ups, ups’ and immediately lifts them up, swinging the children around playfully.

You want to hide it that badly? Who are you?

------------------------------------------

“This doesn’t make sense. Are these numbers correct?” Emilia was looking over payroll documents she absolutely had no right to have, squinting. That woman, ‘Sona Buvelle’... Had been around since the founding of the company? She was apparently the seventh employee, and her pay had steadily risen for a few years at the start. From a modest starting salary to something larger and larger, as if she were in an executive role...

And then her pay suddenly shrunk to a fraction and had stayed the same for years. ‘That doesn’t happen. And if it does, people don’t... stick around. What the hell is this?’ It wasn’t an unlivable wage, certainly above poverty, but... Emilia flips through the pages again. She had seen the woman throughout the company, doing this and that, even offering advice or doing technical work. Whether in the creative departments, publicity, engineering... She was everywhere and yet she was the lowest paid person in the company? Emilia’s jaw tightens as she flips through the files again, eyes narrowing.

‘ Who the hell are you... ‘

-------------------------------------------

“I figured it out. You’re-” Emila’s abruptly stops as she’s pulled off the sidewalk roughly, right into Sona’s arms as they both crash backwards. As a car hits the brakes and the driver rushes out to check on them both, Emilia extricates herself from Sona’s arms and huffs. Stupidly nice.

“President Buvelle.” On one side was a woman rushing up, apologizing furiously, and on the other was a woman sitting down with her tongue sticking out slightly and a ‘you got me’ expression on her face.

“You have to hide it that badly?” It all made sense now. Why all the junior staff thought Sona was just a ‘really nice lady’ who had been there a long time, like some sort of mystery benefactor. And why all the senior staff hesitated when talking about her, as if they knew something, but it was in the past. And why, of all things, when she had spoken to Swain about this new mystery lady, he had something as cryptic as ‘Ah yes, I’d been to one of her shows...’ and then said nothing else. Asshole.

Straightening herself up and turning to deal with the nervous looking driver, Emilia shakes her head. She’d just have to deal with this particular mystery later. There had to be a reason, an explanation for this unnatural behavior from such an eccentric president. The answer never came. Sona never stopped being charming, underpaid, and generous. Later became weeks, then months, and without warning, winter arrived.

--------------------------------------------

“Hmph.” It was the strangest thing, dealing with Sona now that the business dealings between their companies finished. Normally that would be the end of it, but they had both been coming to the orphanage before, and would probably continue even after. She still didn’t know what to make of the woman, or what sort of relationship they even had. Business rivals? Friends? Coworkers? And that beanpole woman never got any less irritating, letting every incident wash over her like a wave. It was as if she was intentionally trying to throw Emilia off...

Shivering slightly, Emilia closes her eyes and huffs. At the same time, a wool hat is pushed onto her head, pulled just short of her eyes. With a beanie now snugly on her face, Emilia turns around, preparing all manner of verbal counterattack. It was a warm beanie though. “And? Is this a Snowdown gift? Thank you, but I don’t-” Have anything for you, she had meant to say, but her voice dies in her throat as her cold hands are wrapped in warm ones and a soft, hot breath warms up her fingers. Sona’s expression is exceedingly warm as she continues to warm LeBlanc’s hands, smiling faintly.

"You...” What a strange woman. That was the only thing Emilia could say for sure about the person in front of her.

“You really are strange. But I don’t hate that.”

#drabble #the conductor #long post tw #//did I write LB well?!!?!?!?!?!? idk! mild panic!#//but anyway here's some... corporate au? based on your hcs about how LB goes to orphanages and is actually very motherly #//despite being a huge spook #//let me know how you like it!

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thepriceofbeingaroseisloneliness · 5 years

Photo

The Freedom of Expression #1 28th February 2020 “The radio program with the concept of “ask for freedom of expression in the world” is back in Youtube! We will unravel the hot topics and the news related to the concept of Freedom of Expression.

Appareance:

Kaoru (DIR EN GREY direngrey.co.jp/) Joe Yokomizo (Writer / DJ) Tasai Reporter (Tokyo Sports) God ?

You can watch this program here Notes before reading: If you haven’t watched any of the programs or you are not familiar at all with The Freedom of the Expresion, you will be a bit lost because they make some references to previous programs. The program has sudden edited cuts, that’s why the topic changes suddenly without any introduction. This program was previously a radio show with about 70 episodes from 2015 to 2016. You can find most of them in youtube.

For parts with subs, I tried to do a literal translation but for parts without subs I felt more confident summarizing it as translating one by one got confusing and too long. I skipped some bits and lots of “hahaha” and “sou desu ne”. Be aware that at some parts, their talk is really random.

Feel free to correct me if you spot any mistake or any confusing as they are talking so casually and relaxed that it’s hard to get some parts.

(Intro)

Kaoru: Hello, I’m Kaoru from Dir en grey…. The Freedom of Expression…. I have heard it somewhere…it feels like something I have already done….

Joe: That’s is, yes…. but it’s not a feeling, I think that it’s certainly something we did (laughs)

Kaoru: It looks like that right?

“A radio program in which Kaoru (Dir en grey) was the main host aired from 2015 to 2016 at InterFM.” (Top left on screen)

Kaoru: The program was made from 2015….it was 2015, right? How could I say it? It’s having a revival in YouTube.

(Revival kanji appears on screen)

Joe: That’s amazing right? At first, we were talking, it was said that there would be a revival…

Tasai: Unexpected! (laughs)

Joe: I was really happy.

Kaoru: Right? I was surprised too (laughs)

Joe: Ah, this… I don’t mean that it was Kaoru who revived….

Kaoru: The talk got off track….

Joe: It got off track? At some point….

Kaoru: It felt like “don’t try to do it” …. ( he says it in kansai-ben)

Joe: I see. It got off track because of Kansai-ben (laughs)

Kaoru: It felt like “we will try to do it” Joe: It felt like that…let’s start (laughs)

(cut)

Joe: (At the Interfm Era) We did a lot right? Even special programs, right?

Kaoru: Yes

Tasai: Is that so?

Joe: We also made a sticker, right?

(cut)

Tasai: Brazil? You did a Live broadcast for the Olympics!

Joe: Dobashi-san…. Bishibashi Dobashi-san…(he appeared in this special)

Tasai: As this year there are Olympics again and in Tokyo…. I hope you can do a live broadcast

Joe: In this YouTube channel? (laughs)

Tasai: In YouTube (laughs)

Joe: It seems hard regarding broadcasting rights…

Kaoru: That …. *secret gesture* (laughs)

Joe: Secretly? Even though it was asked by Tokyo Sports Tasai (laughs)

(cut)

Kaoru: About Freedom of Expression….

God: Wait, Wait, Wait, Wait…

Kaoru: Yes? Yes?

God: Well…God has come down….

Joe: Ah, it’s God (laughs)

Kaoru: By himself…. (laughs) I thought about if he would come here in case it came down…

Joe: Usually it does! If you call him, god will come down (laughs) A god that comes down by himself at his own convenience.

Kaoru: Was that stance made before? Before I guess he should be preserved a bit more…

Joe: It can’t be helped that he comes out….

God: Because you forget about God!

Everyone: (Laughs)

Kaoru: We haven’t forgotten (laughs)

God: Don’t forget about God!

Tasai: We haven’t forgotten!

Joe: God is always inside your heart, right?

Tasai: It is! It is!

God: I see I see! (Happy) I didn’t think so…

Joe: God is not at the studio today though… Why?

God: It’s because I’m off night duty.

Joe: Off night duty? (laughs)

Kaoru: He did that before right?

Joe: Still having a night shift job? Are you really a God?

Kaoru: It’s been a long time, right?

God: That is…well…it’s seasonal…

Joe: This season is the night shift season?

God: No, it’s not like that…

Tasai: You did a job that paid 1000 yen per hour….

God: That is, that is…But the hourly wage was raised a little! You can say it’s like a holiday break…. the income has decreased (tears)

Joe: It’s the so-called labour reform.

God: That is, that is

Joe: Being God seems hard too…

God: Yes… its hard (laughs)

(cut)

Kaoru: As usual…. nothing changes…the feeling of tension…. I think we should get started…

Joe/Tasai: Yes

*Before getting into the main topic, Kaoru asks Tasai about a person who was with Bishibashi. It seems to be someone called Hiranabe who “it’s like a beast” according to Tasai. Then, Joe proceeds to tell a strange story (I think about this Hiranabe person?) *

Joe: When some celebrity passes away, he would call me and ask, “was this person your acquaintance?”. When I reply, “I barely knew them”, he suddenly hangs the phone (laughs)

Tasai: That’s mean

Joe: He is a mean person!

Tasai: That Hiranabe has finally been promoted by the director…

Joe: Eh? What is he now?

Tasai: Board member….

Joe is shocked while Kaoru asks if that it’s ok.

(cut)

Kaoru: I want to find news that have been attracting attention under the concept of Freedom of Expression…

*The topic is about Haruna Fuka, internet personality, former child actress. She seems to have a twitter account since she was just 9 years old (she is now 19) and she has used SNS to be open and vocal about several social topics. The topic now is that she filed a lawsuit against someone who slandered her in the net. It seems that someone posted that “her parents failed/ are a failure” and she and her mother filed a lawsuit asking for economic compensation. It seems that also some of her personal information was leaked. The discussion of the topic is mostly about the “price of fame” and how it can’t be helped that being famous you are exposed to this kind of things. Joe states discuss “at which point it becomes defamation” and it is not freedom of expression in SNS. He says that it might be difficult to draw a legal line online, but if that it’s not done, it can’t be helped that it gets worse. Then he asks Kaoru what he thinks about it, and he says:

Kaoru: Like, for example people write in SNS like they were talking with their friends in a room…. it’s better not to look at it (what people says) right?

Joe is like “But it’s real people, right?” and then ask if Kaoru searches himself and Kaoru says he doesn’t but he hears it from the staff that checks it so he kind of knows.

Tasai: When you are in the show business, from 100 opinions, 98 or 99 are good ones, but when there is one nasty/hateful one, it really comes through your eyes and hurts your heart.

Joe asks him as a Tokyo sports journalist. Tasai mentions how you can report it (I think?) like you can inform a legal corporation. Then, Joe again makes the million-dollar question.

Joe: How far it’s ok to guarantee the freedom of expression for tweeting? I think it’s a difficult thing.

Kaoru: Tweeting is about expressing yourself, right?

Joe: Of course, originally.

Joe adds that tweeting has an influence in things. He says that nowadays in Japan is like a hot water boiler when a topic comes out. He understands it especially for important topics, but he thinks that it’s just complaining and not trying to solve anything at all. Later, Kaoru says that it can be helped that you focus on the bad sides, even if, as Tasai said before there are 99 good things and just one bad. They go back to the Haruna Fuka topic and mention some extra information about her lawsuit.

Joe: I made an Instagram account for myself and most of the times when social things are done at The Dave Fromm Show! YouTube Channel and the topic is raised, my followers decrease…Finely, they decrease. They are going up and when the channel is updated next week, each time that is updated, they decrease. Treating with social topics….

(cut)

They discuss again about Fuka. Joe says something about young people complaining mostly in SNS and at some point, he is like “when I say young people, it feels like we are old” and they laugh, and he adds that it feels like there are 3 taboo topics: 1. Gender discussions 2. Political discussions and 3. Things that we hate to talk about but we have to talk about.

Around 13:05, God is back.

Joe: What do you think about it, God?

Kaoru: Is God there?

God: You know, God keeps being slandered right?

Everyone laughs.

God: Like God’s liar, even if I tell God there is nothing that he can do…. they even say that there is no God!…

Joe: I see, you are denied…

God: If you care about those things, you lose…

Joe: I see, do you search for yourself, God?

God: I do!

Everyone laughs.

God: There is only those things when I do research

Joe: Surprisingly, God knows how to handle SNS really well…

God: I do!

Tasai: God is amazing…

Joe: Does God use Iphone as one would expect?

God: I have two

Tasai: He owns two!

Joe: God has two (laughs) *makes gesture on having one phone in each hand* That’s so cool

God: It is! It is! I don’t use them while I’m working though…

Tasai: You signed a contract (laughs)

Joe: He is God, right? (laughs) I don’t know if this God is amazing or not…

God: If you care about those things, you lose!......It’s better to be hated than being indifferent!

Kaoru ask God about playing video games for an hour and God answers that its good that there are so many kids that are good with games? The answer seems to let Kaoru and Joe a bit confused. God adds that it’s better to become good with games quickly, which Kaoru replies jokingly with something like “if you are not good, it’s better not to play them?” and God replies “it’s better, it’s better”.

God: It’s like playing during a whole day and not being able to clear the game.

Kaoru: Because it’s a waste of time, right?

They talk about it a bit more.

Joe: Well, due to night shift, there is a feeling of tiredness right?

Kaoru: we are tired too. We were told to finish early

Joe: Sure! (laughs)

Kaoru: We have to make it interesting right?

God: I heard it was interesting…

Joe: Oh thank you!

They comment that they are being praised by God.

God: You can’t say that God is a liar!

Tasai: Please write that it was interesting in your SNS.

God: Yes, yes.

Joe: Please do it…

God: I’m pretending to be a human in SNS, so they don’t know I’m God…

Kaoru: It was the first program of The Freedom of Expression…how was it?

Joe: Doing the program after a long time feels fresh…

Kaoru/Tasai: That’s it!

Joe/Tasai: I’m happy…

Kaoru: Well…. mmm…. we started it with that feeling (laughs)…..but this time there is a only camera, right? This background with nothing on it…. if a a lot of people watch us…at this place…

Joe: A little more…

Kaoru: The number of cameras might increase…

Joe: Oohhh…

Kaoru: I don’t know how much Joe’s fee for appearance will be…

Joe: Eh? Is that so? (sweats) Today’s fee is written here…

Kaoru: It might be lower…

Joe coughs hard lol

Joe: That is only going to happen to me? (laughs) But please everybody, subscribe to the channel!

Everyone: Please do it.

Kaoru: Please look forward to the next programn

Everyone: Thank you!

and that’s all....

#dir en grey #kaoru #the freedom of expression #translation #kaorutranslations #Joe Yokomizo #Tasai

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dreeeeiii · 3 years

Text

Job Hunting - What to Do

This is a theme that is as applicable now as it has at any point been and I'd to share a couple of bits of knowledge that I have regarding the matter.

In this season of philosophical grimness, you'll be accustomed to finding out about how our economy is improving, how joblessness is falling, and how wages are on the ascent.

Those of us on the forefront of business, who've been work chasing or jobless over the most recent couple of years, realize that the truth of the work market is less blushing than the playful figures propose.

I'm certain I'll address deceiving measurements in the media in the future however it's not what I need to cover today so I'll skirt that to cut to the chase of this post.

As I sit solidly in the under 30 segment that consistently appears to battle in the business stakes I've had numerous conversations with companions, associates, and schoolmates about the trouble of the work market in the current financial environment and I'd prefer to share my tips for advancing on the planet.

I don't profess to have all (or any) of the appropriate responses, I can just assist with the direction that I've discovered valuable. While these tips are focused on the jobless they are likewise proper for those hoping to proceed onward to another position, even though I'll be hoping to address this in more detail in a future post.

Occupation Hunting is difficult to work

This is a point that anybody at work will in general neglect. From the solace of a paid position, it is all around simple to imagine that those without a task aren't making enough of an effort to get one!

There is a great deal of work to place into an effective quest for new employment. In the most basic terms, you need to compose or refresh your CV, secure position adverts, compose introductory letters, go to interviews round out application structures both in paper structure and on the web, and offer yourself and your abilities to anybody that will tune in. None of this is simple except for don't get unsettled. The more exertion and work you put into your arrangement the almost certain you are to succeed.

Educational program Vitae

Your CV or resume is the primary spot, to begin with, employment forms and can have the effect of progress and disappointment in an application. There is no compelling reason to freeze, it's a lot simpler than individuals make out.

Keep it straightforward!

Attempt to sum up your work parts in list items as opposed to passages of text, put applicable key abilities in a different segment at the highest point of the CV and, most importantly, make it simple for the scout to peruse.

In a circumstance where the scout has a lot of uses then they will not generally have the opportunity to filter through each CV in detail, your application needs to have the correct data in a spot they can't miss.

It very well may be overwhelming taking a gander at a clear page and attempting to transform it into a CV so assuming you end up stuck, utilize a format. They're incorporated into Word and unreservedly accessible on the web, utilize the assets you can get hold of!

The following point may appear glaringly evident yet I've seen numerous applications that have missed this. Spelling and sentence structure are significant. You will not stand apart with the right spelling on your CV however you totally will stick out if there're blunders. If you can't take the consideration to get it directly on a CV why should a forthcoming manager think you'll place any consideration into working for them?

Lastly, make sure to work out what sort of occupation you will, for the most part, be applying for and tailor your experience to fit.

Presently you have an incredible CV you'll require the following piece of the application...

The Covering Letter

This letter has one reason. For what reason would it be a good idea for them to employ you?

So ensure that you answer this inquiry in the letter. "I would be appropriate for this position because... "

This is your opportunity to sell yourself and get that meet. However, recall, a bustling selection representative will not peruse a gravely arranged paper. Keep it basic, hold it direct.

Keep in touch with one general covering letter that can be effectively altered, by transforming a couple of sentences it can cover you from a client care position to an information passage. This can make it an extremely helpful device. Composing this appropriately will mean you can go after positions in seconds instead of minutes.

The Search

This is similarly the hardest and the most straightforward piece of the interaction.

It ought to be simple if you've arranged it accurately. Outfitted with your CV and covering letter you should simply send in those applications, however, remember to go through a brief altering your covering letter to customize every application.

The simple part is to discover opening. There are a large number of roads for you to investigate while looking for the correct positions.

Most huge organizations will have their professions page on the site, posting all opportunities inside the organization. Check for any organizations you realize that have areas close to you.

Neighborhood papers are incredible assets for independent ventures to publicize in and many will utilize these solely. Public papers have a position segment with an assortment of occupations accessible here.

The most well-known asset are through sites, for example, Reed or the Job Center destinations. These gather together opportunities from everywhere and ought to be your go-to place to begin your chase.

The Right Job

It is vital to be sensible in this viewpoint. You will not find low maintenance line of work, paying your fantasy wage in precisely the field you need.

Bargain.

Go after a position with a lower compensation than you need and haggle in the meeting. Go after positions further abroad. Go after positions that you don't believe you're equipped for.

The significant thing is to continue to apply.

Last Words

To adjust this post I will cover a couple of central issues that excursion individuals up.

At the point when you're jobless, work chasing is your everyday work! Try not to go after two positions and figure that you're accomplished for the afternoon. You ought to be taking a gander at going through 8 hours per day on your hunt. Regardless of whether this time is best spent revamping your CV or cover going after positions is down to you.

Try not to depend on others. Offices are infamous for this. They are amazingly valuable apparatuses to assist you with depending on them. Since you're enrolled with an office doesn't imply that you can quit looking. You may luck out and get a proactive spotter who invests their energy looking for you yet more often than not you will not even hear back.

On that note, don't anticipate answers from your applications. Probably, 10% of organizations will even recognize your application considerably less development on it. This is just a question of numbers. On the off chance that they have 200 candidates for a position, it would not be achievable to answer by and by to every one of them. Try not to expect one and you will not be disillusioned.

Keep at it! You will get an opportunity, you will get a meeting, you will find a new line of work.

I trust this has aided and I will share some meeting tips in a later post.

#business

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klbmsw · 4 years

Photo

Ron HowardJanuary 24 at 5:41 AM

1. I believe a country should take care of its weakest members. A country cannot call itself civilized when its children, disabled, sick, and elderly are neglected. PERIOD.

8. I don't believe LGBT people should have more rights than you. I just believe they should have the *same* rights as you.

Bottom line is that I'm a liberal because I think we should take care of each other. That doesn't mean you should work 80 hours a week so your lazy neighbor can get all your money. It just means I don't believe there is any scenario in which preventable suffering is an acceptable outcome as long as money is saved.

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yoondoze · 5 years

Text

ultimatum | l.dh

donghyuck is a cute regular who has seen your spectacle reserved for rude customers a number of times and just can’t get enough of it.

pairing: donghyuck/reader

genre/au: fluff, coffee shop! au

word count: 2.2k

warnings: none

a/n: i kinda forgot that i had this in my drafts and decided to finish it! this was the mcdonalds au i once mentioned but thought that a coffee shop might work better. hope you enjoy <3 also, this was inspired by an incident from this post

When you’ve been working in fast food for long enough, your skin gets real thick.

There was just about nothing that could get to you, not even the wrath of a fifty-year-old man with a heavy southern accent calling you a whore because a barista accidentally gave him whipped cream when he didn’t ask for any - even claiming that whipped cream was emasculating! It wasn’t your fault and you knew it, even though he treated it like you killed his firstborn son. Still, you didn’t let it stress you out. You were tougher than nails - in fact, you were the type of person to throw nails into your mouth like sunflower seeds, chew them, and spit them out. When you were at work, anyway.

However, that didn’t mean you enjoyed dealing with it. Sometimes, you couldn’t get customers to leave you alone - Jesus Christ lady, I already gave you a refund and a coupon if you ever want to come back (please don’t), what more do you want? And you had a perfect way to get rid of it.

It was just a thing. Your coworkers laughed til their ribs hurt every time you pulled it and it was undeniably hilarious. You knew you weren’t supposed to anymore and perhaps it was a bit manipulative, but in your book, they deserved it.

And here we go again.

“There are no straws left,” she said abruptly. Her horribly cut side bangs swept to the right of her face screamed that this would be more troublesome than you were willing to put up with. When you looked over, she was correct. There were no more straws left in the basket on the counter. Big whoop.

“I’m sorry ma’am,” you replied in your most polite, high pitched voice, “I’ll be right on it in a moment.”

You continued taking the current customer’s order, hoping a coworker mulling around might have heard it and would get her the damn straw. No one stepped up though, leading you to believe that they almost wanted it to escalate, especially when Jisung - who was “busy” making a drink - gave you a look. Nothing had happened all day and everyone was bored out of their minds.

“Alright, your total will be-”

“Excuse me?” Her eye twitched as she interrupted you.

“One moment please ma’am, I’ll be right with you.”

“...Are you kidding me?” She scoffed. “All I need is a damn straw, and you kids are just going to ignore me?”

In the blink of an eye, you were wearing an anxious expression like a mask and your voice was faltering with worry. The customer who was right in front of you, who was actually quite pleasant, was becoming increasingly uncomfortable with the woman leaning into his bubble just to get in your face.

“Ma’am, I’m dealing with another customer-”

“And you were dealing with me first!” she yelled, bringing up a poorly manicured finger to point at you. “This place is horrendous. I cannot believe how low the bar is for the service I am receiving right now. You are one lazy little girl, and let me tell you, not one member of your generation is fit for the workforce right now. Always in your phones, not even able to refill the straws! When I get home, I am going to leave a Yelp review that will bring this place to the ground!”

You had to stifle a laugh in your throat.

It was dead silent. Conversations came to a halt, food was left half-chewed in people’s mouths as they focused on the ordeal up at the register. Some people in the place had seen you do it once or twice, if they came here regularly when you were working. Those people met your eyes and watched with excitement. One who you were familiar with, Donghyuck, looked up from his phone and raised his eyebrow at you from a corner booth, anticipating your next move.

The first time viewers were in for a treat.

Cue the waterworks. Your eyes filled to the brim with glassy tears, something you learned to do on command since you started working here, and brought your hands to your face. It was just natural at this point.

In a choked voice, you stumbled over your words, “I, I’m so sorry ma’am, it’s just that I… It’s my first day today and…”

You watched as her anger melted away and guilt began to take place. “I’m so sorry for messing up, I just got overwhelmed and…”

“No, no, no darling, I am sorry for yelling at you and I shouldn’t have. You’re new and it was my fault…” Her cheeks were incredibly red at this point, eyes wide and absolutely astonished. While you kept crying, sobs comparable to those in an afternoon soap opera, she had no clue what to do. Everyone in the store was looking at her with judgemental eyes, even her kids sitting at the booth. You spared a quick glance to Donghyuck, who gave you a concealed thumbs up as he tried not to laugh.

Instead of finishing the conversation, she simply hurried away back to her table, embarrassed, putting on her jacket and quickly pushing her family out. Trying to hold in your laughter, you ran to the back and let another watching worker take your place.

The others on break burst into laughter when you walk in and you couldn’t help but join them. It just felt good to see rude customers get what was coming to them, even if you had to lie a little. You wiped your eyes and patted your face dry with a towel as they complimented your performance. It was unbelievable that you weren’t being cast in movies instead of working a minimum wage barista job.

“Oh my god, Y/N, you’re so good at that!”

“It never gets old, I swear.”

“Just don’t let the manager find out you did it again.”

That was the one problem you had with the joke. Your manager, Doyoung, was strict and held way too much pride in his direction of the café. He maybe smiled at it the first time and then warned you not to pull the act again or there would be consequences. Since then, it always had to be something just between the employees. He was friendly but took his work in the fast casual business seriously and wouldn’t hesitate to let you go if you presented any problems, and unfortunately, you needed the money.

“Well, I’m not letting him know anytime soon, so you better not either. I’m your only source of entertainment around here, anyway,” you laughed, setting down your towel.

After it was safe to go out again, you received a few comments from customers who had witnessed it. Some were apologetic, clearly those who felt sympathetic for the new worker. Others were happy to praise your acting, and the shared laughter made you forget about the possibility of getting fired for it and wondering if it was worth the effort.

It was a little while later that you noticed that Donghyuck still sat in his corner booth. It surprised you, as the boy was typically only here for an hour max to do schoolwork before heading home. To be completely honest, you were always a bit disheartened when he left. You thought you worked better when there was eye candy present, encouraging you to do your best. Not like correctly making lattes would impress him, but you get the gist.

You memorized his order fairly quickly when he first started coming around and always tended to him with much more care than other customers. Your coworkers noticed it and teased you about it constantly - especially Jisung - but nonetheless let you have your fun.

Donghyuck was fairly talkative. Typically you would only listen half-heartedly when it came to customer conversations, but you paid full attention when he was speaking. He talked about his group of friends at school, his teachers, and sometimes you were even treated with a fun story of something that had happened recently. He was really kind and charming, not to mention that he was so cute that it made your heart hurt sometimes.

Occasionally you left a smiley face next to his name on the cup when you were feeling lucky, but not much came of it other than a small laugh, which you were still delighted to see anyway. Jisung suggested for you to write your number down a few times, but you wouldn’t be able to deal if he rejected you like that.

In other words, you had a big fat crush, and him staying later today gave you an ounce of sweet, sweet hope.

It was close to the end of your shift when he came up to the counter. Jisung had gone to the back to get his things since the place was pretty empty, so it was just you.

He looked like he was just going to leave, with his backpack slung on his shoulder and all, but he didn’t. You tilted your head to the side as he approached the pick-up counter rather than the registers. “Not ordering?” you asked.

“No, actually,” he said, scratching the back of his neck, “I, uh, I just wanted to talk to you for a little.”

It was safe to say that your heart leaped from your chest. This had to be it!

“Oh, okay... well then what’s up?”

He sighed and then smiled. “That act you pulled earlier… I swear, I never get tired of it.”

You laughed in return. “Yeah, me neither… I don’t know, it’s pretty entertaining for me, too.”

“How do you do it?” he leaned in closer and lowered his voice for dramatics. “Like, you start crying on demand. It’s amazing!”

You could only shrug, trying to keep your cool as he talked. “I couldn’t tell you. I just make myself get really upset, like it’s actually my first day, and go from there. I’m no actor, but... I’d say it’s pretty convincing.”

“No, it’s definitely convincing. I think I’ve seen it happen about four times now, including today. It’s great, like you just flip a switch and boom! Oscar-winning performance.”

The two of you giggled over it, sending your heart fluttering like a hummingbird’s wings. You couldn’t see yourself in a mirror but were sure your face was flushed red. Eventually, as the energy started to die down, he began again.

“Anyway, so I think you kinda know that I’m not just here to talk - I, I mean I like talking I just had something else to say-”

“It’s fine,” you said, grin prickling at your lips, “Don’t worry.”

He sighed, fingers entangling themselves as they rested on the counter. Donghyuck cleared his throat and then he said quickly, “This is a bit awkward and probably not the best place to ask but since I don’t know when else I could do it… would you go on a date with me sometime?”

He waited for your response with wide eyes, chewing on his bottom lip. You were so shocked that you couldn’t get any words out. It was your dream come true, yet you were still screwing it up.

“Um, you know what, nevermind, it was stupid of me to ask and especially while you were at work-”

You waved your hand as you realized where he was going. “No, no, it’s fine! I was just surprised, that’s all!” It was especially shocking that he was so flustered. From what you had seen from him, he was calm and collected. This wasn’t smooth as you imagined, but it was incredibly endearing.

You bit your lip mischievously. “I mean… I don’t know, Donghyuck. You’re a customer. Why should I?”

Fortunately, he received your playfulness well. What you didn’t expect was for him to come back even stronger. “Well, if you want to get serious… I’ll leave a complaint that you fake cry to make annoying customers feel guilty?”

A loud, hearty laugh made its way out of your chest. “Okay, fair enough. As long as you don’t tell my manager, I’d be happy to go on a date with you.”

You gave him a cheeky wink and grabbed a notepad and a pen and started to scribble down your phone number. When you handed it to him, that adorable signature grin spread across his face.

“Okay, I’ll... call you sometime. Thanks, Y/N.”

Then he was off, out the door with a certain bounce in his step that made you giddy, too. You had to turn around, letting yourself do a little dance of joy. At that moment, Jisung came out from the back with a smug look on his face. He punched you on the shoulder lightly as he walked out behind the counter.

“Finally,” he laughed as you protested. “It’s literally been months.”

You squinted your eyes as you stared at the boy who was now cleaning up. He had been gone for quite a long period of time, and wasn’t he just getting his things? “Did you have anything to do with this?”

He just smiled to himself as he washed his hands.

“Jisung!” you whined, swatting at him.

“Hey, hey, I only dropped some hints! Nothing explicit, it’s not like I paid him… just some hints!”

Scrunching up your nose, you crossed your arms and looked away.

“C’mon, Y/N, I’m your wing-man! You needed it and you know it.”

“Okay, maybe!” you threw your hands up in surrender. Then, in a small voice, you mumbled, “Thanks.”

But that pretty much decided it. If you could get yourself a date with the cutest boy you’ve ever seen out of it, the risk of being fired was more than worth it.

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scarfanon · 4 years

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Why we need Universal Basic Income in the United States.

Let me preface this by saying that the views expressed in this post are my personal views based on info from other posts that I’ve read over the past couple of years, and I welcome any additional input that may correct any misconceptions or misinformation that I should accidentally include in this post.

So, that out of the way, what is Universal Basic Income? Universal Basic Income is a system by which the government annually grants each of its citizens a year’s worth of funds with which to pay for food, utilities, and basic necessities, and paid for by citizens’ tax dollars. It has been implemented in several nations, most notably Switzerland and Canada, and every nation that has implemented this system has seen net-positive results.

Now, let’s take a look at the US. Here, we have the traditional practice of people working for an employer and being paid for their work. However, the minimum wage has not scaled with inflation and is not enough to pay for the cost of living. There has been a push to increase the minimum wage to $15/hr, but this would still not be enough to keep up with the basic needs of the average American citizen. Most individuals are in a state of financial distress and find themselves one missed paycheck away from homelessness, which means that if you don’t have a job, you’re SOL, and if you do manage to find employment, it’s usually under a predatory employer that will milk you for every penny of profit they can get, and pay you as little as they can legally get away with. Studies have shown that this has a detrimental effect on a worker’s mental health in addition to forcing them into a form of artificial serfdom.

Now, let’s add Universal Basic Income to the equation. Suddenly, these people who were financially desperate can afford the things they need to survive. This means that people who were previously homeless can now afford housing. People who were one missed paycheck away from financial ruin no longer need to worry about losing what they have. People who for one reason or another cannot find work (E.G. People with disabilities) can now afford what they need. Removing financial distress also removes a major cause of depression and anxiety, which means that people’s mental health will collectively improve. Now that they can afford the things that they need, people will no longer need to turn to crime out of desperation, and so crime rates will plummet, which means there won’t be as much need for police funding. In a similar vein, the rate of drug addiction will also go down, as many individuals that turn to addictive drugs do so out of a desperate need to escape from the stress of financial hardship; take away the stressors, and there’s less of a need for a potentially dangerous coping mechanism, and those who are addicted now have the funds necessary to seek the help that they need. In addition, there would also be fewer children put into foster care, as now their parents have the money they need to care for them (ostensibly the money could be distributed by household and the amount granted could be determined in part using census information).

Now, here’s where it gets interesting. With Universal Basic Income, there would no longer be a need to raise the minimum wage, as it would no longer be people’s primary source of income. In addition, people who were previously wage slaves to predatory employers could now resign with minimal consequence. Statistically smaller family-owned businesses would not likely be affected too badly by this, but larger corporations with morally unconscionable business practices would quickly find themselves hemorrhaging employees (looking at you, Am*zon), and would have to make a decision; continue on their current path and potentially go out of business, or change their practices to make the work environment less toxic and start treating their employees like human beings if they want to survive. It will also change the dynamic so that employers have to bend over backwards to make their employees want to stay instead of prospective workers having to bend over backwards to make themselves appealing, as people will no longer rely on their paychecks to make ends meet, and anybody that is dissatisfied with how their employer is treating them can simply quit.

Now, you’re probably thinking “if people don’t have to work, won’t that mean the collapse of our economy?” It will not, and here’s why. Humans, by nature, like to be productive. There are some who will take the opportunity to pursue hobbies, or higher education, or learn some skills that they previously didn’t have time to learn (I for one would love to take a year off work and learn some basic domestic skills like how to cook and do laundry). Most however will still work for several reasons. First off, Universal Basic Income covers the basic necessities like food and rent, but does not include disposable income, and so people will look for jobs so that they have some extra spending money. Others will work simply because they’re bored and need something to do, and still others will do the job simply because they recognize that the job itself has to be done. However, the majority of working individuals will now be part-time workers, as there is no longer a need to work full-time to pay the bills; this would also pave the way to making benefits available to part-time workers. Plus, Universal Basic Income will open the door for other nationwide programs that are commonplace in other countries, like Universal Healthcare.

Now, the right wing is probably going into conniptions reading the above paragraphs, but there are some consequences that even they will like. With Universal Basic Income, a number of other government-subsidized programs would be rendered redundant and could be scaled back or eliminated entirely. Food Stamps? People can afford food and necessities now, so that is no longer necessary. Unemployment Benefits? People no longer rely on their paycheck as their primary source of income, so that is no longer necessary. Disability? Though some aspects of that program would still be necessary, they could easily be folded into Universal Basic Income since, as previously mentioned, people who cannot work will now be given the money they need to survive. Social Security? Universal Basic Income would serve largely the same function, albeit for all citizens and not just retirees.

None of the above paragraphs are radical ideas, since as previously mentioned, other nations have successfully implemented Universal Basic Income with net positive results, including boosting their economies. Now I’m about to list my more radical ideas.

I believe there should be legislation passed in the US putting a strict upper limit on any one person’s net worth; specifically, anyone with a net worth of 9 figures or higher should have the excess redistributed where it is most needed. Why no more than 8 figures? Because 8 figures is still tens of millions of dollars; nobody with that kind of money has any right to complain, and if you have that kind of money and still can’t afford something you want, you need to ask yourself why you want the thing in the first place.

Again, these are my personal views on the subject, and if anyone would like to follow up on this post or correct any misconceptions that I may have expressed, I implore you to do so.

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prorevenge · 4 years

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Screw me? Screw you; I want my money.

This is a revenge in multiple parts and apologies up front for the length.

About 30years or so ago I was 17 and about to head to University. An acquaintance through my parents church offered me a job working with him learning to be a pizza chef. Awesome, I'd need money for Uni and I'd already had a stack of jobs, so working hard was nothing new for me, but being a cook certainly was. My experience with Italian was limited to Pizza Hut. So I accepted that at the start I was a liability, not a help.

I started work, and to start with I worked free. Cool, but when it got to the point about 3 months later that I was opening by myself & taking whole shifts by myself, well, I should be paid. I screwed up all of my 17yr old courage and confronted the owner, let's call him Nick (because that was his name). He huffed and puffed and tried to tell me how terrible I was, but I stood my ground and now I'm on minimum wage. Not bad in my eyes at the time.

I worked there for another 3years, through most of my Uni degree, often putting in 30hrs contact at Uni, 30 hours at the restaurant and 30 hours of study, it was hectic, but just became the norm.

Towards the end I became a lot more savvy, and started researching labour laws, keeping records of my pay packets and end of year tax receipts and realised Nick (& other co-owners) were screwing me. I wasn't on the correct rate, they weren't deducting tax correctly and a couple of other accounting "oversights".

By then I was working with my (at the time) mate, let's call him Girlfriend Creeping Dickhead (GCD).

It was Sunday night - the place was packed I had tickets all the way down my line and GCD and I were pumped. We had a new boss (NB) who'd just bought into the business who thought he was the King Of the World because he was now a "restauranteur", a right wanker, but after years of having to stay back to cook pizzas on world cup nights for the bosses friends, or Chirstmas, NYE, etc I was sorta used to the grandstanding chest puffing behaviour.

The night in question the new boss would *not* let me start the second pizza oven (think a two tier oven - I was only allowed the top tier on) because it "cost too much". So here I am, oven FULL, two pizza chefs running full speed and we're only falling behind, because one oven wasn't enough and it was starting to cool down from being so full and opened so frequently.

NB gets a couple of tables of mates in. Instead of just asking us to cook some comp garlic bread or whatever, he starts loading up trays himself and putting them in the oven, not the worst crime, but because he had NO idea what he was doing, every 30s he'd open the oven to check them, cooling the oven down even further, potentially ruining the food we had in there and slowing us down measurably. I had the Head Chef chewing my ass out as his food was ready to go but my food on teh same tickets wasn't. It was hectic and not fun.

This Garlic Bread Bandit shit had to stop.

me: NB - Stop fucking with my oven. If you want garlic bread - just ask - I'll get it done immediately for you. NB: What? Huh? me: You're messing with my oven - you're cooling it down and we're too busy for this shit - just tell me and I'll make it. NB: Ok.

Did he do it? Nope, he kept on. Queue the same conversation another 2 times, the last time I told him I'd blow my stack if he did it again. You see where this is going. He did it again.

Now - after being consistently ripped off and abused (so many kooky stories from that place) for 3 years, my time was up there anyway, and this was the time to do it.

I looked at GCD and said "Yo. We out of here?" he looked back and simply said "Yup". We stripped our aprons and in front of the entire restaurant (pizza kitchen was in full view of the entire restaurant) threw them on the bench and told NB "We quit - All this, all these tickets, all the food in the oven you've fucked up, and your mates shitty garlic bread - this is all yours now - good luck"

Then we walked out - got some coffees from the baristas, sat in front of the Pizza area and watched him absolutely FLOUNDER. He had *no* idea what he was doing and there was literally no one else there that could help him. We could see food coming out from the kitchen, but the pizza on the same ticket was taking 20m or more longer to come out, tables were hopping mad - we could hear the grumblings all around us. I'll admit it was dickish, but undeniably satisfying to behold.

That's not the pro revenge though. The Pro revenge was that I'd been stealing my timesheet every Sunday night, photocopying it and then replacing it Monday mornings. I'd been doing that for over a year. I'd also told GCD to do it.

Monday I walk in and Nick was there and was *FURIOUS* at me, as I walking in you could see his chubby face turn bright red as he bellowed across the restaurant floor "What the FUCK do you think you're doing here? Get the FUCK out and never come back".

me: Nick - we've gotta talk. We can do it here or we can do it in your office, but trust me, you want to have this conversation privately. Nick: Fine - You come with me then (desperately trying to gain the upper hand back) and he storms to his shitty little office out the back Nick: about how he's going to withhold pay and a whole heap of other illegal hot air. Me: You done? Good... Here - read this:

I hand him a print out of an excel spreadsheet, a stack of photocopied timesheets, a stack of photocopied payslips, printed copied of the wage awards, all of which detail the amount he's ripped me off for.

Me: You owe me 6 grand. I'll take cash or a cheque now.

Did I mention he and the other bosses had *just* been simultaneously raided by the tax office and that they and the business were all on thin fucking ice? Yeah, bad timing for Nick the Dick.

Nick: Spluttering, wringing his hands "But, but, I can't afford it! Look I'll show you my bank accounts" as he physically starts scrambling to find his bank statements. Me: Nick I literally don't give a shit about you, your bank accounts or your situation, you owe me 6 grand *TODAY* or I take all of this to the Tax office and all of the other relevant government departments that will be *very* interested in this, because Nick... I have a feeling if you're doing this to me, you're doing it to other staff here as well huh? As for not having the money, well, again, not my problem, but you just bought a new $60,000 Pajero, so if you have to run that down to the car yard and sell it, again I don't give a shit but I get 6 grand TODAY.

He literally teared up a little, I'm not sure why, maybe through frustration, rage or just being screwed by someone he though waaaaay beneath him. But seeing a grown man who's abused you for many years cry at your hands is a pretty beautiful thing to behold as a 20yr old kid.

I got a cheque that day for my whole 6 grand (and yes, it cashed), but the best was walking out of his office with GCD standing there who deadpan just looked him in the eyes and said "Nick, we need to talk..." and in they walked in to do the same thing. $10k he "lost" that day.

The best part? A few of my friends at the restaurant caught wind of the fact that I had *enraged* him and asked what it was all about - I let them know how they were being screwed, how to take copies of all of their timesheets, and where to find the relevant laws. I know of several other people who did the same thing to him.

And that was how I left the hospitality industry and started working in my field of study, never to look back.

Hope you enjoyed my cake day present to y'all!

(source) story by (/u/faidel)

#prorevenge #by /u/faidel #pro revenge #revenge stories #pro revenge stories #pro #revenge #last10

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doof-doofblog · 4 years

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"It's At An Insurance Company In Shoreditch!"

Monday 16th November 2020

Good afternoon / evening everyone! Hope you all had a brilliant weekend. This is quite an exciting post for me this one as this will be my 100th written blog post reviewing an episode of EastEnders, and I have a feeling it's going to be such a good episode to write about! I'm excited to get stuck in so let's jump right into it!

The episode begins with Kat sat on the sofa in her living room, checking the amount of her wages that Ian has paid her, as she checks them she notices that Ian has cut her short of the correct amount she's owed. As she's chatting to Stacey, the conversation turns the event which will be happening that night. It sounds as if this robbery she has planned with Phil will be going ahead that night. Kat informs Stacey to look after the kids and tells her that if they ask where she is, to make up some kind of logical excuse for her absence. Stacey once again tells her cousin that she still doesn't have to go through with this robbery and that they'll be able to find another way to find the money they owe Suki. But Kat is convinced that there is no other way and that this is the best shot she has of getting quick cash. As Stacey leaves the room, she suggests to take Kush with her to be on the safe side, suddenly Kush enters the room and informs Kat that he's planning on attending a Gambling Addiction meeting in an attempt to put things right between the couple. Kat informs her boyfriend that Phil has already organised for another driver, but Kush is quick to fight his corner and persuade her that whoever this other driver will be will not have her back as much as he will.

At the Vic, Ian is having what appears to be trouble with a supplier. As his brother and his family look across at him, its looks pretty clear that they have been made aware about what Ian has done to Kathy. Lexi tells his Uncle that the family aren't speaking to him anymore, as she sits with her Dad and Callum. As Ian takes himself behind the bar, Lexi asks her Dad what plans they have for that evening but Ben apologises to his daughter and explains he's having to work, to which Callum looks at him and pleads for him to be careful. Is Callum letting on that he knows what his boyfriend has planned? Or is he simply just showing support? Suddenly, Kat comes flying into the pub demanding Ian to pay her wages correctly, as she does so she sees Ben sat across the other end of the pub. As Ben and his family get ready to leave, Kat approaches him and asks who the new driver is that Phil's pulled in for the robbery, but before Ben can respond Ian is quick to insult Kat about cleaning for the Mitchell's and she storms off. Ian then enquires as to how much the Mitchell's are paying her but Ben really doesn't seem interested in making small-talk with his brother, he informs him that he's having to hold back really hard to not hurt him after what he did to their Mum, but he warns him that he ever pulls a stunt like that again, he'll come for him. I hate to say it, but I'm feeling glad that Ian has been making a lot of enemies lately, he seems to just be annoying everyone and he's digging his heels in deeper and deeper. There seems to be a lot of people he's upset right now - Max, Kathy, Sharon, Ben, Kat, Peter, Bobby, Dotty - I think someone needs to teach him a lesson!

After leaving the pub and witnessing Ian be the big "I am!", Max makes his way into the Café and finds Linda sitting on her own. They both greet each other as Max informs her about what has been happening in the Vic. It's then she mentions that her husband has gone to stay with their son, Lee, for a few days after the events that happened with him at the Vic. She informs Max that Ian had also sent them a bill for the bottle of alcohol that Mick accidentally smashed. Oh and what a coincidence! Max then happens to mention to Linda that he's actually thought of a way of getting back at Ian, to which she is instantly interesting in hearing his plan.

At the Masood/Ahmed household, (to which now Iqra, Ash and Tina are living in) Tina is confiding in Iqra about putting her foot in it with Mick and that he's not answering her calls, Iqra can kind of relate to Tina as she mentions that her sister, Habiba, has blocked her on all forms of social media. It seems as if they both have something in common when it comes to their families. Ash can be seen just listening in on their conversation as Iqra admits she doesn't know what to say to her sister if she'd try calling her. What is she supposed to say regarding Jags? In Iqra's mind, Jags is the one who's in the wrong - but of course Ash knows differently, she knows the truth. She grabs her coat and makes an excuse to leave, informing her girlfriend that she's going to work.

The next scene shows Jack visiting Denise once again, Denise informs him that she's been to the church with Raymond again and that the pastor gave her a book for Raymond. She informs Jack that she's been told more about Raymond's adoptive mother and how the little boy is constantly drawing pictures of his parents. Something is telling me that Denise feels like she might not be able compare to Raymond's adoptive Mother. Jack once again suggests she tells the young boy the truth about her identity in a case to make him feel more settled, he shuts the door behind him to make sure they don't have any interruptions whilst Denise tells her son who she is. Denise is looking a little bit nervous, but can only hope that the little boy will understand and accept the truth.

Returning to the Vic, Sharon is quick rush Ian into sorting the fact that they're running out of booze, Ian tries to reassure her that he'll get onto the supplier and sort it. Suddenly, Max and Linda sneak into the pub and they both make their way behind the bar announcing to the locals that all drinks will be free on behalf of Ian. Ian is absolutely stunned and can't believe what is happening. As Stacey and Jean enter also enter the pub, Stacey notices Linda behind the bar and comments how long it's been since she's seen Linda serving drinks. Linda appears incredibly happy to be where she once stood and she's looking even more happy to be helping Max wind Ian up. Ian is eager to stop what's happening before it the situation carries on or gets carried away but Max stops him from walking any further behind the bar and informs him he still owes him thousands of pounds! Ian questions him on how he's able to get that money so quick, but Max sarcastically suggests to him to rob a bank!

(Why do I have a horrible feeling that something is going to wrong with the robbery job that Kat and Phil are going to pull? Why do I feel that Ian might somehow get his hands on the money they get/nick, just so he can pay Max off? Will that then mean that the Slaters will be kicked out of their house? I admit I've got a very bad feeling that this robbery isn't going to end well!)

At the Mitchell household, Kat and Shirley are sat discussing the robbery job, Kat shows Shirley that she's made her a pass for her to get inside the building, she informs her that they may come in handy, unfortunately Shirley point out that she's made the blunder of putting their real names on the passes. As Phil and Ben make an appearance, Kat once again asks them who the new driver is that they've got for the job and inform her that it is in fact Shirley. Kat is left stunned as she informs them she needs her on the inside with her, but Phil reassures her that Shirley will be the best driver to get away. Kat is left reeling as she tells them to forget about the job and leaves, to which Ben runs after her. As he catches up to her outside, Ian can be seen in the background as Kat informs Ben that she'll get another driver, suddenly Ian speaks up - has he been listening to everything that they've been talking about? Is he aware that there's going to be a robbery? He asks his brother whether he could be a driver for them. Ben is clearly shocked, but as Ian continues to plead to his brother, it becomes clear that he is also desperate for money. Ben tells his brother to actually beg - it's clear that Ian is looking a little uncomfortable as he begins to kneel to the floor, to which Ben bursts out laughing and informs his brother that he wouldn't involve him if he was basically the last man on Earth. Things are looking really sour between to the two brothers, Ben is clearly angry with Ian because of what he did to their Mum. As Ben begins to walk away Ian shouts to him to stop acting like his Dad, which stops Ben in tracks, the next line really surprised me - Ian actually told his own brother that his Dad hates him - well clearly he doesn't know Phil and Ben as much as he thought, considering what Ben has gone through in the last few months regarding his hearing loss, Phil has tried his absolute best to support his son, even acknowledges his boyfriend which speaks volumes. Ben informs Ian that the relationship between him and his Dad is solid and the only person who is hated at the moment is him! As Ben makes his way inside the house, unfortunately, Ian notices that the pass made for Shirley has been accidentally left on the floor. What the hell is he going to do with that?!

Returning to Denise and Jack, as little Raymond is doing more drawings, Denise is trying to talk the young boy. I have to be honest, I found this scene very touching. Raymond is drawing a little picture on the floor as Denise is very softly talking to him about how his adoptive parents told him about "Another Mummy" who grew him in her tummy. Raymond nods his head in acknowledgement, showing that he knows what she's talking about, at such a young age he appears to understand. Denise asks whether he thought about her to which he gently nodded his head again, Denise then tells the young boy "That was me!" and she continues to mention how she gave him to special parents because he was a special boy. Suddenly Raymond turns around and gives Denise the picture he has drew, to which Denise instantly thinks is of his adoptive Mother, but when Jack notices that he's drawn a dress the same colour that Denise is wearing, Denise asks little Raymond whether the picture was of her, to which he smiles and nods. This was just an incredibly cute scene, I absolutely loved it! Beautifully done!

Returning to Ash, who has actually just gone to the Panesar household, she appears to be on the phone to Iqra, trying to reassure her that everything is fine. On the other end of the line, Iqra seems erratic, questioning her girlfriend why she left in such a rush and whether she is actually okay. Ash makes the quick excuse that she has to go and hangs up the phone. Behind her, we can see that Suki has been listening in on her daughter's conversation, trying to be the supporting Mother, she asks whether everything okay. But Ash admits that she's hating having to lie to her girlfriend, lying about Jags and everything else. Suki then tries to comfort her and explains that having to lie is probably best then telling a devastating truth. But then, Ash turns the conversation completely onto what her Mum is doing to the Slater's - are the Slater family even aware that she's planning on changing their house into studio apartments?! It looks as if Suki was planning on posting some fake letters to them, but then admits that perhaps she might think of another way of telling them. I really don't like Suki and I really hope that she'll get what's coming to her - eventually!

Back at the Slater household, Kush can be seen playing on his laptop again - is he really playing another game of poker?! Kat calls him from the hallway and he quickly shuts the laptop down before she can see. As she enters the kitchen she asks her boyfriend whether he was serious about seeking help for his gambling addiction, he confirms to her that he is. Kat then informs Kush that she's willing to let him join her on this robbery job if he's still interested, to which he seems incredibly eager to help out. He asks what's changed her mind, to which she explains that she needs someone to support her and be on her side - as it's fair to say that none of the Mitchell clan will be - she tells him that she does trust him as she leaves the room. As she enters the hallway we can hear her arranging with Phil to meet in the Arches, meanwhile Kush goes back onto his laptop, revealing that he has been playing Poker, yet again, but interestingly he actually pressed "Fold" and quits the game! I think the knowledge that Kat actually does trust him to help her with this job must've proved to him that he doesn't need to be playing Poker any more. Hopefully this will be the big turn around for Kush.

Meanwhile at the Vic, Max and Linda are once again sharing a drink. Sharon approaches them and questions Max's actions and how it would help Ian paying him back, but Linda is quick to defend Max, informing her friend that she hasn't laughed so hard for a long time. As Sharon leaves them to it, Linda confesses to Max how much she misses being behind the bar, Max understands and tries to comfort her, he tries to lift her spirits saying that that was her past, she bound to miss it, but she now needs to focus on the future. It's then that Linda reveals that she's had a new business idea, thanks to her son, Ollie. She reveals her new business idea would be superhero costumes for children with autism, to which Max agrees would be a brilliant idea. This is very interesting - does this mean that Linda might go down another road and start her own business? It could be a big success! Will Max convince her to go for it?!

At the Arches, Phil, Ben and Shirley are waiting for Kat to turn up, both Ben and Phil are looking a little bit tense. Shirley informs her boss that there will be other jobs, but Phil think that this opportunity it too easy to pass up, £100,000 for a few motors! It should be an easy job! Eventually Kat turns up and passes Shirley another leopard print piny, much to everyone's confusion. Phil makes the valid point that Shirley is going to be one of the driver's but then Kat reveals she's got someone else - as they all walk outside the Arches, Kush is seen standing very stern and he looks Phil dead in the eye. Will Phil agree to this arrangement?! Or does he perhaps feel that he could land them in trouble?! I mean, I don't think something should go wrong with the group they've got, but I fear something might go wrong for maybe one of two of them. What do you guys think? Is their robbery going to be a success? Or is something going to go horrendously wrong?!

Back with Jack and Denise, Jack praises Denise for the way she approached Raymond and revealing she was in fact his real Mum. Denise shows him the picture Raymond drew and he thought Jack was his new Daddy! Am I the only one who found this incredibly cute?! Jack at first looked in shock, but Denise reassured him that she's going to tell the young boy that they're just good friends - however from the look of both their faces, something tells me that they wish they could in fact go back to the way things were between them. I've got a feeling that they will rekindle their romance, they clearly still have feelings for one another, and perhaps Jack might come to love little Raymond as his own and they could be a family. Suddenly a voice from the hallway breaks the silence, Denise and Jack look in surprise as Kim walks through the door and announces her return! I AM SO HAPPY TO HAVE KIM BACK!!! However, she's got a lot to find out - first she'll have to find out about Chantelle passing away, and then the bombshell of having Raymond back in her sister's life! How is she going to react to the recent news?!

Back at the Arches, Shirley and Phil voice their concerns about Kush being involved, they make the very valid point that there isn't any room for mistakes. Ben questions whether he even knows the plan, to which Kush then gives a note by note to what the plan entails. Phil questions whether Kush will make a mistake or not, but Kush makes his feelings perfectly clear to him. His family is on the line, their plan has to work! Phil acknowledges that Kush means business and that he's serious about being a driver for them. Phil instructs them to meet later in the evening with a car as they walk away, as they do, Kat is looking more nervous as the plan comes closer and closer together. Kush tells her not to worry, he has her back and everything will be fine. (Famous last words, right?!)

Returning home to Iqra, Ash starts making up an a story as to how her day was, Iqra is visibly not having any of it. She questions her girlfriend straight out as to whether she is seeing someone else, which takes Ash completely by surprise. Ash tells her girlfriend that that is not the case, however when Iqra reveals that she went to the hospital to drop off her lunch for her, she sees that her story isn't going to work. She then tells Iqra the truth that she was in face at her Mum's house, but however, she still doesn't tell her full truth and instead tells her that the reason she left was because of Tina. She explains that Tina is getting in the way of their relationship and that they're not being able to spend time alone together. Iqra appears relieved and states she'll tell Tina to move out, to which Tina then appears from the hallway with a devastated look on her face.

The final scene of this episode was a very good one I have to say! Callum is at work and we can see that he's sent Ben a message asking him to be careful, however DI Thompson walks in on Callum and informs him that he's got recorded footage from the recorder that he planted at the Arches! Ooooohhhh gosh, I had forgotten all about that! So everything that Kush, Kat, Shirley, Phil and Ben had discussed has all been recorded! Callum at first reveals that that is the first he has heard about it, but once again DI Thompson blackmails him, saying if he doesn't tell him what he knows, he'll make sure that Ben goes down for his part in this crime! As all this is taking place, Phil, Ben, Kush, Kat and Shirley are all seen wearing dark clothes, of course except for Kat and Shirley in their leopard print pinnies, and approaching their cars ready to set off for the robbery. However what they don't see as they drive off is Ian, stood in a phone box! He's only gone and phoned the police and reported them! Is this to get his own back on Ben and Phil?! I fail to see why Ian has done this, what is in it for him?! PRIDE!!!!!

Will the police already be there as they approach the building? Will they get away with the robbery? Will Callum be backed into a corner and reveal what he knows?! Or is something going to go terribly wrong and someone end up getting caught? I for one, pray it's not Phil or Ben, however something tells me it will be! What do you guys think? I know the following episode will probably be nail biting, but I'm really looking forward to watching it and catching up on it tomorrow and reviewing it!

Thank you all so much for reading, I hope you've all enjoyed reading as much as I've enjoyed writing this blog post! I'll be back tomorrow following tonight's exciting episode! Enjoy the rest of your evening folks! xXx

#eastenders #katslater #kushkazemi #philmitchell #benmitchell #shirleycarter #ianbeale #callumhighway #maxbranning #lindacarter #sharonwatts #tinacarter #iqraahmed #ashpanesar #suki panesar #denisefox #jackbranning #kimfox #staceyslater

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the-sweetest-dragon · 5 years

Text

A Summer Like Never Before

- A Summer Job AU - no Pennywise - Georgie is still alive - Mostly tomfoolery -

Fandom: It

Characters: Bev, Richie, Eddie, Ben, Mike, Stan, Bill

Ships: Eventual Reddie, Benverly, Stan x Patty

Word Count: 1379

Warnings: Out of character behavior

AN: It’s Thursday my dudes! I hope everyone is enjoying these chapters because I’m really enjoying writing them. Updates every Thursday, let me know if you want to be tagged in future chapters!

Tags: @just-another-shipper-01 @nerdsarebetter @audder17 @sapphic-bottlexap @mmarclac

Chapter One Chapter Two

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Chapter Three

Beverly Marsh has had enough of Richie Tozier’s silly crush on their friend Eddie Kaspbrak. Currently, he’s blasting “Eddie My Love” for the third time today. What’s worse is that he’s slow dancing with a container of mustard like it was his lost love.

“Richie could you please fill the damn mustards and stop pretending it’s Eddie.” Bev stands at the long counter, marrying ketchups while the diner was slow. Richie had done… well, nothing but dance around with Mustard-Eddie and refill the ice machine.

Richie pouts at her words and sets down his mustard boyfriend. The song finally changes into some 90’s music that Richie can’t dance to.

“Must you ruin all my fun? First I can’t make mom jokes at work and now I can’t-” Richie suddenly cuts off and rushes to fix his hair. Bev looks over at the door and grins. His favorite customer is walking towards the door, Ben Hanscome in tow.

Bev watches as Eddie opens the door and waves at them. Bev glances towards Richie; his eyes are crinkled shut by the force of his smile. Then, she turns her attention to Eddie, who’s explaining something to Ben. She can tell by his hand movements that Ben doesn’t necessarily agree.

Richie waltzes over to their booth while Bev shakes her head. That boy had it bad; he hated waiting on people their own age but he always made an exception for Eddie.

Bev moves on to refill the salt and pepper shakers, and to listen in on their conversation.

“- can I get ya?” asks Richie in a Southern accent. Eddie heaves a sigh before ordering his usual. “Good choice, Eddie Spaghetti.” Richie grins, knowing that Eddie hates that nickname, and, like clockwork, Eddie rushes to to tell him so.

“I hate when you call me that!” Eddie glares at him, but Bev can see him trying to hide a smile. Ben chuckles and orders after him. Richie races off to put in their order to the cook that night, a man called Chuck.

Bev continues to put salt into the correct containers, not really thinking about much other than how much she hates being here some days. Sure, the tips were usually pretty good, but they were paid less than minimum wage and the customers were downright awful some days. There was an old lady who came in near the beginning of summer that thought Richie was hitting on her grandson and called him some not very nice words. Richie hid in the freezer until they left.

Bev sighs softly and puts her salt back in it’s correct place. As she’s walking back to the counter, an older man reaches out and grabs her wrist. She stops immediately.

“Can I help you with something sir?” She had been told off for being rude to the customers too many times to let her anger show. Bev doesn’t try to loosen the man’s grip either; better her wrist than her ass.

The old man licks his lips and looks her up and down. Bev stands a bit straighter, refusing to back down from his stare.

“Just needed a closer look atcha. Quite the looker if I do say so myself. What’s an ass like your’s doing in a place like this?”

Bev hears both Eddie and Ben get up, rearing for a fight. Bev holds up her other hand to make them wait.

“Let go of my arm or things will start to get sticky around here.” She hears Richie come out from the kitchen and take in the scene before them. He also waits for her to handle things before jumping in. The old man’s eyes flicker to the boys behind her.

“Whatcha gonna do? Have your boyfriends beat me up? I knew you were a slut but I didn’t realize you had so many.” The old man laughs and Bev’s anger flares up. She lowers her other hand and the boys rush in.

Before any of them could reach the old man, Bev has him by the balls. Someone lets out a soft ouch and she hears Richie apologize to someone. The hand around her wrist is immediately gone and a scared look settles on the man’s face. Bev raises an eyebrow and smiles.

“Apologize.” She tightens her grip on his manly bits and he lets out a squeak.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” Bev smiles.

“Good, now leave and don’t come back to this diner or I will call the cops.” Bev leans in closer, and whispers, “You shouldn’t have been worried about the boys. I can handle myself.” She lets him go and the man rushes out of the diner.

Bev turns around and sees Ben with a bloody nose and Eddie shaking his head at Richie.

“What the hell happened? I turn my back for two minutes and you guys get hurt?”

“Richie hit me in the fucking nose trying to get to you,” Ben says softly. Bev sighs and looks at Richie. He’s red from the roots of his hair to where his uniform sits on his neck.

“I didn’t mean to,” he says softly. “Plus your face hurt my elbow.” Richie lifts up his sleeve and there was a small bruise forming right above his elbow.

Bev rubs the space inbetween her eyebrows. Sometimes it’s like she’s their mother, always fixing them up. She grabs Ben’s hand, ignoring the blush that creeps up his neck.

“I’m taking Ben to the back to get him cleaned up. Eddie, you’re in charge.”

Eddie turns a self satisfied smile towards Richie, who’s pouting about not being in charge while Bev’s gone.

“But he doesn’t even work here!” Richie protests.

“Shut up Trashmouth and do as I say. I’m the boss now.” And with that, Bev walks Ben back to where they keep their first aid kit and sits him down in a back booth.

Bev softly touches his nose, trying to tell if it was broken or not before noticing that the bleeding had stopped. She wiped up the nearly dried blood with a soft towel. Ben winces once and Bev pulls away.

“Well, the good news is that I don’t think the Trashmouth broke your nose. It’s not bruising much either, so you should be okay. The blood has stopped as well.” Bev smiles and turns away to put the towel down next to the first aid kit next to her. She can hear Eddie speaking very quickly but he’s drowned out by ‘Eddie My Love’ playing once again. That’s gonna be difficult to explain.

“Hey, Bev?” She turns back to him.

“Yeah, Ben?”

She waits, watching Ben struggle to spit whatever he wanted to say out. It gives her a chance to look at him, really look at him. Ben is no longer chubby; he still held on to a bit of baby fat but he had started lifting weights at the beginning of high school and it was really paying off. Working at the lumberyard had helped a lot too. He wasn’t buff per say, but he had workable muscle from years of lifting heavy wood. Ben had recently gotten his blonde hair cut as well, making him look a bit older. Overall, he was becoming a very good looking man.

“I was wondering if you’d want to go out sometime?”

“Oh, with all the Loser’s?” Bev tilts her head to one side, somewhat confused by the question.

“No, I mean just us. Maybe dinner? Or a movie?” Bev’s brain stops in it’s tracks. She hasn’t been on a date since the breakup. Sure, she’d gotten offers but she thought it was too soon. But last week she had seen Bill out with Audra Phillips, a cheerleader a year younger than them. Obviously he had moved on, why shouldn’t she?

“- if you don’t want to, that’s totally fine, I was just curious -”

Bev, interrupting his rambling, says “You know what, I’d love to. What time were you thinking?” Ben opens and closes his mouth several times before his face breaks into a huge smile.

“I was thinking I could pick you up at your aunt’s place and we could go to that new Italian place on Third Street? Around 6?” Bev smiles.

“Sounds like a date, New Kid.”

#beverly marsh #richie tozier #eddie kaspbrak #ben hanscom #bill denbrough #stanley uris #mike hanlon #it chapter one #a summer like never before #losers club #losers #it

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p-artsypants · 5 years

Text

Bad Day (2) Evening

Marinette was Ladybug! This was Adrien's luckiest day ever! Except it wasn't, because all his good luck was used up in one go. Turns out this might be the worst day of his life.

Ao3 | FF.net

Part 1 Part 3

After school, Lila was quick to find Adrien and latch onto his arm. Then she practically dragged him out of the building while the collective student body chanted after him.

“Dump King! Dump King! Dump King!��

Adrien got in the car, followed by Lila.

Nathalie turned in her seat to look at him. “What happened to your face?”

As he opened his mouth to answer, Lila blurted out. “He got in a fight.”

“A fight?!” Nathalie shouted, aghast.

“No I didn’t!” Adrien protested, in horror. “I got hit with a soccer ball! I swear!”

Lila rested a hand on his arm. “It’s okay Adrien. You shouldn’t lie about this. I know you and Nino are friends, but he still should be punished for hitting you.”

“But—!”

“Nino? As in Nino Lahiffe?”

“That’s right.”

“Mister Agreste will not be happy to hear about this.”

“What are you doing?!” Adrien grit, hissing at Lila.

Lila smiled at him darkly, and whispered. “You picked your team, Adrien. I swore to tear Marinette down. You’re going down with her. Maybe next time you’ll think twice before you sneeze blood all over me.”

“That was an accident!” He hissed.

“Then why did you turn to face me?”

“You’re ridiculous!”

“Oh, you want to see ridiculous? I’ll show you ridiculous.” Then she turned away from him, getting out her phone.

It was a threat, nothing more. Lila couldn’t possibly ruin him anymore than she just did. Right?

Although, with the way today was going, who knew?

As they travelled to the photo shoot, Adrien trained his eyes outside, noticing a lot more pigeons than usual.

“Great...” he muttered to himself. If this was the return of Mister Pigeon, again, he might get the chance to see Ladybug. But given Mister Pigeon’s track record, the fight probably wouldn’t even last long enough to talk to her.

And given the way things were at this moment, it wouldn’t be wise to ditch a photoshoot. Even for something like Mister Pigeon, which would only take a second.

Ladybug could handle this one on her own. This, he was sure of.

So, dejected, he just sat back in his seat and tried not to think about the pain in his foot, or in his nose, or the anxiety of potentially getting pulled out of school.

Marinette was Ladybug.

With a growing horror, he realized this news didn’t give him the same joy it had this morning. It had sunk in now. Of course Marinette was Ladybug. It was like a truth he had always known.

She was there when he was proclaimed the best pooper in the school. She saw him take a soccer ball to the face. She saw him standing in front of everyone with a tampon up his nose. And he had totally disappointed her when he told her he couldn’t come over tonight.

She was probably disgusted with him. And he couldn’t blame her either. He was pretty disgusted with himself.

—

The makeup artist was angry. She all but yelled at him when he sat in her chair. Something about carelessness and stupidity. Ruining a work of art, and wasting everyone’s time and effort. Each word made him slump farther and farther into his chair.

He felt utterly worthless.

It was an outdoor shoot. But fortunately, it was a very fast photoshoot. Whether it was because of the overwhelming amount of pigeons absolutely everywhere, or because of his uncontrollable allergies, he didn’t know, and he didn’t care.

But by the time he was ushered back into the car, his eyes were almost swollen shut, and his nose bleed had come back from all of his sneezing. He had wiped most of his makeup off too.

“Don’t worry Adrien, I’ll make sure to finish the shoot. Your father needs a model he can count on after all.” Lila beamed at him, her silent threat coming through her tone.

She was trying to usurp him as Gabriel’s top model.

Well, she could take his job, for all he cared. Being a full time student, model, and superhero was never easy. He didn’t really care for modeling that much anyway.

But it was the only thing he and his father shared anymore.

And he never ever wanted to disappoint his father. Modeling felt like he was needed, like he served a purpose in his family. Like he earned the luxury he lived in. Without that, what did he have?

He returned home, pinching his nose shut with one hand, and holding his school bag with the other. At least he was home now. This was a ‘safe place’.

Except Gabriel stood on the stairs, glaring down at him. “Adrien.”

The boy slumped, completely defeated. “Father.”

“I’m disappointed with you.”

“What’s new?” Adrien shrugged.

Gabriel scowled, and Adrien shut his mouth.

“As you know, I monitor your social media activity. You were recently tagged in some photos on Marinette Dupain-Cheng’s Instagram, wearing clothes I don’t remember designing. Care to explain?”

“What? Oh! Yeah, Marinette designed them! She asked me to come along for the shoot to give the model some pointers, and then our friend Alya suggested I wear the clothes too, to show how unisex they were. Aren’t they awesome?”

Gabriel sighed. “While Marinette’s designs were very well executed and the photos well done, you breached your contract.”

“My contract?”

“Yes, your modeling contract.”

“I have a contract with Gabriel?”

“Of course you do! You get paid, don’t you?”

“I thought...it was just an allowance?”

“No. Your wage is split between a monthly spending and savings.”

“Oh…I had no idea.”

“Hmm, interesting. Then why is your signature on the bottom of the contract?”

Adrien hunched his shoulders. “…I guess I didn’t read it.”

Gabriel pinched the bridge of his nose. “Unbelievable. You know, I’d fire you if you weren’t my son.”

Adrien winced. “And…since I am your son?”

“You’re suspended, indefinitely. Until I figure out a way to get you to behave the way you’re supposed to.”

That hurt. He had been trying to please his father in every way possible, bending to his whims, being so obedient that it hurt. But he continued to fall short.

“Father, please...I just wanted to help a friend. I didn’t think you’d mind...I’ll do better, I promise.”

For the first time in the conversation, Gabriel came closer and examined him, tilting his head up with a finger.

“What happened to you? You look like death.”

“Lila Rossi says he got in a fight with Nino Lahiffe.” Nathalie provided.

“That’s not what happened!” Adrien corrected, loudly. “I got hit in the face with a soccer ball!”

“By who?”

“Doesn’t matter, we were playing soccer, and it was an accident. The nurse looked at it and said it wasn’t broken, just bruised.”

“Then why did Lila say you got in a fight?”

“Because she’s mad at me! She’s causing drama because after I got the soccer ball to the face, my nose started bleeding and then I sneezed blood all over her.”

Gabriel sneered. “That’s the poorest excuse I’ve ever heard.”

“It’s not an excuse! It’s the truth! Call anyone else in my class and ask! They’ll tell you!”

“Quiet Adrien!” Gabriel demanded. “I don’t know what wrong with you today, but this streak of disobedience ends now! You embarrassed me at that photoshoot. And I got a very disturbing phone call from one of your teachers today, something about you proclaiming yourself as ‘dump king’ and sticking feminine products up your nose!”

Adrien wanted to die in a hole.

“You realize such behavior not only reflects badly on you professionally, but also our family, my company.”

“I know…”

“Then I expect there to be no more problems.”

“There won’t be. I don’t know what’s wrong with me today…just…unlucky.”

Gabriel sighed. “I can’t stand to look at you anymore. Go take some benadryl and lie down. I know it makes you drowsy, so I won’t wait for you at dinner.”

Adrien huffed, shouldering his bag, and started up the stairs. “Fine. I want this day to be over with already anyways.”

—

In his room, Adrien dropped his bag on the floor. Homework could wait. It was only Friday after all.

“Aw, don’t beat yourself up, Adrien. Your father’s expectations are so ridiculously high, I don’t think Jesus could reach them.”

Normally, that would have made Adrien bark a laugh, but now he only hummed. Looking outside, he could see the pigeons still ruling over the streets.

There was no way Marinette was having problems with Mr. Pigeon. Right?

“We have to go out there, don’t we?” Groaned Plagg.

Adrien sighed as well. “Yeah, come on. Claws out.”

Chat Noir popped open his window, and launched himself out into the evening city.

Using his baton, he found that Ladybug was out and about, and he bounded out to her.

She was in a park, sitting on a bench, ice cream in hand, absolutely surrounded with birds, while Mr. Ramier sat next to her.

Wait.

Mr. Ramier?

Chat landed by the bench, a cloud of feathers fluttering up into the air as the birds scattered. They didn’t go far though.

This, of course, let Chat explode into sneezes.

“Hey kitty cat.” Ladybug smiled.

Wiping his nose, he looked to Ladybug and Mr. Ramier, with a look that was nothing but done. “What’s with all the birds if you aren’t akumatized?”

Mr. Ramier laughed. “Isn’t it miraculous? Columba palumbus are on a momentous migratory flight. Once in a hundred years, they assemble like this! Isn’t it wonderful?”

Chat sneezed again. “Great.”

Ladybug giggled, a sound that was still wonderful, even in his funk. “Once I found out what it was, I decided to wait until you showed up, so you wouldn’t go akuma hunting in this.”

He sighed, sitting on the bench next to her. “Thanks for the consideration.” He said flatly.

Ladybug reached up with her free hand and began to pet his scalp. “Oh what’s wrong kitty cat?”

“Today sucks!” He announced, and then quite dramatically flopped onto her lap, whining lowly in his throat.

“Aw...poor kitty.” Ladybug coddled him like a toddler throwing a tantrum. “Would a bite of ice cream help?”

“Always.”

“Say ‘ah!’” She got a bite on her spoon.

“Ah!” He opened his mouth wide, towards her.

Which ended up being the perfect target for the pigeon flying up ahead.

Bullseye!

Chat scrambled off of Ladybug’s lap, spitting and scraping his tongue with his fingers.

“What was that?” Asked Ladybug.

“That goddamn bird shit in my mouth!” He said between sputters. “Can’t I just enjoy some stupid ice cream!?” He shouted at the sky.

Silence, except for the birds fluttering away.

“Chat…”

He held up a hand to stop her. “Don’t worry about it, Ladybug. I’ve just had a very frustrating day, and I…I need some rest.”

She pouted, and held up her ice cream. “You can still have some.”

He shook his head. “I’m afraid I’ve lost my appetite. But thank you. Sorry…for ruining your bird fest, Mr. Ramier.” With a little salute, he pole-vaulted away.

But in his room, once de-transformed, Plagg started cackling like the pest he was.

Adrien had it with the little creature and snatched him out the air, stormed over to the window, and chucked him outside.

Of course, being a flying kwami and able to phase through solid objects, it wasn’t but a few seconds before he was back in Adrien’s face. “Hey, what’s the big deal!?”

“I’ve had enough, Plagg! I don’t need you laughing at me! I know my life is some sort of joke to you, but I really don’t need it right now!” Tears gathered in his eyes in frustration. “You were right, okay? All my good luck is gone! And I can’t even enjoy the fact that one of my best friends is the love of my life!”

Plagg sighed. “Geez kid, don’t get all weepy on me. I can’t stand it.” He floated up and nuzzled against his cheek with a purr. “I just thought the pigeon thing was funny. Like, holy cow, that’s unfortunate.”

Adrien rolled his eyes and went into his bathroom, opening the medicine cabinet.

“But really, today was not as bad as it could have been.” He shrugged.

Adrien slammed the cabinet closed and glowered at the kwami. “I’ve been humiliated in front of my classmates, twice, I broke my toe, I got my face smashed with a soccer ball, I hurt my crush’s feelings, I dissed my best friend, I failed my test, I got targeted by the biggest liar in school, I basically got fired, and I might be pulled out of school! The pigeon thing was just the icing on the cake! Am I missing anything?!”

Plagg thought for a moment, and then said, “no, I think that’s about everything.”

Adrien popped two benadryl, and then flopped onto his bed with a moan. “I’m going to sleep. You can try to wake me up if there’s an akuma, but I won’t hear you.”

“Tch, whatever drama queen.”

A few minutes later, the medicine took effect and Adrien slipped off to dreamland.

#miraculous ladybug #fanfiction #ladynoir #chat noir #ladybug #adrien agreste #lila rossi #plagg #marinette dupain cheng #adrienette #bad day

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quakerjoe · 4 years

Text

I’ll vote Biden, but I’m pretty sure that Trumpnuts is going to win.

A Cuppa Joe for Wednesday 19 August 2020

When trumplefuckstick mobilized federal troops to escalate protests into riots and began kidnapping protesters, that was the moment where I gave in and decided I'd vote for Biden. Despite being a #SayNoToJoe type and all the bullshit that's gone on under trumpnuts, we're here.

I'm pissed that the feckless Dems (Diet GOP) have literally forced us to have to heat this 1/2 a shit sandwich in Biden, but here we are being FORCED to fight Fascism with corporate plutocracy and oligarchy. Biden won't change shit. At best, we get a brief respite with brakes on.

ASSUMING Biden wins (which I doubt he will) we'll be like a car in the middle of a major highway at a full stop. While the rest of the world CONTINUES to pass us by & leave us in the dust while we jerk off to our pride & yesterdays hits on the radio we'll at least get to breathe.

The Dems BRILLIANT strategy of shafting the entire left wing of the party in order to PANDER to the GOP Old Guard to win votes & keep their own corporate cash secure has done nothing to unify the nation, let alone convince anyone that Dems aren't shills for being paid to lose.

The nation has LOST THE REPUBLIC.

The Left has lost their party and have NO REPRESENTATION.

By GLOBAL STANDARDS, Sanders was the MODERATE. Anyone even slightly right of him is RIGHT WING (GOP). The problem is we're an isolated nation news-wise; no better than N. Korea.

Most of us realize that NEITHER party or candidate is coming to save us, the nation, or the world. We KNOW IT. While I'll be voting AGAINST TRUMP because I think it'll be easier to fight Dems for change than the GOP, I don't believe for an instant that Biden's going to win this.

As we saw in 2016 and since then, the Left may be kinder, more empathetic and more serious about making the US a better place for all, they're also weak, disorganized, and far too fucking polite resulting in spineless behavior against a party of racist fuckwits in the GOP.

Pelosi and her fellow fuckwits with their SOCIALIST lifestyle of getting paid well with GOV. HEALTHCARE can't seem to get that WE ALL WANT THAT & have the resources to do that. But no; overfund the military. Yay, Democrats. Thanks for that. Just say "fuck you, peasants" honestly.

When Dems have GOPers speaking at the CONvention instead of representatives on the ACTUAL LEFT they've made it plain that nothing's going to change. Biden even said he's not going to change anything & he'd even veto M4A if it crossed his desk. What the fuck do we NEED him for?

So that's it. Voter for Biden in order to stop trumplefuckstick and his minions. That's the appeal. Then what? Well, there's STILL that bit about securing BOTH houses of CONgress. For what? What will a Dem controlled House AND Senate actually DO? Fuck-all nothing. Stagnancy. Yay.

While you're all out here screaming about how awful trump is there's NO CAVALRY coming. There isn't one to begin with. Democrats have done NOTHING to rally and inspire a nation. NOTHING. They gin up a lot of lip service, just like in 2016 but I'm telling you all now- same result.

Polls mean fuck-all NOTHING. Getting jazzed about them is folly. How'd they work for us in 2016? They assured us HRC was a shoo-in. Uh-huh. Instead, 3 MILLION people were told to get fucked, their votes don't count.

NEITHER party wants to be rid of the Electoral College that fucks us every election.

NEITHER party wants to get rid of the Senate, where RI gets the same representation as CA and TX because what sort of bullshit is that, especially when some cunt like McConnell RUNS it solo?

NEITHER party is actually openly attacking & correcting gerrymandering.

NEITHER party is aggressively making voting better, easier & more efficient.

NEITHER is fighting for livable wages.

NEITHER is for clean energy.

NEITHER is for socialized medicine like the rest of EARTH.

"We the People" see that BUT there are two trains to get on at this station.

Trumpwits want to see this country burn to the ground with white folk standing on the ash heap in victory. They'll be voting in masses.

The "radical leftists" are disenfranchised and unrepresented.

I hope you all vote against fascism and get the most progressive downballot candidates you can into office. However, we DO KNOW that nothing's going to change. I don't foresee Biden winning this because of that.

The Dems have failed us all, but don't worry. They're geared up to blame YOU if Biden loses to trumplefuckstick.

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