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SOLUTION AT Academic Writers Bay Does M&S have a future?13 The country’s most famous retailer Marks & Spencer’s big store in London’s Kensington High Street has just had a re-fit. Instead of the usual drab M&S interior, it is now Californian shopping mall meets modernist chrome and creamy marble floors. Roomy walkways and designer displays have replaced dreary row after row of clothes racks. By the end of the year M&S will have 26 such stores around Britain – the first visible sign that the company is making a serious effort to pull out of the nose-dive it has been in for the past two years. Things have become so bad that M&S, until recently a national icon, is in danger of becoming a national joke. It does not help that its advertisements featuring plump naked women on mountains – the first-ever TV ads the company has produced – have met with an embarrassed titter; nor that, last week, the BBC’s Watchdog programme savaged M&S for overcharging and poor quality in its range of garments for the fuller figure. As the attacks grow in intensity, so do the doubts about M&S’s ability to protect its core value: a reputation for better quality that justified a slight price premium – at least in basic items, such as underwear. It is a long time since any self-respecting teenager went willingly into an M&S store to buy clothes. Now even parents have learned to say no. Shoppers in their thirties and forties used to dress like their parents. Now many of them want to dress like their kids. M&S’s makeover comes not a moment too soon. Compared with the jazzy store layouts of rivals such as Gap or Hennes & Mauritz, M&S shops look like a hangover from a bygone era. The makeover aims to bring it into the present. People tended to join M&S straight from college and work their way slowly up the ranks. Few senior appointments were made from outside the company. This meant that the company rested on its laurels, harking back to ‘innovations’ such as machine-washable pullovers and chilled food. Case study 3.1: Marks & Spencer 98 DEMAND ANALYSIS Worse, M&S missed out on the retailing revolution that began in the mid-1980s, when the likes of Gap and Next shook up the industry with attractive displays and marketing gimmicks. Their supply chains were overhauled to provide what customers were actually buying – a surprisingly radical idea at the time. M&S, by contrast, continued with an outdated business model. It clung to its ‘Buy British’ policy and it based its buying decisions too rigidly on its own buyers’ guesses about what ranges of clothes would sell, rather than reacting quickly to results from the tills. Meanwhile, its competitors were putting together global purchasing networks that were not only more responsive, but were not locked into high costs linked to the strength of sterling. In clothing, moreover, M&S faces problems that cannot be solved simply by improving its fashion judgments. Research indicates that overall demand for clothing has at best stabilised and may be set to decline. This is because changing demographics mean that an ever-higher share of consumer spending is being done by the affluent over-45s. They are less inclined than youngsters to spend a high proportion of their disposable income on clothes. The results of M&S’s rigid management approach were not confined to clothes. The company got an enormous boost 30 years ago when it spotted a gap in the food market, and started selling fancy convenience foods. Its success in this area capitalised on the fact that, compared with clothes, food generates high revenues per square metre of floor space. While food takes up 15% of the floor space in M&S’s stores, it accounts for around 40% of sales. But the company gradually lost its advantage as mainstream food chains copied its formula. M&S’s share of the British grocery market is under 3% and falling, compared with around 18% for its biggest supermarket rival, Tesco. M&S has been unable to respond to this competitive challenge. In fact,

rather than leading the way, it has been copying rivals’ features by introducing in-house bakeries, delicatessens and meat counters. Food sales have been sluggish, and operating margins have fallen as a result of the extra space and staff needed for these services. Operating profits from food fell from £247m in 1997 to £137m in 1999, while sales stayed flat. Perhaps the most egregious example of the company’s insularity was the way it held out for more than 20 years against the use of credit cards, launching its own store card instead. This was the cornerstone of a new financial-services division, also selling personal loans, insurance and unit-trust investments. When, in April this year, M&S eventually bowed to the inevitable and began accepting credit cards, it stumbled yet again. It had to give away around 3% of its revenues from card transactions to the card companies, but failed to generate a big enough increase in sales to offset this. Worse, it had to slash the interest rate on its own card, undermining the core of its own finance business. And this at a time when the credit-card business was already becoming more competitive, with new entrants offering rates as low as 5%. If shrunk to its profitable core, M&S may become an attractive target for another big retailer. At the moment, however, while its food division may be attractive to the likes of Tesco, the clothing side represents a daunting challenge. Why take the risk now, when the brand may be damaged beyond repair? Questions 1 Identify the main factors affecting the demand for M&S products. 2 Analyse the weaknesses and threats on the demand side of M&S, relating these to controllable and uncontrollable factors. Demand Theory 3 Outline Objectives • 3.1 Introduction • 3.2 Definition and representation Meaning of demand Tables, graphs and equations Interpretation of equations Demand and revenue • 3.3 Consumer theory Assumptions Analysis Limitations Alternative approaches* Conclusions • 3.4 Factors determining demand Controllable factors Uncontrollable factors Demand and quantity demanded Case study 3.1: Marks & Spencer • 3.5 Elasticity Price elasticity Promotional elasticity Income elasticity Cross-elasticity • 3.6 A problem-solving approach Examples of solved problems Case study 3.2: The Oresund bridge Demand theory page 74 74 74 74 75 78 79 80 81 83 88 88 90 91 92 93 96 97 98 99 105 107 108 110 110 115 73 74 DEMAND ANALYSIS Case study 3.3: The Texas state bird 116 Case study 3.4: Oil production 116 Summary 118 Review questions 118 Problems 119 Notes 120 Objectives 1 To explain the meaning of demand and how it can be represented. 2 To interpret demand equations. 3 To explain why the demand curve is downward-sloping. 4 To identify the factors that affect demand. 5 To examine the ways in which the above factors affect demand. 6 To distinguish between changes in demand and quantity demanded. 7 To explain the concept of elasticity and different elasticities of demand. 8 To explain the different ways of measuring elasticity. 9 To examine the factors determining different elasticities. 10 To explain the uses and applications of different elasticities. 3.1 Introduction It is of vital importance for any firm to have an understanding of the demand for its products. Demand relationships determine revenues and indirectly affect output and costs; they thus have a fundamental impact on profits. An understanding of demand is also relevant for planning purposes, involving production, transportation, inventory, sales, marketing and finance functions. The identification of factors affecting demand and the precise effects that these have is therefore a core element in managerial economics. 3.2 Definition and representation 3.2.1 Meaning of demand Unfortunately the word ‘demand’ can be used in a variety of senses, which often causes misunderstanding and errors of analysis. We can talk about demand curves, schedules, functions, equations, relationships or points. When economists use the

single word ‘demand’ they are referring to the relationship that is frequently called the demand curve. In this sense, demand Table 3.1. Demand table Demand theory 75 Price of Coke (pence per can) 30 40 50 60 70 Quantity sold (cans per day) 120 100 80 60 40 refers to the quantities that people are or would be willing to buy at different prices during a given time period, assuming that other factors affecting these quantities remain the same. It is worth noting that this definition incorporates three important concepts: • 1 It involves three parameters – price, quantity and time. • 2 It refers to quantities in the plural, therefore a whole relationship, not a single quantity. • 3 It involves the ceteris paribus (other things being equal) assumption, which is a very common one in making statements in economics. The second of the above concepts, in particular, tends to cause misunderstand- ings, since it is common in both business and marketing to refer to demand as a single quantity. For example, consider the following statement: the demand for Coke is 80 cans per day at the price of 50 pence per can. First of all there are issues of definition and measurement. Whose demand is being considered? Does ‘Coke’ include Diet Coke and different flavours? What is the size of the can? How do we include bottles? However, even if these issues are clarified, the statement is still technically incorrect from an economist’s standpoint. The statement refers to a quantity demanded, not to demand. As will be seen in section 3.4 it is vital to distinguish between these two concepts, as otherwise errors in analysis will occur. It is now useful to consider the different ways of expressing the demand for a product since this is helpful in illustrating this distinction. 3.2.2 Tables, graphs and equations a. Tables These are the simplest method of representation. An example of a demand table or schedule faced by a retailer is given in Table 3.1. The table shows the general ‘law of demand’, that less is demanded at higher prices. It should be noted that the original statement above relating to a quantity demanded is included in the table as one of the five pairs of values. Although they are simple to understand the main problem with tables is that they are not very useful for analytical purposes. 76 DEMAND ANALYSIS 80 60 40 20 0 0 50 100 150 Quantity (cans per day) Figure 3.1. Demand graph. b. Graphs These are much more useful for analysis, and indeed most analysis in intro- ductory microeconomics involves the use of graphs. A graph relating to the above demand schedule is shown in Figure 3.1. It can be seen that the demand relationship in this case is both inverse and linear. At this stage both of these characteristics are assumed, but later on both of these assumptions will have to be examined. Again the difference between the concepts of demand and quantity demanded is illustrated: the former relates to the whole demand curve whereas the latter relates to a single point on the curve. Although graphical analysis is very useful in economics its main disadvant- age is that it essentially involves a two-dimensional framework. Thus it is mainly limited to examining twovariable relationships. Demand relationships often involve many variables and although the effects of these can be shown on a graph, as seen in section 3.4, they are difficult to measure. c. Equations These are the most useful method of representation for analytical purposes since they explicitly show the effects of all the variables affecting quantity demanded, in a concise form that at the same time reveals important inform- ation regarding the nature of the relationship. Taking the demand curve in Figure 3.1, we can estimate the equation relating to it in various ways. The general form of the demand function in terms of price and quantity demanded is: Q 1⁄4fðPÞ (3:1) This is the most general way of describing the relationship since it does not involve any specific mathematical form. It can

obviously be expanded by including any number of variables that might affect quantity demanded on the righthand side of the equation, for example: Q 1⁄4 fðP; A; Y; Ps; …Þ (3:2) where A represents advertising expenditure, Y represents average income of the market and Ps represents the price of a substitute product. In the two-variable case the demand function can be expressed in a linear form: Q 1⁄4 a þ bP (3:3) Price (pence) The coefficients a and b can then be calculated for the demand schedule in Table 3.1. One way of doing this is to use simultaneous equations and sub- stitute any two pairs of values in the table to solve for a and b. However, it is more insightful to calculate the value of b first, using the mathematical con- cept that b represents ︎Q / ︎P. Again any two pairs of values can be used to establish that b 1⁄4 ︎ 2. For example, if the first two pairs of values are taken, b 1⁄4 ︎ 20/10 1⁄4 ︎ 2. Then any pair of values can be used, substituting the value of b, to calculate the value of a. If the first pair of values is taken the following expression is obtained: 120 1⁄4 a ︎ 2ð30Þ Thus a 1⁄4 180 and the demand equation can now be written: Q 1⁄4180︎2P (3:4) The advantage of this approach is that the value of b can more easily be interpreted as a slope coefficient. The value of a in turn can be interpreted as an intercept. At this point we encounter a problem: the slope of the demand curve on the graph in Figure 3.1 is not equal to –2, nor is the vertical intercept equal to 180. Why is this? The reader may have noticed that there is an inconsistency or lack of correspondence in terms of the treatment of the dependent and independ- ent variables in the exposition above. In the graph the price variable is treated as the dependent variable, with quantity as the independent variable, while in the equation it is the reverse. This is the most common way in economics of representing both the graph and the equation but it raises the question: why is there such an inconsistency? The easiest way to explain this is to start with the equation. It is logical here to treat the quantity demanded as depending on the price, and other variables if we want to include these in the equation on the righthand side. Thus all the independent variables in the situation are on the righthand side of the equation. What about the graph then? As with understanding so many things in life, we have to consider the origins and evolution of this type of representation. Marshall1 was the first economist to develop this method, at the end of the nineteenth century. However, the purpose of his analysis was different; he wanted to show how equilibrium prices were determined in markets, in terms of the interaction of both demand and supply. Thus he wanted to show how much consumers were prepared to pay for certain quantities, and compare this with the prices that suppliers wanted to receive in order to put such quantities onto the market. In this context it is logical to treat price as a dependent variable; both price and quantity are simultaneously determined by demand and supply, but Marshall and other neoclassical economists were primarily concerned with price determination, since the price mechanism was seen as the key to allocating resources in the economy. In conclusion we can say that either method of representing the graph or equation is correct, meaning that either price or quantity can be treated as the Demand theory 77 78 DEMAND ANALYSIS dependent variable. However, the student needs to be able to switch from one method or treatment to the other, according to convenience; the importance of this will be seen as more material is covered. Returning to the graphical interpretation of the coefficients, the value of b represents the slope of the demand curve and a represents the vertical inter- cept if the graph is drawn with the Q variable on the vertical axis. If we switch the equation around we obtain: P 1⁄4 90 ︎ 0:5Q (3:5) In this case the value of ��0.

5 represents the slope of the demand curve and the value of 90 represents the vertical intercept if the graph is drawn in the customary way, with P on the vertical axis. 3.2.3 Interpretation of equations In the analysis above the coefficients in the linear two-variable equation have been interpreted in graphical terms. They also have economic interpretations. The value of a represents the maximum sales that will occur if the price is zero. While this interpretation obviously has limited practical application, the inter- pretation of b is of much greater practical importance. It represents the mar- ginal effect of price on quantity demanded. This means that for every unit the price rises, the quantity demanded will rise by b units. In the context of the demand equation the value of b will normally be negative. This interpretation can be extended to multiple-variable equations; each coefficient of a variable represents the marginal effect of that variable on quantity demanded. Thus in the equation: Q 1⁄4aþbPþcY (3:6) the value of c represents the marginal effect of Y (income) on Q. So far it has been assumed that the demand relationship is linear. This is not because the linear relationship is most common in practice but because the analysis and interpretation of such relationships is the easiest to understand. In reality the demand relationship may take a number of mathematical forms, a topic explored more fully in the next chapter, but a particularly common form is the power form. The two-variable expression of this is: Q 1⁄4 aPb (3:7) This is shown graphically in Figure 3.2; it can be seen that the slope of the demand curve decreases from left to right, as quantity increases. The shape is the same if the axes are reversed, with the slope decreasing as price increases. As with the linear form, the function can be extended to include other vari- ables; in this case the function is multiplicative: Q 1⁄4 aPbYc (3:8) Figure 3.2. Demand graph of power form. P The values of b and c represent elasticities; more specifically, b represents the price elasticity of demand, and c represents the income elasticity of demand. In the case of the price elasticity of demand this means that for every 1 per cent the price rises the quantity demanded will rise by b per cent. In the case of the income elasticity of demand this means that for every 1 per cent the income rises the quantity demanded will rise by c per cent. This interpret- ation is explained in greater detail in section 3.5. Since the interpretation of marginal effects and elasticities is often a source of confusion for students, it is worthwhile at this point to summarize the interpretations of the linear and power forms: Linear: Q1⁄4aþbPþ … b and other coefficients of variables are marginal effects. For every 1 unit P increases Q increases by b units (b is normally negative). b b and other coefficients of variables are elasticities. Power: Q1⁄4aP For every 1 per cent P increases Q increases by b per cent (again b is negative). … We can also compare and contrast the interpretations of the linear and power forms of demand equation in the following way: Linear – constant marginal effects, varying elasticities Power – varying marginal effects, constant elasticities There is one other point of interpretation that requires clarification at this stage. Economists talk about demand curves and demand equations; this sometimes confuses students, who tend to think of a demand curve in purely graphical terms. A demand curve refers not just to a line on a graph but also to a relationship between price and quantity demanded, assuming other things remain equal. Thus it is a particular type of demand equation. 3.2.4 Demand and revenue The demand curve for a firm automatically determines its revenue function, since revenue is simply price multiplied by quantity. As we shall see later in the chapter and elsewhere, the concept of marginal revenue is also very important; Q Demand theory 79 80 DEMAND ANALYSIS Table 3.

2. Demand and revenue relationships Quantity Price 40 70 60 60 80 50 100 40 120 30 Total revenue 2,800 3,600 4,000 4,000 3,600 Marginal revenue 50 40 30 20 10 0 ︎10 ︎20 ︎30 this was introduced in the last chapter with reference to the profit-maximizing model, being defined as the additional revenue derived from selling an extra unit. We can now rearrange and expand the information in Table 3.1 to show how total and marginal revenue can be measured. The table is rearranged because revenue and marginal revenue are normally considered as functions of quantity rather than price, as explained in more detail in Chapter 8. It should be noted that marginal revenue can be calculated in two different ways, which must not be confused: 1 4R=4Q – Thus when quantity changes from 40 to 60 M R 1⁄4 ð3600 ︎ 2800Þ=ð60 ︎ 40Þ 1⁄4 40: These values are given in bold in Table 3.2 and inserted between the quantities of 40 and 60. 2 dR/dQ – This is the derivative of the revenue function. Since P 1⁄4 90 ︎ 0:5Q R1⁄4PQ 1⁄490Q 1⁄40:5Q2 MR 1⁄4 90 ︎ Q These values are given by substituting the value of Q into the MR function and are written directly opposite the relevant values of Q in the table. The graphs of total and marginal revenue functions are illustrated in section 3.5. 3.3 Consumer theory This area of economic theory is concerned with explaining why consumers behave in certain ways, in particular with how the variables of price and income affect what consumers buy and how much. While it may be true that managers and business-owners are often not interested in this theoretical background and analysis, being more concerned with demand responsiveness to changes in different variables, this theoretical framework is still useful in explaining both motivation and behaviour. Some of the conclusions and implications in terms of economic welfare are particularly relevant for govern- ment policy. As in the previous chapters, a largely neoclassical approach is taken here, and this is the traditional approach taken in both microeconomics and managerial economics textbooks. However, it will be seen that this can be extended to apply to a broader range of situations. At the start a basic model is presented. 3.3.1 Assumptions The most basic assumption of the neoclassical model is that consumers have the objective of maximizing their total utility. Utility is defined in terms of value or satisfaction. This is derived from consuming combinations of differ- ent products. These products are purchased from what is assumed to be a fixed amount of money available; thus there is a budget constraint on consumers’ purchasing, which is largely determined by current income, although other factors like past saving, expectations of future income and the availability and cost of credit are relevant. Thus the general situation from a consumer’s view- point is an optimization problem subject to constraints. The initial analysis of this situation involves using graphs and indifference curves. The use of graphs limits the analysis to a two-variable situation, a helpful initial assumption. An indifference curve shows combinations of two products between which the consumer is indifferent because they give the same total utility. It is worth noting that with this approach the concept of utility does not have to be measured in cardinal terms, only in ordinal terms. This means that we do not have to use an interval scale for measurement, as with price or quantity; with an interval scale the difference between 4 and 5 units is the same as the difference between 9 and 10 units in absolute terms because the interval is the same. With an ordinal scale values are simply ranked in order, without saying anything about the differences between the values. In terms of indifference curves, one combination of products may be preferred to another, but no attempt is made to measure the amount of the difference. This avoids the problem of trying to measure utility; although utility can be meas- ured in

money terms this is not totally satisfactory because of the non-constant relationship between utility and money (for example, having twice as much money does not necessarily give twice as much utility). A graph showing three indifference curves, I1, I2 and I3, is shown in Figure 3.3. Each indifference curve can be regarded as an ‘iso-utility’ curve; this means that any combination of products on I1, for example, gives the same total utility to the consumer. It is assumed that consumers prefer more of a product to less; therefore, indifference curves that are higher and to the right represent greater total utility. Thus combination C gives more total utility than either A or B, both of which give the same total utility. The indifference curves shown represent only a sample of such curves for the consumer; there is an infinite number of curves that could be drawn in principle, each with a slightly higher Demand theory 81 82 DEMAND ANALYSIS Quantity of hot dogs M/Pd Q1ʹ I A 1 I3 I2 C Q1 Figure 3.3. Indifference curves and consumer equilibrium. Quantity of hamburgers level of total utility than its neighbour to the left. A graph showing such a sample is often referred to as an indifference map. In drawing the indifference curves above it may be noted that they possess three main properties; these are now explained, along with the relevant assumptions regarding consumer behaviour: 1. Negative slope. This follows from the assumption that consumers prefer more of a product to less, as stated above, so that in obtaining more of one product a consumer can afford to give up some of the other product to main- tain the same level of total utility. This assumption is sometimes referred to as non-satiation, but it should be realized that there are exceptions to this: garbage and nuclear waste are examples, and such products are sometimes called ‘bads’ as opposed to goods. 2. Convexity. This means that the slopes of the curves are decreasing as one moves to the right. The absolute value of the slope is given by the marginal rate of substitution of one good for another, in this case of hamburgers for hot dogs, or in general, MRSXY. The MRSXY is the marginal rate of substitution between X and Y and refers to the amount of Y that a consumer is prepared to give up to gain one more unit of X. It has to be said that there is a certain amount of confusion in the textbooks regarding this expression. Some texts omit subscripts completely, while others mistakenly refer to MRSYX in the above context. The confusion is understandable since we can refer to either giving up Y for X or substituting X for Y, meaning the same thing. Thus the assumption implies that people are willing to give up less and less of one product to gain more of another. This in turn follows from the law of dimin- ishing marginal utility which states that as people consume more of a product within a given time period, eventually the increments in total utility will begin to fall. This law is demonstrated in Figure 3.4: the consumer is willing to give up three hot dogs to get one more hamburger when they only B M/Pb Quantity of hot dogs 9 6 43 A Demand theory 83 B Figure 3.4. Indifference curves and convexity. 2 3 4 C D 5 Quantity of hamburgers have two hamburgers (MRSXY is 3 in moving from A to B), but they are only willing to give up two hot dogs to get one more hamburger when they already have three hamburgers (MRSXY is 2 in moving from B to C); they are only willing to give up one hot dog to get one more hamburger when they already have four hamburgers (MRSXY is 1 in moving from C to D). 3. Non-intersection. Indifference curves can never intersect as this would violate the principle of transitivity of preferences. Transitivity means that if combination F is preferred to combination E and combination E is preferred to combination D, then combination F must be preferred to combination D. An example of non-transitivity is the paper–rock–scissors game; rock beats scissors and scissors beats paper, but rock does not beat paper.

This now concludes the section regarding assumptions; in order to explain the remaining features of Figure 3.3 it is necessary to move on to the analytical aspects. 3.3.2 Analysis a. Consumer equilibrium In order to find the consumer’s equilibrium point in Figure 3.3, where total utility is maximized, it is necessary to combine the indifference curve map with the consumer’s budget line. A budget line shows the maximum combin- ations of products that can be purchased with a fixed sum of money, given fixed 84 DEMAND ANALYSIS prices for the products. The equation of the budget line is in general terms given by: M 1⁄4 PX X þ PY Y (3:9) where the budget of the consumer is given by M. If the consumer spends the whole amount on hamburgers they will be able to buy the quantity M/Pb. Similarly, if they spend their whole budget on hot dogs they will be able to buy the quantity M/Pd. The budget line will therefore be linear and have negative slope; the absolute magnitude of the slope is given by: M=Pd 1⁄4 Pb=Pd (3:10) M=Pb In general terms the budget line has the slope PX/PY. In order to maximize utility the consumer must be on the highest indifference curve possible for a given budget. Thus, although with budget M the consumer could just afford to consume at point A or point B on I1, they will be better off consuming combin- ation C on I2. This will represent their equilibrium point, where their budget line is tangential to the indifference curve. The slope of an indifference curve can also be derived. When the consumer moves from point A to B they gain utility from consuming more hamburgers given by ︎Qb ︎ MUb where ︎Qb represents the increase in number of hambur- gers purchased, and MUb represents the marginal utility of the additional hamburgers. The consumer also loses utility from consuming fewer hot dogs given by ︎Qd ︎ MUd. Since the points are on the same indifference curve and therefore must give the same total utility, the gains must equal the losses, thus ︎Qb ︎ MUb 1⁄4 ︎Qd ︎ MUd (3:11) Since the slope of the indifference curve is given by ︎Qd / ︎Qb, and from (3.11) we can express ︎Qb as ︎Qd︎MUd/MUb, we can now express the absolute magnitude of the slope as: ︎Qd=ð︎Qd ︎ MUd=MUbÞ 1⁄4 MUb=MUd (3:12) In more general terms this slope is given by MUX / MUY. The consumer’s equilibrium can now be derived as follows. At equilibrium the slopes of the budget line and the indifference curve are equal, thus: Pb=Pd 1⁄4MUb=MUd or generally PX=PY 1⁄4 MUX=MUY (3:13) This means that a consumer should spend their budget so that the ratio of the prices of the goods should equal the ratio of the marginal utilities of the last units purchased. This is easier to understand if the expression is rearranged as: MUX=PX 1⁄4MUY=PY (3:14) The interpretation of this is that a consumer should spend so that the marginal utility of the last unit of money spent on each product is the same. This Demand theory 85 100 I1 A 20 I 2 B I3 C 50 56 75 Quantity of hamburgers (units) 107 150 3 2 1 A’ B’ DH interpretation can easily be extended to the more realistic situation where a consumer is allocating a budget among many competing products. b. Derivation of the demand curve We have seen in section 3.2 that a demand curve describes the relationship between prices and quantity demanded per time period, other things remaining equal. At that point it was assumed that the curve was downward-sloping, but we are now in a position to prove this and derive the demand curve using indifference curve analysis. In Figure 3.5 it is assumed that the price of hot dogs remains the same whereas the price of hamburgers changes. The budget to C’ 20 56 107 Quantity of hamburgers (units) Figure 3.5. Derivation of demand curve from indifference curve analysis. Price of hamburgers (£) Quantity of hot dogs (units) 86 DEMAND ANALYSIS be spent is assumed to be £150 per year. If the price of hamburgers is £3 the maximum number that can be afforded is 50 (with no hot dogs purchased), but the consumer will maximize their total utility at point A, representing 20 hamburgers.

If the price is reduced to £2 the consumer can afford a maximum of 75 hamburgers, but will achieve equilibrium at point B, representing 56 hamburgers. If the price is further reduced to £1 the maximum number that can be purchased rises to 150, but the equilibrium is at point C, representing 107 hamburgers. It can now be seen that as the price of hamburgers falls so the quantity that the consumer wants to buy will increase, which confirms the law of demand stated earlier. The graph in Figure 3.4 applies to a single individual; in manager- ial economics we are normally more interested in the demand curve for a firm or market. In principle this can be obtained by adding together all the quan- tities demanded by the different consumers at each price. Thus if Smith and Jones constitute the market for hamburgers, and at the price of £3 Smith wants to buy 20 hamburgers while Jones wants to buy 30, the quantity demanded by the market at £3 is 50. This method of derivation (sometimes called the ‘market build-up’ method) is tedious if there are a lot of customers in the market; in this case the methods of estimation described in Chapter 4 are more appropriate. c. Income and substitution effects* When the price of a product changes there are actually two different effects of this on the quantity demanded. In most cases these will reinforce each other by acting in the same direction. Thus when the price of hamburgers falls both the substitution and income effects may cause quantity to rise. The use of indif- ference curve analysis enables these effects to be separated from each other to see the direction and relative importance of each one. This aspect may be of little importance to most managers or business analysts, but it does have some important welfare implications that can affect government policy, as seen in Chapter 12. The income effect of a price change arises because the real income, in other words purchasing power, of the consumer is affected. With a price fall, the income effect is that the real income of the consumer is increased; if the good is a normal good they will consume more of that good when their income increases, thus causing a negative relationship between price and quantity demanded. Economists refer to goods as being ‘normal’ if more is consumed when income increases and vice versa. However, there are some products, referred to as inferior goods, where consumers buy less of the good when their income increases; in this case they are switching to buying better quality products. Examples from empirical studies include bread, margarine, beer and public transport, although it should be stressed that these products are only inferior in certain situations, not generally. In the case of inferior pro- ducts the income effect is positive, as a price fall reduces quantity demanded. Demand theory 87 U X Q4 AB C I2 I1 Q1Q3Q2VY W Quantity of hamburgers (units) Figure 3.6. Income and substitution effects. The substitution effect on the other hand is always negative. Consumers will always switch to buying more of the product if its price falls, other things including income being equal. The method of separating the income and substitution effects of a price change is to draw a compensated budget line. The approach is illustrated in Figure 3.6. In this case the price of hamburgers is falling (while the price of hot dogs stays the same), thus causing the consumer’s budget line to rotate counter-clockwise from UV to UW. The original equilibrium at point A, corresponding to Q1 hamburgers, now shifts to point B, corresponding to Q2 hamburgers. Thus there is a total increase in quantity demanded of Q2 ︎Q1. Now the income effect of the price reduction can be compensated for by shifting the budget line to the left, keeping it parallel to the new budget line UW. There are two different approaches to doing this: the more common one, used in Figure 3.6, compensates the consumer by maintaining their total utility at the original level, shown by indifference curve I 1.

This is sometimes referred to as the Hicks2 approach. In this case the compensated budget line is shown by XY, which is parallel to the new budget line UW and tangential to the original indifference curve I1. The alternative approach, associated with Slutsky, is to compensate the consumer by allowing them to buy the same combination of goods as originally purchased, thus maintaining their real income constant; in this case the compensated budget line would still be parallel to UW, but pass through point A. Using the Hicks approach it can be seen that the substitution effect involves a movement along I1 from A to C; thus the substitution effect is given by Q 3 ︎ Q 1. The shift from C to B represents an income effect; thus the quantity Q2 ︎Q3 is an income effect. Quantity of hot dogs (units) 88 DEMAND ANALYSIS 3.3.3 Limitations The approach to consumer theory taken so far in this section has many advantages. It explains a number of features of behaviour that are observable in practice and it makes possible many testable predictions, at least in general terms. However, there are some serious shortcomings of the model, particu- larly in its basic form: 1 Concentration on price. This is the same problem as with the basic model of the theory of the firm. Other aspects of the marketing mix are ignored. In fact the model predicts that advertising should not affect demand, since consumers are rational and have perfect information regarding products. Furthermore the model ignores the importance of product quality in affecting demand. 2 Search costs. Consumers have to obtain information regarding price, quality and availability of products and there is a cost attached to this. For inexpen- sive products that are bought frequently habit formation is important, since this reduces search costs. In other situations, consumers may use price as an indicator of quality, particularly in the absence of other quality cues, again to reduce search costs and uncertainty. 3 Rationality. It is sometimes argued, particularly by behaviourists, that humans rarely make the relevant computations that are necessitated by the neoclassical model, particularly with practical time constraints. Instead behaviour is impulsive and satisficing. This aspect was discussed in Chapter 2, in connection with the concept of bounded rationality. In view of the above criticisms it is worth considering some alternative approaches to the traditional model. 3.3.4 Alternative approaches* Two approaches will be reviewed here: the first is concerned with the first limitation above, while the second is concerned with the last two. Both approaches are described only briefly; to do them both justice would require at least another two chapters, but some of the main scholars in each area are mentioned for reference purposes. a. Characteristics approach This was originally developed by Lancaster;3 he argued that consumer preferences are based not on goods as such but on characteristics of those goods. It can be summed up by a pithy quotation attributed to Revlon: ‘in the factory, we make cosmetics; in the store we sell hope.’ Since Lancaster, many marketing scholars have taken up the theme in various ways, notably Howard 456 andSheth, GreenandWind andMyersandAlpert. Mostoftheseapproaches involve identifying and measuring product attributes in various ways and developing models with different criteria for consumer choice between products. For example, an expectancy value model predicts that consum- ers will favour a product that maximizes the sum of the weighted attribute scores. Other criteria for evaluating and selecting products involve ‘ideal brand’ models, conjunctive, disjunctive and lexicographic models. It is not appropriate to discuss these here, but they are explained in any good mar- keting text. Lancaster’s original approach was somewhat different in that it emphasized the importance of attributes from the point of view of the firm launching new products, particularly in terms of pricing strategy.

A firm had to determine first of all what constituted the main competitive products; then it had to identify the relevant product characteristics and measure these compared with those of its own proposed product. Finally it could calculate what prices it needed to charge in order to dominate these other products, i.e. be superior in at least one characteristic without being inferior in any other. The firm could also estimate implicit prices: these are the prices consumers have to pay to gain an additional unit of a characteristic. Thus Lancaster’s approach was particularly useful in identifying competitive products, determining pricing strategy and determining the feasibility of new products. b. Irrationality theories There are a number of different theories in the area of irrationality. One example is prospect theory. This was originally developed by Kahneman and Tversky7 and is based on various findings of psychological research. As seen in Chapter 2, the main claims of this theory are that people do not measure risk consistently and regularly miscalculate probabilities. In particu- lar they have asymmetric attitudes to gains and losses, being loss averse. This means that they obtain less utility from gaining £100, for example, than they would lose if they lost £100. This affects the demand for gambling and insur- ance. People also tend to compartmentalize, meaning that they tend to view decisions in isolation, rather than as part of a whole framework; this can lead to inconsistency in decision-making. A considerable body of research, by both psychologists and economists, has shown that much decision-making involves the emotions, which can see8 mingly lead to irrationality. Frank, tion. In various experiments, like the ‘ultimatum bargaining game’, people were found to act irrationally if their sense of ‘fairness’ was offended. In this game John is given £100 in cash and told to share it with Jim. John must say how much he intends to give Jim and, if Jim refuses the offer, neither person will get anything at all. If Jim accepts the offer, then he gets the amount John has offered. The ‘rational’ action for John, assuming he thinks Jim is also ‘rational’, is to offer Jim a tiny amount, like £1, and keep the remaining £99. Jim, if he is ‘rational’, should accept the £1, since if he refuses the offer he will get nothing. In practice Frank found that not only do very few people in John’s position make such a small offer, but also even fewer will accept such offers in in particular, has examined this connecDemand theory 89 90 DEMAND ANALYSIS Jim’s position. The most common offer made was £50. Frank concluded that a sense of fairness was involved here, and that John had to show that he was committed to being a fair person and therefore should be trusted in any transaction. There is another dimension to this situation to be considered: John offers Jim £50 because he knows Jim will refuse a lower offer. Jim refuses a low offer because he does not want to be perceived as a ‘soft touch’. Therefore, although it might seem to be in Jim’s short-run best interest to accept a low offer as being better than nothing, it may not be in Jim’s long-run best interest to do so since others may try to take advantage of him in the future. This type of situation is discussed in much more detail in Chapter 9, in connection with game theory. Thus consumers may act ‘irrationally’ if they feel they are being ‘gouged’ by sellers, i.e. they might not buy even if the marginal utility of consumption exceeds the price. Furthermore, various researchers like Elster and Damasio9 have concluded that emotions are a necessary part of our psychological make-up; without them we become indecisive, depressed and social misfits. In Frank’s model they are necessary to ensure commitment, to convince other people that we are trustworthy, so that they will engage in transactions with us. 3.3.5 Conclusions Some of the main objections to the neoclassical model have now been explained and alternative approaches discussed.

However, it was seen in the previous chapter that the neoclassical model can be very versatile in the sense that it can be extended to overcome many of the initial shortcomings of the basic model. This again applies in the context of consumer behaviour. Taking the characteristics approach first, although the neoclassical model places an undue emphasis on price, the expectancy value model is very much in keeping with the utility-maximizing tradition. The criticisms relating to rationality are harder to deal with, but a number of economists are now 10 basis of irrational behaviour. analysis to animal behaviour, showing that a downward-sloping demand curve applies in this context also. Indeed, much modern research into motivation and behaviour is now coming from biologists and evolutionary psychologists. Important relation- ships between Darwinian natural selection or modern ‘selfish gene’ theory and neoclassical economics are not difficult to find. Many economists are now taking the approach that much behaviour that was previously seen as irrational, like tipping a waiter that you never expect to see again, or doing charity work, is indeed rational if seen from a broader viewpoint, in other words considering our evolutionary history. For example, Smith12 has intro- duced some developments and variations on Frank’s ultimatum bargaining incorporating ‘irrational’ behaviour into their models. Becker, has claimed that a downward-sloping demand curve can still be derived on the 11 Other economists have even extended this for example, games and concluded that a rational reciprocity underlies people’s motivation. This indicates that it pays to have morality and emotions, because the resulting ‘irrational’ behaviour is actually in our rational self-interest in the long run. The challenge is to be able to model these more complicated patterns of behaviour. 3.4 Factors determining demand This section is concerned with identifying the factors which affect the quantity demanded of a product, describing the nature of these factors, examining how they can be measured, and examining the relationship with quantity demanded. These factors can be considered in terms of a demand function: Q 1⁄4 fðP;L;A;D;Y;…Þ (3:15) where each symbol on the righthand side denotes a relevant factor. P refers to price, L to quality, A to advertising spending, D to distribution spending and Y to the average income of the market. It is useful from a managerial decision-making viewpoint to distinguish between controllable and uncontrollable factors. Controllable in this context means controllable by the firm; the distinction in practice between what can be controlled and what cannot is somewhat blurred, as will be seen. The relevant factors are summarized in Figure 3.7. Demand theory 91 Controllable Price Product Promotion Place DEMAND Uncontrollable Income Tastes Competitive factors Government policy Demographic factors Climatic factors Seasonal factors Macroeconomic factors Institutional factors Technological factors Prices of substitutes and complements Expectations of changes Figure 3.7. Factors determining demand. 92 DEMAND ANALYSIS 3.4.1 Controllable factors These correspond to what are often referred to as the marketing-mix variables. a. Price The nature of price has been discussed above, in terms of how it can be measured and how it affects the quantity demanded. A further aspect of the nature of price, as an indicator of quality, will be considered in Chapter 4, in terms of the implications of empirical studies. The firm may well be a multi- product firm, in which case the prices of its other products are also relevant, since they are often substitutes or complements. This factor is discussed in the context of ‘uncontrollable factors’. b. Product It is the perceived quality of the product that affects quantity demanded. In practice there are two problems of measurement. The first of these is subject- ivity: different consumers perceive quality differently. The second is multi- dimensionality which is now discussed at greater length.

Products often have many different attributes, as was mentioned in the previous section. This is particularly obvious for expensive and hi-tech pro- ducts. With mobile phones, for example, a consumer may be looking for a good design, small size and weight, multiple features, a good complementary network, a good brand name, a good warranty, and so on. Even with an inexpensive product like toothpaste, consumers may be looking not just for something to clean their teeth, but also something that whitens their teeth, smells fresh, prevents decay and plaque and comes in a convenient dispenser. Marketing professionals and researchers often make use of multidimensional scaling in this situation. Consumers are asked to rate a product on a range of characteristics, giving a score for each one. Such questionnaires have to be carefully designed in order to include all the relevant factors; they also involve assumptions regarding the relative importance of the factors in terms of their weighting. Sometimes the unit cost of production is used as an approximate measure of quality; this again may not be an accurate indicator of quality, since it may be more a reflection of the efficiency of the firm. c. Promotion This refers to communication by the firm with its intended customers, ulti- mately aimed at persuading them to buy the product. The main components of the promotion-mix are customarily identified as: advertising, personal selling, publicity and sales promotion. Sometimes other elements are included separ- ately, like direct marketing or packaging. These are usually measured in terms of expenditure and there is a direct relationship with quantity demanded. d. Place This is not a very apt description of what is involved here. It refers to distribu- tion strategy, in particular the selection of distribution channels. This is again measured in terms of expenditure and again there is a direct relationship with quantity demanded. In summary, the last three components of the marketing mix can all be considered as costs, while price is the only component that contributes directly to revenue; its relationship with revenue depends on price elasticity and this is examined in section 3.5. 3.4.2 Uncontrollable factors These generally are external or environmental, and include a wide variety of factors whose relative importance varies from one product to another. a. Income This is a very important factor affecting quantity demanded for the majority of goods. Although it is expressed numerically there are a number of measure- ment problems. First of all, economists measure income in a number of different ways. The measure that is usually the most relevant to determining demand is personal disposable income (PDI). Although most governments or governmental agencies publish reliable figures relating to this on a regular basis, these are on a national basis and are therefore only strictly applicable to firms that have national markets. It is the average personal disposable income of the market for the firm that is relevant. There is thus a measurement problem if the firm has only a small market, because of the difficulty in obtaining relevant information; this is easier for national markets, or at least regional markets. In the situation where a firm has a small market, or one that is difficult to identify in terms of geographical area or otherwise, some proxy income variable may have to be used. For example, a shop selling products to just a small area or customer base within London may have to use average income in London as a proxy variable. The relationship with quantity demanded can be direct or inverse depending on whether the product is normal or inferior, as discussed in the previous section. b. Tastes These are difficult to define and measure, because they relate to subjective preferences and are multidimensional, just like perceived quality, which they influence. They can vary considerably both intertemporally and inter- spatially. Intertemporal

variations are variations over time; these apply espe- cially to products whose demand is affected by fashion. This refers not just to clothes, but to other consumer products like entertainment, food and sports. Examples of products where fashion has caused big increases in demand are Demand theory 93 94 DEMAND ANALYSIS micro-scooters, teletubby dolls (Barney dolls in the United States), computer games, adventure sports and Viagra. Of course, demand for these products can also fall rapidly when they go out of fashion, like a yo-yo (another good example). These trends in fashion may be recurrent over time. Inter-spatial variations are variations from place to place, especially from country to country. Good examples of products where tastes vary from country to country are beer, Coke, ketchup, TV programmes and Marks & Spencer (see Case 3.1). Much of this variation arises because of socio-cultural factors. Of course, tastes are not an entirely uncontrollable factor; firms try to influence tastes through their advertising. Cigarette advertising is an example of this, and this is one factor that causes governments to regulate it. This leads us straight into the next factor. c. Government policy This has both micro- and macroeconomic effects. The first of these are con- sidered here. Governments often want to discourage us from buying certain products and sometimes to encourage us to buy more of other products. The reasons for this are examined in Chapter 12. Examples of the first category are cigarettes, alcohol, many other drugs (as opposed to medicines, which are in the second category, even though in practice the distinction may be very difficult to draw), weapons, products whose consumption or production causes environmental damage, and sometimes pornography and foreign goods. Goods in the second category are often their opposites. There are many policy instruments in either case: bans, indirect taxes/subsidies, health warnings, promotion regulations, licences, age restrictions, restrictions on times and places of consumption. It is important to distinguish between policies primarily affecting supply, like the first two, and those affecting demand. The fact that indirect taxes (or subsidies) do not affect demand is explained in the next subsection. d. Competitive factors This refers to the marketing mix of competitors. Price is not the only relevant factor here because firms often compete in other ways. This non- price competition occurs particularly in oligopolistic markets, for reasons that will be explained in Chapter 8. An example of this is the competition between Coke and Pepsi, who have a virtual duopoly of the cola market. The competition between them occurs mainly in terms of promotion and distribution. e. Demographic factors These refer not only to the size of population, but also to its structure. In particular the ageing of the population affects demand in many ways because older people demand more health services and pensions. This has important implications for government policy and the taxpayer. f. Climatic factors Weather, rainfall, temperature and also terrain are important. In Canada, for example, there is a greater demand for snow shovels, snow tyres and chains, salt for the roads and rust-proofing for cars. g. Seasonal factors These refer to any regular, repeated pattern in demand. Many products have a demand that varies according to season of the year, like air travel, hotels, car rental, jewellery and restaurants. The latter also has a monthly pattern (more people eat out at the beginning of the month when they have more cash), a weekly pattern (more people eat out at weekends) and a daily pattern. Many products have a daily pattern in demand, for example public transport, elec- tricity, telephone calls and health clubs. This also has implications for pricing; many firms use peak and off-peak pricing. This will be examined in more detail in Chapter 10. h. Macroeconomic factors These include income, discussed earlier, and also interest rates, exchange rates, inflation rates and unemployment rates.

If interest rates fall, for exam- ple, this may affect demand for two reasons: many homeowners have mort- gages and the falling interest rate will increase their discretionary income. This is the income that they have available to buy non-necessities. Thus they will buy more of most (normal) goods. In addition, the demand for consumer durables will be increased, since these are often bought on credit and will therefore be in effect cheaper. Government policy obviously affects these macroeconomic factors to some degree. i. Institutional factors These include a wide variety of effects; the physical infrastructure of roads, railways and telecommunications is relevant, so are political systems, legal systems, education systems, housing systems, religious systems and family systems. For example, a country that has a poor transportation infrastructure will have a low demand for cars; a country with low literacy levels will have a relatively low demand for newspapers and magazines. j. Technological factors These primarily affect supply but also affect demand indirectly; this is best explained with an example. Mobile phones will again serve this purpose. Before the 1980s the concept of a truly mobile phone was still in the realm of science fiction, because the technology was not available. Thus consumers had not taken time to consider the potential of such a product and there was no real demand. As advancing technology made possible smaller, lighter, more effective and cheaper products, consumers had a true chance to evaluate the potential of the product and then demand began to increase accordingly. Demand theory 95 96 DEMAND ANALYSIS Figure 3.8. Change in demand. k. Price of substitutes and complements P D 1 D2 A substitute is a product with similar perceived functions or attributes; cars and public transport are substitutes. If the price of public transport were to rise this would increase the demand for cars, other things being equal. Complementary products are consumed together in some way; cars and petrol are complements. If the price of petrol were to rise this would reduce the demand for cars, other things being equal. Thus in the case of substitutes the relationship is positive, while in the case of complements the relationship is negative. l. Expectations of changes in any of the above factors If any factor, controllable or uncontrollable, is expected to change in the future, this can affect current sales. For example, it has been estimated that car sales in the UK in 2000 were 300,000 units lower than they otherwise would have been because prices were expected to fall. Similarly, expectations of changes in income, climate, government policy and competitive factors can all affect current demand. 3.4.3 Demand and quantity demanded As already mentioned in the first section of this chapter, the failure to distin- guish between these is very common and causes errors of analysis. The follow- ing explanation, graphs and example are intended to clarify this distinction. a. Type of change: demand 1 Graphical Representation: Shifts in the demand curve (Figure 3.8) 2 Cause: Changes in any factor affecting the quantity demanded apart from price. b. Type of change: quantity demanded 1 Graphical representation: Movements along the demand curve (Figure 3.9) 2 Cause: Changes in price, which are in turn caused by changes in costs and supply. S Q P D S2 B P2 = 5 S1 Demand theory 97 P1 = 4 A Q2=8 Q1=10 Figure 3.9. Change in quantity demanded. Q A good example illustrating the difference between the two cases is the effect of an indirect tax. It is sometimes claimed that a tax on cigarettes will reduce the demand. This is untrue; such a claim would relate to the first case above (a change in demand), but with the demand curve shifting to the left, reducing the price. In fact we know that the price increases. This is because the increase in an indirect tax falls into the second category above (a change in quantity demanded). It increases the marginal costs of production, thus shifting the supply curve upwards and to the left.

This increases the price (from P1 to P2) and reduces the quantity demanded (from Q 1 to Q 2). Does M&S have a future?13 The country’s most famous retailer Marks & Spencer’s big store in London’s Kensington High Street has just had a re-fit. Instead of the usual drab M&S interior, it is now Californian shopping mall meets modernist chrome and creamy marble floors. Roomy walkways and designer displays have replaced dreary row after row of clothes racks. By the end of the year M&S will have 26 such stores around Britain – the first visible sign that the company is making a serious effort to pull out of the nose-dive it has been in for the past two years. Things have become so bad that M&S, until recently a national icon, is in danger of becoming a national joke. It does not help that its advertisements featuring plump naked women on mountains – the first-ever TV ads the company has produced – have met with an embarrassed titter; nor that, last week, the BBC’s Watchdog programme savaged M&S for overcharging and poor quality in its range of garments for the fuller figure. As the attacks grow in intensity, so do the doubts about M&S’s ability to protect its core value: a reputation for better quality that justified a slight price premium – at least in basic items, such as underwear. It is a long time since any self-respecting teenager went willingly into an M&S store to buy clothes. Now even parents have learned to say no. Shoppers in their thirties and forties used to dress like their parents. Now many of them want to dress like their kids. M&S’s makeover comes not a moment too soon. Compared with the jazzy store layouts of rivals such as Gap or Hennes & Mauritz, M&S shops look like a hangover from a bygone era. The makeover aims to bring it into the present. People tended to join M&S straight from college and work their way slowly up the ranks. Few senior appointments were made from outside the company. This meant that the company rested on its laurels, harking back to ‘innovations’ such as machine-washable pullovers and chilled food. Case study 3.1: Marks & Spencer 98 DEMAND ANALYSIS Worse, M&S missed out on the retailing revolution that began in the mid-1980s, when the likes of Gap and Next shook up the industry with attractive displays and marketing gimmicks. Their supply chains were overhauled to provide what customers were actually buying – a surprisingly radical idea at the time. M&S, by contrast, continued with an outdated business model. It clung to its ‘Buy British’ policy and it based its buying decisions too rigidly on its own buyers’ guesses about what ranges of clothes would sell, rather than reacting quickly to results from the tills. Meanwhile, its competitors were putting together global purchasing networks that were not only more responsive, but were not locked into high costs linked to the strength of sterling. In clothing, moreover, M&S faces problems that cannot be solved simply by improving its fashion judgments. Research indicates that overall demand for clothing has at best stabilised and may be set to decline. This is because changing demographics mean that an ever-higher share of consumer spending is being done by the affluent over-45s. They are less inclined than youngsters to spend a high proportion of their disposable income on clothes. The results of M&S’s rigid management approach were not confined to clothes. The company got an enormous boost 30 years ago when it spotted a gap in the food market, and started selling fancy convenience foods. Its success in this area capitalised on the fact that, compared with clothes, food generates high revenues per square metre of floor space. While food takes up 15% of the floor space in M&S’s stores, it accounts for around 40% of sales. But the company gradually lost its advantage as mainstream food chains copied its formula. M&S’s share of the British grocery market is under 3% and falling, compared with around 18% for its biggest supermarket rival, Tesco. M&S has been unable to respond to this competitive challenge.

In fact, rather than leading the way, it has been copying rivals’ features by introducing in-house bakeries, delicatessens and meat counters. Food sales have been sluggish, and operating margins have fallen as a result of the extra space and staff needed for these services. Operating profits from food fell from £247m in 1997 to £137m in 1999, while sales stayed flat. Perhaps the most egregious example of the company’s insularity was the way it held out for more than 20 years against the use of credit cards, launching its own store card instead. This was the cornerstone of a new financial-services division, also selling personal loans, insurance and unit-trust investments. When, in April this year, M&S eventually bowed to the inevitable and began accepting credit cards, it stumbled yet again. It had to give away around 3% of its revenues from card transactions to the card companies, but failed to generate a big enough increase in sales to offset this. Worse, it had to slash the interest rate on its own card, undermining the core of its own finance business. And this at a time when the credit-card business was already becoming more competitive, with new entrants offering rates as low as 5%. If shrunk to its profitable core, M&S may become an attractive target for another big retailer. At the moment, however, while its food division may be attractive to the likes of Tesco, the clothing side represents a daunting challenge. Why take the risk now, when the brand may be damaged beyond repair? Questions 1 Identify the main factors affecting the demand for M&S products. 2 Analyse the weaknesses and threats on the demand side of M&S, relating these to controllable and uncontrollable factors. CLICK HERE TO GET A PROFESSIONAL WRITER TO WORK ON THIS PAPER AND OTHER SIMILAR PAPERS CLICK THE BUTTON TO MAKE YOUR ORDER

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titlishu · 2 years ago

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i HATE the fucking reservations

#okay maybe not hate. i understand people need it. but the amount is fucking absurd.#125 seats in total in the uni i want to get into. right. okay. out of the avg 15000 ppl giving it #125 seats.#OUT OF WHICH #75 ARE RESERVED.#??????????????? THAT LEAVES LITTLE TO NO ROOM FOR THE OTHERS.#i inderstnad how imp it is to have such things in place #i understand people are less privileged and this helps a ton #but the a m o u n t ????????????????#is more than half???????????#so now #NOW #we have only 50 seats #put of s o many competitors #and the entrance itaelf is super fucking hard obv #im going to cry lol

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forbidding-souda · 3 years ago

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Hi! I haven’t known you for long, but I really like your writing! 💕

I was wondering if I could request headcannons with Mondo, Byakuya, Gundham, Kazuichi and Fuyuhiko with an fem S/O who is the Ultimate Grafitti artist? ^^

Sorry If that's too many! ^^" Feel free to take some out if you wish ^^

I hope you're having a good day <3

Mondo Oowada, Byakuya Togami, Gundham Tanaka, Kazuichi Souda, and Fuyuhiko Kuzuryuu with a SHSL Grafitti Artist girlfriend

my dads friend is a famous graffiti artist and he got arrested in japan lmfao.

currently playing: crack baby by mitski

playlist: for my second book

-Mod Souda

Mondo Oowada

❤ Flexes your art to all of his friends. He shows you off so much - he has so many pictures of your graffiti on his phone. He'll make his friends huddle around as he shows them your stuff. That's my girl, he says. You make him feel more badass, as if because he's with you, he's more deserving of the aura around his title as the SHSL Biker Gang Leader. He is so impressed by you - so in love. You make him feel powerful; wicked and sexy.

❤ He's surprised you even want to stick by him. He was loud and brutal and terrifying when the two of you were in class together. He liked you and that much was clear. He doesn't know how to act around girls he likes - he gets socially awkward and distant. Now, you laugh about it with him, but back then it genuinely would stress him out. You were patient with him. You liked him too, of course.

❤ That logo thing on his jacket - he'd want you to spray paint it somewhere.

❤ You have tags all around Japan. You're so recognizable - of course he knew about you before the two of you even met. He was like a complete fangirl when he realized who you were.

❤ Running from the police? Hop on, babe! Mondo will often just grab you by the back of the shirt and swing you onto his back before driving away.

❤ ^ His gang will drive circles around the police to distract them.

❤ Ah - at least now that he's dating you he doesn't have to worry about what to get you for Christmas. Spray paint cans. Easy.

Byakuya Togami

❤ Grinds his teeth when you come to his place uninvited. You're a criminal - who knows who could have been following you, and he doesn't want to Togami name to be tarnished. So, he'll put a good effort into hiding you away whenever you need it. Even though he'll be pissy and hark on you for always getting in trouble, his annoyance beats being thrown in jail (as if he wouldn't pay for you to be released even without probation anyway). You have such an upperhand compared to your competitors: you have Byakuya Togami >:).

❤ He hates the smell of graffiti - you know how people take off their shoes before they enter the house? He makes you change your whole outfit before he allows you inside.

❤ I think he just automatically sees you as being more tough than everybody else, so he tends to go a bit hard on you.

❤ ^ Will he stop? Depends on how kindly you ask.

❤ If the two of you ever get into an argument and he feels petty he'd probably hire someone to cover up your art lmfao.

❤ If he sees somebody else covering them up he's going to frame them as the vandal and get them charged.

❤ He's so supportive in getting you not arrested!

Gundham Tanaka

❤ Whenever he sends letters to the people who sponsor him, the people all over the world, he includes a little sticker of your work. He absolutely loves sharing it with people and talking about the details and the time it takes and just everything he knows about it. Whenever you stand around him while he cares for animals he forces you to tell stories about your inspiration and how it all started. He adores your art, but he adores your mind even more. What is it like to be in your brain (and to be able to love somebody like him - he's absolutely curious)?

❤ Okay but you must do some animal-related things. If you make it with a scary aura then that's even better.

❤ He will never actively support your Talent because he gets very worried about you being caught but when you have artist exhibits or present your art at festivals then he will be there and he will be your number one supporter.

❤ ^ You should make your iconic logo be some sort of animal so he can bring that animal and attract even more people.

❤ ^ The municipality office gives him permission to own any animal so go crazy.

Kazuichi Souda

❤ When the two of you went to school together, he was thrilled by you. Your whole attitude and your defiance was beautiful to him - you even paying attention to him made him feeling like a rule-breaker, too. His admiration was palpable and certainly was too your tolerance for him. Everything you said fell perfectly into his ears, it felt relieving to have somebody pay so much attention to you. He was always your alibi if you needed one - if the police came to your house while he was there then he would ruffle up your hair, suck on your neck, and make you put your shirt on backwards so it would look like you've been there the entire time.

They invite him over a lot, and you can't if it's because they genuinely like him or if they just want to see you. A bosozoku bar and its employees seem to love the both of you. They have a dart board, and Kazuichi isn't good at darts, definitely nowhere near the level you're at, so that's where you find yourself to be occupied, having fun beating him.

After placing on of your stickers outside on a pole, you push open the door and make a b-line to that dart board. Kazuichi trails behind you, as nervous around these people as usual. The men in the middle of their game notice you, smiling before whipping away the chalk from the wall and letting you take over. "Tough hand for a lady," they say. You just ignore them.

You give your boyfriend the pink darts. "If I win then you have to give me," you go to say five thousand but change your mind last minute, "one thousand yen."

His shoulders drop. "You always win."

"Then you better get your wallet ready."

❤ You match perfectly with his customers typical aesthetic. Souda gets a lot of clients who are general bikers - especially since he is a self-owned business and not necessarily mandated to report anything illegal he sees. And his aesthetic is rather appealing to people like those.

❤ When his customers see your stickers and your tags around his shop they are like ah yes, souda is a man of culture. And then you walk in and they're like jsdfbnsdjx !!!.

❤ Surrounding skate shops get close to his - a lot of alternative bars and clubs shout Souda out a lot.

❤ You give him a lot of different types of clients, certainly.

Fuyuhiko Kuzuryuu

❤ You naturally drew to each other when you were in class. Outside of everybody else pushing you two together, the two of you could share jokes and experiences that nobody else would have been able to experience. He liked your sense of humor; he likes the way you speak about your art. You hold a passion for crime in a way that he doesn't. It's almost inspiring to see somebody so street smart yet so determined to continue living that lifestyle. He wonders if that mindset could become contagious.

He holds your hand in his, using a knife to pick out a splinter in your finger from when you had to crawl to escape a chase.

You keep your eye down on it, enduring the pain, trying not to flinch in fear that it'll make him mess up.

"I know it hurts," he whispers. The two of you stare down at your hand. His grip around you is gentle, he knows you're not going to pull away no matter how much it hurts. "You're doing such a good job."

You don't even realize when he pulls it out - you had been so distracted by his pleasing words, his soft tone had made your cheeks warm.

❤ You make his public image look even more badass. Though, when people learn that you have relations with the Yakuza, less and less go to your art exhibits in Japan - but it doesn't hinder your international popularity.

❤ Even though graffiti is still like not allowed - the fact that you're branded with the Yakuza makes your art even more prohibited to the general public; more feared.

❤ It almost comes as a warning sign rather than an artwork.

❤ Which doesn't bother you - it's a bit funny to watch grown men gasp and hide from a woman like you.

#mondo owada x reader #gundham tanaka x reader #byakuya togami x reader #kazuichi soda x reader #fuyuhiko kuzuryu x reader

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fragmented-king · 3 years ago

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Hi, thank you for doing my request (Three Vs with s/o that owns every factory and shop). I was wondering if you could please do the same thing but with Alastor and Rosie?

No worries, I’m glad you enjoyed them! Here’s your part 2.

~~~

-Alastor-

Alastor was a simple man with simple pleasures, he didn’t require much and finds too much stuff is just a cluttered mess. Truthfully, to anyone else, it was a genuine mystery how you both ended up together.

You weren’t the strongest demon in hell, you barely even hold a candle to his power. You aren’t a cannibal, to public knowledge at least, and you definitely weren’t as violent or confrontational.

However, those same demons and sinners don’t understand that way the radio demon works. He doesn’t care for power, he has enough of that, he cares about entertainment.

And nothing is more entertaining then watching his s/o, being so confident and untouchable by the populous, have the ring of pride wrapped around their finger.

Many tried to get at him through you, for revenge or some other petty reason, but he barely had to do anything as you were already in the process of stripping them of the clothes of their back.

A word, a gesture, a smirk was all it took to bring entire districts crashing down or raising up. You controlled everything that had to do with anything, being a tyrant who didn’t even have to try.

He was smitten, so see such influence and witness total control was a high he never knew he needed to experience.

Affection was admittedly rare between you two, as it was hard for Alastor to get over his personal space but the fact you were patient was a blessing.

The gifts he receives from you make up for the lack of physical affection on your side, though he always made sure to be extra touchy and close to you.

Remember, you can’t touch him but he can touch you. Though every now and then he makes a special case for you, these are few and far between though.

He still hates clutter and mess, but a gift from you is always a treasured item he puts away. Will definitely take them out and Aww at them for a while when he’s alone or at night when there’s nothing better to do.

Alastor also gets very excited and bouncy when you help his side of things out, from small stuff like listening in on his show and larger stuff like making radios more common place to spread his own influence.

And don’t worry, your boo has your back too.

If there’s a thought of rebellion, distain, harm, or even a mere insult towards you and your vast influence over pride, Alastor has already taken care of it.

He’s on constant watch for your safety and protection, but it’s actually rare for him to actually do anything as fear often keeps people in line.

Who can blame them, the total master of Pride and the all powerful Radio Demon? You’d have to be totally idiotic or suicidal to try taking either one of them on.

-Rosie-

Rosie was maybe the only Overlord who was technically under your duress, though she knows you’d never ruin her emporium.

In fact you always do the opposite, her business is booming and she never has to worry about a bad day again.

This refined lady truely doesn’t think much of your empire, since she doesn’t mix business with pleasure. And being with you is always the latter.

She’s proud of you, of course, and definitely feels her blackened heart flutter when you exert your authority and influence to absolutely demolish her competitors and boost her own emporium and power.

Speaking of, on terms of power you and Rosie are maybe the same, she wasn’t the strongest overlord out there but neither were you.

Some might think this a opportunity to strike and claim the power of two overlords for themselves. They didn’t get far at all, stumbling and falling before the race even started.

Not a thing happens in Pride that you don’t know about, owning what seems like the world means a lot of people will do anything to please you and raise their own standing.

And there’s no better way to do that then out their fellow sinners to you and your darling.

Rosie often finds it unladylike to kill by her own hand, such actions unrefined and debasing.

She’ll encourage this line of thought in you too, as if you have a virtual army of sinners on hand ready to do your bidding, then why have to dirty your hands?

Affection is never public with you two, always held in private and away from prying eyes. Then, and only then, can Rosie be the giggling and cooing damsel she tries so hard to hide out in public.

Rosie is actually a very loving partner, again standing by the fact she splits business and pleasure, always tending to your needs and making sure you aren’t overworking yourself.

On days where either of you don’t have work or overlord business to handle, she’ll happily spend the whole day with you.

When she’s often with you, Rosie likes to have tea and chat, read or open another present you no doubt got her. She has many gifts from you, the perks of being a true ruler of nearly everything, but she treats each one like it’s a diamond.

Her favourite by far is the old and refurbished antique gramophone, which she frequently uses and even drags you up to dance on the occasion she feels like moving her feet.

Overall Rosie is a very attentive lover and will be delighted to be ruling Pride with you hand in hand, being a very lucky lady indeed to have such a influential and feared s/o.

#anon ask #hazbin hotel #hazbin hotel x reader #headcanon #alastor #alastor x reader #rosie #rosie x reader

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astromaki · 3 years ago

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part 3 of second choice ; ceo!shoto todoroki x gn!reader (x ceo!katsuki bakugo) (1617 words)

part 1. part 2. (previous) part 4.

tw ; angst, arranged marriage, toxic relationship, degradation, divorce, mention of alcohol, bad language, slightly suggestive ?

EXTRA INFOS ;; all the characters are aged up obviously (they are 30 here), the point of view of this third part is from shoto todoroki !

confrontation. [7 : 16 pm]

a week has passed since he came home that night drunk. that he had begged momo to stay with him. that he had accidentally seen those divorce papers crumpled by your hands.

momo had seen them too that night, and yet she and shoto had not commented on them. good, he wasn't in the mood anyway.

it had become almost official, even the media had it on their front pages. "one of japan's richest couples on the verge of divorce?", "billionaire todoroki single again?" "y/n, will the heir.ess of their father's company return to being a lawyer?"

he would have liked to say that he cared what you thought about it. if you cried, screamed, were you hurt ? but that would be lying, you were the least of his worries.

and then, wasn't it what he wanted from the beginning ?

that you would end up hating him so much that you would leave him. that he could finally be free of the weight that you represented every day.

and yet his signature was still missing.

"you can't even love your partner properly, and now i hear through the media that a divorce is on the way ? you're pathetic son. i knew i should have married them to touya. " enji's heart-attack voice echoed terribly through the phone, which made shoto sigh. he was even pretty sure he could hear it from across town.

"calm down." shoto said in an annoyed tone. "your marriage isn't a success either, so keep your remarks to yourself. bye. "

"you idiot, don't you dare hanging up on me. i don't care if you can't satisfy your s/o, i don't care if they feel bad about this arranged marriage either. but y/n y/l/n comes from a very famous lawyer's family, so get a divorce and the amount of money you have to give will be huge. "

"i manage them, it will not be a problem. i have to go now. "

the young man finally returned to your room, looking exhausted, his tie loosened and ready to down a few glasses of whiskey.

however, he was surprised to see you. dressed in a beautiful versace dress/suit, you were glowing. well no, he meant that you looked... good.

though, it was the first time he took the time to look at you. to admire you.

the young man finally met your indifferent gaze through the mirror you were standing in front of. that gaze that was so joyful and sparkling at the beginning of your marriage, full of hope to transform this purely financial union into a love marriage.

but that look, devoid of emotion, almost made shoto, Japan's most ambitious ceo, doubt himself. almost.

"i'm surprised you're still using my card to splurge. how much is this one? $1000 ? $2000 ?"

he was tired, exhausted. nut the truth is he was in the mood to be a pain in the ass tonight.

"$ 8,330. plus the $800 pair. " you replied coldly.

your answer was like a slap in the face to your husband. not because of the price, he didn't give a fuck about this.

but this tone right there. it wasn't like you. you were normally so gentle, patient even with the worst of the crap he put you through. that naive kindness that made him want to vomit was completely gone. he didn't expect such a turn of events.

"so you decide to divorce me, but first you want to empty my bank account? you're exactly as I imagined." his look that used to reflect nothing but fatigue was now full of contempt for you.

you finally faced him. shit, he couldn't help but find you beautiful.

"here todoroki, let's talk about the divorce. " you began, quietly walking over to the cabinet and pulling out a stack of documents. "i've signed it, sign it, and i'll take it to my lawyers first thing in the morning.

he snatched them out of your hand and threw them across the room. you didn't even flinch, you even held his gaze. poker face.

a loud silence fell between you. a long silence, uncomfortable and comfortable at the same time. heavy and light. sensible and meaningless.

"what's all this about ? who put you up to this ?"

a wry laugh escaped your lips. your new behavior puzzled shoto. he loved and hated what he had in front of him. a challenge.

"you think i need someone to make me realize that i deserve better than an asshole like you ? fuck, let me laugh. "

your hand went to retrieve a piece of paper from your purse. and it was slammed hard against his chest. bakugou’s business card.

he found your face inches from his, your warm breath gently caressing his cheeks. a scent of whiskey filled his nostrils. you were not sober.

"how many drinks are you on? " he asked quietly.

"so now do you care if i downed a whole bottle or not ? oh please shut up. because now that you mention it, your friend bakugou katsuki may have hired me. to be his company's business lawyer. isn't that funny? "

you turned your back on him, unaware of the state you'd put him in. but damn, it was like he'd just been slapped in the face. nausea took over his whole body, his legs became heavy and weak in few seconds only. and he knew damn well it wasn't fatigue.

so you were leaving him, but on top of that you were going to work for his number one competitor ?

he didn't know what hurt more, the knowledge that bakugo had won one of the most competent lawyers in the field or that you were leaving him for him ? was he jealous ? surely not, it was another feeling that repulsed him. he didn't even know.

"have you lost your tongue todoroki ?"

todoroki ? since when did you call him by his last name ? where are the darlings or my heart that used to annoy him so much ?

you finish getting ready, now wearing your long jacket. he had lost his tongue indeed, he didn't know what to say to you. what to do.

y/n y/l/n, you had succeeded in putting your husband to the wall.

but it was only for a moment. he quickly, too quickly, pulled himself together. his usual irritated expression returned.

"you don't see that he's using you to get ahead of me ? i thought you were smarter than that. "

he took a step forward, slowly but surely. like a predator approaching its prey.

"he doesn't care about you. just like no one has ever cared about you, not me, not him and not your bourgeois family. that's why they put you in a loveless marriage so easily. "

a mirthless laugh escaped from his lips.

"y/n, this bastard doesn't give a damn about you. "

you tried to move towards him, ready to slap him, but the alcohol made you capsize and stumble on your carpet. he arrived just in time to support you with his muscular arms. an annoyed sigh resounded in the large room when your sob reached his ears.

nevertheless, a petty smile stretched his lips. there you were again, the fragile and unassertive y/n finally in his arms.

that bakugo had managed to turn your brain inside out. yet shoto knew you better than anyone else. he knew you. better than you knew yourself. you were that puzzle he had managed to decipher long ago.

"that's not true. kacchan wouldn't do that...", you whisper.

"you know i'm right, sweetheart. you know i'm the only one who's honest with you. my love for you is all you need. "

his muscular hand gradually, peacefully, came to caress your back to take off the buttons of your dress. his lips came to meet yours, to draw you into a long, languid, unsentimental kiss. your lips asked for more, your whole soul asked for more of shoto. more of this man for whom your heart never stopped beating. even if his was vibrating for another woman.

you wanted to feel his lips making love to you sensually, sincerely.

you just wanted him to love you for one night. one fucking night.

shoto was ecstatic. he could already see himself opening a bottle of champagne with his father, to celebrate the divorce that would never happen. tonight, shoto had brought out his best acting skills. millions were at stake. he had brought out his best kiss. he had never touched you like that. so gently, so carefully.

he had never called you by any affectionate nickname.

he has done too much to keep you around.

and you were drunk, not stupid.

you finally stood up, moving away from him, reluctantly. nothing he said was true. from his love for you, to his accusations against katsuki.

awkwardly, you put your dress/suit back on properly.

"i have a meeting with my future employer mr. bakugou tonight. i'll be late. don't wait for me, i'll sleep at the hotel tonight, with your card. "

a red color came to his cheeks. anger ? sadness ? jealousy ?

he had never seen you so determined, so proud. and that attracted him. he was going to lose millions, no matter what. but it was you who was going to escape him. for that bastard bakugou katsuki.

the nice little y/n was no longer shoto todoroki's.

AHHH omg sorry sorry i told you i can't do a fluffy end!! >< (comments and reblogs are appreciated <3)

🔖 tag list ; @nveusii @angelofthorr @missmolliemoo @jazzylove @loki-an-idiot @deepestranchgoopdeputy @mhasimp666 @shotorozu @chscklvr @devilsbooksworld @marshmallow12345 (ones in bold cannot be tagged)

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animeyanderelover · 3 years ago

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Yandere Fairy Tail Hc’s

Tw: Yandere themes, unhealthy mindset, unhealthy relationship, possessiveness, delusions, clinginess, overprotective behavior, manipulation, stalking, blackmailing, threatening, sabotage, kidnapping, killing

Hibiki Lates

✨Hibiki is a semi-delusional Yandere. I admit it, he obviously is quite perceptive and intelligent so he isn't a fully delusional Yandere. Still though he can't help, but think of his darling as something more. He's a womanizer and rumors say that he's had many different girlfriends at the same time. But with the sudden entrance of his darling something seemed to change. He suddenly turned extremely obsessive, wanted to know everything about them and he could never stop thinking about them ever since. So even if he knows that some things he does aren't technically right, he views this whole situation as some sort of destiny and that his darling is his only one. He's quite infatuated with his darling for that reason.

✨Manipulative and overprotective. Hibiki obviously has his charm upon his sleeve and there is a reason he's been voted for several years in a row as a boyfriend every girl would like to have. Problem is that if his darling is looking for a serious relationship, they might ditch him since he is a womanizer and they wouldn't want to be with someone who hangs out with numerous women at the same time. Hibiki has to prove something in here and he is aware of that. But he's a determined and persistent man and he will make sure that he'll court his darling successfully and he isn't above making himself look better than other possible competitors. And a man has to protect his lover after all so of course he is more protective, though he overdoes it in order to look more like a gentleman.

✨Hibiki might just experience for the very first time in his life how real jealousy feels like when you have someone you want to love and cherish for the rest of your life. As someone who is constantly being talked over and the knowledge that he is everyone's dream man give him a certain confidence and since he is a polite man, he never really lashes out on someone. But he learns quickly that he dislikes it when someone else tries to charm his darling the way he does and that e likes it even less when they react flattered by it. Such experiences never really fail to make him a bit more possessive since it's a brilliant reminder that he wants no one else to steal you away from him.

✨He ensures protection as good as he can, but if his darling is a mage themselves he naturally admires their strength and respects it when they can kick someone's asses all by their own. We did see in the Grand Magic Games that he isn't exactly strong when it comes to brute strength so in that aspect his darling might actually surpass him, but he is smart and great in other things. He has without a doubt his own little fanbase and has influence due to his popularity so it may very well be that he uses this against people he views as serious threats and destroys their reputation just like this. He does this more with people who harrassed the s/o or make their life hard rather than people who try to snatch his darling away and make them theirs. In such cases he rather trusts his own looks and charms.

✨Assuming that he does manage to become his darling's boyfriend, it might be not very likely that they would break up very fast since Hibiki almost appears to be the prefect boyfriend, he's probably just a bit too much. But since Hibiki views the whole reason you two met in the first place as fate he of course doesn't plan on letting his darling leave now that he's found true love. He uses manipulation over violence since he sees himself above such brute methods and in general he prefers blackmailing and bribing over physical force the moment he fails to solve an issue the normal way.

✨It's really not seen as anything serious when he first is seen in public with you, but when it is suddenly made clear soon after that he stopped looking at other women and stopped flirting with every women he's encountering, it's made clear that this is due to his relationship with you. His teammates and Ichiya congratulate him soon after for having found the real passionate love. Hibiki is actually a bit careful around his teammates when you're with him since they are womanizers as well and for that might behave the same with you which does make him jealous a bit. I think he has no real problem being extremely cheesy and romantic with you even in front of others. That guy does give his darling space even if he can be rather clingy from time to time, but if he misses them he tends to try to communicate per telepathy.

Eve Tearm

💛Eve is pretty much alike to Hibiki in this matter. He as well is a semi-delusional Yandere. However, he isn't like Hibiki a more intellectual character yet and different from Hibiki lacks the more serious side. He is younger after all and views that as part of his charm so he has a far more stronger side to himself than Hibiki has. Because Eve falls much more faster in love than Hibiki does and for that has a much more stronger view on destiny and that him and his darling are meant to be. He is protective as well. He might be younger and maybe less experienced than his other friends, but he as well wants to prove his dedication and love to the s/o.

💛Obsessive which should be obvious. What kind of lover would he be if he wouldn't know how to make you happy and how to always surprise you pleasantly. Something that still marks a big difference between him and Hibiki is the fact that Eve actually turns out to be more on the shy side once he's really fallen hard for his darling which is why he at first tends to be a bit more on the stalkerish side before Ichiya, Ren and Hibiki encourage the young man to go for this beaty before someone else takes them away from Eve. That includes them as well, they are womanizers. Eve uses manipulation less than Hibiki does since he is surprisingly bashful, but he will sweet talk things more harmless and appealing if he has too.

💛Eve is less possessive than Hibiki is and overall is less jealous. His darling gets their freedom and can talk to others all they like, he can endure them having friends and spending time with others. He is somewhat more cautios around other members of The Trimens for clear reasons. It isn't like Hibiki and Ren don't respect the fact that yo are Eve's lover, but being charming and flirting with women runs simply through their blood and so they might subconsciously accidentally and up doing just that. Eve of course is respectful with his friends and they understand him and stop quickly as well. In front of strangers flirting he still retains that more mature approach similar to Hibiki, but just like him he shares the dislike of seeing other people being all gentleman and nice to you the same way he is. He's not shy when it comes to making it to others clear that you already have him.

💛Similar to Hibiki he will share the same respect and admiration in case you are a wizard yourself and for that have spells up your own sleeves to fight for yourself, though in case of a sudden battle Eve would like to fight right besides you. Even with his whole soulmate belief Eve still mostly turns away from the idea of killing someone as long as it isn’t an emergency situation. He likes discussing it out as well and in the case that someone does try to cause troubles, you have a guild ready to help you out since Eve naturally won’t let anyone harm you. He can sabotage certain situations as well where odds are put against the person he views as a threat.

💛Assuming that you are part of Blue Pegasus, you two would already spend a lot of time together so there would be no need for him to kidnap you since he constantly hangs around you in the guild, regarding clinginess he can be more extreme than Hibiki is. He is younger and more delusional after all. And since he is seen from everyone in the guild as sie sort of younger brother he would definitely be able to count on their help in case something should have happened that caused you to be mad at him.

💛The wizard, despite higher clinginess, still respects the fact to hold back in public more than Hibiki would. Ren and Hibiki most likely triggered him to go out of his way and talk to his darling way back when he was still a secret admirer and didn’t know how to set up a good scenario and how to talk to them. Has a more submissive nature to him so he would like his darling to be the one to lead this relationship whilst he follows along and does in the meantime things to please them and make them happy. But similar to Hibiki he stops flirting with other women as we for the sake of you.

Ren Akatsuki

🎆Funnily from all three of them, he probably is the most lucid one. But he still only is a semi-aware Yandere to have, he's stained ith the same delusions as his team members. He can view many of his habits as rather unusual and he knows that as well, but in the end his belief in the greater love manages to overcome most of his doubts and insecurities whether he's wrong about his feelings or not. He mostly tries to show his feelings in a more tsunderish form, but in the end he as well is far too much lovestruck to come over as very cold and his darling can tease him greatly for it. From The Trimens he's notably the most possessive Yandere to have.

🎆Protective and manipulative. No matter how cold he may try to act, he'll always defend you from others and save you when you do trip into some issues and even if he complains afterwards that you should have been more careful, he was very worried and that's evident. Ren is subtle about his manipulations as well, mainly because he wants his darling to love him without him having to use bribing and other sorts of lies and tricks, but similar to Eve he will do it when there would be the need for it.

🎆He doesn't get along very well with other men except Ichiya, Hibiki and Eve for the real funny reasons because he views other guys as his rivals in love (don't expect girls to be safe from this either, he'll merely be more polite). And Ren is the most rude about his jealousy because even if he is more embarrassed to show how much he really do loves you, he sure as hell won't have others flirt with you and take you away from him. He's the passive-aggressive type with such people and his feelings for his darling are always made obvious during such times. In front of people like Hibiki and Eve he is less harsh, but it doesn't stop him from shooing them away when they are suddenly all over you as well.

🎆He might just be the one who would be the easiest triggered from all of them to act when someone starts looking more and more like potential troubles for the s/o and the relationship. I would say that with love rivals he wouldn't be violent, more focused on just scaring them away and use threats and warnings to stay away the moment someone becomes very persistent on having his darling. If it comes to people such as bullies or perverts he has a faster way to react because simple flirting isn't anywhere near as worse as being catcalled or otheriwse humiliated. But just like with Hibiki and Eve I really only see him killing someone when the circumstances are very bad and the person turns out to be a possible death sentence for his darling if he doesn't do something. Anything can happen in the heat f a battle.

🎆Despite his tries to come over as a Tsundere, he still spends a lot of time with his darling which kind of blows his cover up, but that really isn't something new. Ren isn't necessarily clingy unless someone triggered his jealousy extremely or recently something bad happened to his darling and for that reason he decides to accompany them for safety reasons. Kidnapping is still something he wouldn't really consider since, as already mentioned, he is the most self-conscious Yandere to have from those three.

🎆How you can tease him about his constant tries to come over as a Tsundere despite easily getting flustered around you is really funny. Ren wants to look cool in front of his darling which means he obviously doesn't want to embarrass himself whilst you're watching so he always tries his best. He cools his interactions with other girls extremely down after he's courted you since he obviously cares about you more than anyone else. He might still fall back into the habit of simple flirting, but he learned his lessons quickly when you had enough of it, avoided him and did the exact same thing with Hibiki and Eve who naturally flirted back. He got quite mad at them afterwards for this, though they only helped you giving Ren a taste of his own medicine.

#yandere fairy tail #yandere hibiki #yandere hibiki lates #yandere eve #yandere eve tearm #yandere ren #yandere ren akatsuki

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shelby-love · 4 years ago

Text

SIRIUS BLACK

A little Bit of Amortentia

Requested: yes

Prompts: none

Warning(s): none this is a certified fluff piece (2.3K words)

Author’s note: I had so much fun writing this! Harry Potter is such a great world, and I’d love to explore more of it. Requests for HP are OPEN!!

P.S for everyone wondering Remus is actually my favorite out of the Marauders

"Well I still think you're missing out," Lilly stated after a long rant and because of how sweet she was, she had decided to stop her mouth right at that sentence.

You only laughed lightly, pushing through the student body with Lily Evans hot on your robe. "Sneaking out to Hogsmeade is something I'm fine with missing out on."

She shook her head, determination settling hard in her brow. "That's beside the point."

"Then what is the point?" You asked, hugging your textbook closer to your chest. When you noticed that the auburn-haired girl was no longer by your side you bunched your brows together and turned around. "Lily? Lily, what are you doing?"

Her eyes were wide, bright green eyes blazing at you. "You seriously have no idea?"

You had idea of course. So much so that you felt embarrassed by the mere thought of it…

Him.

"Come Lily. We're late for Potions."

She shook her head and followed you reluctantly, only because she knew that your professor would surely be disappointed if you two showed up late. Lily and you were after all, Horace Slughorn's favorite students.

"This isn't over," She mumbled.

Perhaps for her it wasn't. Lily Evans tended to see the best in all people. It was the good in her that made her give in to James Potter little after Christmas this year after hating him her entire schooling at Hogwarts.

"He matured a lot," she would tell you, and while that might have been true for James it surely wasn't true for the boy you laid your desires upon.

Sirius Black.

Either he was purposely ignoring you, or he really was a dimwit.

***

"Amortentia is the most powerful love potion in the world. It is distinctive for its mother-of-pearl sheen, and steam rises from the potion in spirals." Horace Slughorn informed, keeping a safe distance from the steaming love potion. The rest of the girls in the class not so much. Each of them neared the potion little by little with a boy in mind. Lily and you both shared the same thoughts as those love-obsessed girls – only you didn't show it. Despite having boys in mind, Lily and you stood put.

"Lily, dear, how about you come here and tell us what you smell?"

You hard-pressed your shoulder against hers as she smiled shyly, obvious to what she was going to smell. James Potter stood at the other end of the assembly of students, looking at his lovely girlfriend with pure adornment.

For a second, they had you wondering if you could ever find love like that.

"Do you know why I asked Lily to tell us what she smells?" Horace asked, sending you a look that had a simple meaning.

"Because the potion is supposed to smell differently to each of us, according to what attracts us…" You answered quickly, just like he wanted you to.

"Marvelous Y/N. Good job," Slughorn praised you whilst ushering Lily to tell you all what she smelt. From the corner of your eye you managed to catch James' sly smirk as his eyes darted from you, to his very uninterested friend.

Sirius Black.

You swallowed, focusing your eyes on your best friend that stood in front of the potion, holding her hair so it doesn’t fall into the potion with a face as red as a tomato. "Vanilla, freshly cut oranges and –"

He cheeks flamed even more if that was even possible. She dashed away from the love potion and stood back next to you without revealing the third thing, although everyone knew already. James was grinning like an idiot. "What was the third smell?"

She shyly turned her mouth to your ear, "James' quidditch uniform."

You laughed out loud before Lily shushed you down frantically.

It was all fun and games until Horace called out for you, "Y/N would you mind telling us what you smell? Don't be shy now, come."

A part of you wanted to say "Yes, professor I would mind." but the other more rational, and smarter part of you had tied your hands behind your back in defeat. Lily gave you a push and sooner than later you found yourself standing over the love potion.

"I-I smell…" You inhaled slowly, the potion's fumes filling you up. Several different scents found their way into your nostrils, making you have a hard time deciphering them because of the sensual overdrive they gave you. "Roses…the smell of sea and-"

"Oh no," you mumbled, barely audible for everyone but yourself.

"Was there something you wanted to say dear?" Horace asked, having heard your mumbling barely.

"No…I um, smell petrichor," You stated somewhat awkwardly but very, very quickly. "You know, um, when the r-rain hits the ground…"

"Ah, yes," realization dawned upon your professor. "A lovely smell. A lovely smell indeed. Very well, miss Y/LN thank you. You may go back to your place."

Lily Evans waited for you, beaming, "Mind telling me what the third smell was?"

"Shut it Lily."

"But I told you mine!"

***

You glanced at the sign above the pink looking door and sighed. Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop, it said. You had known about this small tea shop that was located on a side road off the High Street in Hogsmeade Village even before you had arrived at Hogwarts. A boy from Hufflepuff had taken you there on a date once, sometime during your fifth year. It wasn't an especially pleasant memory, being cramped and surrounded by snogging couples at only 15 with a boy you didn't particularly like that way. Nevertheless, it had happened, and there was nothing you could do about the lingering memory.

The overall cute place was owned by Madam Puddifoot; the same woman who dearly welcomed you in the moment you stepped through the door.

You hoped to spot Lily there, after all that's why you were there. When the front of your little notebook changed under the influence of the Protean charm, you knew it was Lily instantly. While the Marauders had their own tricks, maps and such, Lily and you had thought of something far more practical. It would do you good, the charm, as it was expected to be known by every student that wants to take the N.E.W.T.

A win-win situation that was.

But although Lily Evans was nowhere to be seen, you still decided to sit down, trusting her not to pull any tricks on you. Save for the snowy weather, your day has been good so far and you didn’t want anyone to disrupt it.

Cautiously, you sat down and leaned against the plush sofa, discarding your scarf and coat along the way.

"What can I get ya lovely?" A sweet woman asked, hearts practically swimming within her irises. A pale pink apron with daisies was secured tightly around her waist, dolling her up prettily.

"I actually won't be staying, I'm waiting for-" You started, although you were sure in the fact you were going to have to buy gilly water at the very least. Even waiting comes at a price here.

But that didn't seem to be the case as the bells jingle and a dark figure waltzes through. The ladies' man, a member of the Marauders that had the most beautiful features pursued by impeccable dark hair and grey eyes walked in without a care in the world. Sirius didn't know it, but he had your toes curling every time.

You immidiately glanced around the cute shop, seeing nothing but loving couples.

No lone girl in the shop save for you.

Realization struck you in the gut and you swallowed, wanting now more than ever to disappear into a hole…or turn into a little bird and fly away.

His eyes swept across the stuffed shop, getting attention of several girls who were obviously there on a date. Boys exchanged distasteful glances between themselves, sensing Sirius to be an equal competitor that could easily give them a run for their money. "Y/N?"

You dared to say his voice softened upon seeing you. "Sirius."

Sirius' smile widened teasingly. It looked like the smile he would give his best of friends.

But you didn't want that. Not that you would tell him that.

He glanced around the shop once again before slipping into the free chair opposite of you. Without a care in the world, he stripped his snowy coat off his shoulders, his muscles tensing under the movements.

You swallowed.

"I'll have some butterbeer thank you," Sirius said, pulling out a generous amount of sickles for the waiting waitress you forgot was even standing there.

"And the lovely lady?" She mused, giving you a wink.

"Pumkin juice." You choke out.

Like a real gentleman, Sirius halted your attempt to pay for your drink with a raised hand and a wink.

Why does everyone keep winking?

You shook your head at the rogue thought.

"4 sickles young lad."

Sirius handed her the coins and she disappeared, leaving a trail of literal hearts whisking underneath her steps. "Talk about exaggeration."

Sirius' low chuckle at your random comment had you flustered immediately.

"So –" You both voiced at the same time.

"No, you first." You said quickly, brushing some misplaced strands of hair out of the way.

"You can go fi-"

You gave Serius the look you would usually give Remus and James many times on many different occasions; the one that said not to argue with you. Only this time it felt like a completely different look. It intrigued the stubborn boy even more; dragging him deeper into the pit of feelings he had for you.

"Fine," he said, casually twining his fingers atop the table. "I have a question."

"Um…o-kay."

He smiled at your nervousness and decided at that moment to just blurt out the question that's been nagging him since it happened. "What did you smell during potions yesterday?"

"Y-you mean when I smelled the Amortentia?" The strongest love potion ever created that had the ability to reveal ones biggest attractions with a simple sniff. “That potion?”

"Mhmm," he said. "If you tell me what you smelled, I'll tell you what I smelled."

"You must be bloody joking," You exclaimed. Almost everyone knew that you smelled someone. Not just the rain and roses. Someone.

Unlike with Lily, they had no idea who it was.

No one knew save for Lily who probably told James.

Who probably told Remus?

Remus, Peter…

Sirius.

A million thoughts raced through your head. What at first was a blind date will turn out to be the biggest prank the Marauders ever pulled on someone. The biggest prank in Marauders history. You were sure of it.

"I-I should go," you muttered, grabbing your bag and coat in a haste to get out.

Sirius' eyes went wide in alarm, "What are you doing, Y/N? Where are you going?"

"Away from you," You said sternly. "I don't plan on being your new plaything so just leave me alone."

"Woah, woah, woah. Why would you think that?" He asked with what looked like genuine confusion as he held your hands in a vise grip to stop you from leaving.

"B-because…" Words stopped coming once you realized.

Telling him the reason behind it would ruin everything.

"Because you like me?"

You stared at him in shock, eyes widened to the size of a quidditch snitch. No, a bludger. "I don't know what to say to that."

Sirius outright laughed at you and your attempt to conceal what you both already knew, "Look…"

You swallowed.

"I like you too Y/N."

"I know, so let's just forget this ever happen- Wait what did you just say?"

The two of you were, unbeknownst to you in that moment, holding hands atop the cute table, looking like a real couple at that moment to anyone who walked into the shop.

"I like you," He repeated slowly, more audibly for you to comprehend this time. "I know I've been a…"

"Bully," You butted in quickly.

"No I wasn't!"

"Severus begs to differ," You reminded.

"Whatever," Sirius brushed you off, tightening his hold on your two hands. Warmth seemed to come off him in waves, making it all the more comfortable to be in his hold. No wonder girls fawned around him. "What I'm trying to say is – the four of us were idiots, and you were the girl I thought I didn't deserve."

You almost melted.

"So, when I saw what James has with Lily," He confessed. "I wanted that…but with you."

"So why didn't you come up to me?"

"Thought you'd reject me," He said quickly.

"True."

The way he looked at you had you tumbling down your brain for word, "B-but you've changed… And I like you too Sirius."

"I'd like to take you out somewhere else," Sirius proposed. "If you'd have me."

"Of course," You smiled, for the first time freely. "I'd like that very much."

Never in a million years would you have guessed this would be happening; Sirius standing behind you, helping you with your coat…

And holding your hand on the way out.

"You still didn't tell me."

“Tell you what?”

"What you smelled in the Amortentia."

The question didn't sound so attacking as it did 10 minutes ago, and you felt like you could answer it with more ease. "You really want to know?"

"Yes, I would like that very much."

"Fine," You stopped somewhere in the middle of the square, feeling quite brave and bold. "You."

He didn't look surprised, maybe relieved more than surprised. The relief shone in his grey eyes, you could see it. His long black hair blew against the wind that swept through Hogsmeade in a wildly matter. Sirius seemed closer now more than ever as he gazed into your eyes. Whilst you probably looked crazy in the cold wind, the weather only seemed to compliment the once a big troublemaker before you.

"Good."

You creased your brows, "You didn't tell me what you smelled."

Sirius chuckled, "You of course."

Pleased with his answer, you let him do something you've been dreaming about for quite some time.

He kissed you.

The kiss felt electrical, making your body go haywire. Sparks, as cliché as they sound, they were there, present from the moment the kiss started and until it ended. Sirius had his warm hand against your cold cheek, bringing you closer than ever before.

You hadn't shared this with any other boy save for the one you were with right now.

You didn't have what Lily and James did because their love was theirs and theirs only.

Sirius and you will build a love of your own. Something characteristic to you two only. Here in Hogsmeade, or wherever in the world. A long life was ahead of you and you, now more than ever, felt like you could do anything.

Even pass the N.E.W.T.

Tags (general (all posts)): @fofisstilinski @short-potato @miranda0102 @httphiddlestan @caromichaela @xx-missunicorn-xx @jemmakates @theravenclawmarauder @httphiddlestan @tclaerh @chefdoeuvre

Tags (Harry Potter): /

Let me know if you want to be added to my Harry Potter tag list! My updated tag lists ♡

MASTERLIST

#sirius black #sirius black imagine #sirius black x reader #sirius black fanfic #sirius black fanfiction #sirius black one shot #the marauders #the marauders era #marauders era #marauders imagine #marauders fanfic #harry potter imagine #harry potter writing #harry potter fanfic #harry potter x reader

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lunaastoir · 4 years ago

Text

how i think a meeting between childe and kaeya would go down

just some wannabe pirate and war criminal brain rot!!! this idea has been stuck in my mind for WEEKS and i just needed to get it down so i could breathe thanks aifjskfj

also sorry if someone has already done this!! i did not check the tags or anything to see if a similar idea was posted but here’s just my take on it!! weewoo had to throw out a disclaimer just in case

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

so the only way i could ever truly imagine them meeting is if you’re hanging out w one of them and suddenly woAH HEY CHILDE FANCY SEEING YOU HERE???

like i don’t see them meeting on their own unless kaeya a) travels to snezhnaya/visits liyue for some reason or b) childe comes to mondstadt on fatui business

but anYWAYS- i digress,,, let’s say a chance meeting happened between the two (pls mihoyo make this happen i am BEGGING)

so you’re just walking around mondstadt after completing your commissions w paimon yapping abt trying out the new dish at good hunter (i wonder if it’s called emergency food)

you run into kaeya as you’re making your way over to said restaurant

pirate boy was patrolling since he’s a knight and even tho i clown him out of love he does take his job very seriously

so you bump into him and the smooth mf says smthg like

“fancy meeting you here, it’s almost like we’re destined ;)”

pls smack him thanks <3

you roll your eyes and you can practically fEEL paimon’s glare

so y’all get caught up in conversation and just end up walking around town (w promises to paimon that you will treat her to some good food later)

kaeya’s retelling something that happened earlier in the day w klee i had to include her i love her sm pls

and then you just hear a

“huh if it isn’t mondstadt’s honorary knight”

dEAR GOD you would know that voice anywhere- JDSJFS

so many questions??? are running through your head??? as you turn around????

first and foremost being ayO childe what are you doing here???

his hand is held up in a wave and he has his trademark soft smirk playing on his lips pls im gonna wring his pretty little neck lovingly

he makes his way over to you and you guys just kinda stare at each other for a good second

paimon breaks the silence w her scream of “chILDE???”

that snaps you out of it and you give him a questioning look while waving back (very delayed might i add)

“it’s good to see you too paimon” he laughs

he briefly explains that he’s here on fatui business and relax he’s not here to cause any trouble yet

this is basically when kaeya cuts in

knowing the both of them they were definitely sizing each other up when pleasantries were exchanged

also kaeya (being the cavalry captain) is DEFINITELY aware that childe is in mondstadt especially since he’s a harbinger - it’s not like he can be quiet abt it 💀

assuming that they haven’t had a chance to meet tho since i mini headcanon that jean would probably have been the one to escort him and his underlings to the goth grand hotel, there would just be some intense eye contact

both men are v prone to putting up a friendly demeanor while having the ability to practically slice you apart w sweet threats and razor sharp looks

kaeya would take the initiative and say smthg like

“i dont believe we’ve met - i’m kaeya of the knights of favonius”

childe would shake his hand and out of propriety introduce himself too

now here’s where things could get a touch complicated

as fatui harbinger to cavalry captain, obviously there’s some animosity (hidden ofc under sweet words of deceit and sugar coated phrases of diplomacy)

however, as just kaeya and childe, i think these two would hit it off pretty quickly LMFAO

they remind me a lot of oikawa and atsumu from haikyuu if you’ve ever watched it 🕴 same exact vibes

there would be the formalities in the beginning before childe’s playful nature would come through

kaeya seeing that you two knew each other and were quite amicable ahem even if he did try to kill us would join in w his own smooth nature

expect lots of cringe worthy moments and just jokes™

childe would probs say something like

“i’ve heard mondstadt is famous for it’s wine, i would like to try some and see just how good it really is” and BOOM it’s over for you

you thought they needed you to keep it amicable???

naH now you’re just third wheeling bestie💀

100% inseparable and now drinking buddies at the end of the night

their natures just FIT like you thought dealing w them alone was bad??? BYE you’re in for a treat then

enDLESS TEASING!!! it!! will!! not!! stop!!!

they just team up to make sure you’re either flustered or ready to wring their gorgeous necks

they would probs end up being spar buddies too

childe would casually bring up the fact that he likes to fight and would maybe p o s s i b l y like to spar especially w someone in the famed knights of favonius

kaeya would agree and BOP BOP sparring buddies

but in conclusion!!! to this very unnecessarily long post!! kaeya and childe would meet as a result of you, they would hit it off bc c’mon they’re so similar it hurts and they’re not following you anymore now you’re following them <3

a lil bonus scenario bc writing this has been sm fun:

“you’re such a lightweight” kaeya laughed out while his new friend was miserably collapsed on the bar stool next to him. childe looked up from where his head was tucked into his arms and raised an eyebrow. “is that a challenge captain?” he huffed out, his usually clear ocean blue eyes now dilated with the effects of the wine. “you shouldn’t have ordered hardcore alcohol as your first sample of mondstadt wine. that’s a rookie mistake” kaeya remarked while amusedly staring at his companion’s deconstructed state. “yeah well, honestly i think i can still take a couple more drinks. probably more than you anyway” childe retorted. his flushed cheeks however, told another tale altogether. kaeya smirked, a competitor huh? “i wouldn’t expect anything less from a fatui harbinger” were his words and with that, two more drinks were waved over by the cavalry captain.

needless to say, an hour later, two extremely drunk, flushed men stumbled out of angel’s share, all the while giggling about gloves of all things. it’s safe to assume that they were both kicked out, if the ten drinks they had ordered were of any significance. as they help each other up while making their way onto the streets of mondstadt, they leave behind a bill fit for a feast, and a night that they will certainly remember (especially due to the nasty hangovers they will inevitably wake up to the following morning).

#childe #kaeya #genshin crack #genshin impact masterlist #genshin imagines #genshin childe #genshin kaeya #this is so long for no reason i am so sorry #genshin headcanons #genshin scenarios #genshin impact headcanons #kaeya alberich #genshin fluff #tartaglia #childe imagines #kaeya imagines

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justforbooks · 4 years ago

Photo

Ubbe Eert "Ub" Iwwerks was born on March 24, 1901. He was an American animator, cartoonist, character designer, inventor, and special effects technician, who designed Oswald the Lucky Rabbit and Mickey Mouse. Iwerks produced alongside Walt Disney and won numerous awards, including multiple Academy Awards.

Iwerks spent most of his career with Disney. The two met in 1919 while working for the Pesmen-Rubin Art Studio in Kansas City, and eventually started their own commercial art business together. Disney and Iwerks then found work as illustrators for the Kansas City Slide Newspaper Company (which was later named The Kansas City Film Ad Company). While working for the Kansas City Film Ad Company, Disney decided to take up work in animation, and Iwerks soon joined him.

He was responsible for the distinctive style of the earliest Disney animated cartoons, and was also responsible for designing Mickey Mouse. In 1922, when Disney began his Laugh-O-Gram cartoon series, Iwerks joined him as chief animator. The studio went bankrupt, however, and in 1923 Iwerks followed Disney's move to Los Angeles to work on a new series of cartoons known as “the Alice Comedies” which had live-action mixed with animation. After the end of this series, Disney asked Iwerks to design a character that became Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. The first cartoon Oswald starred in was animated entirely by Iwerks. Following the first cartoon, Oswald was redesigned on the insistence of Oswald's owner and the distributor of the cartoons, Universal Pictures. The production company at the time, Winkler Pictures, gave additional input on the character's design.

In spring 1928, Disney was removed from the Oswald series, and much of his staff was hired away to Winkler Pictures. He promised to never again work with a character he did not own. Disney asked Iwerks, who stayed on, to start drawing up new character ideas. Iwerks tried sketches of frogs, dogs, and cats, but none of these appealed to Disney. A female cow and male horse were created at this time by Iwerks, but were also rejected. They later turned up as Clarabelle Cow and Horace Horsecollar. Ub Iwerks eventually got inspiration from an old drawing. In 1925, Hugh Harman drew some sketches of mice around a photograph of Walt Disney. Then, on a train ride back from a failed business meeting, Walt Disney came up with the original sketch for the character that was eventually called Mickey Mouse. Afterward, Disney took the sketch to Iwerks. In turn, he drew a more clean-cut and refined version of Mickey, but one that still followed the original sketch.

The first few Mickey Mouse and Silly Symphonies cartoons were animated almost entirely by Iwerks, including Steamboat Willie, The Skeleton Dance and The Haunted House. However, as Iwerks began to draw more and more cartoons on a daily basis, he chafed under Disney's dictatorial rule. Iwerks also felt he wasn't getting the credit he deserved for drawing all of Disney's successful cartoons. Eventually, Iwerks and Disney had a falling out; their friendship and working partnership were severed in January 1930. According to an unconfirmed account, a child approached Disney and Iwerks at a party and asked for a picture of Mickey to be drawn on a napkin, to which Disney handed the pen and paper to Iwerks and stated, "Draw it." Iwerks became furious and threw the pen and paper, storming out. Iwerks accepted a contract with Disney competitor Pat Powers to leave Disney and start an animation studio under his own name. His last Mickey Mouse cartoon was The Cactus Kid. (Powers and Disney had an earlier falling-out over Disney's use of the Powers Cinephone sound-on-film system—actually copied by Powers from DeForest Phonofilm without credit—in early Disney cartoons.)

The Iwerks Studio opened in 1930. Financial backers led by Pat Powers suspected that Iwerks was responsible for much of Disney's early success. However, while animation for a time suffered at Disney from Iwerks' departure, it soon rebounded as Disney brought in talented new young animators.

Despite a contract with MGM to distribute his cartoons, and the introduction of a new character named “Flip the Frog”, and later “Willie Whopper”, the Iwerks Studio was never a major commercial success and failed to rival either Disney or Fleischer Studios. Newly hired animator Fred Kopietz recommended that Iwerks employ a friend from Chouinard Art School, Chuck Jones, who was hired and put to work as a cel washer. The Flip and Willie cartoons were later distributed on the home-movie market by Official Films in the 1940s. From 1933 to 1936, he produced a series of shorts (independently distributed, not part of the MGM deal) in Cinecolor, named ComiColor Cartoons. The ComiColor series mostly focused on fairy tales with no continuing character or star. Later in the 1940s, this series received home-movie distribution by Castle Films. Cinecolor produced the 16 mm prints for Castle Films with red emulsion on one side and blue emulsion on the other. Later in the 1970s Blackhawk Films released these for home use, but this time using conventional Eastmancolor film stock. They are now in the public domain and are available on VHS and DVD. He also experimented with stop-motion animation in combination with the multiplane camera, and made a short called The Toy Parade, which was never released in public. In 1936, backers withdrew financial support from the Iwerks Studio, and it folded soon after.

In 1937, Leon Schlesinger Productions contracted Iwerks to produce four Looney Tunes shorts starring Porky Pig and Gabby Goat. Iwerks directed the first two shorts, while former Schlesinger animator Robert Clampett was promoted to director and helmed the other two shorts before he and his unit returned to the main Schlesinger lot. Iwerks then did contract work for Screen Gems (then Columbia Pictures' cartoon division) where he was the director of several of the Color Rhapsodies shorts before returning to work for Disney in 1940.

After his return to the Disney studio, Iwerks mainly worked on developing special visual effects. He is credited as developing the processes for combining live-action and animation used in Song of the South (1946), as well as the xerographic process adapted for cel animation. He also worked at WED Enterprises, now Walt Disney Imagineering, helping to develop many Disney theme park attractions during the 1960s. Iwerks did special effects work outside the studio as well, including his Academy Award nominated achievement for Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds (1963).

Iwerks' most famous work outside creating and animating Mickey Mouse was Flip the Frog from his own studio. According to Chuck Jones, who worked for him, "He was the first, if not the first, to give his characters depth and roundness. But he had no concept of humor; he simply wasn't a funny guy."

Iwerks was born in Kansas City, Missouri. His father, Eert Ubbe Iwwerks, was born in the village of Uttum in East Frisia (northwest Germany, today part of the municipality of Krummhörn) and immigrated to the United States in 1869. He is the father of Disney Legend Don Iwerks and grandfather of documentary film producer Leslie Iwerks.

Daily inspiration. Discover more photos at http://justforbooks.tumblr.com

#JUST FOR BOOKS #Ub Iwerks #Famous Birthdays

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shadow-scenarios · 4 years ago

Note

Just saw your recent post, so how about this? Goro given orders by Shido to give his S/O a mental shutdown

This request hurts, Anon!

Hopefully you enjoy this. I really liked this one!

Crow ;;

Perhaps they were some sort of figure in the public limelight or the heir to a political competitor. At first, their combined popularity was what drew Akechi to propose a relationship with them. It was both mutually beneficial & allowed him to deal with the fangirls in a more... peaceful manner. Though something more developed between the two & there were moment of genuine intimate gestures, nothing was said aloud.

Throughout the months, he went to meticulous effort in order to prevent the mention of their name wherever he went. Any mentions of them could be quite easily erased so when Shido submitted their name for a mental shutdown, dizziness washed over him & a simple reply of when was all he could ask for clarification. It had to be done soon apparently, as he was about to be elected as Prime Minister in the next month.

At home that night, Akechi debates with himself. He believes his significant other to be important but at the same time his revenge is so close at hand: Why should he stop now in order to bend to the whim of someone he cares about after years of neglect? When they come home that night with two coffees from LeBlanc & an offer to watch a movie, it pulls him into another conflict that seems to go in circles, which gets to the point where he cannot focus on the TV screen or the way that the two get so close to each other. Flicking through old memories of them simply enjoying each other’s company gives him some sort of nostalgia & he reconsiders his stance on everything. Is revenge even worth it if they are not there?

If he decides to go through with the mental shutdown, Akechi tries to ensure that their shadow does not suffer. The kill is clean, quick & effective as he uses the most powerful attack in his arsenal. It was the best kind of mercy that he could give anyone. Usually he enjoyed watching them suffer & although he feels no guilt in cutting the strings on their life { he has done it so many times that the feeling has subsided }, the weaker part of his mind does not want their last moments to be so painful, as they do not deserve it.

If he decides not to go through with the mental shutdown, he attempts to join the Phantom Thieves properly. The impact that his significant other had on him is immeasurable, considering that no one had never cared about him before. Losing them would be the worst thing to happen to them. Although he never speaks a word to them about how he had plotted their murder as not to tarnish his reputation, he puts more trust into them & tries to be himself a little more in the relationship.

Word Count: 470

Publish Date: 10.11.20

#persona #persona 5 imagines #persona 5 scenarios #persona x reader #persona 5 x reader #persona 5 royal #persona 5 #persona 5 the royal #persona 5 royal x reader #goro akechi x reader #goro akechi #akechi x reader #akechi #p5r akechi

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lokilickedme · 3 years ago

Text

The Queen of Springtown

I’m going to tell you a story. It’s a true story. There’s a bit of conjecture here and there to fill in empty spots, but not a lot. It’s a story about my grandmother - my paternal grandmother, not my maternal grandmother - I feel the need to specify who exactly it is because mom’s mom has a bit of a story too, but that’s for later.

This one’s about the one I’m going to call Elizabeth. Elizabeth was her middle name, it was a family name, it belonged to her mother and her grandmother I believe, though I didn’t know any of those people so I couldn’t swear by it. The family records are long gone if they ever existed.

Elizabeth’s last name was one of those romantically ridiculous names that still clung to old families at the turn of the century. It had a lot of extraneous letters at the end, a handful of unnecessary and partially silent sounds that looked beautiful in the flowery handwritten script of the time, a noble sounding -eaoux that did little more than tag a fancy sounding o onto the back end. A lot of fuss for such a little piece of sound. And when Elizabeth’s grandfather moved his family from France to Ireland and signed the manifests upon arrival in the new old land, he dropped the -eaoux and shortened the family’s name to four tiny letters and a single syllable. They were Irish now.

Elizabeth’s father carried the new name and the new heritage, and when he was of age he went and married an Irish beauty named - yep, Elizabeth. They say she was redheaded and blue eyed and fair skinned, though no pictures exist to prove it. All that exists is my grandmother, who supposedly looked just like her mama. She didn’t remember Ireland...she was too young when her daddy moved his family to a new land just like his own daddy had done, and she never really told anyone she was Irish. No one actually knew, once her parents were gone.

But you could tell. She looked it - flame red hair, china blue eyes, fair skin. She had the bones of whatever French nobility had been in her lineage from way back, but her colors were the Emerald Isle all the way. A beauty like you’d see in the movies, petite and ladylike and perfectly put together.

But my god that woman had a wild streak that dated right back to the Celts whose blood made up half of what she was.

(continued under the cut because long story)

So Elizabeth grew up in America, the daughter of an Irish mother and a French father. She had brothers and sisters, quite a few, though I never knew any of them. I believe I met two of them when I was too young to remember much about the encounter, but I’ve always found it hilarious that one of her sisters was named Bill. Bill, like the man’s name. I never found out why and I’m not entirely sure there was ever actually a reason. It was just one of those things.

The newly American family settled in Texas. And when Elizabeth was very young - probably not yet in her 20′s, though nobody knows for sure just how old she actually was because it’s likely she tended to fib a bit about her age to get into places she had no business being - she got herself involved with the Texas mafia.

Now let me tell you a thing or two about the Texas mafia. It wasn’t an official operation - not like the Italian Mafioso or the Eastern Syndicates or whatever the hell was going on between Florida and Cuba at the time. But it was every bit as dangerous and vicious and bloody and corrupt as any of those bigger organizations, and it was led for the most part by a man I’m going to call Big Joe.

This was the early 1940′s or thereabouts. Elizabeth was a party girl - up for anything, always out and about, girl-gang at the swing club, the works. And Big Joe saw her in the club one night, it may very well have been his club she was dancing at, and the proverbial first-sight thing kicked him hard in the gonads. This girl was a looker, and she was dancing with everyone in the place, whooping it up, living life like tomorrow it was all going to take a header into the sea. He had to have her.

And he did.

Big Joe was likely in his late 30′s, maybe early 40′s. There’s not a lot of information on him other than a handful of facts mentioned once and only once by my grandmother to my aunt - that Big Joe was a handsome man, big and tough and a snazzy dresser, and he always had enough money in his pocket to take Elizabeth anywhere she wanted to go and buy her anything she wanted to buy. And Elizabeth, party girl extraordinaire, was all up for that.

So Elizabeth and Big Joe become a thing. Everybody knows she’s his squeeze - and suddenly not a male soul in Dallas or the surrounding metropolitan areas will dare to lay an eye on her, not even a quick glance, because she’s Big Joe’s girl. And that means something. Elizabeth doesn’t know quite what it means because she’s likely not even 20 yet, but Big Joe is fun and romantic and he takes her on trips and buys her nice clothes. He buys her a ring, a blood red garnet, a ring that I inherit many decades later. He’s going to marry her, he says. She doesn’t care much one way or the other, she’s having too much fun dancing every night in his club, traveling with him, going shopping, rubbing shoulders with the rich and famous of the Southwest. She’s all but a star, protected and adored. Big Joe’s men follow her everywhere she goes when she’s not with him. And Big Joe starts going out of town without her a lot, taking care of business that he never tells her the details of.

She’s cool with that. He’s a businessman, that’s what he’s always told her. Things to take care of out of town. The Boss. He has a lot of operations to oversee, operations that make all that money he spends on her.

She has no idea what he actually does.

All she knows - or cares to know - is that when he comes back to town he ushers her around town in his big fancy black car, buying her furs and expensive dinners, showing her off to society. When he isn’t slapping her around...but hey, that’s part of the deal isn’t it? It’s the 1940′s, and Big Joe is very much a man of the era. Women grew up knowing they’d have to take the back of a man’s hand from time to time, and Elizabeth knew which side her bread was buttered on. She kept Big Joe happy, put a smile on his face, did the old grin-and-bear-it on the rest of it.

And then one night Big Joe comes banging on her door. He’s frantic. He pushes a set of keys into her hand - keys to the fancy black car that takes her everywhere - and tells her to keep it there, at her house. Don’t drive it anywhere, just keep it there. He’ll contact her soon and tell her what to do.

He leaves in another car with one of his men, and that’s the last time Elizabeth ever sees him.

A few weeks later she gets a letter from Big Joe telling her to drive the car into Grapevine Lake, on the far side by the shoals. Don’t open the trunk, he says. Put a brick on the gas pedal and put it in drive. Do it at night and make sure nobody sees you.

That night Elizabeth picks up her best friend and they drive the car to Grapevine to do as Big Joe said, sinking it in the murky green water on the far side of the lake. The two girls - just girls, barely even women yet - stand on the shore watching it disappear into the deep dark.

A week later Big Joe is shot to death. A deal gone bad maybe, or a competitor moving into the territory. Nobody really knows - grandmother never said. Don’t think I haven’t done my research...I know what I know, and according to a nearly nonexistent little trove of newspaper articles microfiched in a tiny little library in Azle Texas that isn’t even there anymore, odds are very likely that Big Joe went down in a shootout with the Dallas Police Department.

Elizabeth never opened the trunk of that car. At least she said she didn’t...it’s one of the many things that nobody ever knew or will ever know, because once she shut the door on that part of her life and moved on, it might as well have never happened. Getting this much out of her was outrageously difficult. Thanks to my very tenacious and very persevering aunt, what I’ve just told you managed to survive. It’s very likely my aunt was the only person she ever told, and it’s very likely I in turn am the only person my aunt ever told. And now my aunt is in her 70′s and in poor health, and this little unknown family story has started poking around at the back of my skull. I don’t want it to be lost. I don’t like the idea of soon being the only person alive who knows it. It’s not a spectacular story, but it’s testament to the fact that extraordinary things happen to ordinary people, probably more often than you’d think - and that those ordinary people sometimes take it all to the grave with them.

Elizabeth - my dad’s mom, my grandmother, the one I look like and act like and laugh like, the one whose cheekbones and eyes and hair and size I was born with, passed away twenty-something years ago. She lived through some extraordinary things. After the demise of Big Joe she married an oil roughneck, one of the semi-transient oilfield workers that were prevalent in the Texas Panhandle at the time, and had two children with him - one of whom was my father. The roughneck was the epitome of the James Dean romantic brooding bad boy type, handsome and manly, but unfortunately also a scoundrel who had a second family in another city that he went to every other month when he traveled to another rig for work. She left him when she found out. It was almost unheard of at the time, a young mother taking her two little kids and leaving her husband to be on her own, but she did it. And when my father was 12 she met and married a very tall, very handsome, very Cary Grant-esque railroad worker who loved life every bit as much as she did.

They were together for the rest of her life. I’ve never to this day seen two people more in love than Elizabeth and Jesse. I spent many summers in Texas with them and not a night went by that I couldn’t hear them giggling in the next room after lights-out, talking and laughing quietly until granddad’s wallshaking snores echoed through the house. It just about killed him when her heart gave out. But she was old, and she’d lived a life worth living. There was nothing in her face in those final moments that could ever convince anyone she wasn’t ready and willing to go when the time came.

I’d been married for a couple of years when she died, and my husband and I traveled to Texas for the funeral. The first night there, as my aunt brought out grandmother’s jewelry box and told me to take whatever I wanted, the story was passed from her to me. And when it was all told I opened a little drawer in the bottom of the jewelry box and pulled out an old garnet ring that I’d seen before, when I was a small child snooping in grandma’s stuff. I’d always been fascinated with it...it just looked like it had a story to tell. That’s it, my aunt said. That’s the ring he gave her. That’s all she ended up with.

It was the only thing I took.

The church was so full the next morning you’d have thought it was the final sendoff for some local celebrity. Everybody loved my grandmother, everybody, but this was sort of astounding. Some of them I knew from my childhood, from many many summers spent in the Panhandle, but people came from all over to say goodbye and nobody in the family knew who a lot of them were. They just showed up, some of them cried, some just stood in the back of the church all stoic in black suits. Some were very old. And when it was over and I turned around to watch a group of distinctly important-looking old gentlemen quickly and quietly leave the building, I looked over at my aunt and pointed at them. She arched her eyebrows in that way she always did, that way, the way that said What did I tell you?? - and I wondered if maybe all those years ago some of Big Joe’s men hadn’t pulled that car out of Lake Grapevine and found the trunk empty.

I mean...this is Elizabeth we’re talking about.

#true story

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teeztheflag · 4 years ago

Text

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Wolf!Ateez continuation to another member hunting down their mate

trigger warning! ⚠️ strong language, suggestive, non con marking, kidnapping, angst, sexual harassment, angst, no happy ending, height insert, (reader is taller than Jong Ho by a few centimeters), mobbing (don’t read if you’re uncomfortable with those topics)

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k i m h o n g j o o n g

„You know he’s coming to get me! He will kill you!“

Jong Ho smiled at your cute attempt to scare him while he watched the night out of the window. His heart bumped at the thought of you lying in his bed. He turned around and neared your form.

„Of course he’s coming... but you got one thing wrong there my dear. It’s me who’s going to kill him!“

You shuddered at this dumbass talking about hurting your mate. A slight whine escaped your wolf and Jong Ho raised one of his eyebrows at that.

„Don’t be sad. Soon we’re going to mate and then you will forget about Kim Hong Joong.“

„No!“ You gritted your teeth at him and the rebel wolf laughed at you mockingly. You were just too cute to think you could hurt him in any way.

„Then I will just try to kill you myself!“ You started to lunge at the much stronger wolf and he tackled you with ease back onto his bed and hovers above you.

Jong Ho secures your arms above you and finds your gaze to capture you in. „Stop this nonsense. If you don’t behave I will mark you right here and now.“

A tear rolls down your cheek after several tries to escape his strong grip.

„Why are you hating him so much?“

He frowns at you and sits up so you’re face to his back.

„You don’t know anything about the rebels, right? What little lies did Hong Joong tell you about us? Huh, nevermind.“ He stands up and leaves you alone in the room after he locks the door.

You groan out. „What does he mean with this?“

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p a r k s e o n g h w a

You stood in front of the mirror to examine the dirty mark over your neck. It looked like the two marks emerged into one and you shuddered at the thought of Woo Young being your mate now.

„Someone’s here to see you.“ You quickly hid your neck and turned around to glare at the boy.

„Fuck yourself.“

„I would rather do that to you.“ Your lower region clenched at his words and your tried to hide the blush. Since Woo Young marked you things were very odd.

You thought it would take a long time for your wolf to catch feelings for the mate and you also heard that it only developed this quick if your older mate was dead.

But Seong Hwa was alive, right?

Woo Young couldn’t stand to see your hurt expression anymore so he walked up to you and caught your hand with his one.

The part he touched seemed to burn pleasantly and the two of you felt it.

„Come.“

„(y/n)?...“

You looked up and couldn’t believe what you saw. Seong Hwa! He came to get you! You ran up to him and he caught you in his arms and twirled you around. He buried his nose deep in the crook of your neck and instantly his smile vanished.

„You bastard! You aren’t allowed to do that!“

„Well, I am. And you know that, too.“

„What does he mean, Hwa...?“

„I would’ve never thought you had the guts for that.“

„Maybe I just followed my desire?“ He smirked at Seong Hwa and the older boy‘s eyes turned into a dangerous yellow color.

„Watch your words.“ He spit out thought gritted teeth and you were totally lost at what was going on.

„Stop! I want to know what the hell is going on here!“

„(y/n), you’re my mate. There‘s nothing going on here.“

„There‘s one little detail you’re missing - she’s my mate, too.“ You suddenly felt really dizzy and the last thing you see before you black out is Woo Young winking at you.

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j e o n g y u n h o

Yeo Sang was shattered. He felt so dumb to try something like this with you. He decided to get out of the town for a while to clear his mind.

Meanwhile you were just as disappointed with Yeo Sang as the young wolf himself with him.

Yun Ho on the other hand was totally confused why the boy would try to get to you in the first place...

Two months went by when you heard of Yeo Sang‘s come back. Yun Ho and you decided it would be the best to not tell anyone of the incident so many people were happy that the young boy was back.

You guessed that he would want to talk to you but you nearly collapsed when you saw him hand in hand with another girl passing over the market place.

„Yun Ho... do you see that, too?“

„Mh, what? Oh, what the...“

Later that day someone rang the bell to your house and your sister was so loud you could only guess who it was.

„(y/n), can we talk?“ You nodded at him with a unsure gaze to your sister but followed him anyway.

„I am sorry.“

„You should be.“

„It will never happen again.“

„Sure.“

„I found my mate.“

„That’s great...“

„I know I can never make up what I did to you and I don’t want to pretend it was only my wolf that pushed me to do it. I just lost control and I feel so bad for hurting you like this.“

„I understand. Our wolves sometimes can get out of control I know that. Just promise you won’t ever do that ever again and not to anyone else, too.“

„Of course! I will train my wolf and myself in self-control I already signed in for a course in another city where they help wolves like... me.“

You smiled at that. You still hated him in some way but your were glad he was sorry and tried to help himself.

„I wish you good look.“

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k a n g y e o s a n g

„What’s up sweetheart?“ Yeo Sang emerges your form on the couch and kisses your temple to which you giggle.

„You scrolling through social media.“

„Mh...“ He tangled himself with you on the furniture and watches how you swipe away quickly some pics of other boys on your instagram.

„Wait a second!“ He takes your phone and you slightly panick when he gets back to the boy that posted a pic of him with his six pack and your mate frowns.

„You like that?“

„Me? What? No!“

„Then why’re you following him?“ Suddenly a text message pops up and you gulp when you see it is from Yun Ho. What did that dick want?!

youknowthehoeyunho: still sticking with that stick? if you’re down for a real man come to my place tonight ;) party xx

„The fuck?! Baby, do you think I am not manly enough?“

„No! I don’t know why he writes me shit like that! I swear I don’t have a clue! And you know that I love you!“

You grabbed the phone back from him and deleted the message and put it away.

You tried to cuddle into Yeo Sang‘s chest but the boy was in deep thoughtful and suddenly stood up to grab his car keys.

„Where are you going?“

„Training with San and Min Gi.“

You facepalmed and tried to reach out for him but he was too fast and out of the door before you could stop him.

Stupid instagram...

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c h o i s a n

Of course San started his journey to get a potion that would heal you. It was a hard way but he was lucky that he found a witch that took quite the... liking in him.

„You should be fast if you want to heal her. Although this can destroy the spell your species tends to be blended quite easily...“ She laughed at him and San‘s knuckles turned white.

„I will safe her.“

Back to the house he frantically searched for you but he was stopped when he heard a groan from upstairs.

„Seong Hwa?! Shit, what happened? Where’s she?!“

„I am s-sorry, San. He - he got her.“

Finally she was back in his arms. The beauty herself (y/n) was kissing Hong Joong ravishly and he could swear his heart stopped a beat at the feeling.

„Tonight I will take what’s mine.“ His orbs turned into a golden color while he analyzed your faze. His fingers carefully touched your swollen lips from the kiss and he smirked.

„I am already yours.“

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s o n g m i n g i

The doctors were visiting you everyday but you were very weak after the attack of Seong Hwa. The wolf inside of you tried to heal you but it took a long time.

Min Gi visited you as often as possible and he decided to speak to his alpha about the incident.

„I know Min Gi but we cannot declare a war because of one thing.“

„One thing?! He wanted to kill my mate!“

„I know! It’s not that I don’t think Park Seong Hwa should meet consequences for his actions. You know about our problems with the other pack. We have to be careful also for our brothers and sisters!“

„You’re right, alpha.“

„I think we should - “ A call stopped the alpha to talk further and Min Gi didn’t stop pacing around the office.

„Oh, okay. That’s very good to hear. I - I know we have problems but thank you.“

„Who was it?“

„It was the alpha of the shadow pack. He said that they kicked Seong Hwa out so now he’s a rogue...“

„They really did? Gosh, I would’ve never guessed they would do that.“

„Yeah, me neither... but I think he knows the risk they would’ve been under in a war. Many other packs would’ve helped us because of our reason.“

„I am glad...“

„Yes, but... Min Gi. Park Seong Hwa is now a rogue. He doesn’t follow the law anymore and he’s got nothing to lose. We need to protect our borders in case he’s coming back.“

And he would come back.

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j u n g w o o y o u n g

„That fucking asshole! If he just came a little bit later I would’ve been able to - “

Hong Joong smirks at his friend.

„Been able to what?“

„To do everything that little bitch could only dream of...“

„I thought you weren’t interested in her?“

„Nah, but I know it would drive Woo Young insane.“

„Then we get them and let him watch?“

„How would that even be possible?“

„I know someone who might help us.“ Hong Joong smiles mischievously at his friend. He didn’t care about Woo Young and that mate of his but if it got them the final push to start a war it was worth it.

„Okay!“

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c h o i j o n g h o

„Yah! Wouldn’t thought you would pull so at this years competition!“

„For gods sake fuck off Min Gi.“

Min Gi‘s friends joined the little disput and soon other competitors came to watch.

„I really have a question, Jong Ho. Your mate is taller than you, right? Does she help you at shopping to reach the higher shelves?“ Many wolves laughed at that and Jong Ho‘s head started to become really red.

„Just by a few centimeters!“

„Hahaha! So it’s true! Well, no wonder she’s been hanging out with other boys...“

„She didn’t!“

„Well, how about another bet? If you win I will leave you and your model girl alone.“

„And if you win?“

„One night with her so she’s able to hug someone without bending down for once.“

Fucker.

„Alright.“ If looks could kill Min Gi sure would be dead by now. Jong Ho wouldn’t loose this competition.

„Oh my god! Did your hear already? Song Min Gi and Choi Jong Ho have a bet again!“

You had to spit the water out you were just about to swallow.

„Choi Jong Ho!“

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↺ back to navi

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pictures from twitter ateez official

#ateez reaction #ateez x reader #ateez au #ateez wolves #ateez werewolf #ateez fic #ateez fanfic #ateez fanfiction #ateez writing #ateez wolf #ateez wolf au #ateez werewolf au #ateez reactions

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just-mebs · 3 years ago

Text

@tf2hungry replied to your post “Yo if any of my followers ship engiescout AND are...”spill the beaaaans

okay okay okay okay most of this is going to be copied pasted from my dms with a friend but ESSENTIALLY:

Note: I never played past the first part of Cyberpunk 2077 because my computer kept crashing and corrupting my save file :') so I know like just a little bit + what I've also seen but this doesn't follow canon just like kisses it on the forehead.

[Post-editing me here 👋this got really long so enjoy the Read More]

In this AU, if you would call it that, Engie isn't necessarily a "terrorist" like Johnny but def not the greatest guy in the world. I think of him as being a private non-Corp cyberware inventor, makes his own from scratch and makes them GOOD. What I think happens is that some Corp wants him for his designs, but he refuses, and they decide to take him out so he won’t be a competitor. Before they do this however, Engie makes himself a new "body" and intends to move his consciousness to it, but something goes wrong, and he is instead locked into this chip for a few decades.

The Corp in question gets a hold of the chip and holds onto it like a trophy or something, haven't work all this out just yet, but after many years you get Scout.

Scout, much like V, is a netrunner. Just doing odd jobs here and there to support his ma before getting this big job similar to the one V and Jackie get and essentially everything is the same to that point. Scout gets the chip in him, nearly gets killed, and now Engie is like in his head much like Johnny is in V's.

((As this is where I left off in the game this is kind of where I stop following CP2077's story jsyk))

I don't have much, like story wise, here but essentially what happens is that you have Scout, who isn't the smartest guy in the world - like street smarts are his thing not books, has to share this brain with Engie who is a fucking genius and they start out hating each other.

Scout hates Engie because, well to put it bluntly, Engie is going to steal his body (his consciousness is going to die). I also like to think that Engie is super unsympathetic in the beginning, Engie is like "lol loser I deserve this body more than you. What have you done for the world that I haven't done 1000x over”?

Like Engie in the beginning is just waiting for the switch to finish (which in cp2077 is like 6 months but this can be more or less time), and every time Scout goes to do something (because he's both trying to find a way to stop this while also trying to enjoy the last of his life) he's like "don't do that this is my body too >:((" and is kind of being a massive prick but this is like his original plan coming together finally just not in the way he originally planned it to. Oh, and just to be clear Engie doesn't like, think Scout isn't worth living because he "isn't smart enough" but rather thinks of this in the analytical way of "sacrifice one person to save many" as he believes that his intentions could help many people/ he can take down the Corp that did this to him to begin with.

Over the time they are forced to spend together they of course learn so much about each other (and eventually fall in love, but that isn't until later).

Engie gets to see the world through Scouts eyes. Engie, who was so engulfed in his inventions never had friends or really a family. He's not used to these kind of relationships and this amount of love, yet here is Scout spending everyday with the people he cares about (and who care for him too). He gets to experience these feelings, possibly for the first time, and at first he believes he's feeling the endorphins from Scout's own brain but he's watching scout, who isn't impacting the world on a global scale, be so impactful to the people around him and like 100% scout has his enemies but his friends and family are so so close to him and Engie slowly falls in love with this man who has the worst hand in life still have so much love around him o(-(

And then you have Scout who will get flashes of Engie's memories every so often. He'll see Engie's life and his experiments and inventions and how much Engie cared to make the perfect cyberware for his clients. All Scout knows is this mean guy who's taking over his body slowly but surely, but every time he closes his eyes he sees this hard working, smart, a little goofy, man who pours all his time and energy into his stuff and just falls in love slowly with him. Engie is like constantly down his neck about not doing anything "stupid" or "dangerous" but in the end it's Engie who's helping him out of these tough situations and Scout just has to admire everything about this guy even though he knows he'll going to die because of him.

You would think that by sharing a body/brain it would be really fast/easy for them to figure out that they are in love with each other, but I think that by the time they ARE in love with each other it's getting hard to figure out who’s is who’s in terms of emotions. At this point they are an amazing team, Scout's one of the best runners around, his physical skills paired with Engie's smarts works so much better they could ever imagine considering they went from enemies to lovers’ best friends.

In the end, when they do finally realize they are both in love with each other it’s too late to stop the switch. It's either Scout or Engie and they argue about it each wanting the other to live instead and it’s so heart wrenching o(-( in the end Scout agrees to be the one to keep existing - only for at the last second to switch on Engie who goes on to take full control. Engie is so so so so distraught by all of this but goes on to do what he promised Scout to do (this could be either him taking out the Corp who started this all or some other really important thing that I haven't thought of because this AU has existed for maybe 2 days).

He does it, whatever he has to do, but now more than ever does he feel so so so sad over losing Scout. He wants Scout to be the one celebrating with him, and it’s such a sick kind of punishment to listen to his own voice, look at his own reflection, and see Scout there knowing it’s not really him.

The story could end here, of course, but I would like to have a happy ending. I don't know how, but Engie is a genus and if he can implant his consciousness onto a chip, he can find a way to get Scout back. And he does, he brings Scout back and with the help of a ripperdoc transfers his consciousness into a different body and !!!! They get to live happily ever after 🥺😭😭😭💞

Other things about this AU:

Medic is/was Engie's ripperdoc and becomes Scout's after him and Engie start sharing a body because Engie doesn't trust Scout's original one.

There are two Spy's in this AU. Only one of them is Scout's dad. If you ask them, they both will say no. Mama Scout is the only one to really know but she won’t tell either.

Mama Scout also receives two bouquets of flowers every week, one red one blue, so who can really know.

Blue Spy is a fixer, known for taking out any runners who try to double cross him. Only begins to employee Scout after learning that him and Engie are sharing the same brain/body.

Red Spy is a solo, doing his own jobs separately. Scout runs into him quite a bit before and after him and Engie are together and saves their ass on more than one occasion but never sticks around long enough for Scout to figure out what he's up to.

I haven't figured out a place for the other mercs yet, but I want to eventually I just don't know enough Cyberpunk lore to place them lmao.

Thank you for reading this stupid long post if you did lol I just needed to get all these thoughts out

#SORRT THIS TOOK FOREVER TO TYPE UP IN A COHERENT WAY #I didnt know I had so many thoughts #this is the extra long version compared to what i sent to pinkhairedsniper tbh #tf2 au #not gonna tag this with much else bc i know its long and probably confusing #but i will tag it with #engiescout #bc its the only thing that matters here #otp.scatterbrains

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kenganparadise · 4 years ago

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hello!! i’ve been a big fan for a while and love your writing 🥺 i’m digging the yujiro x reader stuff, so would it be ok if i asked for yujiro with a s/o that is more on the muscular side and can hold her own against most of the other rai tai competitors please? (if you can somehow make nsfw headcanons for the muscular part that would be amazing, if not don’t worry about it) 💖

Thank you so much for requesting and thank you for the support!! I hope you enjoy!!

Warning: slight NSFW

Yujiro-

• Yujiro loves a strong partner. He’s naturally attracted to stronger people. It was probably your strength and muscular physique that cought his attention in the first place.

• Watching you fight is a major turn on for him. Watching you fight or work out drives him wild. Seeing you be able to hold your own in the Rai Tai and putting someone in their place excites him immensely.

• He likes that he can be a little bit rougher with you, he doesn’t have to worry about you breaking easily. He enjoys a lover that can put up a fight against him. However if you get too cocky he’ll definitely put you in your place.

• Its said that Yujiro has many children. He’s looking to grow his bloodline even more. He’d want to see your strength and his combined into one. He’s got a bit of a breeding kink, no doubt.

• To Yujiro, strength is beauty, and Yujiro acknowledge that you are incredibly beautiful.

#baki the grappler x reader #grappler baki #baki the grappler #yujiro hanma

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lesbianlovelanguage · 4 years ago

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YOUTUBER AU I’m such a fucking sucker for those. It can be anything you want really. Maybe they are friends doing a challenge or something and they end up kissing (or more ;)) or they could meet each other at like a creator even and take a pic together and everyone starts to ship them... :)

HI! Anon I am so sorry, life has been *general handwaving* a MESS. But, I’ve finally gotten most of my shit together and look! A fic! Finally!!! I hope you enjoy two ridiculous boys being ridiculous.

---

“You guys asked for it, and here it is. The explanation to Bendy and the Ink Machine! Now, I’ve watched a ton of playthroughs of this, especially The RatKing’s, as well as played through it myself, and I think I’ve got it.”

Such a simple statement, it made it through both of the editors as well as Steve and Dustin themselves without raising any red flags. But as with everything, once it had been released on the internet it became fuel for fans to break apart and over analyze.

The comments started pouring in, the standard mix of support and people trying to break apart his theory. But one comment in particular would stand out and begin something so much bigger than itself.

Twenty minutes after Steve had pressed upload, someone with the username Random Hoe posted a comment saying Awe! A collab between you and Billy would be totes amazing!! While an innocent comment in itself, it began to pick up steam as people ranted and demanded for the two popular youtubers to interact more. It turned from video ideas to outright shipping within two hours, and only five hours after the video had been up, people began tagging Steve on Twitter with everything from edited screen grabs to fanart and video edits, all about Steve and Billy’s secret yet undying love for each other.

Steve had almost quit Youtube as the fanbase for what had been dubbed “Stilly” steadily grew and became all the more ravenous. There were less and less comments and reactions to his theories, whether movie, video game, or even book related, and more and more comments about how he needed to do a collab with Billy ASAP, and how he’s queerbaiting, and how it’s okay to come out, it was 20Gayteen after all. He had tried to do damage control, but it only made things worse.

And then someone showed Billy, and Steve not only wanted to quit Youtube, but also crawl under a rock.

Billy’s only reaction to someone sending him a picture of Steve and Billy during a live stream was “Nice art, like the hair,” but Steve could have sworn his mouth twitched down in a grimace before Billy recovered his composure.

But Dustin had convinced Steve to keep going, and with two months of no recognition or new content, the frenzy of Stilly shipping died down. It never disappeared, but no one sent anymore art to Billy and stopped tagging Steve in all of their posts. That had been in February.

Vidcon was in June, and Stilly was the least of Steve’s worries. He’d been asked to host a panel on the new game show he and Dustin had begun hosting on Youtube TV about pop culture trivia, and then host a live episode with various Youtube guests as competitors. It promised to be relatively simple, a simple explanation of the origin and behind-the-scenes and a simple Q&A session followed by what he spent every Thursday doing for the past two months. And it was, him and Dustin breezing through the panel bouncing off of each other and the first round of Did You Know? You Don’t Say? flying by as the famed beauty guru aced almost every question. But once the second guest stepped on stage, Steve knew it was all going to go to shit.

Because Billy Hargrove, The Rat King himself, swaggered out on the stage in flip flops and an Everlast crop top and flopped into the contestant’s chair with a smirk. Steve froze, mouth suddenly drier than a desert.

Luckily, Dustin didn’t even stutter. “Ah! The next victim. Should we go easy on him?” He waggled his eyebrows as he asked the audience. The audience shouting brought Steve out of his daze, and with a shake of his head, he turned and spread his arms out wide.

“Well then, let’s begin. So, Billy, Do you know what the rarest MnM color is?”

The cocky smirk melted off of Billy’s face, replaced by one of thoughtful determination. He’s silent for only a moment before he looks up and says, “Brown, like your eyes, Pretty Boy.” Steve feels his pale skin flush with heat, but he coughs and tries to play it off.

“Quite the charmer there, Rat King. Luckily, your lines are actually true. One point! Let’s see it!” He calls out and then looks behind him to the television screen currently displaying the scoreboard. A large blocky 1 appears and the audience cheers.

“Alrighty then,” Dustin says after the crowd dies down. “Next question. Billy, Do you know the original name of Istanbul?” Billy chuckles, and shakes his head.

“Easy. Constantinople.”

Dustin fake pouts and looks over to Billy. “None of that Rat King charm for me?” The audience laughs, and Billy chuckles before throwing a wink at Dustin.

“Not quite old enough to ride this ride, bud.”

Dustin scoffs and shakes his head, making the curls bounce around wildly. “Whatever you say, old man. You did get it right by the way. Let me see another point!” Dustin mimics Steve and gestures towards the scoreboard which now shows a big, white 2.

“Your turn, Pretty Boy. Give me something hard.”

“Alright. Let’s see.” Steve pretends to look over his notes before seeing the perfect question. “So, Billy, Do you know which two American states don’t observe daylight savings time?” Billy stares blankly at Steve. This was the final question in their lineup, but he had asked for a hard question.

Luckily, Billy recovers quickly and clears his throat before giving another chuckle. “Damn, I know I said give me a hard one, but I wasn’t expecting that. I’m gonna go with Hawaii and Alaska?” Steve shakes his head and gives a small sigh.

Dustin gives a little cheer, and then runs over to a table off to the side of the stage where they have a cue card that the contestant has to read off of if they lose. It was Dustin’s idea, the You don’t say? part of the title. It’s his favorite part of the show, because they get to see their contestants say some ridiculous things.

“Well, unfortunately, that was incorrect,” Steve announces over the booing audience. “And, following the rules, you now have to read whatever is on this card.” Dustin hands Billy the cue card with a wicked grin.

Billy sighs and flips over the card. There’s a moment of silence as he reads over what the card says, and then he looks up at Steve and clears his throat.

“Would a Pretty Boy want to go out with me?” He says in a clear voice, gaze never leaving Steve’s.

Suddenly too many things for Steve to process happen at once. He feels the heat return to his cheeks and his mouth dry out again, the audience goes wild, and a buzzer sounds, signaling that they were out of time for Did You Know? You Don’t Say? Dustin comes through and pushes a frozen Steve off-stage, where Billy is waiting in the wings. With the audience’s weighty gaze gone, the feeling returns to Steve all at once.

“What the hell man? What was that out there?” He hissed at Billy. The man simply shrugs and gives another one of his trademark smirks.

“Just giving the people what they want, Princess. Try to keep up.” And then he turns around, and walks away. Simple as that. Nothing to it.

Steve wants to scream. Fortunately, he and Dustin have been friends for years, and he knows all of Steve’s tics by now. The stagehands shoo them from the wings, and he pulls Steve through one of the backdoors to outside the convention center. Somehow, he also procures a water bottle in the hustle, and hands it to Steve once they’re both sitting on the steps outside. Steve takes the water bottle gratefully and chugs half of it in one long gulp. He pulls it away and wipes at his face before sighing. He seems to deflate, like a balloon losing all of its helium at once, and Dustin puts an arm around him. It’s awkward because he’s shorter than Steve, but it’s still comforting nonetheless.

“Penny for your thoughts?” Dustin asks quietly.

“I- I’m so stupid. For just a second I thought it was real, but why would it be? What would someone like him see in someone like me?” Dustin lets out a huff before pulling away and turning towards Steve.

“Steve, buddy, pal o’ mine. You’re an idiot. If anything, he doesn’t deserve you. He’s a pompous ass for pulling a stunt like that. It’s bullshit.”

“He could have anyone. Between his paycheck and his pecs, he’s one of Youtube’s hottest content creators.”

“Yeah, sure. But for the sake of alliteration, he also lacks personality. The guy’s a huge dick! And he proved it today. He knew that you wouldn’t shut him down and bitch him out on stage, so he thought it would be funny to pull that shit.”

“Yeah, he is kind of just a publicity-seeking asshole, you’re right,” Steve admits, feeling a little better, and a lot angrier. “You know what, Dusty-Poo? I’m gonna find him, and give him a piece of my mind.” He stands up, itching for a fight and knowing who to go find for one.

“Tha-that’s not exactly what I meant but sure! Go knock him down a peg.” Dustin stands up as well and follows Steve back onto the main showfloor.

It takes about twenty minutes to find Billy amongst the crowd but Steve sees him, and locks in like a tiger stalking his prey. Or something cool like that. Thankfully, Steve doesn’t have to make a huge scene as he walks up to Billy and gets in his face.

“You. Me. Conference Room 3. Now,” Steve says, poking a finger in the middle of Billy’s chest to emphasize his point. Billy chuckles, but still follows along as they walk into the empty conference room. Once they clear the doors and Steve hears them swing shut behind them, he turns to Billy.

“Explain. What the fuck was the point of that little,” he wavs his hand around, “stunt you pulled during the game show?”

Billy raises an eyebrow. “Told you Pretty Boy. I gave the people what they wanted.

“So that’s it? It was a publicity stunt?”

“You tell me. You’re the one who started the whole thing,” Billy shoots back, still holding on to an air of nonchalance, but Steve can his patience waning.

“You- you mean the stuff from February? When I happened to mention you in one video? You think I meant for that shitstorm to start, for fun and publicity?”

Billy only shrugs again.

“Okay. Nope. Again, I mentioned your channel one time, as a source. Gave credit where credit was due. I do it for all the channels I watch! I’ve mentioned Nancy’s channel like 8 times, and Jonathan’s too. Never had this shit started with them.”

“They’re married, Steve. Like super married. Of course it wouldn’t. We’re both single, queer youtubers. Of course shit’s gonna stop. Didn’t your agent or whoever look over your video?”

Steve huffs. “Oh yeah, let me just go hire an agent, cause I have such a need for someone to monitor my every move,” Steve snarked. Billy just looked at him like he had failed to add 2 and 3.

“You’re telling me you, part of one of the biggest channels on Youtube, don’t have an agent?”

“We’re not one of the biggest channels, and we’ve never needed one! We’ve got our team of editors and assistants, no need for some agent.”

“Steve,” Billy says patiently, like he was explaining something to a child, “You have over 4 million subscribers. That’s a big channel.”

“We’re still not one of the biggest channels, dipshit.”

“Oh, I'm the dipshit? I didn’t start a fucking fandom frenzy apparently by accident. Because I was smart and got a fucking agent.”

“You’re such an asshole.”

“Whatever you say Princess.”

“Stop fucking calling me a princess!” Steve screams, voice booming in the silent conference room. “Why do you do that? Pretty Boy, Princess, Stevie? Just- just stop with the fucking nicknames. It’s not fair.” The second part of his outburst comes out as a whisper, sounding almost desperate.

Billy was at a loss for words, but then again, he had always been more of a man of action.

So he says nothing, only gives a seconds’ thought of what he was going to do, before lunging forward and doing it.

Steve’s next words are muffled as Billy crashes their lips together with absolutely no finesse, teeth clacking. It probably constituted as the worst kiss Billy has ever had, but as he moves back, Steve grabs a fist full of blond locks and pulls him forward. Their

second kiss is far better. By no means is it soft, but that was just par for the course with them wasn’t it?

The kiss comes to a natural ending as they both pull back to breath, before Steve starts to giggle.

“You really need to work on your pick-up lines, Rat King.”

A soft gasp from the doorway cuts off Billy’s retort, and they both turn to see a girl decked out in Youtube merch, including a jacket with the Upside Down Theories logo on it. She had dropped her backpack, and was open-mouthed gaping at the two. Her eyes are as wide as dinner plates as she frantically gathers up her backpack and shoots out of the conference room.

“Chances that this blows up online by tomorrow?” Steve asks, turning to the blond next to him.

“I’m betting in the next two hours, Pretty Boy,” Billy replies.

A wicked smirk creeps onto Steve’s lips as he shrugs and says, “Oops. What was that about getting an agent to help with this stuff?”

---

Aside from this taking FOREVER, I hope you guys enjoy this! It was tons of fun to write.

tag team: @lostnoise @gideongrace @stevefuckingharrington @a-magey @catharrington @trashycatarcade @myboyfriendsteve @thesummerof84 @lightsupinthenorth @smashmouth-hargrove (lmk if you would like to be added/removed from the list!)

#tay writes #AGAIN FINALLY #harringrove #billy hargrove #steve harrington #stranger things #youtuber au #anon asks #tons of fun to write!!!

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