#free PrEP UK

[providencehq]

I'm still not fully convinced you're American....

I feel like any fact I share about my personal life can and will be used against me about me supposedly American simply by the nature of who I am

[sparkrls]

Bonus: The Brits

MASTERLIST

Summary: Bonus content from my series Keep Driving, available on Wattpad

Author’s Note: If you enjoyed this, feel free to check out the full series. PS, contains small spoilers for the series

•••

11 February, 2023.

London, UK.

"ALL BECAUSE I LIKED A BOY!" Alliah belted, the highest note she had ever sang in her life. And then softly and gently, letting emotion leak through her voice, "All because I liked..." Her words were barely a whisper, "a boy."

She searched through the crowd, finding Harry's face, and those familiar green eyes. He was wide-eyed and blushing when she pointed at him.

Alliah bit her lip, trying to hide her smile at his reaction, and instead focused on the screams and cheers from the crowd. The applause lingered in her mind like smoke, and she stood taller as she found herself pleased by how loud the crowd was.

This was one of the most elaborate performances she had ever done, wearing a glamorous red dress that was draped in dangerous and elegant ways, with backup dancers and sparklers. The whole performance was supposed to be similar to the upcoming music video, set in a circus.

And sure enough, it did look like a circus on stage but in the most glamorous way possible.

She'd designed it all to be a metaphor, of the way her life was treated as if it were designed to be a circus, all her flaws and creases pointed at for entertainment. She would jump through hoops, walk tightropes and play with fire, just for the applause of other people.

Alliah had to admit she was proud of herself for coming up with the whole concept.

The lights shut off, the cameras turning to look at the crowd, and Alliah made her way off the stage as they quickly prepped it for the next award and the next performance.

She went backstage, where Harry was waiting for her, still dressed in the outift he'd used for the performance, red and black pants and an open jacket. No shirt.

His torso was like a sculpture of marble, embedded with black ink in lines and curves of beauty. Alliah could spent forever tracing her hands over his body, memorizing every little detail.

Alliah grabbed the skirt of her dress that was dragging on the floor, and ran up to Harry, hugging him tightly.

All she wanted was to celebrate this moment with Harry, bathe in the happiness of this day with him, the one person who truly mattered to her.

As soon as she backed away, she exclaimed, "Oh my God that was so cool! Holy fuck, I've never felt so confident. And did you see that little move I did with my hips? Did it look good? It felt good."

"You were incredible!" Harry agreed, kissing her full on the lips as she smiled into the kiss. "You looked beautiful and I loved the concept- you have an amazing mind, Mendoza."

Alliah grinned at the ground, blushing at his compliments even after being on the receiving end of them for years now. He always knew the right thing to say.

"I loved your performance, though," Alliah added, placing an arm around his waist as he placed one on her shoulder. She raised her hand to intertwine her fingers with the hand around her shoulder as she rambled, "You looked so happy and comfortable. Not like you were performing to a bunch of strangers, but the way you look when you're with fans."

Harry nodded, smiling softly as he gazed at her. "I just love being home."

"I get it," Alliah agreed, knowing how the location made all the difference. It's why she had been so comfortable at the Grammys and why Harry was so comfortable at the BRITs. "It really does make a huge difference, a little thing like geography."

"It does!" Harry agreed as they made their way into their dressing room and were helped out of their outfits and back into their 'normal' ones.

Once they were in their usual glamorous award show outfits, Harry hugged her around the waist, burying his face in the crook of her neck. "But I'm always home when I'm with you."

Alliah's fingers found their way into his hair, holding him close while still being careful to preserve the shape of his curls. She kissed the side of his head. "I love you."

"I love you too."

liked by harrystyles and others

alliahmendoza that's my boy 🫶

view all comments

harrystyles thank you, love xx

-> username WTFFFF OMGGGG

-> username they're such couple goals 😭

miraduncan congrats hazzy!!!

-> username the fact that alliah's friends are so close to harry that they have nicknames for him 😭

username her first post about the BRITs wasn't even about her performance, it was about her boyfriend <3

-> username *her fiancée

username alliah is proud of her boy and we love to see it 🫶🫶🫶

username thank you alliah for the backstage pic of harry!!! this is why we love you

username the character development from being afraid to go on stage because of backlash from harries to unashamedly posting how proud she is of harry... i love alliah sm 😭🫶

[liked by alliahmendoza]

liked by alliahmendoza and others

harrystyles my girl xx

view all comments

alliahmendoza omg i slayed in that last picture

-> harrystyles you 4+4

jefezoff proud of you two ❤️

username i like to think that alliah is the one teaching harry all the internet slang

-> username oh she is. there's no way harry would've known what '4+4' meant without her

username WHAT THE FUCK. DID HARRY JUST POST HIS PERSONAL LIFE ON SOCIAL MEDIA FOR THE FIRST TIME???

username this is the first time harry posts a girlfriend on his socials

-> username screaming crying throwing up, he really loves her

username neither of them posted about themselves at the BRITs, just about each other 😭

username AAA THE BTS PIC OF ALLIAH I LOVE

-> username imagine all the unseens in their camera rolls

-> username if their camera rolls were leaked, it'd be the end of both fandoms

username oh our man is down BAD

-> harrystyles no regrets

   -> username LMAO ILYSM HARRY

[shellsweet]

2003 TMNT 20TH ANNIVERSARY PRINTS!

(GENERAL INFORMATION)

★ Each print is 11 x 17 inches. Both Matte and Holographic finishes are $25 for either version.

★ At this time there are only 50 Matte and 50 Holographic copies. 100 in total. (There will be a 2nd pass of 100 more copies later this year.)

★ Total goal of this limited print run is 200 copies and that is it.

★ Please be courteous and keep each print order per person (If you like to order an additional print for another person upon your original order, that is allowed. Shipped together or separately.)

★ Shipping will be used primarily by the United States Postal Service. (USPS) (First class shipping for the US is $5.99, International shipping rates might vary depending where it’s going, at this point UK shipment rates for first class is roughly $18.99)

★ Prints will be inserted in a plastic sleeve, with a business card, rolled up into a poster tube for its safe journey to you. Once it is delivered, place the print in a dry and flat area with something heavy on top (books, boxes, ect) for a few days to completely flatten. (Or if you have a frame ready for it, that will flatten it out as well.)

★ Orders are going in 15 quantity batches per week, please be patient and understanding as these are being shipped out privately by myself and will need time between part time work hours and post office hours to complete your mail orders. Once prints are shipped, you will be provided with a tracking number to track your print order.

★ PAYMENTS WILL BE DONE THROUGH PAYPAL.

REQUEST FORM:

(To get you started!)

***Please sent your print inquiries to shellsweetart@gmail.com***

Title your email as "2K3 TMNT PRINT ORDER"

NAME: (How you'd like to be addressed) + USERNAME (Include Platform)

PRINT ORDER: List which copy you would like: Matte or Holograph.

MAILING ADDRESS: Enter which mailing address works best for the print to be shipped to. Make sure there are no typos. Be sure to let me know if this is going to a US or International Address.

PAYMENT: Payments will be done through Paypal, be sure to include the email that you would like to use and be ready for further instructions.

PRINT ORDER PROCESS:

ORDER: Confirm your order based on the request form.

PAYMENT: Both print cost and shipping cost will be charged through Paypal. Once the money goes through, your order will begin being packed and prepped for shipping.

SHIPMENT: Once your print is shipped, you will have a responding email with your tracking number.

DELIVERY: Wait for your delivery and enjoy once it arrives! If you want to post pictures of your print, please feel free to tag me in any of these socials! I’d be thrilled to see your reactions!

★ Twitter: @sweetscribbler

★ Instagram: @shellsweetscribbler

★ Tumblr: @Shellsweet

If a print is damaged during transit, please notify me and send pictures of the damage. A replacement will be sent as soon as possible.

If your print gets sent back to the returning address, you will be notified and we will reconfirm your address for another shipment.

For any other questions or concerns, please send a message to shellsweetart@gmail.com

[aidoubackster]

Free tech-literacy courses (Eng)

It teaches how to use certain programs, internet safety, how to use different systems (Linux, Windows, MacOS)

This one lets you asses how are your computer and internet literacy skills:

And this one is to learn to be safe online:

[girlactionfigure]

*ISRAEL REALTIME* - "Connecting the World to Israel in Realtime"

▪️GAZA.. "A huge convoy of IDF tanks is in East Rafah, be warned.” This was one of the reports that was widely circulated among Gazans on social media last night.  Unknown if true, but panic among Gazans.

▪️US ASSASSINATES IRAQI HEZBOLLAH LEADER.. US drone strike on Iraqi Iranian supported Shia militia leader, who the US blames for attacks on a US base that killed US soldiers.

▪️IRAQI RESPONSE.. all the Iraqi Shia militias and Iraqi Shia politicians have declared REVENGE on the US.  The politicians of Iraq are now declaring the US must leave or pay hard.

▪️LEBANON HEZBOLLAH ATTACKS.. Starting the morning with very-large Burkhan rockets and anti-tank missiles fired from Lebanon at Israel.  IDF responds with artillery at Al D'Hira, Al Jabin, Tir Kharfa, Al Khayyam, the town of Kila and the area of ​​Al Adisa.

▪️NORTH WAR PREP.. Hospitals in the north continue to prepare for war, and were asked to immediately look for suitable places to build an alternative helipad (helicopter landing site), in case the current/primary one is damaged. (N12 - Yoav Even)

▪️RED SEA SHIPPING - ATTACK.. reports of an attack in the Red Sea overnight.

▪️US/UK ATTACKS YEMEN.. Attacks by the American coalition overnight in the Houthi-controlled Hodeidah and Zada ​​districts.  Reports of another wave of attacks NOW.

▪️NOT INSPECTED AID.. Ch. 14 expose’: Some aid trucks are moving from Egypt to Gaza and back without inspection!  Analysts speculate may be intention to allow Hamas leadership to flee.

▪️JUDEA-SAMARIA ATTACK.. A Palestinian gunman opened fire at troops near the West Bank town of Dayr Sharaf and was terminated. Two more Palestinians wounded in the same incident, possibly by the attackers gunfire.  No IDF casualties, although one soldier took a bullet to the helmet.

IDF forces blew up the house of the terrorist Hassan Kafisha in Hebron who took part in the attack at the tunnel checkpoint last November.

▪️HAMAS LEADERS SON.. spotted at the AFC Asia Cup football (soccer) tournament in Doha, Qatar. He left Gaza on Sept. 18.

▪️RUSSIA PRESIDENT PUTIN SAYS.. told the leaders of the Jewish community in Russia that Moscow had achieved "specific results" in the diplomatic efforts to free the Israeli hostages held by Hamas. He further said Russia made use of its contacts with the political arm of Hamas.

▪️FINANCE MINISTER CANCELS TAX EXEMPT STATUS OF UNRWA.. "The State of Israel will not give tax benefits to terrorist supporters.”

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Turbotax is blitzing Congress for the right to tax YOU

Every year, Americans spend billions on tax prep services, paying a heavily concentrated industry of giant, wildly profitable firms to send the IRS information it already has. Despite the fact that most other rich countries have a far more efficient process, many Americans believe that adopting this process here is either impossible, immoral, or both.

If you’d like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here’s a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/02/20/turbotaxed/#counter-intuit

That puts tax preparation in the same bucket as other forms of weird American exceptionalism — like the belief that we’re too untrustworthy to have universal healthcare, or that we’re so violent that we must all have assault rifles to protect ourselves from one another.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with how they do it in, say, the UK, here’s how it works: your employer submits all of your paystubs to the tax authorities; likewise the custodians of your pension and other people who send you money. The tax authority also knows about your major deductions, like your kids or other dependents.

The tax authority uses this information to fill in a tax return for you and they mail it to you. It’s simple and easy to understand. If they missed some information, or if your tax status has changed, or if you’ve got new deductions, you can amend this return — or throw it away and start over by yourself or with a tax professional.

For the vast majority of Britons, filing their tax returns takes a few minutes once a year, and it’s free. For the minority who don’t fit the standard form, the system works like it does in the US — you either tackle it alone, or do it with professional help.

The IRS could easily do the same thing. Even in a world where many of us are being “casualized” and have income coming in as independent contractors, the IRS knows about it, thanks to the 1099 form. Sure, the IRS might make mistakes, and if you’re worried about that, you can either manually review the precompleted return or pay someone to do it.

It’s a no-brainer, or it would be — if it wasn’t for decades of lobbying by the massively concentrated tax-prep industry — wildly profitable corporate giants like HR Block and Intuit, the parent company of Turbotax, who spent 20 years lobbying congress, spending millions to ensure that Americans would have to pay the Turbotax tax in order to pay their income tax.

https://www.propublica.org/article/inside-turbotax-20-year-fight-to-stop-americans-from-filing-their-taxes-for-free

The tax-prep industry couldn’t have done this on their own — their astroturf campaigns were joined by a grassroots of useful idiots, betwetters like Grover Norquist and his acolytes, who openly demand that tax preparation be as difficult and painful as possible, to drum up support for their campaign to “get the US government down to the size where we can drown it in the bathtub.”

These extremists are joined by many independent tax-prep specialists, who are seemingly convinced that every taxpayer has 11 dependents, four different kinds of pension savings, and six all-cash side-hustles, two of them international. Some people do have complicated taxes — as a writer with income from all over the world, I’m one of them — but most people don’t.

The point of getting the IRS to send you pre-populated tax returns isn’t to deny you the opportunity to pay excellent, knowledgeable tax-prep specialists if you need them — it’s to spare most of us from the needless expense of paying Intuit and HR Block to perform the rote form-filling by which the rake in billions in profits.

In reality, the campaign to defund the IRS isn’t — and will never be — about helping “the little guy.” As Propublica’s IRS Files demonstrate, the defunded, shriveled IRS is a billionaire’s plaything, which is why America’s top 400 earners pay less tax than you do:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/04/13/taxes-are-for-the-little-people/#leona-helmsley-2022

The commonsense utility of the IRS supplying you with prepopulated returns is so obvious that the tax-prep industry has had to really work to hold it at bay. The most successful scam was Freefile, a program cooked up by the tax-prep cartel that claimed it would provide free tax-prep to low-income Americans.

Freefile was a literal fraud: Intuit and its co-monopolists used a raft of deceptive “dark patterns” to trick people — students, veterans, retirees, and the poorest among us — into paying for services that they were entitled to use for free. Almost no one managed to find and use the Freefile offerings they’d hidden in a locked filing cabinet in a disused subbasement behind a sign reading “Beward Of the Leopard.”

This was so obviously crooked that the companies were eventually forced to give it up, but they weren’t done — their eye-watering, voluminous terms of service contained buried binding arbitration clauses that prohibited the people they ripped off from suing them:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/02/24/uber-for-arbitration/#nibbled-to-death-by-ducks

Despite — or, more realistically, because of — the rising fury at the tax-prep industry’s years of unchecked corruption, Intuit has actually increased its lobbying spending this year: Open Secrets reports that in 2022, Intuit showered lawmakers with a record $3.5m:

https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2023/02/turbotax-parent-company-intuit-is-pouring-more-money-than-ever-into-lobbying-amid-push-for-free-government-run-tax-filing/

Their target? The $15m that the Inflation Reduction Act allocated to the Treasury Department to explore free tax filing. Intuit’s line is that this would be “a waste of taxpayer money” and a “conflict of interest” — the same tired boomer nonsense that Norquist has been shoveling since the Reagan administration. Once again, the proposal isn’t to ban Intuit from offering tax prep services — it’s to create a public option that lets people freely choose to pay for tax prep if they think they need it. It’s a breathtaking act of paternalism to claim that we’re all sheeple, too stupid to spot the IRS’s greedy attacks on our pocketbooks.

Here’s a choice quote from Intuit: “Creating a government run tax preparation program would be a waste of taxpayer dollars and further disenfranchise low income taxpayers. A direct to IRS tax prep system is a multi-billion dollar solution looking for a problem.”

https://www.businessinsider.com/turbotax-free-tax-filing-biden-inflation-reduction-act-hr-block-2023-1

Unsaid: the tax prep industry rakes in billions of dollars from American taxpayers every single year. The $44.8m the cartel has spent lobbying against free filing since 1998 is a fantastic investment — for them. The dividends they reap from it come out of all of our pockets.

Another bargain? Hiring ex-government officials to work for Intuit, lobbying their former colleagues:

https://www.opensecrets.org/federal-lobbying/clients/lobbyists?cycle=2022&id=D000026667&t0-Revolving+Door+Profiles=Revolving+Door+Profiles

Or, as Senator Elizabeth Warren bluntly put it, “adroit influence peddling”:

https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2022/06/members-of-congress-call-for-an-investigation-of-intuits-lobbying-practices-amid-mounting-turbotax-controversies/

The neoliberal economists’ theory of regulatory capture is a kind of helpless nihilism, grounded in the Public Choice Theory doctrine that says that regulators will always be captured, so we should just get rid of regulators or make them as weak as possible, so they won’t become cordyceps-ridden puppets of the industries they oversee:

https://doctorow.medium.com/regulatory-capture-59b2013e2526

But capture isn’t inevitable. Sure, if you have a referee that’s weaker than the teams, you’ll never get a fair game — nevermind what happens when the ref either used to work for one of the teams or is sure of a cushy job with them when the season’s over. If you want a small government, you need small corporations — need to block the anticompetitive mergers and predatory conduct that lets companies grow so large that they can fit their regulators into the little change pocket in their blue-jeans.

https://doctorow.medium.com/small-government-fd5870a9462e

Anyone who lived through witchhunts, torture and mass surveillance after 9/11 has good reason to want their government small enough to be accountable — but a doctrine of small governments and giant corporations is a plutocrat’s charter — a recipe for regulatory capture so grotesque it is indistinguishable from farce.

[Image ID: An ogrish, tophatted, cigar-chomping giant holds the US Capitol building aloft contemptuously, pinched between the thumb and forefinger of a white-gloved hand. He stands at a podium bearing the Turbotax checkmark logo, yanking a lever in the form of a golden dollar-sign. He stands before a IRS 1040 tax form.]

intuit, turbotax, irs, taxes, death and taxes, corruption, monopoly, freefile, grover norquist, regulatory capture,

[allaboutcinderella]

I’m here to talk about “Bad Cinderella” or as it was known on the West End originally, “Cinderella!” By Andrew Lloyd Webber:

This show got so much hate once it came to America, but I’m here to talk about why I love this show so much. 💕

To be clear, I love the West End version. The show originated in the UK and starred the extremely talented Carrie Hope Fletcher as the title role.

The story begins in the town of Belleville, a town so pretty and perfect it almost makes you queasy. The citizens of this town are known for being the most beautiful people of any kingdom and they dislike anyone who dares to be different.

Cue Cinderella! A rebellious young woman who is the opposite of every citizen of Belleville and doesn’t care who knows it. She dresses in black and defaces public property, she’s a “gutter rose” and proud of it. The biggest thing that makes Cinderella a public enemy here is that she knows how fake everyone in Belleville truly is, and they don’t like someone pointing out their flaws. The women get work done on themselves on the daily, everyone is cheating on their significant others etc…

So on the day the town is due to receive the award for the Best Kingdom for the 50th year in a row, Cinderella decides to have fun and deface a statue that has been built to honor the deceased Prince Charming. (He is MIA after going to fight a dragon, so his mother The Queen has made this tribute to him).

She spray paints it, dresses it up and due to this, the town does not receive the award. The towns people hate this and hunt down Cinderella to tie her up for the wolves.

Her childhood friend, Prince Sebastian, the younger brother of the missing Prince Charming, sets her free and rags on her for destroying the celebration. He then praises her actions seeing as he also hates the town and how fake everyone is. These two are the only ones in the town who seem to be their real selves and haven’t bought into the whole shallow fashionable scene.

Cinderella of course lives as a maid for her wicked stepmother and vain stepsisters. All three are gorgeous and fabulous in looks but mean as the classic story goes. The stepfamily is very obsessed with status and appearances so when Cinderella ruins the town’s reputation, they fear they’ll be dragged down with her seeing as she resides with them. The stepmother threatens Cinderella that she’ll be thrown out if she misbehaves any more. Cinderella agrees to this.

Prince Sebastian has trouble in his end as well for even being associated with Cinderella. The Queen is not subtle with her displeasure on the fact that Sebastian is to inherit to throne and is the future of their kingdom. Seeing as he is viewed as such a loser in a kingdom that is all based on being pretty and perfect. His mother continuously reminds him of how amazing his brother was and how Sebastian will never measure up. The Queen then instructs the knights to help Sebastian better himself to prep him for the day he will become King. To help speed his progress along (in her eyes) the Queen decides to throw a ball to find “the perfect Queen for a perfect King.” Sebastian is terrified of this seeing as he has feeling for Cinderella. The Queen refuses to let him move on these feelings and assure him there is a much better woman waiting for him.

Cinderella runs into Sebastian later in the market and it’s clear Sebastian has started to become a different person. He’s attempting to flirt with women in the village as they drool over him now that he’s to be the new King and is on the lookout for his Queen. This gives Cinderella the ick, but she still smiles when Sebastian asks if she’ll be at the ball. The stepmother overhears this and reminds Cinderella that she’ll only embarrass herself if she attends the ball and that she will never be in Sebastian’s league now that he has gorgeous women falling all over him. This breaks Cinderella’s heart and she runs off crying.

The day of the ball arrives and Cinderella, while helping her stepsisters get ready is again reminded that she would never be someone the Prince would be with seeing how “ugly” she is. (She is actually extremely pretty but people hate on anyone who is different right?) To this Cinderella says, “I’ll show you.”

She seeks the help of the town’s all around beauty guru, plastic surgeon and makeover master, The Godmother. The Godmother’s shop is filled with gowns and sparkly things, including a pair of crystal shoes that catch Cinderella’s eye. The Godmother is intrigued by Cinderella and how different she is. “I’ve never seen you before…” she says.

Cinderella tells her how she wishes she was the same as everyone else but better. She asks for the Godmother to make her pretty and look like a Queen. To be so beautiful it makes people question their looks and envy her. The Godmother agrees to do this free of charge for her, but not out of kindness. She tells Cinderella, “we don’t deal in money here… we deal in dreams. To make yours come true, I need to know you are serious. Because what I do is serious.” She asks for the silver butterfly locket Cinderella is wearing as her payment. Cinderella is reluctant to give it up seeing as it is the only thing of her mother’s that she has, but regardless of her feelings, she gives it to the Godmother. This proves to the Godmother that Cinderella is serious about giving up her true self to become “beautiful.”

The Godmother proceeds to warn Cinderella that beauty is pain and that the makeover process will not be kind. Cinderella agrees to any pain she may endure. Lucky for her, the Godmother tells her she doesn’t have the time to do any permanent treatment on her (aka surgery) but instead gives her a blonde wig to cover her dark hair, lighter makeup and a gorgeous silver gown. To top it off, she gives her the crystal shoes. The shoes are tight as is the dress, which leads the Godmother to remind Cinderella she agreed to the pain these things will cause. She then tells Cinderella to be in bed by midnight “on ice” to heal her wounds from the borrowed garments. Any longer and she’ll be in torment. Cinderella seems to be so enamored with how good she looks, she almost doesn’t hear the warning.

Cinderella makes her grand entrance at the ball and dazzles the crowd. The only one not taken by her appearance is Sebastian. He doesn’t recognize her and sees her only as another typical fake girl trying to get his crown. She tries to admit her feelings for him now that she feels confident enough to do so, but this backfires terribly for her. Sebastian scoffs at her for this assures her he would never marry some “drunk” woman who thinks she’s hot stuff. Understandably flabbergasted, Cinderella gives him space and in doing so, leaves the floor open for more chaos to ensue. Just before the clock strikes twelve, her stepsister Adele, lunges for Sebastian and kisses him. The clock begins to chime and the Queen excitedly proclaims the Prince has found his wife to be! Amongst the cheering, Sebastian tries to protest and a scorned Cinderella, rips at her dress and tears off the blonde wig revealing her real hair. Sebastian recognizes her as she runs from the ball.

Heartbroken, Cinderella sings about how she was a fool to try and be something she isn’t and will never be. She realizes she would have been better on her own rather than trying to win someone who would never love her. Sebastian catches up to her and tries to explain that he had nothing to do with her stepsister kissing him, to which Cinderella chucks one of the silver shoes at him while shouting she’s had enough of his nonsense. (He was a major ass to her at the ball so I understand her anger). She tells him she’s leaving town and to be happy with his new wife.

Sebastian sings about how he blew his chances with the only girl he’s ever loved and the only person who loved him for who he is, not his title. He exclaims to his mother and the entire court how he will be the King they all wanted. A selfish, hateful, miserable tyrant! Sebastian says he will marry out of honor for his country but not for love. He vows to never be happy as long as he is forced to be this fake King.

On the day of the wedding, Cinderella is packing her things in preparation to leave the kingdom, but not before blackmailing her stepmother. “If you want me gone so badly, pay me to leave.” She tells the stepmother that she could easily stay in town and make their lives miserable, unless she’s paid a good sum. Her stepmother is honestly impressed with her haggling and agrees.

Once she thinks everyone has left for the wedding, Cinderella finds her one crystal shoe in her bag and reflects on how she was so dumb in trying to have a happy ending when “girls like her don’t end up with a Prince.” While wallowing in self pitty, her stepsister Marie (the one not getting married) stumbles in and tells Cinderella to stop feeling sorry for herself. She tells her how she is also miserable living in this family and how much she hates her mother. Marie proposes they team up to destroy the wedding. “Go to the church and tell him you love him,” she says. Marie finally tells Cinderella that she is responsible for her own happy ending and she is capable of making it happen. Stunned by this, Cinderella is left with the decision to crash the wedding or just leave. She chooses to run to the church to crash the wedding. 💒🏃🏻‍♀️💨

At the wedding, Sebastian’s vows are interrupted. However, it is not by Cinderella, but instead his missing brother Prince Charming! The entire town is taken aback by his reappearance that they forget the wedding is even happening. Prince Charming announces he is back to proclaim his rightful place as King, marrying the MAN of his dreams (yep Prince Charming is gay 🏳️‍🌈✨) and relieving Sebastian of the responsibility. The wedding continues not for Sebastian, but for Prince Charming and his new love. The bells chime and everyone cheers, “long live the Prince!” Sadly, Cinderella hears this in the distance and thinks she is too late. She leaves.

At the reception, Sebastian sees a very intoxicated Marie. She laughs about how he blew his chance with Cinderella and now she’s gone. He is confused and asks what she means by “gone.” Giggling, she tells him Cinderella left town and is probably on a boat by now going who knows where. Sebastian races out of the castle all the way to Cinderella’s house. On the way, he runs into the Godmother who is wearing a familiar necklace around her neck. “That belongs to Cinderella!” he tells her. “Oh…” she says. “You must be the boy.” She tells him it’s a pitty Cinderella gave up so much to be beautiful only to be shunned by him. She leaves him with the necklace so he can be reminded of what he’s lost. Sebastian runs to the house and calls for Cinderella. He hears no answer. In the kitchen he sees the one silver shoe glistening on the table and realizes, “She’s really gone.” Just then, Cinderella walks in and explains she only came back for the shoe. It’s crystal so she had planned to sell it on her trip. Sebastian apologizes profusely to her and admits he was an idiot. Numb to his apology, Cinderella says it was just never meant to be and it’s not his fault. He then talks about how he should have never tried to be someone he wasn’t to impress people. To this, she also admits fault seeing as she did the same thing to impress him. Sebastian tells her she never had to change, because she was always perfect to him. ❤️

He gives her the locket back and Cinderella is brought to tears. She kisses Sebastian and two agree to run away together to live happily in their freedom.

✨The end! 👠✨

So yes I think the story is fun and unique. The production is quirky and silly but also very beautiful and heartwarming. The talent in the show is unmeasurable! Everyone gave their all in this production and it shows.

The American cast was just as committed but sadly due to the changes in the script and costumes, it just wasn’t the same.

I truly love this show. I think if people go into it knowing the plot more in depth, they’ll appreciate it more. ❤️ Thanks for reading!

[figurecollection]

Hiii, idk if this is appropriate since it's not exactly a request, just advice, as I've been prepping to order some nendos but the shipping on amazon is abysmal. So I wanted to know if you would know any good international websites, if it's no trouble. Thank you.

Disclaimer I'm in the UK so shipping might differ but I wont pick any UK-based sites

Surugaya is great if you dont mind second hand, they do free shipping basically every other weekend so I totally recommend it. This is good for older nendoroids but there are a lot of newer ones too.

Solaris has good prices and regular shipping for a nendoroid isn't terrible

GoodsRepublic has free shipping but their stuff is usually a bit more expensive to make up for it

LunarToyStore has $5 flat rate shipping to the US, BBTS has $4 flat shipping to the US

I'm not sure of the shipping on these sites (i've heard mixed things) but here are some more trusted international sites: CDJapan, HobbyGenki, HobbySearch, MecchaJapan,

[shitty-check-please-aus]

Glasgow highlights

free museums!

a very cool cathedral, also free

I really hope this doesn't sound reductive or stereotypical but I do appreciate that I didn't have to feel bad or awkward if I accidentally swore in public.

we went to a Ceilidh! And yeah the crowd was mostly American tourists but it was still super fun, I really liked the folk dances and the way they walked us through them.

loved all the murals!

cider options at all the pubs! I was concerned going in because I don't like beer but I didn't have to be, I just had my boozy little juice and I was very happy. Also way more interesting cider options than I usually see, lots of fun berry flavors.

we did get to go to one tea room, I had a lovely little shortbread and some Earl Grey, which like I could do here but it was about the experience

I appreciate the dedication you have to keeping cones on your statues

y'all were so nice and patient with me when I didn't understand what the fuck you were saying

almost all the food we had was delicious

General Scotland Highlights from the two days I wasn't in Glasgow

went on a gorgeous walk/hike outside of Stirling

got to go to a cafe/bookshop in Stirling that I've been following on instagram for literal years

got to go to another bookshop in Edinburgh that had a fluffy white shop dog named Artie (I think short for Artemis! She was a good girl and I gave her head scritches)

Had a cheeky nando's and learned that, tragically, the UK doesn't have the mango-lime sauce, the superior mild sauce. Ended up having to re-douse everything in the medium garlic, which we tragically don't have in the US because it was better than plain medium. I need Nando's US and Nando's UK to combine efforts so everyone can have the best sauces

got to sit in a folk music pub and enjoy the music!

I thought ScotRail was super easy to use and very convenient

the most touristy shit we did was the Whisky Experience in Edinburgh, and I thought that was fun! I was thinking a lot about my Genealogy Aunt who passed last year on this trip, and one of her favorite ancestors was some great-great-grandmother barrel maker so it was cool to learn about the importance of that to the process

the lower points, for full disclosure

the fucking hills. I was warned that the person we were staying with lived at the top of a hill, I was not adequately prepped to know that the whole city is like doing a goddamn stairmaster workout.

related to point one, I got the worst plantar fasciitis flareup I've had in years, plus some of the blisters that are just inevitable if you suddenly walk like 10+ miles a day when you normally walk 5-7, felt like my feet were being stabbed every time I took a step

related to point two, we were walking most of the time but the people I was with kept making me feel like when you're driving, and the car next to you ZOOMS ahead, only for you to catch up at the next red light, making you wonder why they bothered zooming? that's not on Glasgow, though

I had a really hard time convincing my brain that some of the historical shit was real, like we were sitting in the ruins of Holyrood Abbey and my brain was like "this is a movie set"

I had the worst fucking breakfast wrap of my life in the Glasgow airport, how did it taste like potsticker filling mixed with baked beans and why

miscellaneous travel notes

this was the first time I bought an airtag, which I kept in my suitcase, and it came in SO HANDY when Aer Lingus left my luggage in Dublin, I didn't waste any time lingering around the baggage claim

If you're going from Europe to the US, if you go through Dublin you can do US customs there and then when you get to your destination you can just go home like you're getting off a domestic flight, 10/10 would do again. My parents went to Montreal this week for their 30th anniversary and they found out that they do this there, too.

So, because of the history of when people in Glasgow started to get that colonialism money, a lot of the historical things we saw were in a category of "old, but not SUPER old." As an American with limited travel experience, I feel like I've got this perception that everything in Europe is old as hell, but most of what we saw in Glasgow was like Philadelphia or DC-levels of old. If you are also an American who wants a taste of that old-ass history that we don't get as much over here, I found more of that in the day trip to Edinburgh. This is in miscellaneous because it's neither positive nor negative, it's just something to know

[madiomens]

Just Pretend [n.s.]

Chapter Ten

Warning: Slight angst, small mention of past abuse

The rest of the shows in the UK went on without another mishap like the first show had and before I knew it, we were landing in France for the two shows we had there. Noah insisted we now had to christen every Airbnb and hotel we stay in so he fucked the life out of me at 6 AM after we arrived to the Airbnb. Best part was when Jolly walked into his room and I had to hide under the covers until he left after the ten minute conversation he insisted on having with Noah.

We had an entire day free to do whatever and prep for the shows, which is how I was currently standing on top of the Eiffel Tower with the guys.

I leaned against the railing and closed my eyes as the cool Paris wind whipped around my face, sending a shiver down my body and causing me to pull my cardigan tighter around my body. November in France was completely different than November in California. Instead of a cool sunny it was a cool gloomy, dark clouds hanging over us as thunder rumbled in the distance from the impending storm. Noah's scent caused me to snap out of my trance, opening my eyes to see him leaning against the rail beside me with a soft grin.

"Hi." He said, corner of his mouth twitching up.

I smiled back. "Hi."

"What you thinking about?" He questioned, bumping his shoulder against mine.

I shook my head. "Absolutely nothing, for once in my life."

His smile softened as he pushed a piece of hair behind my ear, causing my heart to race as his eyes searched mine. I stared at him for a few more moments before forcing myself to break eye contact and stare out across the landscape, my heart beating incredibly too fast for my liking. I don't know what it is about this man that makes my heart want to leap from this Eiffel Tower but I'm still trying to figure out if I like it or not.

"You guys want to go back to the Airbnb and grab stuff to show prep?" Nicholas asked us as he joined my side.

I breathed a sigh of relief to get a break from the racehorses running around my chest and nodded at him. "I would love to make a huge cup of coffee before we head to the venue."

"Make me one too?" Nicholas said, batting his eyes.

I snorted and nodded at him. "Of course." I turned to see Noah pouting at me, lip dramatically poked out and causing me to laugh. "Yes, I will make you some too."

He grinned and wrapped his arms around me as Nicholas did, squishing me between them. I wrapped an arm around Noah's waist and tried to maneuver one around Nicholas from my squished position with a laugh. 

"We loooove you, Maddie." Nicholas said, resting his head on mine.

I laughed and shook my head at them. "I love you too, dorks."

They unwrapped their arms from me before we made our way down the elevator to solid ground. Our Airbnb was a short walk from here so we headed out, hoping the storm didn't downpour on us before we made it. Sprinkles started hitting our heads as we unlocked the house and walked in, thunder sending a spark of anxiety through my chest as I slightly jumped at the loudness of it. I saw Noah looking at me in concern as we walked into the kitchen and I sent him a breathy laugh.

"Sorry. Me and storms don't get along." I said as I grabbed stuff to make our coffee while the other guys began packing show stuff.

"Did something happen?" He asked as he leaned against the counter to watch me.

The corner of my mouth twitched up while I began pouring instant coffee crystals into mugs. "Without getting too dark, I had a shitty ex who would put his hands on me. The worst of it happened during a storm." Noah went silent, causing me to look up at him. My eyes met his concerned face, eyebrows pinched together as his frown deepened into anger. I reached across the counter to squeeze his arm. "It's okay, I'm fine now."

He clenched his jaw as his eyes stayed locked onto mine. "Where is he now?"

I sighed and let go of his arm as I turned to fill up the mugs with water and put them in the microwave. "Here, probably. He was from Paris."

A breeze washed over me as Noah rushed to my side once I started the microwave, grabbing my face to make me look at him. "Any chance he'd be at any of the shows here?"

I chewed on my bottom lip as I looked into his eyes. "A high chance. I've tried not to think about it."

His jaw clenched more. "I'll fuck him up."

I let out a breathy laugh and placed my hand on his. "Trust me, I will too."

"Everything ok?" Nicholas' voice questioned from behind us.

We turned to look at him standing with Jolly and Folio at the entrance to the kitchen, concern on their faces. Noah looked at me as if asking if it was ok to tell them and I sent him a small nod before looking back at the guys.

"Maddie has a shitty ex who lives here and might possibly be at the show. He put his hands on her when they were together, and I will fuck him up if I see him." Noah said, anger seeping into his words. Anger appeared on the other guys' faces as they walked over to us, setting their bags on the ground. 

Folio placed his hand on my shoulder and squeezed it. "Will you show us a picture of him so we can also fuck him up if needed?"

I laughed and pulled out my phone, scrolling way back in my camera roll to find the one picture I still had for times like this. I turned the screen around to show them the picture and Noah took my phone to look at it closer, the guys squeezing in beside him to see it.

"Looks like a pussy." Noah said, causing me to laugh more.

"I can take him." Folio said, flexing his muscles as hard as he possibly could, Nicholas and Jolly agreeing.

I shook my head a them and wrapped my arms around them for a group hug. They wrapped their arms around me as well, smothering me in their embrace. "Thank you, guys."

"Of course. We're a family now, you always have us." Nicholas said.

The microwave beeping caused us to break apart and I pulled out the mugs, setting them on the counter to start putting creamer into them. I screwed the lids on and handed them out to everyone, all of them placing quick kisses on my cheek in thanks. The other guys walked away and I grabbed a mug to hand to Noah, stopping one I saw him staring down at the ground.

"Hey." I said, grabbing his hand with my free one and causing him to look up at me. "It's ok. All in the past."

He sighed and grabbed the mug from my hand, squeezing the one I was holding with his own. "Makes me sick guys do that to women. Even more sick someone did it to you."

I softly grinned at him. "Getting protective, are we?"

He squinted his eyes at me, causing me to laugh. "I've come to realize I'd do anything to protect you."

I chewed on the inside of my lip to stifle the grin that threatened to explode onto my face. "I'd do anything to protect you, too."

I broke our eye contact and turned to screw the lid onto my mug so we could head out with the guys, picking up a backpack from the ground and throwing it over my shoulder. Noah did the same with a duffle bag and we headed out to the car waiting for us, piling in so we could set off to the venue.

My phone buzzed with a message while we were setting up and I set down the tape I was using to pull it out, my old manager's name flashing across the screen.

"GIRL. Please tell me this tension isn't fake. Because, WHEW."

The message included a screenshot of the post Bryan made that included me wrapping Noah's hands for him, our eye contact strong as the tension hopped out of the screen. I chuckled at her message, quickly typing one back.

"A girl never kisses and tells. Miss you."

I put the phone back into my pocket and shook my head at her with a smile, finishing up what I was working on.

We finished up at the venue and grabbed a quick dinner before returning to the Airbnb for the night, jet lag weighing on us heavily. I crawled into my bed and closed my eyes before a loud crack of thunder caused me to jump and sit straight up, my heart pounding as my chest heaved.

I grabbed my phone off the nightstand to text Noah, my hands shaking.

"Are you awake?"

As I sent a message, Noah sent one right as mine said delivered.

"Room across the hall from you."

I softly smiled, realizing he thought of me as soon as the thunder went off.

I pushed myself out of bed, pulling the sleeves of my hoodie over my hands when a chill went through my body. I softly opened the door to my room and walked across the hall to Noah's room, slowly twisting the doorknob. I jumped as another crack of thunder sounded off, my eyes landing on Noah walking up to me in the dim lighting of his bedside lamp. He grabbed my hand to pull me into his room, shutting the door behind us before wrapping his arms around me in comfort.

"I didn't want you alone for this storm after what you told me." He said into my hair as I stayed firmly pressed against him, his arms wrapped around me tightly.

I inhaled his scent deeply, my heartbeat slowing down. "Thank you."

He pulled back and nodded his head toward his bed, leading me to it. I climbed onto the mattress as he did the same, holding his arms out to pull me onto his chest.

"You never have to be alone for storms ever again."

That was the first night I've slept soundly during a storm since I left my ex. I woke up the next morning on my side, Noah's arms wrapped around me tightly from behind as his chest was pressed firmly against my back. A soft grin slid onto my face as I sighed and settled into him more, placing my hand on top of the one that was rested against my stomach. He stirred from behind me, signaling he was waking up.

He tightened his grip on my midsection and leaned down to kiss the top of my head. "Morning." He said, sleepiness causing his voice to be deep and husky.

I rolled over in his grasp, facing his chest and nuzzling my face into it. "Good morning."

He pushed my hair off my forehead and leaned down to place a soft kiss onto it. "Did you sleep?"

I nodded against his chest and pulled my head back to look up at him. "First storm I've slept through in forever." He grinned sleepily at me as I leaned up to place my lips on his, holding the kiss for a bit before pulling back. "Thank you."

"Like I said, you never have to be alone for storms ever again." He rasped out, placing another chaste kiss on my lips.

I grinned and rolled onto my back to stretch out my tired muscles. "What time is it?"

He reached behind him to grab his phone off the nightstand, squinting at the brightness. "11."

"I'm still not used to sleeping past 8." I said with a breathy chuckle as I sat up. "We should probably get ready and head to the venue for VIP."

He groaned and rolled over, throwing his arm around my waist. "I just wanna stay here all day." He said, voice muffled by the pillow.

I chuckled and scratched his head, messing his hair up even more. "Me too, but you got a job to do."

He sighed and leaned up to place a chaste kiss on my lips before hopping out of bed. "Shower with me?"

I smiled and crawled out of his bed. "Let me get a change of clothes."

He followed me to his bedroom door, swinging it open to reveal Nicholas with his fist raised about to knock on the door. His eyes widened as they landed on us, looking back and forth.

My heart skipped a beat as I looked at him, racking my brain to come up with an excuse. "I don't do well with storms and Noah was awake."

Nicholas nodded as if he bought my excuse. "I have CBD sleep gummies if you think they'd ever help."

I nodded. "Thank you, that means a lot." I said with a smile.

He smiled back at me and turned his attention to Noah. "I was just seeing if you were up. We're about to shower and get ready to leave."

"I'm about to do the same." Noah said, looking as if he was fighting a blush creeping up his neck.

I stifled a laugh and squeezed past Nicholas. "I'll do the same and meet you guys out there."

Nicholas shot me a ghost of a smirk, causing me to push the smile down as I escaped into my room, closing the door behind me. I snorted as I walked over to my bed to put my phone on the charger, seeing Noah's name pop up on the screen.

"Come back please."

I smirked as I read it, typing back a reply.

"Enjoy your shower."

I heard him groan from his room, causing me to laugh as I gathered my stuff to shower.  An hour later we had eaten and were pulling up outside the venue. I slung my bag of clothes for the show over my shoulder we we piled out of the car, excited screams echoing around us from the fans who had already begun lining up. We waved at them before heading inside, rushing to get soundcheck done and finish setting up by the time VIP rolled around.

VIP finished and I was making my way back to the barricade after the opening acts performed.

"Hi, Maddie!" A couple girls greeted me.

I smiled and made my way to them. "Hi, guys. You doing alright?"

They nodded at me. "We have a question for you."

I cocked my brow at them. "What's up?"

"Are you and Noah dating?" The taller brunette questioned me.

My eyes widened before I laughed. "No, we're not."

"I'm sorry for asking, you two just seem extremely close. And the picture Bryan posted was the hottest thing I've ever seen." The brunette said, fanning her face dramatically.

I laughed, tossing my head back as the two girls joined in. "I'll blame it on the good lighting. The guys and I are just close. Being together 24/7 makes that inevitable."

"True. I'm sorry for asking! You two just look really good together." She said with a smile.

I smiled back at her. "Don't apologize. Thank you, though!"

I took a picture with them and a few other people before hopping up on the box I sit on. The guys performed perfectly in my eyes. They were full of energy and Noah's vocals were practically pristine. He seemed to keep his eyes on me more ever since the hiccup we had in the UK, causing me to chuckle every time I noticed it. 

We packed up a few things after the show and took quick showers backstage, changing into more comfortable clothes before heading outside to greet a few fans at the gates. I helped Noah carry the last set of boxes we didn't want to leave at the arena over night to the van when I heard a voice speak up from the crowd.

"Maddie?" A male voice called out.

I froze in my spot, the box I was carrying of merch crashing onto the ground. My ears started ringing and my chest heaved as my heart rate spiked at the familiar voice. I saw Noah look at me from the corner of my eye. His voice sounded like it was at the end of a tunnel as he talked to me, causing me to jerk my eyes to him. His eyebrows were pinched together in concern as he set his box down and grabbed my hands with his.

"What's wrong?" He questioned, my hearing focusing on his voice.

"Maddie, is that you?" The same male voice called out from the crowd.

My eyes got wider as I started at Noah, my hands shaking in his grasp. He turned to look at the crowd, squinting to see them better. His teeth clenched harshly and eyes darkened as his eyes landed on the person who was calling my name.

"Noah, don't." I said, voice shaking.

I looked over and saw the rest of the guys approaching us in confusion. Noah nodded his head towards the crowd, causing the guys to see the person Noah was staring down. Their faces hardened once their eyes landed on him. Noah's chest heaved as he turned to walk towards the crowd.

"Noah!" Folio exclaimed as Noah's steps quickened to the gate.

He grabbed the shirt of Gabriel, my ex's, shirt and brought his fist back before harshly landing it onto Gabriel's face. The sound of the punch echoed around us as surprised gasps came from the crowd of fans.

"Noah, stop!" I yelled as I rushed over to them, my feet finally working again.

Gabriel hopped over the gate to try and fight back but was met with Noah's fist again, this time knocking him to the ground. Security ran over to pull the two apart, escorting Gabriel away from us.

"Got another person to do your dirty work. I'll be seeing you again, you bitch." Gabriel spit out as he was dragged away.

Noah's chest heaved as he struggled to regain his breath before he turned and stomped away from everyone. I put my hand on my chest to try and calm my heart while Folio and Jolly checked on me, Nicholas rushing after Noah.

I turned to the crowd, looking over their shocked faces. "I'm so sorry, everyone."

"Whatever he did I'm sure he deserved it. I want to punch him too." A girl at the front said, causing others to agree with her.

I breathily laughed, my heart slowly calming down. I apologized again before making my way to a van to go back to the Airbnb. Nicholas and Noah had already head out in another van so it was just me, Folio, and Jolly. The ride was silent other than the soft music playing over the speakers. My leg anxiously bounced up and down as I chewed on my lip to try and suppress the tears that stung against my eyes, threatening to fall down my face. We got out of the van once we got back to the house and I rushed to the front door, a stray tear falling. I rushed inside to hide my face and began making my way down the hallway. Muffled voices came from Noah's room, anger evident in them.

"I'm not saying I wouldn't have done the same thing, because I was tempted to once I saw his fucking face, but you can't just go around punching people. No matter how much they deserve it. We're in the spotlight, especially you." Nicholas said.

"Fucker deserved it. How could he put his hands on someone like Maddie? She doesn't deserve that shit. He deserved a taste of his own medicine." Noah seethed out, the sound of pacing footsteps echoing on the wood floors.

I softly knocked on the door, causing them to stop talking. A few moments of silence followed before the door opened to reveal a red faced Noah and the usual calm face of Nicholas, other than the furrowed brows he was sporting.

"Maddie." Nicholas said, stepping forward to wrap his arms around me in a hug.

I hugged him back and sniffled, not realizing a few tears had fallen down my face. I instantly became embarrassed that I was crying in front of the guys and reached up to discreetly wipe them away. Nicholas pulled back from the hug and placed his hands on my shoulders.

"I am so sorry the dumbass decided to show his face there. There's no way he didn't know you were with us." He said, squeezing my shoulders. 

I gave him a soft smile. "Not your fault. I knew it was a possibility."

He shrugged. "Not my fault but I still feel bad. You know we got your back."

"Thank you. It really means a lot to me." I replied, reaching up to squeeze his hands.

He gave me a soft smile before walking out of Noah's room, leaving just the two of us behind. My eyes met the side of his face, his fists balled at his sides. I noticed blood on his knuckles and silently walked out of his room into mine to grab a first aid kid. I walked back in and softly shut the door behind me, causing Noah to snap his eyes towards me. Anger was still evident in his face but his features softened slightly once he saw the tears on mine.

"Sit." I said, motioning towards the bed.

He complied and sat down before I followed suit, sitting beside him. I gently took his hand into mine and inspected the damage he did. His knuckles were bloody and swollen from how hard he hit Gabriel. I sniffed and blinked back tears as I opened the kit, pulling out a disinfectant wipe.

"This might sting some." I said, voice wavering from emotions. I gently pat his knuckles, causing him to suck in air through his teeth at the stinging. "Sorry" I whispered, continuing the patting motion. I wiped up all the blood before putting ointment on them carefully with a cotton swab. 

My brows furrowed as a new wave of emotion came over me, my vision becoming blurry from the tears that pooled in my eyes. He brought his free hand up to cradle my face, causing me to bring my eyes up to meet his. I sniffed as I fought the tears that threatened to fall, causing his eyes to soften even further. 

"Maddie." He whispered. The gentle tone of his voice was enough to cause the flood gates to open and I dropped my head into my free hand, tears rolling down my face and into the sleeve of my hoodie.

He brought his arms up to wrap around me, pulling me onto his lap so he was holding me. My body shook with my crying as he soothed me, gently rocking me back and forth and cradling my head against his chest.

"I'm so sorry to cause such a problem at your show. I'm so sorry." I sobbed out, strong sniffles breaking up my words.

"No, Maddie, don't you dare apologize. He deserved more than what he got." He said against my hair, placing a kiss there.

I nodded against his chest as my crying slowed down, now replaced with stray tears and hiccups. Noah kept rocking us gently until my hiccups subsided, just sniffles left behind. He leaned his head back and lifted my chin so I would look at him. He brought his thumb up to wipe away the tears that were left, rubbing them off onto his hoodie.

"Never apologize for something that wasn't your fault. You never have to feel sorry with me." He whispered, hand still cradling my face.

I nodded as I looked into his eyes before he leaned down to place a kiss on my lips, causing all my worry and anxiety to leave and be replaced with content. He pulled away and searched my eyes, his own much softer than they were before. He kept our eye contact before bringing his lips back onto mine, rougher than before.

"I want to make you forget the night."

[raincitygirl76]

I had a really interesting Skype conversation with my uncle in England on the weekend which indirectly referenced the contempt non-residents are held in at Hillerska. He went (as did my father and my other uncle) to Abberley Hall (a now defunct prep school in Shropshire for boys aged 8-12) and then to Rugby School in Warwickshire (a fairly prestigious "public" - which actually means private and expensive) boarding school for boys aged 13-18. It's still around, now co-ed.

I asked him how day boys (non-residents who lived locally with their parents and paid much lower fees as a result) and scholarship boys were treated by boys whose parents were paying full fees. The answers were illuminating of Simon and Sara's position at Hillerska.

At Abberley, my uncle couldn't recall any scholarship boys. I guess at 8, you're a little young for academic scholarships. Blows my mind, by the way, that well-off British people routinely sent their sons off to boarding school at only 8 years old. But I digress. There were some day boys who lived locally, and he remembered some snobbery against them.

His memories of Rugby were much more interesting. The nearby town of Rugby was fairly large, even back in 1954 when he started there, aged 13. He was a boarder on full fees. There were a fair number of boys living off-campus in the town, attending on reduced fees because they weren't boarding. They were all grouped together in Town House. The boarders used to make fun of them because they usually came from rather more modest backgrounds than the boarders.

Still not actually modest as in working class, because even day fees for a prestigious school were quite expensive. But the assumption by the boarders was usually not that Town House boys were there because their parents wanted them home at night and found a prestigious school's proximity convenient. The assumption was that their parents couldn't afford to give them a "real" boarding school education.

Also, many of the day boys did not have the typical public school accent beaten into them (when I say beaten in, I mean that literally. Rugby was very big on corporal punishment). So their regional Midlands accents were mocked by the boarders. Who all spoke Received Pronunciation no matter where in the UK they'd grown up.

The boys who were there on scholarship, though, really got it in the neck. Whether they were living locally and part of Town House, or lived far away and were boarding, it was always known who was a scholarship boy. They got a lot of mockery because everybody knew for damn sure their parents couldn't afford the fees. They were called "swots", because they were only at Rugby due to studying so hard.

The only scholarship boys who didn't get bullied for being poor were the ones who were also very good at sports. There was one scholarship boy in my uncle's year and house who was extremely good at rugby (or rugger as they called it at Rugby, to distinguish the sport from the school at which it originated). He mostly did not get any flack from the boarders, even though he studied hard and had excellent grades. The other scholarship boys, though, they got flack.

Now, Simon and Sara are not at Hillerska on scholarship, because by law, Swedish schooling is free. Nonetheless, Hillerska offers MANY more enrichment opportunities than the average public school which is getting the same exact same amount of money per student from the Swedish government. Apparently when the government decreed that schools could no longer charge for tuition, boarding schools just pivoted. They didn't lower their fees one bit, they simply claimed the money was all going towards room and board.

Note in 1.02, Headmistress Anette Lilja even refers to August's missing tuition payment as tuition. Even though theoretically it's just a fee for room and board. Anette is old enough that for most of her professional life, Hillerska would've charged tuition and called it that officially. So yeah, the boarders probably feel like the fees their parents are paying are subsidizing the "freeloader" non-boarders.

Simon and Sara, even though they're not there on scholarships technically, are probably the Swedish equivalent of scholarship students. Hillerska would only accept the cream of the crop of non-boarders, students who will be an asset to the school and bring up their grade point average. Sara probably got in because of her grades. Simon probably got in partly for grades (he said in 1.02 that he got straight As at Marieberg) and partly for his musical talent.

Hillerska is a very exclusive school. They don't need to accept any student they don't want to, especially non-boarders whose parents aren't shelling out an arm and a leg in tuition. Hillerska accepted the Eriksson siblings because it benefited them to do so. But the other students, whose parents are paying full fees, won't necessarily see it that way.

Especially with Simon, who refuses to act grateful and humble about this opportunity to be among his social betters. Sara gets kind of a pass because she accepts the Hillerska hierarchy and doesn't complain about it or fight against it. But Sara also had a much more traumatic experience at Marieberg than Simon did.

So she's just keeping her head down and is grateful to merely be ignored rather than actively picked on. Plus, there are horses she gets to be around. Plus, Hillerska is a very structured environment with lots of rules. For Sara, being on the spectrum, it's probably helpful to know exactly what the rules are.

[abubblingcandle]

UK Teachers Strike

As I sit here at home on a Wednesday in term time, I still find myself writing a list of all the work I have to do to even break even with my deadlines for this week. And that is choosing to not do anything to help my non-striking colleagues.

I know a lot of people I know on here aren’t from the UK but please support the Teachers Strikes. 

We are not striking just because we are underpaid. We are underpaid, don’t get me wrong. But we are striking because the government has abandoned us and yet at every turn we are the villains of the story. 

So here is my vent (this turned so much longer than I anticipated) but also to try and bust some myths of what us teachers are going through and why we feel the need to get some change:

“Teachers just work from 9-3 and get 6 weeks off at summer” - No teacher, and I will stand by this, who is doing right by their students can work 9-3. To start off with we have staff meetings before and after school, parents evenings, pastoral care meetings and conversations with parents about their children if their children are struggling which can’t be done while teaching. As a 2nd year teacher I get 7 hours a fortnight of in school prep time. During that time I have to plan 50 lessons, each one adapted for that specific group of students (in my experience each lesson takes about 15-20 mins if it is pre-planned, 45-60 mins if it is from scratch). So just that alone if we assume all these lessons have planned planned last year and can just be adapted it would take me 12.5 hours a fortnight to do this. I also have to deal with problems within my form including observing lessons with them in, talking with support staff about how we can best help them and behaviour/attendance monitoring. That takes up an hour a week on a good week. Then we have marking and data entry. For KS4 classes it can take me 40 mins to mark each paper, for KS3 classes less time but there are more of them. Assuming this is a test fortnight, I have two ish classes in each year for each subject so we’ll say 60 kids x 20 mins per test = 20 hours. So the basics 34.5 hours a fortnight of work that isn’t teaching ... and 7 hours allocated. Then if we assume I get home at 4, go to sleep at 10 to get a full nights sleep that is then 6 hours on an evening, 30 hours from weekdays. To do all the work I need I need to work all hours in a school day and most hours on an evening. But then at least I have weekends free! Then we have the pastoral care. Teachers are people children trust. If you are a good teacher then children will trust you with their problems. So on a lunch time and break time (my time to decompress) I find myself instead being a counsellor helping pupils deal with anger, sadness, discovering who they are, learning how to be teens and the problems that come with that. So most days I don’t get a lunch break and instead have to use my planning time to eat if I have a planning lesson.

“The average wage of a teacher is £48k” - The average wage of all teachers might be £48k but that includes the heads of trusts who get paid over £100k. As a second year teacher I get paid £28,900. With taxes and student loans etc. taken off from it I get a take home pay of just over £1.8k. The average monthly take home pay in the UK is £2.5k. I genuinely almost might not be able to pay my bills this month because of striking one day. 

“Teaching isn’t that hard, parent’s did it fine during lockdown” - Parent maybe taught one child using work that was set by their teachers. That is not comparable. Someone today who is also striking said something that stuck with me “imagine being a hairdresser and every day having to argue with the client that they need to take their hat off to have a haircut”. Parents hate teachers, children hate teachers, but good teachers want what is best for your children. Things children have actually said to me this week:

- “They should get some other teachers in here because you’re shit”

- “This school is shit and so are you”

- “You’re so strict, don’t you have anything better to be doing with your life”

- “Are you actually going to be teaching us something interesting today?”

- “I don’t need to know this so why should I bother listening to you?”

- “You can’t made me do anything, deal with it”

- “Being here is torture, you’re torturing me you know”

All of those ... were for doing my job. Most of those were for either making them open their books to write or the audacity of asking them not to talk over me. 

“Teachers get to strike and have the day off but if I take my kid out of school for a holiday then they are fined for losing vital education time. How is that fair?” - It’s not but it’s not teachers who are punishing that rule. It’s not teachers who benefit. Your child will lose out on valuable teaching time. They will lose out today. But if a strike doesn’t disrupt then what is the point of a strike. Don’t be mad at us. Be mad at the government that is making us do this.

[babytarttdoodoo]

Since you're at work, any advice for job applications/interviews?

Oh, that's a bit out of left field! I have sat on interview panels before so this will hopefully be helpful - bear in mind it will be very UK-centric, though!

(Yes, the whole job hunting song and dance is performative bullshit. It helps to know the steps, though.)

Applications

When they ask for a cover letter, CV and/or application form, don't just regurgitate the same information over and over.

Cover letter: Pick out keywords from the job advert and frame those things as skills you have or opportunities for you to develop. Example: "I see my project delivery experience as being a real advantage in this role, and look forward to expanding my skillset with management responsibilities." CV: Keep it brief and for the love of god make sure it's easy to read. Set it out like [Job Title] > [Company] > [Years] > [List of relevant responsibilities and successes]. If you've had a lot of different roles, keep it to the last five or so. Application form: Questions about skills/experience are looking for anecdotal/situational examples of you applying those skills. Take every chance you can to mention professional development or learning opportunities i.e. all that stuff you do that isn't actually in your job description.

If you're asked about salary expectations, I normally round my current salary up and then add 10-15%. For example, if you're making £24,675 then set £27,500 as your minimum level for a new position. If you make £102,825, that becomes £115,000. Make sense?

Interviews

Being super early is almost as inconvenient as being late. 10-15 minutes ahead of your interview is plenty. If you're running behind, don't be afraid to call and let them know - they will appreciate it and might be able to push your slot back.

Take examples of your work if possible. At the interview for my first job, I took along some video projects I'd worked on as a student. In the interview for my current job (six years later), I whipped out a powerpoint summarising my input into the last project I'd worked on. Even if it isn't requested ahead of time, prepping something is worth it.

There's no way to predict everything they're going to ask but if you come with a few strong answers ready to go, things will go smoother. Look at the job description and make a few notes on any correlating projects/experience/achievements you have. Specifics are great and you can absolutely refer to what you've written down as you talk.

Expect to be asked about challenges you've faced professionally or failures you've overcome. It's fine. Frame your answer around what you learned from a situation that went wrong. Make it sound like you saved the day if you have to. They're not looking for you to self-flagellate - they want to know you can handle pressure and problem solving.

Always, always tell the interviewer that you're speaking to other potential employers. It's a good thing to throw in at the end like "Oh, and just so you know, I am interviewing elsewhere so my availability might change". (In my experience, this has resulted in a faster answer on whether an employer is seriously interested.)

Feel free to message me if you want advice on anything more specific! I'll do what I can :)

[bisexualspace]

It's World AIDS Day so I wanted to run through a couple quick points

HIV is treatable! There's been incredible advancements in the treatment of HIV in the last few decades. Life expectancy for those living with HIV is the same as someone without the virus if they are on treatment.

U=U: If you're on treatment and your viral load is undetectable, you cannot transmit HIV to your partners.

PrEP is widely available. If you belong to a group that has an increased incidence of HIV transmission, you should be able to access Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis. Essentially this is a combination of two medications that is highly effective at preventing transmission of HIV. In some countries (such as the UK), you can access PrEP for free, however you can also source PrEP online in over 100 countries.

Knowledge is power. Knowing your status helps ensure you can access treatment early and prevent transmission to others. And remember, anyone who is sexually active can get HIV. Get tested regularly if you can

Anyways lets continue to destigmatise HIV, reduce transmission, and get everyone who needs it on treatment

[mediumtires]

idk ur stance on recreational drug use but i just cannot imagine christian high... the reason this is an issue for me is coz he went to an insaaaanely expensive public school (in the uk public means older & posher than private school not free school) and all those boys smash lines like nothing, including when they are literally government employees.... also ginger spice was a known lover of mdma, but i just.... he's so boring? i simply can't imagine a world in which he has ever done a drug lmao he just seems too straight laced despite the fact he has almost definitely done class a powders lol

i love to hate him 🫶🫶

cw tw // drugs below the cut

hm. hmmm.

warwick school is one of the most prestigious schools in the country, prepping their students for oxbridge and the like. extremely hard to get into with entrance assessments and exams. so these kids need to put in effort. of course things could have changed since christian went there back in the day but i find that hard to believe; warwick is one of the oldest, most reputable schools in the uk. i doubt a senior school like that has a coke problem. warwick uni? 100%. warwick school? nah.

so apart from a joint or two i don’t think christian has taken a lot of drugs in his life. he said he never had a huge interest in studying, spent most of his weekends karting at karting tracks or in his backyard, then as soon as he was out of school he tried karting/racing professionally. since he had to be able to operate a kart/single seater a lot of the time i’m assuming he wasn’t on anything.

also. i don’t think christian was the guy to take drugs to self medicate. most likely he would have taken drugs due to social/peer pressure/glorification from the people around him. and - correct me if i’m wrong (i don’t think i am) - he doesn’t strike me as someone who hung around the cool kids with the drugs a lot………

also. family. i assume his parents held a key part in him attending warwick (made him go and do well (standard)). he comes from a very british tory family, very concerned with a respectable image, wanting their children to get the best education possible. do not think they would have let him get away with doing class a drugs at school.

re ginger spice. i don’t know much about her other than that one of her exes was once arrested for having class a on him. but her career peaked in the 90s, the pressure of being in the public eye, other band mates self medicating…….. yeah she might have….

i think it’s safe to say they’re good now though. family seems to matter most to them, they have three kids they’re bringing up in a very safe environment. they go racing on the weekends (horses and or cars). all well and proper boring.

[celestialmango]

I accidentally dropped my phone in water. I immediately got it out then stuck it in a Ziploc bag with rice and all the silica packets I could find in my house. Honestly I should have made a wet phone rescue kit in case something like this had ever happened but I never thought it would.

What is a wet phone rescue kit? An airtight container and silica packets. It draws mosture out much better than rice but I didn't have a lot of silica packets so I had to substitute.

It's about $15 to make your own using Amazon but could be even cheaper if you but the air tight container at a dollar store or if you're in the uk I believe your version of that is call pound land? 5grams (60 packets) is like $6.99