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swampstew-stories · 29 days ago

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Period Pains and Care

Summary: Luffy, Zoro, Sanji, Law, Killer, and Kid ranked by how they would handle themselves while you have your period. Implied established relationship♡

Warnings: none!

The worst actually. Not on purpose but Luffy's lack of awareness or self-restraint makes it difficult to appreciate his efforts. Not to mention he eats your snacks. You'd think with Nami and Robin on board he'd have some idea of what you're dealing with. Nope, you have to explain it again, it'll stick this time but it comes with another round of curious/invasive questions.

All your period comfort foods? Gone. The replacements? Also gone. You're lucky if there's a crumb of your favorite snack left over. Thankfully for everyone involved, his crew lends him a hand to make sure you're (eventually) satiated with alternatives and don't go on a murder spree during your cravings. On the flip side, Luffy abuses his power as Captain to have Sanji bring you both all the food when the kitchen is finally restocked. Good luck and bite him back if you have to!

His saving grace is using Gear 2 to cuddle and keep you warm. Giving you heated massages, foot and belly rubs until you're purring like a kitten. Unfortunately, he can only do the same thing for so long before growing bored. He needs a lot of intermittent breaks.

Has no tact, will ask you uncomfortable questions about your "thing going on" or your "comma" because he's so very curious and maybe also looking for ways to "fix you." Once he finds out about period poops, its over for you - there will be hourly check-ins. He'll make sure you're well stocked up on absorption products so there's that (also say thank you Nami, Robin and Franky)!

Zoro is shockingly adaptable but I guess if you spend enough time with one girl for two years - and also live with 2 full time - you're gonna learn a thing or two about having a period. Also, surprisingly reliable at getting you what you need, so long as you don't mind 2 hours to 2 business days to get it. Look he's trying ok?!

Be careful with what you say though. If you joke about cutting your uterus out, he'll take you at face value and have his blades ready. No one is a better slice master than he! Why is Chopper having a heart attack? BRB gotta tend to the younger bro.

Is not phased by your bodily changes or anything you might perceive to be "gross." Bodies are natural and they're just doing what they're meant to do, and for what it's worth he's trying to say things that will make you feel better but they don't always land. This comes from a guy who showers maybe twice a week so take the compliments as you will. He means them with his whole heart!

Out of all the guys, he's the only one who will respect your craving habits in a supportive way. That's to say he'll give you everything you want, but he knows when to cut you off before you make yourself sick. He also has a (terrifying) gift of knowing when your body is flushing itself out and he'll be right at your side with a tampon or pad in his hand at the ready. "I'm very in sync with you."

Ranks third because he's so fucking logical and doctorly. The kind of doctor that expects his medical advice and prognosis to outweigh your personal experience/feelings. Has Law ever experienced intense cramping and a headache while gushing a pint of blood and also pulled a full day's shift? No! "Doctoring" immediately invalid. Unless he gives you paid time off in which case his license is once again formally recognized.

On the OTHER hand, he will always have a colorful variety of options for you to take care of your personal business. He buys all biodegradable products, recyclable ones too! He also offers the best choices in birth control for you. Gynecology wasn't his specialty but taking care of his crew is so he studies and gets his license on the downlow.

Is VERY particular about his time spent and frankly, cuddling in bed isn't something he's entirely excited about. Sure he can do it with Bepo but that's like sleeping with a teddy bear you've had your whole life. Another person is different, especially one that needs his undivided attention and comfort. He'll give it and he won't complain about it, but he's not familiar with it and might be awkward at it for a time. Once he figures out what works best for you and let's himself relax around you, he's got the cuddling and rubbing your belly/lower back down to an exact science.

Questionable palate offerings when he first experiences your cravings. You had to teach him what's what when it comes to comfort eating and nutritional eating when you're in pain and your brain feels a bit scrambled from existing. Ikkaku had tried in the past to broaden the snack closet but it never stuck. With you, Law suddenly remembers to get things outside of his own personal preferences and comforts. It's comfort food for the BEPERIODED, LAW.

It's entirely because he's a chef and a well-groomed cutie that he ranks this highly. Honestly it was neck and neck between him and Law. His resume in the kitchen makes you forget about his perviness and near-infantilization of you.

You'll never have a craving unsatisfied because Sanji will go to the ends of the Earth to curb your hunger. The One Piece and All Blue can wait, his darling needs a rich, velvety chocolate mousse two minutes ago! He absolutely spoils you which may lead to overstuffing you until you feel worse than how the cramps made you feel.

Sanji waits on you hand and foot during your period. Practically carries you from point A to point B if you so wish. It might get annoying after a while if you don't like a hot blonde popping in your face every 10 minutes to offer you something you knew you needed but didn't know you needed right that second and you're kind of annoyed that he got it before you could even vocalize your own needs! Does that happen to anyone else or...? If you're into that pampered lifestyle, Sanji is the guy for you.

He wasn't around women a lot but living with Robin and Nami he did learn about products used and comfort items sought out, which he gives you in abundance. Sanji's weakness - period boobies. The slight swell has him a blubbering mess and he will always try to sneak a peek. He may or may not be able to smell your pheromones - its unclear but he is definitely sniffing you from time to time.

The clear winner out of the others its not even a joke. Is the trifecta of caring, supportive, and intuitive. The Period Manager™ everyone else should go back to their ship. No I am not biased.

Killer is the Chef of Carbo-loading but he knows his way around the kitchen and can make anything you desire at any given time. Desserts aren't his strongest suit but its the effort that makes it taste all the sweeter. You will never be without chocolate, praise be.

You've seen him so you know he knows muscles. Yours will become putty in his hands as he gently massages your aching body. With the help of low dose pain killers, Killer will slay your pain one sore muscle at a time.

Killer is so intuitive that he knows you have your period before you. Has your cubby on the bathroom countertop that includes: pads, tampons, flow-cup, aspirin, fuzzy socks, eye mask, and bottled juice. Your robe is hanging behind the door. He loves you so much.

Haha bitch you though. Kid is the true winner. Killer was the favored winner but you might have forgotten this is me we're talking about and Kid has never done anything wrong in his life ever. I support all his rights and wrongs, and I cheerlead at every speck of effort he puts in.

Where everyone else had mentors or positive authority figures to bond with, Kid had Killer - and Killer tried his fucking best. But not even someone as amazing as Killer can be a single mom and raise a mentally stable, well functioning person in society in a corrupted, gang-ruled regime. HOWEVER - Killer did teach Kid how to treat his period-having partner during their woes and Kid's success is Killer's pride and joy.

Like Luffy, Kid will definitely swipe your snacks and food because he's a greedy, greedy glutton. Prove you can bark back at him to stand your ground and he'll yield to you with a scoff and a pout. He doesn't even LIKE your snacks, he claims🙄 He'll make sure you have enough to satisfy your craving and then have a month supply in the hull of the ship just in case. This is where he'll sneak a few for himself without your notice.

Being the King of Treating Himself, Kid will generously make you things to comfort you. A weighted, heat-controlled blanket; a vibrating teddy bear that hugs your belly; a snack organizer to keep your preferences nearby; a personal cold/hot water cooler; pretty things to make you smile; dirty things to excite you for when its over; the gifts are boundless. So are the period products that he basically just steals from the other women in the crew.

“Captain you better reimburse me for those heavy flow tampons!!”

“I’m busy Quincy. Go bitch to the piggy bank (Wire) about it!!!”

“KILLER STOP THAT MAN!”

In his line of work, he's used to nitty gritty and things better left to the imagination. Also a bit grimy himself on occasion. That said, nothing your body does will ever disgust him. He rolls with whatever you throw at him. Bloodied bedsheets? He'll gently toss you and the sheets in the tub. He'll help clean out your soiled clothes. Buy or steal whatever you need to ease your comfort. Embarrassed by the way you feel or look? He'll give you a reassuring kiss on the cheek and say, "Eh, I've seen/heard/smelled worse."

Originally posted - soon to be archived from main :)

#eustass kid #eustasscaptainkid #eustass kid x you #trafalgar law #massacre soldier killer #black leg sanji #roronoa zoro #swampstew bedtime stories #killer x you #sanji x you #roronoa zoro x you #monkey d luffy #luffy x you #law x you #reader x canon #one piece headcanons #one piece x reader

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foulpaperplane · 7 months ago

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Vladco Heiress au is constantly on loop in my head so here my ideas for the other DP characters:

Jazz - researcher psychologist with a focus on socio-cultural psychology. After Danny manages to come to a compromise with his rouges, creating a long-term truce, she becomes interested in cultural differences between Realm beings and Amity Parkers & later on how the two cultures started to blend and form unique social norms.

Tucker - didn’t go to college and just started immediately working at Vladco as Danny's assistant/advisor to help him out while he figured out how to run the company. Once Danny started getting things under control Tucker became an engineer (still at Vladco) to focus on his inventions.

Sam - she properly sat down with her parents and talked to them leading to them realizing they have been acting unreasonably and compromising. Her dad offers to teach her and Danny both business and how to lead a company as an olive branch. I imagine her family has a successful telecommunication company but for now her dad is running the company so Sam can start her own company which creates and researches eco-friendly solutions (e.g biodegradable plastics) while working with a bunch of eco charities.

Valerie - in my au she joins the Phantom team during 50 Shades Of Valerie Grey. The team has trouble trusting her at first but eventually they become close friends. I imagine that she took some odd jobs after high school trying to support her dad and then ended up with a security job she enjoyed. Once Ellie started traveling Danny hired her to act as Ellie's bodyguard because she's the only person he could trust keep Ellie safe. Whenever she's back in Amity she meets up with Danny and Tucker to have geek out sessions where they create ridiculous technology while not sleeping for 3 days.

Wes - became part of Team Phantom after Val but before the release of Pariah Dark. Became an investigative journalist so he travels a lot - this and his tendency to hyper fixate on his articles means that he's horrible at keeping in touch with people. He's closest with Valerie (she was the first one to properly accept him onto the team) and Ellie (they meet up whenever they are in same city and compare notes about rich people - Wes tells her which CEO's he thinks are doing shady shit and she tells him which rich people gave her bad vibes or are assholes).

#Vladco heiress #I am a Valerie fixes her own suit truther #GIVE ME MORE WOMEN IN STEM #was even thinking of making Star a biologist #perhaps working at S.T.A.R labs #I mean there a few S.T.A.R lab locations that focus on genetics #Honestly at this point I could make a series with fics focusing on different Amity Parkers #dc x dp #dpxdc #danny phantom

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squid-socks · 2 months ago

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I wish products where sold:

Sample size - less plastic and a chance to see if you even like the product so less waste of product and money if you hate it.

Normal size - Fully recyclable. This is basically just the base container for the product like the average 200ml or something. I am a strong believer that this version should be the amount the average consumer would need for a month (minimum). But that last bit is just my opinion.

Refills - either plastic free or returnable. Be super awesome if you could just return the empty container to the boots or some bigger chain that handles the return of these containers to the companies for reuse in bulk. Then maybe you get a small discount for the store (like phand in Germany) or (like ‘the body shop’ used to do but stopped but they are pretty bad anyway - once where an mlm ) you can bring a branded container and just have it refilled with the product you wanted and get a small discount. ✨

OTHER THINGS THAT SHOULD EXIST:

The difficulty with accessible packaging is many people need very different things to make a product accessible. However - based on my current understanding - a pump lid is generally more accessible. And a bottle that can stand on its own and isn’t too tall. But generally there should be more accessibility options and bottle types to select from. Maybe even (for example) boots makes refillable brand focused bottles. Then for advertising a paper sticker is added labelling what it is. But then people have choice on what helps them (within of course the limits recommended to maintain the product to its best standard).

Bamboo and biodegradable mascara wands and stuff. Bcs holy shit one a month is insane if all that crap is plastic🐟🐟 also just smaller??? Smaller mascara tubes please!???

No plastic washing stuffs - loofas should be burned. It’s not good for your skin or the environment. There are amazing natural fibres you can use! Maybe even a great chance to support a small business to be honest (and the product also lasts way longer usually.)

Ok thanks for listening. I wish any of these ideas would ever be implemented. But businesses seem to be making an active effort to get away from refills. At this point it feels like eco friendliness is a luxury and I hate it🐟😭😭😭😭

#enviromentalism #ecofriendly #ecofeminism #beauty products #packaging #body products #baby products #save the environment #companies should do better #chronic illness #spoonie #chronic fatigue #chronic pain #disabled #actually disabled #disabled community #autoimmine disease #spoonie life #spoonie problems

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mariacallous · 2 months ago

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On a recent afternoon, a dressmaker named Sergio Guadarrama rummaged through a pile of fabric. He and his partner had converted the living room of their home, in Hudson, New York, into a bridal atelier. Rolls of satin were stacked under a worktable; a mannequin in a strapless gown made of Chantilly lace stood near an armoire. Scattered around were five sewing machines and hundreds of yards of organic linen, greige hemp canvas, ombré silk brocade, and all manner of other textiles. Guadarrama had the look of a man at ease—leather slippers, a loose denim shirt, and a big, bright smile—though his eyes betrayed a hint of exhaustion. After a few minutes, he found what he was searching for and held it up: a swatch of vintage flower-printed silk voile from Christian Dior. “This one is to die for!” he said.

The Dior fabric would be sewn into a custom wedding dress for a twenty-five-year-old bride-to-be, Keelie Verbeek, who had just driven down from New Hampshire. Verbeek arrived at Guadarrama’s house with her sister, her mother, two pairs of high heels, and her mother’s wedding gown (bespoke, purchased at a bridal shop in Cicero, New York, in the eighties), which she wanted to incorporate into her own dress, somehow. Guadarrama suggested that he could remove tiny pearls from the old gown’s surface and sew them onto the new one. “I can kind of sprinkle them in,” he said. Verbeek nervously glanced at her mother, who shrugged. Then she disappeared into Guadarrama’s bathroom for her first fitting, with a prototype made from cotton muslin. Kade Johnson, Guadarrama’s business partner and fiancé, cautioned, “We had to leave the toilet seat up, because the cat pees in the toilet here.”

A few minutes later, the bride emerged. Guadarrama eyed her up and down, took some measurements, made a few quick alterations, and then began to pepper her with questions about her bra. The dress, which cost nearly thirteen thousand dollars—typical for a couture bridal gown—would require six fittings in all.

As Verbeek changed back into her street clothes, the conversation turned to other elements of the wedding, which was going to be held, in eleven months, at the former estate of the sculptor Daniel Chester French, in the Berkshires. The reception would feature biodegradable confetti, small-batch Albanian olive oil, and, as Verbeek put it, “emotional-support chocolate.” Although she had already picked most of her wedding venders, including a celebrity makeup artist—recommended by Guadarrama—and a hairdresser from Maryland, she still needed a florist and a photographer, she said, and had been browsing the Knot, a popular wedding-planning platform. In addition to hosting gift registries and wedding websites, and offering reception ideas and relationship advice (“What to Know About Walmart Wedding Cakes,” “How to Prepare for Sex on Your Wedding Night,” “Dislike Your Spouse’s Last Name? Here’s What to Do”), the Knot is used by millions of couples to find their wedding venders, who pay to advertise on it. When Verbeek mentioned the Knot, Guadarrama shook his head and frowned.

“Should I not do that?” Verbeek asked.

“They’re doing some baaaad, shady stuff behind the scenes,” Guadarrama said. He started to explain, but the bride told him that she was running late for her next appointment, at the venue. She needed to decide whether to order custom floating lily pads for the fish pond, and to review where the turreted sailcloth tent and dance floor would be constructed.

After the bridal party left, Guadarrama and Johnson sat down at their dining table and told me that before coming to Hudson they had run an atelier in Manhattan. “We were having success after success after success,” Guadarrama said. They had dressed Kesha, JoJo, Tiffany Haddish. For the 2019 Tony Awards, they made Billy Porter a velvet Elizabethan gown from actual Broadway stage curtains. After a financial setback, the couple decided to move upstate and begin again—right as the pandemic all but shut down the bridal industry. Business tanked. On a chilly winter day in 2022, a saleswoman from the Knot called Guadarrama, in response to a form he’d filled out online. If he signed up for a premium advertising package, the saleswoman said, he could expect between eighty and two hundred and forty brides to contact him each month. Johnson thought this sounded implausible, but, despite his misgivings, the couple signed a yearlong advertising contract with the Knot, for five thousand eight hundred dollars. “We were looking at the Knot as a beacon of hope,” Johnson told me. “And it was the complete opposite.”

Guadarrama said, “The Knot was, like, the final nail in the coffin.”

Couples who are getting married tend to hear the same advice over and over: “Get good at forgiveness.” “Learn the wisdom of compromise.” “Don’t forget to chill the champagne.” When it comes to the wedding itself, the National Association of Wedding Professionals insists that every reception is better with balloons. The Association of Bridal Consultants recommends stocking extra toilet paper, just in case. If you want a quick cure for a rehearsal-dinner hangover, you can hire registered nurses to arrive with the hair and makeup professionals, carrying I.V. bags infused with vitamins or anti-nausea medicine. Cold feet? A man from Spain might be available to crash your wedding. (Going rate: five hundred euros.) “I’ll show up at the ceremony, claim to be the love of your life, and we’ll leave hand in hand,” he told a Spanish TV station. Marcy Blum, a wedding planner who has orchestrated celebrations for LeBron James, members of the Rockefeller family, Bill Gates’s oldest daughter, and, once, a woman who demanded that no other brides be present in the same Italian town on the day of her ceremony, told me, “I will spend whatever it takes of my client’s money to make sure there’s enough bartenders before I’ll put a flower on the table.”

Each year, Americans drop roughly seventy billion dollars hosting weddings. Most people think that this is too much—that couples are overspending, that venders are overcharging, and that the wedding-industrial complex verges on unethical. After all, many weddings are excessive and wasteful. (In New York City, the average cost is eighty-eight thousand dollars.) The wedding planner Colin Cowie, whose clients range from Tiësto (“Happily married,” Cowie boasted) to Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck (“I get them down the aisle fabulously, but they’re on their own thereafter”), told me that he hires hundreds of venders for every event: invitation managers, shoe-check attendants, babysitters, ice carvers, drone operators, and caviar servers. “Once, we built a church,” he said.

Even more modest affairs can involve a phalanx of venders; the average number brought on per wedding is fourteen. These small-business owners often begin as amateurs pursuing a side gig: students moonlighting as wedding photographers, cashiers doing calligraphy after work. Typically, surges of new venders follow layoffs in corporate America. “People cash in their 401(k)s, and they start a business,” Marc McIntosh, a wedding guru who regularly speaks at conferences like WeddingMBA, told me. “A lot of people go into this industry because they’re good at something—they bake good cakes, and their family says, ‘You should go into the wedding-cake business!’ ” But being good at something doesn’t mean you’re good at running a business. And running a wedding business is especially tough: there are hundreds of thousands of competitors; costs are rising, owing in part to inflation; and, for many venders, bookings and budgets have decreased by about twenty-five per cent. According to a recent industry survey, a third of all wedding venders said that they are doing poorer financially than they were a year ago. “Florists are the worst,” McIntosh said. “There are so many broke florists.”

A reliable way for a florist to avoid going broke used to be by advertising in glossy magazines like Brides or Martha Stewart Weddings. By the early two-thousands, wedding marketing, like everything else, was increasingly shifting online. When Blum started her planning business, in Manhattan, in 1987, she took out a small ad in New York. Ten years later, she had become the city’s unofficial wedding czar, and four friends who’d met at N.Y.U.’s film school approached her for advice. “They were, like, ‘We’re going to start this website about weddings,’ ” Blum recalled. “And I said, ‘That’s the cutest thing that I’ve ever heard. Let me introduce you to everybody.’ ” The website was the Knot, and the four friends created it with about one and a half million dollars in seed funding from AOL. “In those days, it was a joke,” Blum said.

Within a few years, the Knot was a juggernaut—the Yellow Pages of the wedding industry. By 1999, when it went public, two of the company’s co-founders, Carley Roney and David Liu, who are married, had become veritable wedding moguls. The couple started a reality show about wedding planning, launched a magazine, and purchased weddingchannel.com, an online bridal registry. Roney appeared regularly on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” and “The View.” In an episode during Season 2 of “The Apprentice,” contestants raced to open a bridal shop and sell wedding dresses. One team spent its entire marketing budget with the Knot—and won. “Our phone went off the hook after that,” Liu told me. “I’m almost ashamed, but, like, some of our success has to be attributed to idiot Trump and that show.”

In 2018, XO Group, the Knot’s corporate parent, was acquired by its biggest competitor, a company called WeddingWire, in a private-equity-backed deal worth almost a billion dollars. By then, Roney and Liu were out. The Knot Worldwide became a privately held company.

Last year, the Knot facilitated four billion dollars in consumer spending via advertising on its platforms. Most of the company’s revenue comes not from brides and grooms but from wedding venders. Nine hundred thousand venders in more than ten countries use the Knot, and many pay to be advertised to couples—“leads,” in industry parlance—seeking their services. Ronnie Rothstein, who, at eighty-two years old, is the C.E.O. of Kleinfeld Bridal, one of the largest wedding-dress retailers in America and a mainstay on the reality show “Say Yes to the Dress,” told me, “Every wedding vender needs a qualified lead.” He went on, “Most of these businesses are family businesses, and they need help to get as many people into the door as possible.”

After Guadarrama signed his advertising contract with the Knot, he started receiving a flood of inquiries from couples. Many of the messages seemed bland or formulaic. “Hello—we are getting married,” one groom wrote. A bride asked, “Could you send over some more info about the products and services you offer?” Guadarrama always responded immediately, and repeatedly followed up. At first, he was optimistic. But, week after week, he never heard anything in return.

Curious to learn more about the vender experience, and being a weekend cake baker myself, I decided to fill out a vender contact form on the Knot’s website to get some basic information about the contract terms. A Knot representative soon called me. She was encouraging about the brides and grooms who would be spending money on my fictitious wedding operation. “People do go over budget sixty-two per cent in your particular area,” she said. After a long discussion about pricing and placement, she said that, if I wanted to take my business to the next level, a twelve-hundred-dollar-per-month advertising package might be appropriate. (Later, the Knot characterized this call as an attempt to “entrap and bait our salesperson” and accused me of being “ethically challenged.”) I also spoke at length with dozens of wedding venders across the United States. David Sachs, a wedding photographer in Northern California, started advertising with the Knot in 2016, after giving up on becoming an actor. “The Knot was the biggest directory at the time, so I figured I would just do what everyone else was doing,” Sachs told me. Initially, he got some clients from the site. “Sales were higher than expenses, and that was good enough for me,” he said. But after a few years brides stopped reaching out, and he called his sales rep to complain. A new, pushier rep talked him out of closing his account and persuaded him to upgrade to the most expensive advertising tier. “I started spending a thousand dollars a month,” he told me. Then a torrent of leads arrived, via the Knot’s online vender portal. Often, he’d talk to the potential customers by phone. “It felt like all the brides were reading from a script,” he said. “I could hear other calls in the background, and they all had the same lilting tone. That’s when I realized, they have a literal phone bank of people who are faking leads.”

When I asked the Knot about this, a spokeswoman said, “We do not tolerate fraudulent practices.” She went on, “The Knot Worldwide does not employ any individuals or teams who act as fake couples to send fake leads to venders. We have no financial incentive to engage in such conduct, and it is antithetical to our business.” But more than twenty wedding venders who advertise with the Knot told me that they’ve received inquiries from what they believe are fake brides. Matt Pierce, a wedding photographer in Texas, said that he’d exchanged e-mails with someone who was getting married in a few days. Pierce called the wedding venue, he told me, and the woman who ran it said, “You, too, huh? You’re about the twelfth photographer that’s called here today about a wedding this weekend.” There was no wedding.

Documents I obtained from the Federal Trade Commission reflect that, since 2018, more than two hundred formal complaints have been made about allegedly fraudulent activity on the Knot and WeddingWire. One vender wrote, “I paid around $12,000 and got absolutely nothing to show for it.” Another said, “My business is on the verge of going bankrupt. I would happily pay for the service [if] it was providing me what was promised, but it has not.”

Venders have also shared their grievances on several private Facebook groups, one of which features a stock photo of an enraged bride wielding a pistol. (Sample posts: “Hi! New victim here!”; “I’m in a war with the Knot”; “Can we get together for a class-action lawsuit?”; and “You know what would be more powerful than a lawsuit? A Netflix documentary . . .”) Venders in the group suspected infiltration by Knot employees. A post read, “We found two spies here who worked for The Knot. They know about us. And, they should be scared.” A couple of years ago, an online petition was launched in an effort to spur regulatory action. “This petition is going to congressional leaders,” the organizer wrote. Comments from signatories include:

Mike Cassara, a wedding photographer, influencer, and podcast host, told me that he and his co-host, Lauren O’Brien, regularly receive D.M.s on Instagram from wedding venders who complain about “fake brides” and “bad leads” from the Knot. He told me, “Their stories are endless! If this was five people, I’d question it. If it was ten people, twenty people, even a hundred people, I’d question it. But we’ve had thousands of people saying the same thing: ‘They’re ripping me off.’ ”

As I was reporting this story, the Knot had multiple outside communication firms correspond with me. One of them got in touch through a representative who had a résumé that included “successful presidential pardons” and “hostage and kidnapping recovery.” In the past six months, I contacted more than seventy current and former employees of the Knot, because I wanted to better understand the wedding venders’ claims. Almost all who agreed to speak with me requested anonymity, citing N.D.A.s or fear of retaliation. One former saleswoman said that, after her venders had complained to her about lead troubles, she recognized that many of the leads seemed like they might be fake. But she was working on commission, and it wasn’t in her interest to let clients out of their annual contracts; if she lost too many, she might lose her own job. Bretta Thompson, an Indianapolis-based wedding planner and officiant who advertised on the site, told me, “It was like pulling teeth to get anyone at the Knot to contact me. It would take weeks to get a response back, via e-mail, and then it was always my fault.” Another former saleswoman put it more plainly: “We fucked over venders.” (“We strongly dispute these claims,” the spokeswoman for the Knot said.)

Many venders I spoke with told me variations of the “fake brides” story, and took it upon themselves to conduct investigations, which produced results that were sometimes difficult to verify. Nicole Hobbs, who worked as a wedding photographer in Nashville, said that she had been contacted by people who, upon further inquiry, had already exchanged vows. “I was even able to confirm that one of the ‘grooms’ was actually a married minister in a different state,” she claimed. Darryl Cameron II, a part-time d.j. in Cleveland, Ohio, said that he’d received dozens of fake leads from the Knot. “These folks are real,” he told me. “But I’ve looked several up in the county database, and they’re married already!” Jeffrey Caddell, who owns a wedding venue in Alabama, told me, “All I can say is, it’s very fishy when you have hundreds and hundreds of leads and only a handful of responses.”

In David Mamet’s play “Glengarry Glen Ross,” a beleaguered real-estate salesman explains that he isn’t closing deals because his boss has been giving him bad leads. “I’m getting garbage,” he says. “You’re giving it to me, and what I’m saying is, it’s fucked.” Most leads for most venders in most industries don’t ever amount to anything—it’s hard work chasing down a lead, as any salesperson will attest—and the wedding industry is particularly challenging. Brides are regarded by wedding professionals as fickle and elusive. Marc McIntosh, the wedding guru, told me, “A couple planning a wedding has a to-do list, and everything on that list is something they’ve never bought before, from a company they’ve never heard of before. And they don’t have a lot of time.” Ronnie Rothstein, of Kleinfeld Bridal, said, “When a girl gets engaged, she’s gonna talk to everyone.”

Not every wedding vender hates the Knot. Allison Shapiro Winterton, a wedding-cake baker, considers it a “very honest business.” Steven Burchard, a d.j. and magician who runs a nationwide entertainment company, said that during engagement season—between Thanksgiving and Valentine’s Day—he usually receives about a dozen leads a week from the Knot. He follows up with each of them numerous times, and many do end up booking him. “You’ve gotta remember, there are tire kickers,” he told me. “Is that a fake lead? Or is it just someone who isn’t interested?”

Jeff MacGurn, who owns a wedding venue in the San Jacinto Mountains, told me, “The Knot’s great! And I’m uniquely positioned to comment on that.” In addition to operating the venue, MacGurn works for a digital-marketing firm. “When I’m judging the Knot, it’s not me saying, ‘I think it’s working.’ I know it’s working,” he said. “There’s a return on investment, for sure.” By his estimate, each lead from the Knot costs between twenty-two and thirty dollars. Most couples reach out once, then never again; booking a single wedding might require as much as nine hundred dollars in ad spend. “I can sit here and blame the Knot for bad leads,” MacGurn said. “But oftentimes I would look at my process, and I’d be, like, this is why we’re not closing”—not following up enough, not following up quickly enough, asking a prospective bride too many questions. Other venders, he noted, could stand to improve their tactics.

But, for many venders, so few leads have worked out that their tactics seem beside the point. They believe that the Knot inflates its lead numbers by allowing couples to simultaneously send form-letter inquiries to multiple venders. “People are getting leads that aren’t really for them,” McIntosh told me. “But, when it comes time to renew, the Knot can say, ‘We sent you five hundred leads this year,’ even though only five were really for you.” The company’s spokeswoman explained, “We have a tool that makes it easier for couples to reach out and start a conversation with venders using templatized language.” For instance, if a couple browsing the site decides to ask for a quote from their dream d.j., they will afterward be presented with a pop-up that invites them to send auto-populated messages to several other venders. The spokeswoman cautioned that venders “may misinterpret” such messages as spam, but that “spam is not a widespread problem” and “less than one per cent of leads delivered to venders in the U.S. were reported by venders as spam.”

Rothstein, who has advertised with the Knot for more than two decades, told me he was confident that the company wasn’t intentionally sending bad leads. “We don’t find them to be dishonest whatsoever,” he said. Rather, in recent years, the Knot simply stopped working well for them as a lead-generation platform. “They’ve become less effective,” he said. Jennifer Shipe, Rothstein’s chief marketing officer, said that she could spend Kleinfeld’s advertising dollars better elsewhere. Recently, she had her team manually compare every e-mail that originated from the Knot with the e-mail addresses of brides who booked appointments at their stores. “I don’t think we got anything out of it,” she told me.

Several days after I spoke with Shipe, Rothstein called me back—“I spoke to the Knot today!” he said—and clarified that a few of the leads might have led to appointments, about one tenth of one per cent of them, not zero. “We have a fucking phenomenal relationship with the Knot,” he said. “Neither one of us wants to fuck up that relationship.” He went on, “The leads don’t work, but I get great editorial from them. There aren’t that many magazines anymore. They’re it—numero uno! There’s no place else to go.” Many unhappy venders were reluctant to have me publish their names—or even their stories—in this article, for fear of retaliation by the Knot. Laura Cannon, who runs the International Association of Professional Wedding Officiants, told me, “They dominate the market.” Dozens of Cannon’s members have received suspicious leads from the Knot, but were too scared to say anything publicly. She continued, “You feel like you’re in an abusive relationship. I’ve thought about leaving the wedding industry, because what else can I do? It’s their industry now.”

Recently, I asked Tamas Kadar, the C.E.O. of a fraud-prevention firm, to review a few hundred e-mail addresses associated with suspicious leads from the Knot. He told me, “It seems like ten per cent of them are not real. We look at their digital footprint—their social-media profiles, how old is the e-mail account, does it appear elsewhere on the internet. And for ten per cent of them it’s, like, someone just opened an e-mail account.” Kadar also identified what he described as a significant vulnerability: unlike many other online services, the Knot doesn’t require users to verify their e-mail addresses when they sign up. “You don’t even have to have access to the e-mail account,” he said. “This could be why venders are facing so many nonexistent leads. The Knot doesn’t conduct the right kind of verification to make sure they don’t give fake leads to their customers. This is a basic step.” He went on, “I could just ask ChatGPT Operator to go to this website, type in a fully random e-mail address, and open an account and send a hundred inquiries to random wedding venues.”

Rich Kahn, another ad-fraud expert, told me, “It’s possible they know they have a problem and they’re doing nothing about it. And it’s also possible they don’t know.” Kahn explained that more than twenty per cent of the six hundred and forty billion dollars spent globally on digital marketing each year was effectively stolen via bots and “human fraud farms”—people at computer terminals, often overseas, who generate web traffic and inflate marketing metrics by making fake Facebook profiles, clicking on Google ads, or even sending fake leads. “In digital marketing, a portion of what you’re buying is not a real audience,” he said. “But that’s not a defense. It’s on you to do something about it. If you’re a big brand, you’re supposed to be protecting your clients.”

One night last fall, after a rooftop business mixer at a hotel in Manhattan, a woman in a long, flowery dress looked down at her heels and grimaced. “These puppies are barking!” she said. A few colleagues laughed knowingly. The women, who all worked at a Mississippi dress boutique, had been on their feet for days, at previews and runway shows connected with Bridal Fashion Week. Outside the hotel, as the group waited for their Ubers, one of them turned to a woman standing nearby and, making small talk, asked, “What store do you own?” The woman, Jennifer Davidson, was dressed in a chic black dress and gold-studded heels and carrying a Chanel purse that she had borrowed from a friend for the evening. She replied that she had spent about two decades working at the Knot. The woman from Mississippi laughed, then said that she had closed her Knot account after receiving dozens of dubious leads. “We were, like, ‘There’s no way these are legitimate,’ ” she told Davidson. The woman’s daughter, who co-owns the shop, chimed in: “We still get fake leads! It’d be, like, ‘Can you tell me more about your services?’ And I’d be, like, ‘Well, we’re a bridal store—what do you think we do?’ ”

Davidson, who was for many years one of the Knot’s top salespeople, was not about to defend the company. In 2015, she came to believe that it had been defrauding its biggest advertisers. By her account, the digital ads that she and her colleagues were selling were not reliably showing up on the Knot’s website. Macy’s, David’s Bridal, Kleinfeld Bridal, Justin Alexander, and even the N.F.L., she felt, had together been duped out of millions of dollars. When she alerted a vice-president at the company, John Reggio, who now works at TikTok, he told her that the Knot’s technology was flawed. “The website is duct-taped together,” Davidson recalled him saying. (I repeatedly reached out to Reggio for an interview; he declined, then said, “Please stop emailing me.”)

Davidson’s colleague Rachel LaFera reported the same issue to an executive, who exploded, LaFera recalled. “She grabbed me by both of my arms, and she started shaking the shit out of me, red-faced, spitting, saying, ‘You have to stop, just stop! You’ve got to stop bringing all this up. Stop it!’ ” LaFera said. “I was so in shock.” (When I reached out to the executive for comment, she replied, “😩,” and then said that she had mistook me for someone else. Later, she said that LaFera’s recollection was “untrue.”)

In 2017, Proskauer Rose, a prominent white-shoe law firm, was brought on to investigate the alleged advertising fraud. Executives and employees, including Davidson and LaFera, were interviewed, and the firm found no evidence of “widespread misconduct.” The Knot told me that, in the course of investigating Davidson’s allegations, a “material weakness” was identified in the “internal controls for the national advertising business” which affected approximately a hundred and sixty thousand dollars in ad purchases, and that advertisers were made whole. The Securities and Exchange Commission also conducted an investigation, according to the Knot, “and did not pursue any action.” But Davidson believes that employees lied to government officials and mucked up the S.E.C. investigation. (The Knot said, “There is no evidence to support an assertion that any employees were untruthful.”)

Davidson, LaFera, and Cindy Elley, who is Davidson’s sister and also worked at the Knot—the trio call themselves “the Knot Whistleblowers”—have an end-to-end encrypted e-mail account to field tips. In the past eight years, they say that they have contacted more than a hundred and fifteen current and former employees and secretly recorded many of the conversations with the aim of persuading the S.E.C., and possibly other government agencies, to mount a new inquiry into the company. (If the S.E.C. collects damages from the Knot, the trio stands to make up to thirty per cent of any potential recovery, thanks to a program that rewards whistle-blowers for coming forward.)

I went to visit Davidson at her home, near Charleston, South Carolina. She and I sat on her patio, and she played me several of the recordings, all of which she insists were obtained legally. (“We put our Nancy Drew hats on,” she said.) In one tape, LaFera can be heard chatting with a former Knot executive at a restaurant in New York. The two had met up to share war stories from their time with the company, and LaFera had worn hidden mikes that were taped to her shoulders. “Getting out was the best thing,” the former executive said. Another recording featured a former employee, Dave Harkensee, who oversaw a team of sales reps at the Knot. Harkensee said to Davidson, “We actually send out messages on behalf of these couples that don’t even realize we’re doing it.” He went on, “It’s almost, honestly, gaslighting these venders, saying, ‘Hey, we’re sending you leads. You’re just not able to convert them.’ But it’s actually, like, these are not viable leads. These aren’t legit at all.” (Harkensee denied that this conversation took place. The spokeswoman for the Knot said, “We do not send leads on behalf of couples without their consent.”)

In 2023, the New York Post published an article about Davidson’s initial allegations. “The Knot has been accused of systematically swindling clients for years,” the piece read. Weeks later, Forbes followed up: “How Wedding Giant the Knot Pulled the Veil Over Advertisers’ Eyes.” That year, the trio reached out to the office of Charles Grassley, a U.S. senator from Iowa who is an advocate for whistle-blowers. (Grassley is also known around Capitol Hill as something of a matchmaker. Per the Washington Post: “Forget dating apps. Sen. Grassley’s office has produced 20 marriages.”) Last week, Grassley, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, sent a letter to the acting chairman of the S.E.C. and the chairman of the Federal Trade Commission, asking them about wrongdoing at the Knot. “I have recently been alerted of alleged deceptive business practices by the Knot from several Iowa small businesses that suspect they have been defrauded,” he wrote. “What steps have you taken to investigate the allegations? I would like to know, and I’m sure all these small businesses would as well.”

In the living-room bridal atelier in Hudson, Sergio Guadarrama elaborated on the setback that had led him to the Knot. In 2019, he was cast on the reality show “Project Runway.” The appearance backfired; he came across as a villain, and the dress orders for his business, Celestino Couture, plummeted. “People came up to me randomly in the street and said, ‘Oh, you’re that fucking guy,’ ” Guadarrama recalled. Moving upstate had seemed like the best way to get a fresh start. Then came the pandemic, and then came the Knot.

After signing up, Guadarrama and Johnson sent their first payment to the Knot—about five hundred dollars, money that should have gone toward their rent. “That was a lot of fucking money at the time, especially when we had no money coming in,” Johnson said. They got fifteen leads, but a month went by with no responses. One spring afternoon, Guadarrama called the phone number listed on a lead. He said that the woman who picked up told him, “I never signed up for the Knot! I’m not even getting married. Who are you?”

I contacted all the suspicious leads that Guadarrama had received from the Knot, and only a few people replied. Of those who did, one woman told me that she would not have sent a message to him because she had already bought her dress—and her ex-fiancé lived in Hudson. “It makes zero sense that I would want to go to Hudson,” she said. Then she logged into her account and found that a message had been sent to Guadarrama, likely via the pop-up template outreach feature, which she had forgotten all about. Another woman told me, “I never heard of Celestino Couture.” She wouldn’t have contacted the business, she said, because when Guadarrama received her supposed inquiry she had already made plans to buy a wedding dress in Europe.

Guadarrama tried to cancel his contract with the Knot, but the company refused to let him out of his yearlong commitment. So, like many venders I spoke with, he closed his bank account to prevent the Knot from continuing to withdraw payments. When I asked the Knot about this, the spokeswoman said that “contract terms are clearly disclosed by our sales representatives,” who are “trained to specifically mention that no number of leads are guaranteed.” Other venders told me that they’d cancelled their credit cards; some uploaded banners to their Knot profiles that read “DON’T USE THE KNOT” and filed complaints with the Better Business Bureau.

Carley Roney and David Liu, the company’s co-founders, trace the increasing number of lead complaints to the private-equity acquisition. Liu stepped down from the Knot’s board a few months before the deal. (Roney left the company in 2014.) “We felt like twenty years of our lives had been flushed down the drain,” Liu said.

“It’s a tragedy to us what’s become of our life’s work,” Roney added.

Before the acquisition, the Knot was generating about twenty million dollars in cash flow each year; as part of the deal’s financing, the Knot Worldwide took on hundreds of millions in debt. “To pay the interest on that much debt would essentially cripple a business,” Liu said. Any company in that position would need to cut costs and generate a lot of revenue. Liu wouldn’t comment directly on the allegations of fake leads or fraud, but that kind of financial obligation, he said, would mean that “the experience of the consumers is gonna suffer.” He added, “Who ultimately loses? The brides—and the local venders.”

In March, a Knot employee named Thomas Chelednik addressed a ballroom full of wedding venders at a Hyatt Regency in Huntington Beach, California. He said that the company was not sending fake leads to people, and that he would quit his job if it were. The next day, Raina Moskowitz, the Knot’s new C.E.O., held a virtual town hall. “We’re in a moment where I think celebration and communication and community matter more than ever,” Moskowitz said. She then answered pre-submitted questions, which were read aloud by a colleague: “A planner named Dolly asked, ‘What are you doing to stop the fake leads created by the company and giving false hope to venders?’ ” Moskowitz suggested that the venders were mistaken. “You get a lead, but you don’t hear back—and that can be incredibly frustrating,” she said. “It might be perceived as fake, but I just want to name it as ‘ghosting.’ ” She went on, “It doesn’t feel great, ” and announced that the company is testing a new tool that she hopes will address the problem. (The Knot’s spokeswoman said, “We are continually improving our spam-filter capabilities.”)

Before Guadarrama and Johnson extricated themselves from their contract with the Knot, they were selling their possessions to get by—“our clothes, our shoes, anything that we could,” Johnson told me. But their circumstances have since changed. In 2023, the couple, along with a business partner, opened two slow-fashion boutiques, which have been successful. Their wedding-dress business is, for now, a side hustle. They still chase every lead.

Keelie Verbeek, the twenty-five-year-old bride-to-be, had been window-shopping for chocolates and antique glassware in Hudson when she wandered into one of Guadarrama and Johnson’s boutiques. She tried on a vintage Ulla Johnson dress, as Henry, her fiancé, lingered nearby. The dress wasn’t for her, but before she left Johnson commented on her engagement ring. “Did you know we also make wedding dresses?” he asked.

Verbeek laughed. She had spent six months trawling Instagram, TikTok, Facebook Marketplace, and even the Knot, searching for the perfect dress. As Henry drove them home, Verbeek scrolled through Guadarrama and Johnson’s Instagram page. That afternoon, Guadarrama and Johnson received an e-mail from Verbeek: “I was hoping to be able to book a bridal consultation.” Excited, they followed up immediately, and, to their surprise, someone actually replied.

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swampstew · 2 years ago

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Period HCs with Monster Trio + Law, Killer, and Kid

Ya girl is wracked with cramps, overflowing with emotions, and seriously lacking in chocolate :( enjoy this utter nonsense my blazed brain baked as I curl back into fetal position.

Summary: Luffy, Zoro, Sanji, Law, Killer, and Kid ranked by how they would handle themselves while you have your period. Implied established relationship♡

Minors DNI.

The clear winner out of the others its not even a joke. Is the trifecta of caring, supportive, and intuitive. The Period Manager™ everyone else should go back to their ship. No I am not biased.

“Captain you better reimburse me for those heavy flow tampons!!”

“I’m busy Quincy. Go bitch to the piggy bank (Wire) about it!!!”

“KILLER STOP THAT MAN!”

#eustass kid #eustasscaptainkid #eustass kid x you #trafalgar law #massacre soldier killer #black leg sanji #roronoa zoro #swampstew #swampstew bedtime stories #swampstew stories #killer x you #sanji x you #roronoa zoro x you #monkey d luffy #luffy x you #law x you

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vaniloqu3nce · 2 years ago

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Spider-Wolf Au Headcanons Cause I’m Slowly Writing This Chapter

Spider-Wolf Au Enid is very smart with things like robotics and tech, though she struggles with subjects she’s bored in like history. (Because someone needed to make her web shooters and I love this). On nights when she was supposed be with pack doing stereotypical werewolf things, she stayed home with her father and worked in his shop. (Because Enid deserves a good parent who encourages some of her interests) She developed a love of engineering and showed brightness for it at a young age. This is how Enid’s bond with her father grew to be so strong. (he is getting uncle ben-ed) She loves spending time tinkering with new costume ideas and new web shooters. All her webs are colorful and glittery but the material is biodegradable and disappears fairly quickly. On full moons, she usually spends her time in the robotics room tinkering very late at night.

I raise you nerdy outgoing Enid because what lesbian rule says you can’t be a femme who likes make up AND like to get your hands dirty while giggling about how cool pink webs will look. She has duality, versatility, and probably the worst sleep schedule known to human kind.

Bonus: Wednesday listens to Enid rant about her latest projects from robotics club. Wednesday is surprised when she learns Enid has a passion for it, but is quickly very endeared because Enid smiles so bright when she talks about her hobbies.

Bonus bonus: Enid takes her goth roommate (gf) to robotics club, antics ensue. Enid is the only one who will go near Wednesday but she doesn’t notice, she’s too busy rambling and showing Wednesday around. Their shoulders are glued together obviously. Wednesday just nods and hums but Enid loves that she listens because nobody else really lets her just fire off like this besides Yoko.

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thenightling · 8 months ago

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I'm posting this to calm some Beetlejuice fans with anxiety

Okay, I know I can't tell you anything official. Only Tim Burton can do that. But here are my reasons for believing Beetlejuice was NOT destroyed at the end of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.

All right, here there be spoilers. We're talking about the end of the movie so I figured spoilers would be obvious but... This is The Internet... SPOILERS! Why I do NOT believe Beetlejuice was destroyed at the end of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. 1. Beetlejuice violated a rule of The Netherworld in taking a mortal into The Land of The Dead. This voids Beetlejuice's contract with Lydia. It does not mean instant death. Nothing is said in-canon to sugget this. 2. Lydia banishes Beetlejuice by saying his name three times. As established in the previous film this is how you banish him after he has been invoked. 3. I've seen some speculation of "But there is some lore where if you banish a ghost enough times the ghost is destroyed." Really? Speaking as an armchair folklorist, occultist, and paranormal researcher... What lore is this? That's not in any folklore or movie I've ever seen and more importantly it never comes up in either of the Beetlejuice movies, Beetlejuice Broadway musical, Beetlejuice comic books, Beetlejuice amusement park live show, or the Beetlejuice animated series. Rule of thumb if it's not established in the canon of the franchise, or tie-ins to the franchise (even AUs) than chances are it's not canon. Also if I humor the idea that banishing him "too many times" will destroy him than shouldn't that have happened already? Obviously he's been very busy with his bio-exorcism business (the small-heads managing his call centre). Each customer invokes him by calling his name three times and then sends him away when they're done by also saying his name three times. That would be a LOT of invocations and banishments. Why would Lydia's banishment be one too many? There was nothing to suggest this.

4. Yes, Beetlejuice inflates and he never did that when being banished previously in the films. This is true. However each banishment or invocation is unique. In the first movie, the first time he's banished it is by Barbara while he's messing with the Deetz family in the form of a giant snake. When banished he says "Oh, no!" and Then pops away from his snake form and the banister is back to normal. The inflation is also a direct and deliberate homage to the first episode of the Beetlejuice animated series. In that episode we see him inflate and pop and there's even a song number that mentions it. "Biodegradable, semi-inflatable, ghost with the most!" Why would popping as a balloon suddenly destroy him? He was eaten by a Sandworm in the first movie. And his head was shrunk at the end of the first movie. That didn't last either. I didn't think anyone thought it would. He can shapeshift. 5. In the Beetlejuice movies only two ways of destroying ghosts have been established and even they are negotiable. Exorcism and being eaten by a soul sucker (Succubus). (Justice for Bob!) Being banished (sent back to The Netherworld (Neither world in the animated series) via name de-invocation) is not the same as an exorcism. 6. If he was really destroyed do you honestly think Beetlejuice's last words would be a casual "Should've got married in Vegas."? 7. At the end of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice Lydia has a dream within a dream and when she wakes up from the secondary dream we can hear Beetlejuice cackle before his (apparent) favorite song's disco cover starts to play on the end credits. Much like the Evil Ed laugh and and "You're so cool Brewster!" at the end of the original 1985 Fright Night, this was to tell us he's really still alive. (FYI for the curious, in Fright Night Evil Ed was supposed to be the villain in Fright Night: Part 2 in 1988 by the way but the actor didn't want to come back to the franchise at the time. So the character came back in the comics instead.) 8. There is no canonical reason in-story to believe Beetlejuice was destroyed by violating his contract and being banished. There was nothing established to suggest this would happen. I've watched the second movie twice now and have the first movie pretty much memorized. There's nothing in the lore to even hint that this would destroy him. 9. Tim Burton doesn't like to kill his favorite characters and Beetlejuice is one of his favorites. 10. If we take The "Hot Ones" crossover video as canon and taking place after the second movie, than he's definitely still around. 11. He can't be destroyed because... Somebody left the cake out in the rain...

#Beetlejuice

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iriemorning · 8 months ago

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maybe we should read less, and watch less

it radically sucks to be a primary witness to the literacy rate dwindling in my generation of cyberslackers and doomscrollers. but the fault is not on them. technological advancements over the past decades have helped creatives and artists to produce work more efficiently, and as of late, there are still thousands of books and movies being launched every day.

but the quality is somehow almost always lacking.

marketing also plays a crucial role. if i could somehow summarize the current phenomena we live in in a single word—it’s what "ticks." dictionary refers to it as a regular short, sharp sound, especially that made by a clock or watch. first, there’s TikTok, the hotbed of trends. then there’s the personalized ‘for you’ algorithm on our social media accounts. songs are getting shorter. everything is shortened and timed and personalized. for a business to prosper, you must catch the attention of a bypasser in a single ‘tick’ or else you lose momentum in the sea of shortness.

time hasn’t changed. clocks still function the same a century ago. so where's the problem? in the endless production of pointless content that we all take for granted. there’s a lot to choose from but not everything is worthy to be consumed.

all of these stemmed from me watching a movie that left me hanging dry because there was no real resolution at the end. it bothered me so much that i began to question the writers, producers, directors, actors, staff who were behind it and let it happen. especially the executives who greenlighted the idea. time and effort and money are non-biodegradable so to waste them to produce another waste baffled me even in my sleep.

the literacy rate is down already, but maybe we should read less, and watch less.

that’ll teach them.

but it’s hard to just gang up like that when the trending hobbies these days is to binge and splurge—eating, watching, reading, shopping. the dopamine spree is limitless (or so it looks). not to toot my own horn, i also love indulging, but it’s precisely why im so annoyed about it. we are all stuck in this web of hedonism.

what drives me even crazier are those who quantify these trendy hobbies into a badge of honor. oh, a movie every day? you’ve read 150 books this year? [read: to all the self-proclaimed bibliophiles and cinephiles out there—who treat reading books and watching movies like a rat race, and belittle those not as widely exposed to the classics and canon as them] ask some of them what they learned, and they can barely make up intelligible concepts.

that’s the biggest concern: all input, no output.

there’s a lot we can learn about what we choose to consume, so to come out of the cinema and close the book without your life being changed in some way is depressing. it’s the postmodern tragedy we can save ourselves from before it’s too late.

every piece of art and media can serve as a tool and guide to life. it’s in our own volition to choose quality works over quantity, and utilize them to improve our living in some way or another.

every time we read and watch something, we must contribute and give back something equally meaningful. put it out into the world. write, compose, speak out. that’s where energy flows

not just consuming mindlessly like zombies.

#maybe we should read less and watch less #writeblr #critiques of irie #cinephile #bibliophile #zombies #cyberslackers and doomscrollers #july 2024 #Spotify

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newbusinessideas · 10 months ago

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How to Start a Biodegradable Plastic Bags Manufacturing Business

Want to turn your passion for sustainability into a thriving business? 🌍💼 Learn how to launch a biodegradable plastic bags manufacturing business and make a positive impact on the planet! #BiodegradableBags #sustainablebusiness #ecofriendlybusiness

The biodegradable plastic bag industry aims to create eco-friendly substitutes for conventional plastic bags. Biodegradable plastic bags are made to degrade more quickly in natural environments than ordinary plastics, which can take hundreds of years to break down. Usually composed of plant-based materials like sugarcane or cornstarch, these bags have a smaller environmental impact because they…

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thedecorcircle24 · 3 months ago

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Corporate Gifting in India: Sustainable and Eco-Friendly Gift Ideas

Corporate gifting has become an essential part of building business relationships in India. However, with growing environmental concerns, many companies are now shifting towards sustainable and eco-friendly gifting options.

This article explores innovative, green corporate gift ideas that align with corporate social responsibility (CSR) goals and leave a lasting impact on clients, employees, and stakeholders.

Why Choose Sustainable Corporate Gifts?

1. Environmental Benefits

Reduces waste and carbon footprint by using biodegradable materials and eco-friendly packaging.

Promotes recycling and upcycling, extending product life cycles and reducing landfill waste.

Supports sustainable production practices that minimize resource consumption and pollution.

2. Brand Image and CSR Initiatives

Enhances corporate reputation by showcasing a commitment to environmental responsibility.

Aligns with eco-conscious business practices, meeting the expectations of green-conscious clients.

Demonstrates commitment to sustainability, reinforcing corporate values and ethical policies.

3. Thoughtful and Long-Lasting Impression

Unique, high-quality gifts that recipients appreciate and use for a long time.

Creates a sense of goodwill and loyalty by showing thoughtfulness and care.

Top Sustainable and Eco-Friendly Corporate Gift Ideas in India

1. Reusable Bamboo and Wooden Products

Bamboo coffee mugs and water bottles that are lightweight, durable, and biodegradable.

Wooden desk organizers and stationery made from responsibly sourced materials.

Bamboo toothbrushes and cutlery sets for reducing plastic waste in daily use.

2. Organic and Sustainable Gift Hampers

Organic tea and coffee assortments packed in recyclable containers.

Healthy snack boxes with nuts, dried fruits, and seeds for guilt-free indulgence.

Ayurvedic wellness kits featuring herbal skincare and immunity-boosting essentials.

3. Eco-Friendly Office Supplies

Recycled paper notebooks and planners that minimize deforestation.

Seed paper pens and plantable stationery that grow into plants when disposed of.

Jute or cork laptop bags offering a stylish yet sustainable alternative to synthetic materials.

4. Sustainable Home and Lifestyle Products

Reusable cloth bags and tote bags replacing single-use plastics.

Handmade soy wax candles free from toxic chemicals and artificial fragrances.

Upcycled home decor items crafted from reclaimed materials.

5. Indoor Plants and Green Gifting

Air-purifying plants like Snake Plant, Money Plant, and Aloe Vera improving indoor air quality.

DIY gardening kits encouraging sustainable home gardening.

Seed balls for tree plantation initiatives, making gifting more impactful.

6. Handcrafted and Artisanal Gifts

Khadi fabric apparel and accessories supporting rural artisans.

Ethically made terracotta and ceramic items promoting traditional craftsmanship.

Handwoven scarves and eco-friendly textiles made using natural fibers.

7. Zero-Waste Personal Care Kits

Natural and organic skincare sets free from harsh chemicals and synthetic additives.

Handmade soaps and shampoo bars reducing plastic bottle waste.

Biodegradable bamboo razors and combs offering an eco-conscious grooming solution.

How to Choose the Right Sustainable Corporate Gift?

1. Understand Your Audience

Identify recipient preferences to ensure gifts are appreciated and used.

Ensure usefulness and practicality by selecting items that fit their lifestyle.

2. Prioritize Sustainability Certifications

Look for eco-friendly labels (FSC, Fair Trade, Organic) ensuring authenticity.

Check for biodegradable and recyclable packaging to reduce waste.

3. Support Local and Ethical Brands

Choose gifts made by local artisans and small businesses to support sustainability.

Ensure fair trade and ethical labor practices for socially responsible gifting.

The Future of Corporate Gifting in India

Increasing demand for eco-conscious corporate gifts as businesses embrace sustainability.

Growth of sustainable gifting startups offering innovative and green solutions.

Greater emphasis on ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) policies in corporate gifting strategies.

Conclusion

Sustainable corporate gifting is more than just a trend; it’s a responsibility. By choosing eco-friendly gifts, businesses can build stronger relationships while making a positive impact on the environment. Whether it’s bamboo products, organic hampers, or handcrafted goods, sustainable corporate gifting in India is here to stay.

FAQs

1. Why should companies opt for eco-friendly corporate gifts?

Eco-friendly gifts help reduce environmental impact, enhance brand reputation, and align with CSR initiatives.

2. What are some budget-friendly sustainable corporate gifts?

Affordable options include seed paper stationery, reusable cloth bags, and organic snack hampers.

3. How can businesses ensure the sustainability of their corporate gifts?

By choosing certified sustainable products, minimizing packaging waste, and supporting ethical brands.

4. Are eco-friendly gifts well-received by employees and clients?

Yes, they are thoughtful, practical, and align with modern sustainability values.

5. Where can businesses source sustainable corporate gifts in India?

Many online marketplaces and local brands offer eco-friendly corporate gifting solutions.

#corporate gifting india #luxury corporate gifts #premium corporate gifts india #corporate gift items #corporate gifts #corporate gifting products #premium corporate gifts #professional gifts

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http-mianhae · 2 years ago

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05 ➛ matthew, the worst trainer in the world (0.8k)

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you know he's nervous behind that fake smile but you do something nice called 'not acknowledging it'. it doesn't help the case at all because the boy, shortly after he introduced himself as 'matthew' continues to be a mess.

he zooms through the explanation of how each of the machines work and you thank god that you took a barista course so you could keep up reasonably well. you stood there, staring at him explaining everything blankly and then, something snapped in you at last when he went into a tangent about how they use biodegradable forks because it was better for the environment.

"i'm not going to bite your head off, okay?"

he purses his lips tight.

"that's quite literally what i told him―"

"mind your business, hao!" matthew interrupts, shooting the older a glare.

hao is quick to return the glare and he points towards the front, "customer."

matthew almost dashes to the register where a customer is approaching with a pondering look on their face.

"y/n, you should stand next to matthew and learn how to take an order." hao instructs you.

you're hesitant but follow through with the instructions, standing next to matthew who greets the customer with his fake smiles.

"w-welcome to sip & soothe, what can i get for you?"

you're shoulder-to-shoulder and you catch the sweat drip down his forehead.

do i make him that nervous?

the customer tells him their order but matthew is staring right ahead, a smile vaguely on his face.

he isn't doing anything.

just standing there and smiling.

oh, lord.

"yeah, no worries, we'll get that for you." you jump in with a smile, tapping the drink on the register. the customer whips out their card and with a few clicks, you're pointing at the card machine, "whenever you're ready."

matthew's still standing like a monument.

"that's it. matthew, go catch a break." hao comes in between the two of you.

"but, i―"

hao glares.

matthew doesn't argue back. he removes his apron, leaving from behind the register with a face so disappointed you felt a little bad.

do i have that much of an effect on him?

you try brushing it off as hao began explaining to you, the right, nicely-paced way of how to use all the machines and as much as you were listening, your mind was on matthew.

he's in the corner of your eyesight, facing away from you as if he doesn't want to see you.

it bothers you.

he must be having a hard time.

"i'm sorry, do you mind if i go talk to matthew really quickly?" you finally ask hao.

you don't really care about the impression this makes with hao.

hao, surprised, slowly nods, "sure...i think that's a good idea actually."

with that, you also remove your apron, putting it on top of where matthew's was.

walking towards him, you realise you're sort of an obstacle towards his job. it disheartens you, you don't want to be the type of person to distract him from his job.

the guy seems nice and you would love to be friends with him but if he lets this gets in the way, you're going to lose him and he's going to lose his job.

you had the natural responsibility to fix it.

"can i sit?" you ask him, pointing towards the chair.

he looks up from his phone, eyes widening at your presence―the very person he was running away from, "yes."

you're quiet for a second.

"how long have you liked me for?" you begin.

matthew doesn't look at you, "maybe four months."

you didn't know you could keep someone's interest for that long. you hiss audibly, "that's a long time."

he nods, cheeks flushing rose.

"the whole pickup line thing wasn't my idea by the way. so please don't associate me with that."

you laugh, finding it funny how defensive he was over something so small. he'd just confessed to you and now, he's speaking about some pineapple joke, "if it helps, i thought the pickup line thing was weird. i'm glad you told me that though."

and it's quiet again.

you say what you want to say.

"listen, matthew," you start, "you seem really nice and i'd like to get to know you better! but i can't really do that if you're so nervous all the time. again, if it helps, i'll take you having a crush on me as a compliment."

matthew nods again. he seems to be ending the war with himself, "okay."

"lets start over?" you ask.

he nods once more.

"want to show me how those machines work?"

"i thought hao-hyung already showed you."

"i want you to show me." you press on.

and for the first time, you see his real smile.

please comment or lmk in any way for the taglist!

TAGLIST ˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ @tocupid

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imgblogger · 4 months ago

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Everything You Need to Know About Stickers

Stickers have become a staple in both personal and professional spaces, offering a versatile and creative way to express ideas, promote businesses, and enhance products. They come in a variety of shapes, sizes, and materials, making them suitable for different applications. In this informative guide, we will explore everything you need to know about stickers, including their types, manufacturing processes, and practical uses.

What Are Stickers?

A sticker is an adhesive label with a design or text on one side and a sticky backing on the other. Stickers can be made from different materials such as vinyl, paper, or polyester and can have finishes like glossy, matte, or transparent. Some stickers are designed for permanent applications, while others are removable or reusable.

Types of Stickers

Vinyl Stickers – Known for their durability, vinyl stickers are weatherproof and resistant to water and sunlight. They are ideal for outdoor use, such as car decals and bumper stickers.

Paper Stickers – These are cost-effective and best suited for indoor applications such as packaging, scrapbooking, or labeling.

Die-Cut Stickers – These stickers are precisely cut to the shape of the design, offering a high-end look. Die-cut vinyl stickers are especially popular in branding.

Holographic Stickers – With a reflective, multi-color finish, holographic stickers stand out and are often used for decorative purposes.

Clear Stickers – Transparent stickers give a seamless look when applied to surfaces like glass, plastic, or packaging.

Static Cling Stickers – These are non-adhesive stickers that cling to smooth surfaces using static electricity, making them reusable.

Eco-Friendly Stickers – Made from sustainable materials, these stickers are biodegradable and are a great choice for environmentally conscious brands.

Sticker Manufacturing Process

The process of making stickers involves several steps, from design to final production:

Designing – The artwork is created using digital design software.

Printing – The design is printed on sheets or rolls using inkjet, laser, or UV printing techniques.

Cutting – Stickers can be kiss-cut (leaving the backing intact) or die-cut to follow the shape of the design.

Lamination – A protective layer may be added to improve durability and prevent fading.

Packaging – Stickers are then cut into individual pieces or prepared as sticker sheets for distribution.

Common Uses of Stickers

Branding & Marketing – Businesses use custom stickers for logos, promotions, and packaging.

Personal Expression – People decorate laptops, water bottles, and phone cases with stickers to showcase their personality.

Educational & Informational – Schools and organizations use stickers for labeling, instruction, and awareness campaigns.

Event & Political Campaigns – Stickers serve as cost-effective promotional tools for political candidates, advocacy groups, and fundraisers.

Decor & Art – From wall decals to scrapbooking stickers, they add aesthetic appeal to various surfaces.

With the ever-growing demand for personalized and high-quality stickers, the industry continues to innovate with new materials and printing techniques. Whether for business or personal use, stickers remain an affordable and effective medium for creative expression and communication.

#stickers #sticker shop #vinyl stickers #custom stickers #custom stickers create #custom sticker

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chromaticramblings · 2 years ago

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book review - ecotopia by ernest callenbach

Ecotopia, written by ernest callenbach in the 1970s, describes a world in which the land regions previously known as northern california, washington, and oregon secede from the rest of the united states and create their own nation, the nation of Ecotopia. the principles of sustainability and circular economy are central to this new nation.

here are my thoughts on some things covered in the book, i hope that this reaches someone else who's read it and we can share thoughts!

(this will include spoilers. however, the nature of the book is not a narrative, and is rather a presentation of ideas. therefore reading this post will not ruin the book for you if you choose to read it)

one of the greatest thought experiments Ecotopia undertakes is that of ideal urban planning. in that respect, the book is pretty cool! they hypothetical nation of Ecotopia describes San Francisco as a central city hub, from which spokes of public transport emerge and run to smaller city towns. these towns take the place of suburbs, which were razed during the country’s Independence / reconstruction era. (wooooo!!) public transport abounds and runs at a high speed of 30 mph, which is all you really need since the urban centers are so densely built and multi use. Between city towns are managed forests (actual forests! not monocultures) as well as natural land which has been allowed to restore itself.

people live in flexible communes that typically work together to produce something, whether that be a farming commune, fishing commune, artist communes, or business / science communes that invent things. everyone has a universal base income that is just minimal enough to reasonably get by, allowing people to pursue art or a risky startup without fear of dying. which i think is really cool! necessity breeds innovation yes but you need security too. work culture in Ecotopia is also vastly different, as the boundary between work and leisure and personal time is eroded, which may seem like a bad thing but the consequence of the UBI system means that most Ecotopians actually Like their work and choose to do it of their own free will. crazy huh.

houses are typically made of wood, which to me raised a suspicion flag, cause this is the Bay Area we’re talking about, which is Humid as Shit, and the Ecotopians have phased out paint due to it containing heavy metals. which good for them i guess but those houses are gonna rot lmfao. i took the liberty of imagining they are proofed with sealant made from the biodegradable, non petroleum based plastic the Ecotopians had developed and manufactured. while wood is the building material of choice, houses are also built from large tubes of insulated bioplastic, which are joined at the whim of the family or commune creating the house. (there are no architects, everyone builds their own houses themselves to suit their needs.) these houses are cheap and accessible, and zoning laws seem to be nonexistent, making homelessness a nonissue.

in terms of materials, everything in Ecotopia is renewable and has a full zero waste lifecycle. wood is the material of choice. the only metal Ecotopians use comes from scavenged cars and machinery of the pre seccession era. Ecotopians still manufacture plastic, but most kinds of it are fully biodegradable in a few days. when a lasting material is needed, a different type of plastic is used; this kind will not degrade until it is in full contact with soil. given how important disposable plastic is for applications such as research, i'm glad this was considered and accounted for in this book instead of throwing it off as a "we don't need plastic anymore kumbaya" kinda vibe.

culture wise, there is a lack of emotional restraint which the book’s narrator, a visitor from NYC, frequently comments on. hugs and physical affection between all relationships and genders are normalized. there also seems to be an insistence on small talk as a way to humanize those working “lesser skilled” jobs. honestly i found this a bit annoying, as i don’t think small talk is necessarily indicative of human connection, and that a truly emotionally attuned people would be okay with giving space when necessary. but i thought it was nice to acknowledge that all people are people, even while working “subservient” jobs.

ok so those were the things i liked.

criticism #1.

WILLIAM WESTON STOP BEING A FUCKING MISOGYNIST CHALLENGE

alternatively:

ERNEST CALLENBACH WRITE ONE (1) WOMAN WHO ISN’T A SEX OBJECT CHALLENGE

NO, THE WOMAN WHO YOU DESCRIBED AS UNATTRACTIVE WHO ALSO HAPPENS TO BE IN A POSITION OF POWER DOES NOT COUNT

god jesus christ

over the course of his adventures, journalist William Weston encounters many fellows (men) and new friends whom he talks around the fire with (men). he also encounters Marissa, a beautiful wild woman, exotic and mysterious who runs through the forest, cares deeply for trees, stares into his soul with her plain face and round dark eyes, and has sex with him twenty four hours three hundred sixty five days a year.

he also encounters Linda, an attractively sarcastic yet caring nurse, who nurses his injuries, jacks him off, and consumes him with thoughts of when he “will be healed enough to fuck her properly”. (direct quote)

in addition to the misogyny, there appears to be a fair amount of gender essentialism in Ecotopian society, something I found disappointing. Ecotopian clothes are sharply gendered. (from my understanding of Ecotopian values, i’d expect everyone to be wearing skirts due to the ease of manufacture and resulting ease of movement.) women are described to have an “air of fertility” (yes, actually). the governing party is made up of women, due to womens’ “natural competency regarding cooperation and diplomacy rather than competition”. the only sport in the country, the ritual war games, is barred to women. (it’s actually remarked later in the book that in Ecotopian psychology offices, it is often women who come in with issues of untamed aggression, and attributes it to their exclusion from the games. i wonder what a solution could be 🤔) thankfully work is not gendered, but it appears the social spheres of men and women rarely intersect, as Weston socializes and discusses ideas with a fair amount of men, and no women. perhaps for the better, as he’d be too distracted trying to fuck them to have a discussion of any substance.

queer pairings are also mentioned offhand, but they serve the purpose of emphasizing the Ecotopian's open attitudes towards sex and intimacy. queerness is treated as a sexual quirk rather than as an orientation.

in addition to the disappointing sexism / heterosexism, there's a good amount of racism. different races live segregated. although this is a conscious choice by the inhabitants, it still strikes as somewhat odd that there wouldn't be a way for humans to maintain their culture while living in an integrated society. many of the barriers to race equality in our current system are abolished in Ecotopia; the cheapness of the bioplastic houses makes it accessible for anyone to own a house anywhere, and the ease with which people can start their own enterprises reduces employment barriers significantly. therefore i'd expect integration between races to be a significant achievement of the Ecotopians. the writing itself is also racist. callenbach makes distinctions while describing the cultures of the nonwhite populations that make it clear that white is the default of Ecotopia, and all other cultures are side notes. also, callenbach makes no mention of an Ecotopian prison system (an aspect of society that no doubt merits analysis) until he mentions the Black community. sir what is up with that 🤨

there's also a lot to be said of callenbach's treatment of Indigenous ideas. the Ecotopians take a lot of inspiration from classic Indigenous principles, such as living in balance with the earth's natural resources and respecting nonhuman life, and Indigenous clothing styles. however, this feels rather appropriative rather than appreciative, and there are no actual Indigenous characters in the book. i would expect that such an empathetic society which takes direct principles from Indigenous culture would appreciate and honor the Indigenous people within that society rather than just shamelessly taking their culture, especially given the context that Ecotopians are ex citizens of the united states, the country which caused the Indigenous communities in that area so much harm.

overall, i think this book's strengths lie in its rethinking of what society could be like without work as its central focus. i love the UBI system, the reduced work week, and the attitude of work as something to enjoy rather than something to get over with. i also love that the nation's economic fall wasn't skipped over. i think its important to realize that many policies which would improve human health and quality of life would also lower our GDP, and that maybe that's perfectly fine. maybe human lives matter more than how rich a nation is. despite all these strengths, however, the sexism and racism cannot be overlooked; they made me almost put the book down several times. this book is clearly a product of its time, written by a white man. in keeping with good critical thinking practices, its important to recognize what ideas are good to keep and what needs to be thrown out.

tldr: great ideas about an alternative structure for society, unfortunately sexist and racist as well. 6/10

#gonna spam tags in hopes that it finds someone who's read it •_•#ecotopia #ecopunk #solarpunk #urban planning #utopia #sustainability #ecology #sci fi novels #sci fi #environmentalism #currently reading #books #bookblr #politics #public transportation #ernest callenbach #UBI #book review

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