#she set a price because she wanted people to be able to afford it and tm really said ‘dyn/amic pricing isnt something they can contest to!’

[rubenesque-as-fuck]

Anyway I got notified that I'll be getting a nice $$ bonus from work today and I wish that I could celebrate with someone in a way that didn't just feel like obnoxious bragging. Like beyond the financial aspect, it's just nice to be recognized for good work and I actually feel... good?? about this job??

But it feels so silly to say I want to celebrate when I just got back from what felt like my first real vacation in a very long time and am doing cool comic con stuff this weekend and am scheduled for a new tattoo next weekend. I am already doing lots of things to try to make myself feel good! It feels selfish to want more!

But I guess even with all of that, there's just still a hunger for external validation from trusted sources. Will I ever grow out of wanting someone to be proud of me?

[ms-demeanor]

I've been following what's been going on with Belphie the kitten and his person, Greer Stothers, has just mentioned pet insurance in a tag on a post and I wanted to give an example from my life backing up why pet insurance can be a good idea and why I think it is worthwhile.

Two years ago my sister's dog had bloat while she was on vacation. The kennel he was staying at recognized symptoms and called my sister to clear them to take him to the emergency vet. My sister is very financially secure and this dog is an enormous part of her life, so she said yes with barely a moment of hesitation. That ended up being about twelve thousand dollars of emergency surgery.

Large Bastard and I got pet insurance for Tiny Bastard the same week because we realized that if someone had presented that option to us, we would have had no choice but to have Tiny Bastard put down, and we didn't want to be put in that position.

I did a lot of research about different kinds of pet insurance and different levels of coverage and annual maximums and deductibles and so on and so forth. Tiny Bastard is a senior dog, so this was going to be expensive no matter what options we went with, so I chose a moderately priced plan with a $500 annual deductible, unlimited annual coverage, that pays 80% of the bills incurred annually below the maximum. What that means is that we pay the first $500 of care totally out of pocket, after which point we are reimbursed 80% of any vet bills for care covered by the plan.

The first year we had this plan I was kind of iffy about it. It's a noticeable monthly expense and we didn't even spend the deductible in vet bills the first year. Except that a month before the policy was set to renew, Tiny Bastard got diagnosed with diabetes. We now have monthly insulin costs and syringe costs; there are tests she has to have regularly to monitor her overall condition and we need to do more frequent vet visits to track symptoms.

Suddenly the insulin alone means that the insurance is break-even within six months and the additional visits and tests are something we can afford instead of something we'd have to put on credit.

Our plan (through ManyPets) covers medication, surgery, diagnostics, medical equipment, and euthanasia and cremation. It doesn't cover pre-existing conditions, joint conditions for dogs who were signed up over a certain age, dental care, spay/neuter, vaccinations, or prescription food but honestly all of that makes me just kind of wish we'd signed her up earlier - her knee problems *would* be covered if we'd had her signed up as a puppy, and the monthly cost would have been lower if we'd signed her up then. And there are at least a few emergency vet bills that I wouldn't still be paying off on my credit card. Hell, I've probably paid more in interest on some bruising she got in a fight three years ago than I have for this policy as a whole.

I am glad that Greer is able to take care of Belphie. I am glad that my sister was able to take care of her dog. But I'm also really, really glad that for a relatively low cost, I would be able to take care of Tiny Bastard if she were catastrophically injured, or if she needed emergency surgery. I'm glad that I'm able to take care of her now with her medications and her additional vet visits.

There are a lot of people who say that pet insurance isn't worth it, especially not for young animals. But if your young animal gets very sick, or gets badly injured, or eats a hairband and needs an emergency endoscopy, then it will probably be VERY worth it. It's a risk/reward question. You feel like you're wasting money if you're paying for a policy that you never use, but honestly that just means you're lucky to have a healthy pet.

I'm lucky that Tiny Bastard was relatively healthy before I got the insurance; I'm also lucky that she was insured when she was diagnosed with a chronic illness that will need lifelong care. This enables me to provide care for her that would otherwise be financially unmanageable, and that makes the insurance *extremely worth it* from my perspective.

And Belphie is a good example of why it's a good idea to get coverage even for very young pets. Greer is recommending it because this kitten has required a tremendous amount of care during a period in his life when it's generally taken for granted that a cat will be healthy. (And Greer is not stupid for forgoing pet insurance - pet insurance is still a relatively new concept and there are lots of people who are leery of it for a number of good reasons)

So I'd say that if you've got a pet or are getting a pet it is very worthwhile to find a pet insurance plan that fits in your budget. There are a variety of plans out there and some are very inexpensive. Check coverage levels (you can even get some with wellness plans that include dental care and vaccinations) and see if there's something that works for you.

I personally don't think I'm ever going to own another pet without having pet insurance. It's ridiculous how much easier it is for me to say yes to diagnostic tests or different treatments than it was before because I know I'm going to be able to fit Tiny Bastard's care into our budget.

[shatteredfears-arch]

it took hours but i got them cries

[xztloux]

hey pookie butt 😈 got a bill request for you

okay so like im thinking reader comes from a family that isn't too wealthy so she refrains from buying expensive things for herself. but like adores gift giving so she won't hesitate to spend money on anyone else or will make them something by hand.

So one day Bill comes home with a pretty pricey gift he spent so long picking out for her and gives her a card and flowers along with it. and she's all "omg did I get our anniversary wrong?" and starts panicking and apologizes and asks him what the special occasion is. So when he tells her it's not a special occasion she's like, "But why?" and he's like "...just because....i felt like it? Do I really need a reason?"🧍 and she's so touched and starts crying cause no one had ever done something like that for her. and like basically just fluff after that yk? thats all, THANK YOU SO MUCH IF YOU DO THIS RAHHH

-smoopsy poops! ☝️😻

︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿

▸ content warnings: none I don’t think?

▸ summary: bill surprises you and you get a little emotional

▸ A/N: who ever sent this in one, I love your energy 😭, two, THIS IS SO CUTE.

︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿

Today was a friends of yours birthday tomorrow and you loved giving people gifts so it was like Christmas came early for you. You had made these beautiful pink paper roses with “happy birthday” written on the petals since your friend loves flowers you thought it was be a nice thoughtful surprise. Honestly making gifts by hand or getting little thoughtful gifts for people was your specialty, you came from a family that didn’t have the biggest bank account and when you were younger you couldn’t afford to buy your friends “proper” (there is no proper gift in my opinion) presents for birthdays, Christmas etc.

So here you are now at your dining table finishing up the last petal before putting it into a gift bag ready to give it to them tomorrow. As you were you heard the front door open and bill walk into the kitchen. “I’m back love.” He said sounding excited and happy. “Hey.” You shouted back, before you felt a pair of hands over your eyes. “Bill, babe, what are you doing?” You giggled smiling at his little act.

“Nothing, just need you to stand up close your eyes and follow me.” He smiled grabbing your hands gently pulling you up from the dining room table. “Oh no..” you giggled in a teasing way. “Oh shut up and close your eyes.” Bill chuckled softly pulling you towards the kitchen. “Okay okay eyes closed.” You smiled closing your eyes as you felt bill lead you to kitchen, placing you at the kitchen island. “Okay wait there.” He said you could practically hear the excitement in his voice. You heard the sound of something being pulled out of a bag. “Okay okay open!” He says sounding very happy.

You open your eyes looking down at the kitchen island seeing a small bouquet of all your favorite flowers and a big white expensive looking box sat next to it. You were gobsmacked and hesitated. “Go on, open it.” Bill said with the biggest grin on his face as he handed you the box. You opened the box to find a three piece set of jewellery. A beautiful sliver diamond necklace along with a matching ring and bracelet, before you could say anything bill jumped in not being able to contain his excitement. “Do you like it? It’s the same one I saw you looking at the other night.” He smiled very happily. It’s true this was the set you’d been wanting forever but the price always put you off, it was to expensive.. and bill brought it for you.

“I..I..” you didn’t know what to say, you were at a loss for words, all you felt was tears forming in your eyes. Bill saw this and his fave a immediately dropped. “What’s wrong? Do you not like it?” He asked frantically. “..no no I love it.” You said softly tears running down your cheeks. “Then why are you crying my love?” He asked whipping your tears. “Because.. nobody’s done this for me before..” you said a small smile on your face. “Well…” Bill giggles softly. “You better get used to it now that you’re with me.” He grinned wrapping his arms around your waist. You laughed gently smiling up at him, before he kissed you.

[sno4wy]

Did you seriously drop that much money to try to make your awful ship more valid? Guess what? You didn't, hope you enjoyed wasting a ton of money. It doesn't matter how much money you pay, you and your lame friends will always be the only ones who prefer your fugly builder with Miguel. Just give it up and go jump off a bridge already.

Hey Anon, based on the three messages you sent me today, it seems that my sharing of my commission from Momodeary in the official Pathea Discord server really upset you. Your rage felt really familiar to me, and I thought about this a lot about why. I'm going to hazard a guess that you're lashing out at me more than usual because of the price aspect, especially for something that seems so frivolous. I get it -- I grew up in abject poverty, and I harbored a lot of rage about it both directly and indirectly for many years. It really sucks not having the money to do what you need, or even what you want, and it can feel like having salt rubbed into the wound when someone else shows off some pricey non-necessity that they got. Everyone deserves to get what brings them joy, as long as it isn't something that causes harm to others, and it sucks that capitalism/corporations/societal structure/etc make most people unable to attain that. I sincerely hope that things improve for you.

I'm fortunate now to do well enough for myself that I can afford a pricey commission like the one that I shared. I got the commission because I like Momodeary's art style, it's not a style that I see myself personally doing, and I'm making it up to myself now for all the things that I couldn't do in the past. I wouldn't be so presumptuous as to say it was to support the artist, as she has tons of clients and certainly didn't need my money, I'm really lucky to have been able to get a slot with her. If you have the means to do so and want to, I really suggest contacting her directly -- the worst thing she can say is no, but more likely is that she'll put you on an (admittedly long) waitlist. The point is, if you're upset about not being able to get a commission from her, don't write it off until you try. Worse comes to worst, she can't fit you in, but there are tons of skilled artists out there with similar styles that you can commission instead. It's ok though if you have your heart set on Momodeary, most artists are very accommodating as long as the client is understanding and willing to wait.

If your anger has to do with not being able to afford a commission from Momodeary, I'm really sorry about that. There are some ways that I can help, if not directly to get you a commission, but perhaps means to address the funds shortage issue. I managed to claw my way out of poverty, and in the process picked up more than a few ideas and tricks, however at the end of the day, there is no magical get rich quick scheme, and everything that you hear about how to find a job is sadly mostly true. For instance, a good resumé is an integral part to finding a job, and a big part of what makes a resumé good is proper formatting. Having gone from someone who sent out hundreds of resumés to someone who's had to review hundreds of resumés, I can tell you that so much of the time, it's a lot less about the contents of the resumé and more about its appearance. Countless qualified, heck, overqualified, people get turned down for positions because their resumés don't even get looked at. I'm happy to look over a resumé if you'd like, and of course I'd understand if you need to anonymize most of it before showing me. Please note that it is sadly the case that having a good resumé, or in many cases, all the correct qualifications, don't necessarily guarantee you a job. Connections are at least, if not more, important, so don't be shy about asking for help from friends and family in this aspect.

Finding and securing a job can be a long-term project though, so picking up some side hustles might be a good way to generate some income, especially as you can keep these side hustles after finding a job. A lot of people have even done so well with their side hustles that they were able to make them into their careers. I'm happy to make suggestions, but I'm afraid that my knowledge is chiefly confined to the US and my ideas may not be applicable or workable in other countries. I have found however that a fairly universal way to generate some income via a side hustle is through selling crocheted items. Crochet is very quick and easy to learn and master, and yarn is very cheap, especially if you get store brands like Joann's Big Twist. Red Heart Super Saver is also very cheap yarn that comes in a ton of colors. There are countless free patterns on the internet, and ones that aren't free tend to be pretty cheap, generally within the $5 range. It is totally legal to sell the stuff you make from purchased patterns; some patterns even explicitly state that this is the case. The best part about crochet is that you can do it while doing other stuff, like commuting to your job, watching a show, listening to music, etc. It's totally possible to churn out a ton of crochet animals (amigurumi) in one day. Dipping into fandom stuff by making characters from a certain franchise is a great way to sell crochet products. Another really cool thing is that there doesn't currently exist a way for crocheted items to be mass produced; while there are items that look crocheted, they're actually sewn together pieces and not true crochet. Machines can't currently make crocheted items. Buyers looking for real crochet products want something that only a human can make.

Online marketing tools are also pretty solid. Etsy is the way to go for handmade crafts, although they do take a pretty hefty fee (15%). You can try to cut down on that fee by listing on your own social media, in which case you'd still have to pay a 3-5% handling fee for payment processors, and it can be a pain trying to beat social media algorithms. If you're handy with TikTok, that's a great way to boost awareness of your brand, and you can use those same videos as Reels on Instagram and Facebook to get your accounts noticed faster.

If you're an artist, you could of course always try to go the commissions route, but I've found that this is a much harder uphill battle than trying to break into the scene marketing crochet goods. If you do decide to give crochet a shot, I really recommend investing in a quality hook -- Clover Armour is many crocheters' go-to. They are pricy, around $9 for a hook, but they last forever and they're super comfortable to use. You only need one to start -- I recommend the size G (4.0 mm) one, as that goes with the most common yarn weight for a lot of amigurumi. Big Twist and Red Heart Super Saver are also both Worsted weight yarn, for which you use a G hook. If this is something you really want to do but are really tight on funds, I'm happy to get one of those hooks for you, just tell me how to get it to you.

I have a lot of other ideas for possible side gigs, which all will require a lot of work, but will return income. However, I'd just be spitballing, so hit me up if you want to talk shop. You know where to find me. ;P

[matsunoso]

because you’re also Irish and an Osomatsu fan and idk if anyone else in the fandom would get this I want to share my Osomatsu-san if it was set in Ireland headcanons -

- Karamatsu: talks with a fake D4 accent, idolises Ross O’Carroll Kelly, wears chinos and brown brogues, drinks Bulmers

- Osomatsu: big Guinness fan naturally propping up the pub maybe like half doing a crossword and eating a pack of peanuts

- Choromatsu: wanted to get into TCD to live his Normal People lifestyle but ummm didn’t, claims he’s a fluent gaeilgeoir but only knows how to ask to the toilet in Irish

- Ichimatsu: hung out at central bank in the day

- Jyushimatsu: massively into hurling, wears a Kilkenny jersey a lot but isn’t from there

- Todomatsu: also wanted to get into TCD but didn’t basically lives at Brown Thomas

- Chibita: has a strong cork accent, works in a deli in centra/spar/mace

- Todoko: did Irish dancing as a kid but now is an aspiring influencer

hope you enjoy and sorry

OH THIS IS INCREDIBLE literally never in a million years expected to get an ask like this but i loveeeee it. you're so enlightened like this is genuinely magical i wouldn't change a thing.. love cork chibita love ichimatsu at the central bank GAA JYUSHIMATSU SPEAKS TO ME DEEEEEEEPLYYYY

not a concept i ever pondered myself but thinking about it so much now... influencer wannabe todoko doing hauls from dealz and home savers and mr price (cus she usually can't afford hauls from anywhere else) maybe getting to do one of those ads for swappie just once

in the same vein as choromatsu claiming to be a gaeilgeoir but not actually being able to speak it i imagine like. how karamatsu says random words in english to seem #worldly. he does that with irish instead or like deep cut irish slang/phrases that he would not have grown up with at all and gets them wrong half the time.

choromatsu is definitely in forbidden planet like weekly if not daily. goes in there and then brings whatever manga he bought to that clockwork door place up the road and hopes someone asks him what he's reading

struggling to decide who would be a bigger fiend for elfbars out of osomatsu and karamatsu so i'll just leave that thought there

i want one of them to be obsessed with mooju. i don't know which. all of them probably. especially osomatsu and jyushimatsu i think. they could get the strawberry and banana flavours to match their colours.. imagine.. i think ichimatsu likes the cookies and cream flavour but secretly

thinking about jyushimatsu so hard man like the rest probably stick to dublin/whatever suburb of it they live in just cus they seem the sort to not afford to live in the city centre LMAOOO not in a house with 6 adult kids..... but i know jyushimatsu does be getting on the bus/train every week and just disappearing off all over the country for funsies (he's the only one with an autism diagnosis so he's got that sweet sweet free travel card.) like you know how you get those dubliners that are fucking terrified to leave the county or even just the city because "scary culchies ewww boggers" or whatever. todomatsu is definitely one of those maybe choromatsu too (he pretends not to be scared but he is). osomatsu jokes but doesn't actually care. karamatsu pretends to be #cultured and not scared as well but the furthest he's been is like... skerries. nowhere further than the dart or dublin bus goes. ichimatsu is scared even just in dublin and thinks he's gonna get stabbed like all the time so it's all the same to him

BUT YEAH jyushimatsu goes literally everywhere cities towns parishes villages you name it. maybe brings ichimatsu along with him sometimes cus ichi does wanna go & i bet loves the countryside but is too scared by himself and needs someone to hide behind. jyushi goes to sooooo many GAA matches gaelic footballs ok but as you said MASSIVELY INTO HURLING!!!! one of those lads you see walking around with a hurl in hand nearly everywhere he goes.. got that o'neills mála scoile... i know you said he wears a kilkenny jersey a lot which is another INSPIRED idea but i feel in my heart that he has a galway one too just because he loves supermacs. they all love supermacs. i'm projecting now. also jyushi definitely tears up those greenways he'll do the royal canal one and then detour from mullingar to athlone and at the end still be like when are they gonna finish connecting this up to galway :/

sorry i didn't expect to write this long of a reply you've ignited something evil within me i'm going to be thinking about this forever. thank you SO much you have such a wonderful wonderful brain

[star-going-supernova]

Prompt: it Aint a Glamorous Life, but it will keep you out of jail!

This is tumblr generated prompt number 62! This one had me stumped for a bit, so I tried to go in a really unexpected direction. It’s shorter than my usual, but I’m pleased with how it came out! As you may have noticed with one of my other ficlets, I chose King as Cassie’s last name because I think Cassie King sounds really cool and I haven’t seen any commonly used one, lol.

Blood Money

There was nothing in the world Theodore King wouldn’t do for his daughter. She was all he had after Bridget left. So he’d worked hard, taken any job he could just to stay afloat, and when he discovered his current place of employment was far from clean…

He’d taken the bribe. 

Fazbear Entertainment’s history was stained to begin with, so he hadn’t quite been surprised, exactly. Not about that. How well they’d been hiding it—that’d been the surprising part. 

It wasn’t often, but every now and then, someone got a little nosey. They snooped around and saw something they shouldn’t have. And those sorts of things were secrets that FE really couldn’t afford to let become common knowledge.

Maybe they could’ve been bribed too, except the nosey ones were usually the suspicious ones, the conspiracy theorists, the whistleblowers. They didn’t accidentally stumble on this stuff like Theodore did. They went looking to prove their theories, and they wanted to share their findings. 

And how defiant and proud they were to have been proven right. But only up until they realized they’d doomed themselves. 

Theodore didn’t relish this rare aspect of his job, when code zero came through on his pager. If his fellows thought anything odd about the code that only he ever received, and that he immediately set aside his other work for, they never spoke up about it. Perhaps they, too, had found themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time, only unlike Theodore, they swore only their silence. 

Theodore, rather, had found his silence and cooperation could be bought—at a high price, but one his superiors were willing to pay. Employees like him were hard to come by, apparently. 

There was mutually assured destruction in it now, he knew. If any of this side of FE got out, he’d be arrested as surely as his bosses. His fellows, with their carefully averted eyes, would have no charges brought against them. 

Theodore was the only one who dragged the snoopers down to the rancid trash heap with its hungry dwellers. The pits of bright-eyed, sharp-fingered, “defective” bots. They were like pigs; there was never any evidence left by the time they were through with their victims. 

Rare as it was, it did happen, and it had happened enough times since Theodore got involved that he felt only mild pity and an apathy where once there had been guilt.

In truth, Theodore thought these people to be foolish. Yes, very foolish indeed. They came to the pizzaplex and went digging for bloody secrets. And they found them. Yet they never seemed to consider that an already bloody company would be willing to do bloody things to keep those secrets quiet. 

He took his blood money without remorse. It was hard, being a single father. He needed flexible hours to take care of his young daughter and actually be in her life, and all the high-paying jobs were the sort that demanded twenty-five hours of your day, eight days a week and on Christmas to boot. Before this… arrangement, he’d barely been making ends meet, having to work another job on top of the one at the pizzaplex. 

But doing his superiors’ dirty work payed well. Well enough that he and Cassie lived in a house now, with a backyard and nice neighbors and a bedroom just for Cassie. Well enough that he’d been able to quit the other job and be there for Cassie more. Well enough that Cassie no longer had to worry about kids making fun of her secondhand clothes and worn-out shoes, and could instead feel excited-nervous butterflies about going to camp this summer. 

Theodore King would do anything for his daughter. That included sending people to their deaths at another’s order. He didn’t know if that made him a bad man or not. 

But according to Cassie, he was the world’s best dad. 

He supposed that wasn’t a bad trade off. 

[kariachi]

Oh look, more Jones stuff. First meeting between the grandparents.

~~

Ethan Jones would like to say he was not the sort of man to push his luck. That he had learned from his dad’s early death to take small bites.

He was twenty-three, two train robberies deep, and silently promising to make sure whoever’d snitched never spoke again if Carlos and Ramon didn’t get to them first as he did his best to play cool slipping into a bustling diner.

With any luck small town cops were stupid and he’d properly lost them in back in that library, but that was no reason not to try to blend in. So, he kept it casual, just another joe coming in on his lunch break, or stopping as he passed through, nobody worth looking at or remembering. Threw a little thank you upstairs when he noticed an empty booth- all the better for not being noticed. Didn’t look at anybody, didn’t say anything, just headed straight over and got himself settled into a seat.

The place had to be well staffed or run like a machine because he’d swear not sooner had he let himself breathe than there was a waitress setting a menu down in front of him.

“Welcome, how you doing today?” And what a waitress. Young woman had to be at least as tall as him, broad and fat, tan skin, black hair in a ponytail. He couldn’t have kept himself from smiling if he’d wanted to.

“Better now I’m here,” he said, and it hadn’t been a lie even before he’d seen her. There was security in a crowd, and lunch crowds were distracted crowds at that. Fuck, there’d been a year he’d been able to buy Spenc a store cake like he liked for his birthday, though he’d told Ma he’d got the money helping the old man down the street, like she hadn’t known he was lying. “Think you could start me off with a coffee? Been a long morning.”

“Of course.” She’d smiled back at him as she left, one he let himself think might not just be polite, and he turned to the menu. Reasonable prices, as to be expected for a rural area that needed to be affordable to the blue-collar folks that ate there. The idea of a vegetable sandwich costing the same as a sausage sandwich caught him a moment, but it was the same as all the standard ones, so he at least had to commend the consistency. Already planning to drive himself across state lines that afternoon, probably have to steal a new car or at least a set of plates, Ethan made sure to order a solid meal when she came back. Hamburger deluxe, fries, slice of pie, and a can of pineapple juice since he'd never had pineapple before and she seemed like the sort of classy lady who expected a man to know his way around fruit. Or at least deserved a man who did.

Wasn’t like he couldn’t afford it, even with most of his cut stashed away, and enough sent to his mom and sister, he had enough to cover him for the next while dotted around.

He was thinking about that, what stashes he was going to dig into and which direction to go, alongside the continuous flipping through names for just who he would be hunting down, when the door opened and the volume in the diner dropped. Not a lot, but enough for him to know that whoever had walked in had at least some people’s attention. With a deep breath, he very carefully didn’t turn to look, shuffling as inconspicuously as he could to the side. Shoulda grabbed a fucking paper or something, another layer to hide behind…

The waitress made for the door at an easy pace. Ethan was going to have to remember to swing back around once the heat died down, it kept feeling like his heart was tipping on it’s side.

“Is there a reason you’re blocking the door?”

“Afternoon to you too, Wari. We’re looking for a man, little shorter than you, black hair, wearing jeans, a red shirt, blue jacket?”

“Why don’t you describe the other half of the county while you’re here.”

“Wari.”

“Ronnie. You know I’m right, that could be anybody.”

“Someone new, an out-of-towner.”

“… No. If he’s come in here, he wasn’t at my tables, it’s been regulars the last hour.” This woman was a gift.

“And the other girls?”

“Patty! You seen any out-of-towners this rush, black hair, red shirt?” One other waitress? The place was a well-oiled machine.

“Nope! I’ll tell you if I do!”

“Thank you, ladies. We do appreciate the help.”

“Glad to give it, but next time this needs to happen away from the door.”

“Yeah yeah.”

The door opened again. The door closed. Ethan did not leave his spot. Leaving would be suspicious. Instead he just sat there, drinking his coffee and wishing he had something to read, until his food arrived. He flashed Wari (what a wonderful name) a rakish grin.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” she said, a stern look trying and mostly succeeding to stay on her face. Mostly. “Next time, think you could not bring the cops along? Had enough of Ronnie in school.” He grinned wider (‘next time’) and lifted his coffee in a toast.

“Anything for you, beautiful.” Her cheeks colored as she rolled her eyes, his heart doing a little jig.

“Enjoy your meal, and shout if you need anything.” He needed a lot of things, but those could wait. She just got a nod as she turned and went back to work, the grin still on his face as he watched her go.

If she wasn’t a Jones by the end of the year he was going to cry.

~~

She did become a Jones, it just took three years and giving up the criminal career he’d been working on since he was twelve.

It was an easy exchange.

[xxrainshadowsxx]

Interpersonal Chapter 6

Girls like Shakespeare, right?

It wasn’t an easy thing to come down from such an insane weekend back to the mundane world of work. Of course, people started whispering the second you walked through the doors on Tuesday (you’d mercifully been giving Monday off to recover), but you’d thought ahead and prepared a response. You simply smile at them all and say “Tabloids delight in spreading lies. Mr. Onceler won’t be happy if he learns you’ve been promoting unfounded rumors.” Most of the people you run into on the way to your office have the decency to look abashed.

You only wish you were as calm as you appeared. In truth, you were dreading today because it was filled with the unknown, and because you were all too aware of the fact that something did happen on that trip, a something that you weren’t able to come back from. The first two “incidents” you could brush off as mistakes. They weren’t intentional. Awkward as all hell, yes. Avoidable, absolutely. But not intentional.

Not even you could deny that him kissing you wasn’t intentional. And you couldn’t take the moral high ground either; the second his lips met yours, you were kissing him back like your life had depended on it.

And that meant you had no clue what it was going to be like going to your office today. There were a few options that you’d been mulling over in your head, and you couldn’t for the life of you decide which one was worse.

It could just be that things are awkward for an indefinite amount of time. This wouldn’t be too bad if you weren’t in a work setting; you could simply avoid him. That’s not an option for you here, and you definitely don’t want any awkward feelings to affect your job performance.

Or he could read your very enthusiastic response as a sign that you wanted to continue things. You couldn’t deny that a part of you did, but the consequences would be astronomical. If the two of you were caught, his reputation could probably survive the hit. Yours would not. You could not afford the price of being caught, and that was final.

Of course, there was always the third option, where he actually successfully pretended like it never happened. Logically, you knew this was the best possible solution, but your pride lashed out violently any time you thought about it. It would make you feel as though you were nothing more than a game, a cheap conquest, and would more than likely actually cause you to be the one to bring it up first.

But whatever happened next, the very first thing you’d have to do was walk through the door. And seeing as you’d been standing in front of it for a solid ten minutes already, that was proving easier said than done.

The issue stemmed from the fact that you knew he was in there. It was only a gut feeling, but you just knew you weren’t going to get lucky and he’d be at a meeting today. He was 100% on the other side of that intimidating oak door, probably wondering why you hadn’t shown up yet.

You could always hit what you liked to call your Emergency Button, that being, send a text to your sister saying that she needed to call you faking some kind of family emergency. That would at least allow you to get to your office unbothered. She would do it for you, you’d done it countless times for each other, but she would demand to know why it was necessary. And you didn’t think you could handle her teasing or her proclaiming “I knew it” when she inevitably wrested the truth from you.

There was no other way around this. You were going to have to walk in and let the dice fall where they may. You did this to yourself. And now you had to suffer the fallout.

You push open the doors and slip through them as quietly as you possibly can, trying to make yourself scarce. It’s a noble but futile effort of course; he looks up the second you enter the room and a heat rises to his face the next second. Looks like it was going to be awkward. Alrighty then.

“Hi,” you murmur as you get close enough for him to hear you.

“Hi,” he says back. Oh dear Lord, this was insufferable. You berate yourself for your inability to speak like a normal human being to this man. Pull yourself together. 

“So, do you have anything urgent for me before I get to my regular work?” There, that was good, right? Sure, except for the breathy tone you can’t get your voice to switch out of.

“I don’t have anything yet, but I’ll let you know if something comes up.” He’s speaking in the same way–his words are normal, but his tone is just a bit huskier than usual, and by God if it didn’t make you feel something. You’re not sure what it was, but it was definitely something, and it wasn’t something you should be feeling for your boss. 

“Okay. Sounds good. You know where to find me,” you respond with a small smile, because fuck it, why not at this point. At least he wasn’t trying to make any moves on you. At least, not yet.

For the next couple of weeks, things remained mostly the same. There was awkward politeness for the most part, and when it was just the two of you, there were certainly some moments that might fall under the category of flirting. But you were staying within your boundaries, for once. There was absolutely no physical contact, because you’d proven you couldn’t be trusted not to take it too far when that was an option.

Until one night when you were almost ready to leave. By the way he comes bounding into your office, you just know he’s going to put your newfound restraint to the test. “Do you have a car?” he asks with zero buildup.

“Um, no.” What, was he going to ask you to buy a car now like he wanted you to get a thneed? It was going to take divine intervention to convince you that you needed a car for your work.

He looks confused. “How do you get here then? Do you pay for a ride share everyday?”

“I take the bus, dipshit.” The words are out of your mouth before you know what you’re saying, and you immediately blanche when you realize what you said and, more importantly, who you said it to. “Oh, God, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that,” you apologize, trying to do what damage control you can.

“Oh, don’t worry about it. I like it when you don’t control your mouth around me,” he brushes off. That was another slightly sexual comment that made you raise your eyebrows, but you decided not to press the issue.

“Anyway, why do you need me to have a car? I really hope this isn’t another requirement for work,” you say, trying to change the subject to a more appropriate topic. 

“No, no, of course not. I just wanted to go for a drive,” he explains, but if anything, that just makes you more confused.

“Do you not have a car?” you ask.

“Of course I do. I have eight. I just don’t have any here because I usually have my driver take me.” He gives his usual dramatic sigh. “But sometimes I just wanna get on some backroads and forget about things, you know?”

Oh yes, you knew that feeling. Everyone needed to escape their responsibilities once and a while, and even more so in his case since his job was so demanding and high pressure. Still, he seems to be missing an obvious solution. “Why don’t you just have your driver take you home so you can get one of your cars?” you point out.

“I could, but that would mean having to go alone,” he pouts before hitting you with a pleading look. “I don’t want to go alone.”

On no. No, no, no, no, no. That was a terrible idea. Making slightly suggestive comments to each other at work was one thing. Being alone with him, especially outside of a professional setting, was another thing entirely. You could not be trusted. You’d mess up. You'd do something that you wouldn’t be able to come back from and you’d never be able to recover…

“Ah, what the hell. I could use a good mind-clearing drive,” you hear yourself say. What? Bad! You know this is going to lead to bad ideas.

You’re just about to rescind your offer, but the look of sheer delight on his face makes you hesitate. This man is still so lonely. At first it made you pity him, but now… well, you weren’t sure how he made you feel now.

The only thing you were sure of anymore was that you adored seeing him smile, and loved it even more when you were the reason behind it.

And you were proving over and over again that you’d risk everything just to be the reason he smiled for a moment. 

“You’re the best. Let’s go!” He grabs your hand and you allow him to lead you out of the building.

There’s a nondescript black car waiting for you, and he quickly opens the backdoor and ushers you inside before sliding in after you. If you’re expecting a long awkward silence, you’re disappointed; the drive barely lasts five minutes. Before you leave the car, you give him an odd look. “You live this close? Why don’t you just walk to work then?”

“It’s faster to drive,” he replies like it’s obvious.

“Not by much,” you refute. “And it’s better for the environment anyway. That’s part of the reason I take the bus instead of bothering with my own car.”

“Anyway, are you going to come with me or just sit here and lecture me?” he asks, changing the subject abruptly. You pretend to think it over for a moment, but before long you unbuckle your seatbelt and follow him out.

And once outside, you’re greeted by the sight of the largest house you’ve ever seen. Its massive size is almost intimidating to you, even though, logically, you knew Mr. Onceler would have an enormous house. You expect nothing less at this point.

“Come on,” he says, taking your hand again. “My own cars are just in the garage.” He types a code on the side of said garage, and the door swings open. It reveals a pristinely neat room, which you would not have expected of a single man in his twenties who lived alone, and sure enough, no less than eight sports cars are lined up in a row.

“I’m feeling the Lambo,” he decides. He goes over to a wall of keys hanging by the door, pulls one off the ring, and uses the fob to unlock a green convertible. He swings himself into the driver’s seat without even opening the door. “Hop in!” he calls, clearly excited. 

You roll your eyes, but can’t help but laugh at his joy. It’s nice to spend time with him outside work and just have fun for a change instead of flirting with each other. As soon as you’re in the car, he rolls out of the garage, pausing just long enough to close the door behind him, and then he’s tearing down the streets like a maniac. 

“Fuck!” you cry out as you’re slammed back against the seat. “You do have a license, don’t you?”

“Of course I do,” he claims, but he’s also going twenty above the speed limit and only gaining.

“Maybe lay off the gas a little,” you suggest, gripping the seats tightly. His driving was nearly as bad as flying.

He glances over at you and his eyes go wide. He slows to a much more comfortable speed. “Sorry. I should have known better than to do that with you in the car, considering what happened to your parents,” he mutters.

You stare at him in shock. For him to not only remember that, but to assume that’s why you didn’t like speeding was surprisingly highly emotionally intuitive… and sweet. “It’s not that, you just startled me is all,” you explain gently. “But thank you. It means a lot that you remembered that.”

He takes his eyes off the road for a moment to smile at you, and it’s one he’s never given you before. It’s both soft and warm at the same time, and you can’t quite read it. But if his other smiles had given you butterflies before, this one sends those butterflies soaring, filling your whole body with something that felt a whole lot like a desperate yearning for the man beside you. Any thoughts of consequences had absolutely fled from your mind–all you could think about was kissing him again, properly this time. Getting your arms around his neck, him roaming his hands up and down your body…

“How about a compromise?” His voice startles you out of your daydreams and back to reality. “I’ll drive the speed limit, but get us on some backroads so we can go faster? That okay?”

"Yeah, that works," you say, but your mind isn't on the drive at all anymore. You're far more focused on how you can get him back to his house as quickly as possible to see if he's as interested in kissing you again as you are.

Most of the drive is spent in comfortable silence, the only noise being the soft radio and the wind ringing through your ears. You pull your ponytail loose since he seems to like you with your hair down. He does appear to glance at you a bit more often with your hair undone, which is more than worth the price of it blowing in your face.

Finally, after the sky is well and truly dark, he speaks up. "Do you want to give it a go?" 

"That would be a very bad idea," you tell him idly. "I don't have a license, I'd probably crash this thing in a second." That's not a lie, but you also don't want to prolong this drive any longer.

"Do you want me to take you home then?" he asks. You start. No. No, you do not want that at all! Before you can protest, however, he asks another question very hesitatingly. "Or, if you want, you can come back to my place for a while… we can have a drink or something." He's biting his lip like he's expecting you to turn him down.

Instead, you smile at him. "I'd like that," you say in a soft voice, putting your hand on his knee briefly.

"Really?" He's completely lit up now, body language a total 180 from just a moment ago. "Uh, I mean, great. That should be, uh, nice. Yeah. Nice." It takes every ounce of your willpower not to laugh again. He was such a dork when he was excited about something, but you'd learned to find it endearing.

He started heading back to his house, going just a little above the speed limit, but you were fine with a little speeding now. Your own heart rate was speeding up in anticipation as well. Something big was building and you wanted nothing more than a chance to explore it, especially since the part of your brain that usually advised caution seemed to be taking a vacation at the moment.

The second you pulled into his garage you unbuckled yourself, and were out of the car before he'd even finished parking. You only wait for him to actually lead you into the gargantuan house. Even with all your haste, you recognize it's rude to go in alone. 

He takes a different key off the ring and shoves it into the door, gesturing for you to go inside first. You head in, looking around curiously. The first thing that hits you is the silence. It's dark and quiet in here, almost like a crypt. But in a way, it fits him. It's a lonely place, just like him.

"Come on, I have a bar just through here," he murmurs. He leads you into a giant kitchen and through an offshoot to what is indeed clearly a well-stocked but underused bar.

"Don't you ever have anyone over?" you ask as he flips on a lightswitch and ducks behind the bar to search for what he wants.

"Not since I kicked my family out," he says in a muffled voice. "Aha!" He pulls out two large margarita glasses. You raise your eyebrows at him, and he answers your question before you can ask it. "No, I'm not making you a marg. I'm not that good of a mixologist. I might be able to make your blue shit, though."

That makes you laugh. At the gala, you'd ordered your favorite drink on his dime, which happened to be blue colored. He'd taken a sip and declared it to be the most disgusting drink in the world for being too sour. To you, it tasted like boozy lemonade. "It's just vodka, blue curaçao, and a splash of lemon juice. Is that too hard for you?" you tease.

He narrows his eyes at your challenge and makes your drink with careful precision, then watches you closely as you judge it. "Perfect," you praise. Relief that he tries to pass off as smugness washes through him as he pours himself a gin and tonic.

"So, you haven't had anyone in here since your family?" you ask after half your drink is gone.

"Nope," he shrugs as he comes around to join you on the other side of the bar. "You're the only person I feel comfortable bringing here." His voice has gotten that husky edge to it again, stirring up even more feelings from deep within your core. Was he finally going to make a move? "Of course, you also make me more uncomfortable than anyone else ever has at the same time," he admits.

Now you're confused. "Why?"

He grabs one of your hands. "Because when I look at you, I burn, I pine, I perish."

…what in the motherfuck did he just say?

You blink at him a few times. "D-did you just quote Shakespeare at me?" you ask in disbelief.

He cocks his head to the side. "What? I thought girls liked Shakespeare," he mutters, clearly thinking he had fucked this whole thing up beyond repair. He very nearly had. He was lucky he was so damn cute…

"Maybe some, but most aren't going to recognize it," you explain slowly, utterly flummoxed. Why did he think that was a good idea? "And even if they do know it, I don't think most girls are going to like having Taming of the Shrew quoted at them…"

"You recognized it. And you're my only target audience," he points out, some hope flaring up in him again. You let out an annoyed huff.

"Number one, I only know it from 10 Things I Hate About You. Number two, I fall under the category of girls who don't like having Taming of the fucking Shrew quoted at them," you glower.

"Fine, I get the point. Can I get a second try?" he asks hopefully. 

You ponder his request for a moment. "I can give you a 'I'll pretend I didn't hear it.' That's the best you're getting," you decide as you pull your chapstick from your purse.

He frowns at the small tube. "That's not fair. How am I supposed to concentrate when the whole place now smells like cherries?" he grumbles.

"I still don't understand your issue with it," you comment lightly as you apply a thin layer on your lips.

"I told you before, it distracts me," he huffs. He eyes it maliciously before locking eyes with you, looking determined about something. "Does it taste like cherries too?" he asks.

You snort. "You wish you knew."

He doesn't break the eye contact. "Yes. I really do," he says, his voice returning to that same husky quality it had earlier.

Now maintaining the eye contact on your end as well, you slowly reach up, offering the tube of chapstick to him so he could find out if it indeed tasted like cherries. He pushes your hand to the side impatiently. 

"That's not what I meant and you fucking know it," he growls, standing up so that he towers over you now. Your breath catches and you feel your heart pounding in your chest as he slowly moves closer to you, becoming more and more emboldened when you make no effort to move away.

"Tell me you want this," he whispers when his face is but an inch away from yours.

"God yes. Please," you breathe.

And with that, he takes your face between his hands, pressing his lips hungrily against yours, as though he could never get enough.

[alouiadina]

This was originally supposed to be general headcanons about mota ships, but it turned into something else. Some are shorter than others, as I couldn't think of things for them.

Clegan

Gale is a librarian, Bucky is a mechanic

Despite his initial bravado, Bucky is a very shy person, especially when feelings are involved. He's constantly worried he's doing something wrong.

Bucky definitely did crew in college, and has caught Gale getting excited over pictures from then.

Bucky's love language is words of affirmation, Gale's being physical touch

Gale, despite his quietness, is very vocal in bed, no matter what position he's in. He grew up repressed, so anything remotely sexual has him whimpering.

When topping, Bucky likes being called daddy, Gale likes to be called sir. This becomes an issue if set in canon.

Bucky definitely gets drunk, flirts with Gale, asking him if he's single, then balls his eyes out when Gale tells him he isn't. To get him to calm down, Gale tells him that he'd break up with his boyfriend to be with Bucky

Gale tries topping from the bottom once, and loves the power of it all. Because of the repression he had growing up, he never thought he could have that kind of power in this position. But, seeing Bucky whimpering and begging to cum, calling him sir while Gale is riding him alter's his brain chemistry.

Whenever Gale finds a spider, he makes Bucky take them outside, unless it's like a wolf spider or brown recluse. Then he has Bucky kill them

Gale has a cat and Bucky has a gecko

Gale has watched eat a live cricket meant for his Gecko, who's named Geico

Gale's cat is named Bastet, after the Egyptian goddess of protection, and who is often associated with cats.

Bastet hates Geico, but hates Bucky even more. That changes over time

Bucky would propose to Gale because Gale never asks for more of something, even if he might want it.

Harding is the one to give Gale away, as Gale isn't in contact with his parents

Rosielemmons

Based on this older couple I know, Ken's nicknames (some in jest) for Rosie are- bobert, Berto (pronounced Bear-toe), Robbie, and Rob

Ken definitely is a warmth seeker in his sleep. Rosie has woken up a couple of times with Ken under or on top of him.

The first time they have sex, Ken squeaks for most if not all of it, embarrassed of the sounds he makes. It takes Rosie some time to coax sounds out of Ken.

Ken works as a mechanic with Bucky, Rosie is a lawyer.

Rosie loves buying stuff for people he loves, but at the start of their relationship, Ken hates receiving gifts, especially the expensive ones that Rosie can afford being a lawyer and all. Ken experiences guilt over not being able to match the gift, price-wise, and this takes time for Rosie to convince him that the handmade gifts that Ken gives him mean a lot more than something that he can't afford.

Both of their love languages are quality time.

They have a Australian Sheppard named Fezzik and/or a Manx cat named Jareth

Ken is the first one to propose, making the box out of Rosie's favorite tree in childhood, that had to be cut down for some reason, and makes the ring from a spoon from their first apartment.

Rosie proposes second, immediately after Ken does, the both of them having a laugh about it.

Their wedding is a month after Gale and Bucky's.

Crubbles-

Harry Crosby praise kink

Bubbles has definitely gotten him off just by telling him how good he's doing.

Bubbles is a bartender and Harry works with Bucky and Harding.

Bubbles is the first and only man that Harry has been with and vise versa.

They experimented with each other in college, and kinda never stopped.

This actually happened during a break he and Jean were having, as Jean correctly suspected Harry was gay. She was pretty chill about it when she found out she was right.

Jean was the officiant at their wedding

The first time Bubble comes to visit Harry at work, he sees Harry get protective angry because Ken was nearly hurt in an avoidable accident, and Bubbles is immediately hard.

Harry sometimes unintentionally squeaks and squeals during sex, especially when Bubbles is calling him a good boy.

Neither propose in a traditional sense, they just wake up one day and decide they want to get married.

Jackharding

Gale and Bucky introduce them, Harding being Bucky's boss, and Jack being Gale's.

Both of their love languages are quality time

Jack is surprised that someone is interested in him again, as he keeps hearing people describe him as too gaunt.

It actually takes a minute to realize that Harding is flirting with him because of this, and doesn't realize they were on a date until Harding walks him to the door and with a confident nervousness, kisses Jack.

Their first time together is Hardings car in the parking lot of the library.

Harding has 50-50% custody of his daughter from a previous marriage.

His daughter is 15, and Jack desperately wants to make a good impression with her.

(I looked it up, and his actual daughter was named Helen)

Because Harding is twice divorced, and Jack never really saw himself getting married, they don't. Instead, they hold a small celebration in Hardings backyard.

They buy each other rings and Hardings daughter officiates their "Wedding" (her idea)

After the gaul bladder debacle (and surgery), Harding, due to medication, forgets Jack. Bucky is there, and starts recording when Harding expresses his confusion over why there's a "Model trying to feed him crackers." Bucky tells him their relationship, causing Harding to grab Jacks hand and say "Mine?"

Jack definitely falls asleep on top of Harding, and gets to the point that when Harding is in the hospital, he finds falling asleep a lot harder than normal.

CurtxDickie-

Curt works as a mechanic with Bucky

Dickie works at the library with Gale

They have freaky library sex

Curt is vocal and Dickie loves it.

Curt tried topping once, and they both hated it.

Curt wants a Vegas wedding officiated by Elvis because he saw lesbians on TikTok do it.

Dickie says no, but promises for an anniversary, they can renew their vows that way. (This inspired Bucky to ask the same thing of Gale)

Curt koala's Dickie in his sleep sometimes

They have a surprisingly small wedding.

Their honeymoon is in like Colorado or something, and they spend most of it in their hotel/ airbnb

Curt will randomly pull Dickie into slow dancing. Dickie thinks it's sweet. The reason why Curt does it is to try and tell Dickie he loves him for more than just his body, and feels that this is the best way to do it.

Brady/DeMarco

They meet on Grindr

When they first meet up, they go to like a gay bar or something (they both bring a friend, Douglass and Blakely respectively, just in case)

They end up spending the entire weekend together

They power through the first few stages of their relationship

DeMarco's mother keeps giving Brady food to make him "big and strong"

She also makes sure that Brady is a good Catholic boy, as she wants the best for her boy

I think one or the other works with Bucky, and the other maybe works with Bubbles

Handcuffs, blindfolds, and vibrators/dildo's

Blakely/Douglass

they have sex in the bathroom when Brady and DeMarco drag them to their first meeting

When Brady and DeMarco go home together, they go home together

Marathon sex

Blakely did crew with Bucky in College

They have a casual relationship, both too anxious to ask for more

They separate briefly because of this

Blakely has a higher sex drive than Douglass, which sometimes leads to Douglass occasionally using sex toys on Blakely

[occult-rh]

Royale High Dolls

This is a little different from the usual content I post here, but I wanted to talk about the situation with the new toys coming into Royale High.

This is coming from someone who can afford all of the toys and therefore all of the items and has genuinely considered buying them. But now, as I'll explain below, I refuse to.

๋࣭ ⭑⚝๋࣭⭑👽๋࣭ ⭑⚝⋆

It's incredibly frustrating to have very few sets in the last couple of years. (Only NINE in the past 3 years, since June 2021) Out of these nine sets I've mentioned, only two of them (Peppermint Princess and TTYL) have been under 100k. The next cheapest of these sets is surprisingly, Opposites Attract (Released 2022) followed by Summer Fantasy (2021). At the time of release, both of these sets were considered to be unreasonably expensive. The cheapest set in the past 2 years is very surprisingly, Snow Swan (2023). It's coming in at a whopping 154k, followed by Whimsy Witch (2022) at 183k! The point I'm trying to make here is that before the Summer Fantasy set was released, the most expensive set was Princess Starfrost at only 125.5k. The average price for sets was 110k-120k. What on earth happened?

I find this inflation to be completely unnecessary and ridiculous, seeing as this game is tailored towards KIDS. Kids do not have hours upon hours to spend farming for diamonds because they have school and extracurriculars to worry about. And it is almost impossible to farm the required amount of diamonds for any of the more recent sets only on weekends, even with multipliers. You would have to spend an unhealthy amount of time playing every single day to be able to afford anything. And in my opinion, that isn't the way to make a sustainable game.

The new sets are simply an extension of this inflation. How can you release one of the largest updates ever, which introduces more new items in a single update than the entire year combined, and make it inaccessible to most people? As I stated before, this game is tailored toward KIDS. They do not have hundreds of dollars to spend on toys, and if their parents are reasonable, they definitely won't let them. I cannot understand why someone would do this other than blatant greed.

My biggest reason for not buying the set is simply because it makes me very upset to be paying money to a person who pretends not to be focused on the monetary. Royale High was recently described as a "Passion Project" by Beaplays. (Don't quote me on this, this is from memory.) A Passion Project is something that allows an individual to pursue and present something they enjoy to other people. If RH was a true passion project, why would Barbie need to attach steep prices and hold sets back for what I assume months or even years instead of just releasing them to the public? I understand that Barbie needs to make a living, but she doesn't need the excess money she's making off of these dolls. It's quite simply the fattest and most obvious cash grab I've ever seen in my life, and I refuse to play into it.

As well as this, unfortunately, the company that produced the dolls very loudly supports Israel. It is important to note that it was NOT ROYALE HIGH'S CHOICE to use this company, but rather Roblox's. Allegedly, Royale High was not aware of this until after they signed the contract. If you'd like to buy any of the dolls yourself, it's best to do so through a reseller. (Or steal from Walmart, it's not like they need the money. /hj)

๋࣭ ⭑⚝๋࣭⭑👽๋࣭ ⭑⚝⋆

The entire situation makes my blood boil. I haven't played RH in the past two weeks even before the update. I'll still try to make some posts occassionally, but to be quite honest all my motivation and love for this game has been put on the back burner. It's so disheartening to see a game you've loved and have been playing for the past 6 years succumb to terrible greed.

[just-emis-blog]

OC Interview Tag~

Thank you to @agirlandherquill @leahnardo-da-veggieand @drchenquill for the triple threat tag! ✨🌻

I'll be using Cai Park (the youngest [but biggest] brother of Bernard) from Artificial Bonds

Were you named after anyone?

During the process of adopting us, mother encouraged us to choose names for ourselves, since we were going by serial numbers at the time. My siblings were enthused, but I thought the entire endeavor tedious and unnecessary, so in an effort to be done with it faster I spat out the first couple of letters from one of the objects in my line of vision. Mother was pleased, but Lysander and Bernard knew exactly what I had done and were disappointed and moronically amused respectively. Lysander, being the most sensible of the two as usual, convinced me to change the spelling and pronunciation as an exercise in expressing my opinion and creativity. To this day, however, Bernard still calls me "Cayenne Pepper" whenever he wants to get a rise out of me. It works.

When was the last time you cried?

I do not engage in such frivolous activities.

[It was when a mother duck was ushering one of her lagging babies across a busy highway]

Do you have any kids?

I do have one child. There are those who might mistakenly call her a pet, simply because of the unimportant fact that she is a Komodo Dragon named Jessica. But let me ask you this; would a mere pet have access to three floors of the apartment building that you own? Of course not. Now, I know some might have opinions about parents who provide housing or other monetary aid for their adult children. But to them I say the job market is not nearly as lucrative nor secure as it was for previous generations. Basic needs like gas and rusa deer are already set at astronomical prices! Are we expect our youth to be able to afford their own housing as well? There is no shame in supporting your kids until they can stand on their own feet.

Do you use sarcasm a lot?

I see no point in playing verbal games. So what you mean, or rot.

What is the first thing you notice about people?

Their readiness for battle. Mind, your average person does not display the typical tells of being an experienced fighter or if their armed, but it is the first thing I check for during any interaction.

What is your eye color?

Dark brown. Nothing to write home about.

Scary movies or happy endings?

Happy endings. They seem to be a prevalent theme in all of the Barbie and Magical Girl OVAs that I watch, and I enjoy those.

Any special talents?

I do...many of which I am not very proud of. The one talent I have cultivated outside of my...time...before I was adopted, is building miniature dollhouses and furniture. It is a both lucrative and enjoyable practice, and necessitates little to no violence.

Where were you born?

Born is the incorrect term. Regardless, I do not know the location. That time in my life is...blurry.

Do you have any pets?

No. But I do have a child. Please see the above question pertaining to children.

What sort of sports do you play?

Contact sports were too risky to indulge in, but I was on our school's competitive Hula Hooping team. We won two years in a row and during my last year of school we competed in the National Hula League. I am certain that it was due to all of our team's efforts, but my colleague's are convinced that we made it so far due to me being the first human being to ever look intimidating while hula hooping.

How tall are you?

6'4". A perfectly respectful, not comparable to any of the AoT Titans, height. Bernard.

What was your favorite subject in school?

Art class, specifically ceramics.

What is your dream job?

My dream job was anything as separated from fighting as physically possible. Not because I fear I will be overcome with a thirst for violence, or that I have no control over myself. If I or my loved ones are threatened I will act accordingly.

In the past I was told that fighting was all I would be capable of doing. So, I suppose I have always wanted my career to be the exact opposite of that out of spite.

And I cannot think of anything more opposite than selling a multitude of tiny wares specifically for hamsters on Etsy. Nor more satisfying.

Tagging for funsies: @dyrewrites @the-golden-comet @the-ellia-west @mr-orion

[strohller27]

Man. Last year was wild (memories and musings under the cut).

One memory from last year that I probably wont be over anytime soon is when I was working a retail popup on the waterfront for the cruise ship guests.

A bit of context: At this point of last year, I was painfully homeless and when I wasn’t spending $2200 a month airbnb-hopping, I was living out of a tent at a campground to save money. My access to showers and potable drinking water was iffy at best (the showers on the campground were $2 for five minutes, and the closest water spout that worked well enough to fill bottles with was the literal bathroom sink. I’m surprised the water didn’t make me sick. The water from there often left a really weird taste/cottony sensation in the back of my throat that took days to get rid of, unless I boiled it first, and that was *if* I had access to a power outlet and an electric kettle. Also one of the airbnbs I stayed at got the water shut off for almost 28 hours because the host wasn’t paying his goddamn bills. But that’s a story I tell elsewhere). I had no reliable access to refrigeration, whether I was at an airbnb or the campground, so everything I bought to eat had to be non-perishable. For a while there, I was skipping breakfast to save enough money to buy myself loaves of bread, peanut butter, protein bars, and ramen packets.

If I wanted a hot meal, the best thing I could get was Tim Horton’s (and when I did, I was mostly using a credit card). Sometimes the only reason I could afford to both eat and have a place to stay was because I had built up Tim’s rewards points.

Thank goodness it was still mostly summer and I wasn’t also freezing cold at night.

And then I had to go to work and there were so many customers at that waterfront popup telling me I should give them discounts because “Well, I’m broke, I spent all of my money on a cruise!”

Oh? Oh??? I’m so sorry, you poor, unfortunate little soul???? Does the poow wittle bwoke babykins need a wittle discount??

First off, friendo, you keep asking me if the price is in ‘american’ because you forgot that you’re in a literal different country right now. Second, you’re complaining to a minimum wage worker about how, ‘everything is so expensive here! Oh my god you have to pay that much in taxes? What do you mean I have to pay taxes on purchases, too’. You have main character syndrome and you have the absolute goddamned gall to think you deserve $300 off a $500 handmade, HAND EMBROIDERED woollen cape that you probably won’t even wear because you live in texas????

OH, YOU “““CAN’T AFFORD””” TO BUY THAT 30 DOLLAR SCARF BECAUSE YOU *CHECKS NOTES* HAD ENOUGH MONEY TO GO ON A LITERAL INTERNATIONAL FUCKING CRUISE, BETSY-ANN??

CRY ME A FUCKING RIVER.

But the one that gets me the worst was when a guy was there with his daughter. She was probably 12 or 13. And she wanted to buy a little Canadian flag to commemorate her visit. It was literally priced at. Two. Dollars. Ninety five. Cents.

And he said to her, “Oh, come on. What good is buying this going to do? Who is it supporting.”

I was so done by that point I literally raised my hand and yelled.

“ME IT WILL SUPPORT ME IT WILL HELP ME DO FUN LITTLE THINGS LIKE BUY GROCERIES. AND EAT.”

The daughter bought the flag.

I spent so much of last year worrying about where I was going to live. Worrying about how precarious my situation was. My mother was on the phone with me almost begging me to “come home”. To give up on my dreams because it was too hard. Several people suggested that, including my academic advisor. But I wasn’t going to let it go. I let spite get me here and goddamned if I wasn’t going to let spite keep me hanging on.

And now I’m living in a place that has mostly everything I need. I don’t have to crawl under a desk to get to my bed. I don’t have to ask for permission or worry about who it will affect when I want to do something nice for myself. I’m able to make my own decisions about my living space. I get to set my own schedule. I get to do things at my own pace. I get to eat what I want to eat (and my landlady keeps feeding me, too). Now that I’m not hemorrhaging funds, I’ve been able to save up some money. I’m regularly showering and brushing my teeth. I finally have the energy make my goddamned bed every day. I’m taking care of myself in ways that seemed insurmountable last year.

I’m not saying it’s perfect, and there are still things I have to address (like the weird numb spots on the tips of both my big toes that I noticed when I was still living at the campground; like staying on a consistent schedule with my medications; like taking too many hours at work because I’m worried about affording things). And I’m aware that I completely lucked out that I speak enough Russian to be able to understand my landlord/lady. But this is so much better than I could have hoped for.

And the rest of it wasn’t all bad either. Airbnb-hopping was expensive, but staying in different areas helped me learn the city. And now I’m working at a place that I don’t hate with a passion like I did when I was working food service in the states. I actually really like my coworkers (and funny enough, the small business I work for really does feel like a family). I get to wear my kilts to work. I have the necessary knowledge to be a perfect fit for the job, and I was apparently ‘an answer to a prayer’.

The misty mornings on the campground were more magical than any other mornings I’ve ever experienced in my life. I walked around the campground and saw its little lake beach and river. I made friends with the spiders. I named most of them. Every time I heard the squirrels and chipmunks get into an argument I would giggle to myself and think ‘the girls are fightinng!’ I drove to the beach, and I saw a little boy hold up a crab he’d found with the biggest smile on his face when he asked if I wanted to pet it. I felt an almost uncontrollable urge to pick up the seaweed and eat it. I met interesting people. I made some friends. I went to a famous lighthouse. I rode the ferry to work and watched massive cruise ships docking, feeling as much awe as I did when I first saw Star Trek: The Motion Picture. I watched the sun both rise and set over the harbour. And I fell in love with this place despite all of the challenges that were in my path.

Perfect or not, I needed this. I needed to be self-sufficient and live my own life. I needed to see beauty and wonder and touch sand that was on a beach instead of on my bedroom floor. And I’m so sad that the only two times in my life I’ve really been able to do things like this and live the life I want were when I left the US. And because of that, I’m really not planning on going back to live there.

Funny that I had to leave the “land of the free” to really feel/be free, eh? Whatever the case, now I’m a maritimer by choice.

Here’s to 2024. May I learn from all that 2023 taught me (If shit sucks, hit da bricks. Leave. Do it scared. Do it alone and scared. Don’t settle for less than you deserve. Find beauty in the mundane. Advocate for yourself and your skills. Make decisions that will provide for your future so that you can take the steps you want to take, even if people think something like learning Russian isn’t going to be useful. Take those steps you want to take to follow your dreams, even if your dream seems flimsy like a cardboard façade to you. Even if those are the hardest steps you ever have to take. Today can be ‘someday’, if you let it. The greatest adventure is what lies ahead, today and tomorrow are yet to be said). May 2024 be a year for more steps forward than steps back.

[theworldsafuckingslaughterhouse]

Here is a rant I wrote

The other day I found this angry rant on my laptop I must have written a few years ago, so here it is. (*It's written as though it was being said on stage in much the way a standup comedian might perform it)

Hello yes hi how are we all?

You’re out! In the real world. Experiencing a real thing. Not watching the coloured box of death. The little metal shouty thing that’s invaded all our lives!

I can’t even watch Television anymore, it’s become too out of touch. It’s insane the things they think we should be watching. You see it with marketing you know, these adverts. Once upon a time, advertisements made sense. They were straight forward, using logical people to sell you useful things. You’d be sitting there covered in fresh blood and a woman with big hair would say, “Get the stains out in 2 hours with minimal scrubbing! Ajax” or whatever. So you’d buy the thing. Because it made sense and you needed it anyway and you didn’t feel tricked.

Now they approach it in a different way. It’s much more aggressive and manipulative. You have a woman doing the dishes and then the husband comes home from work or school or wherever they go and he says, “Beverly I don’t love you anymore.” And she turns, this image of Mary Berry in a polka dot dress and says, “I’m sleeping with your father. Hahahaha.” And shoots him in the head. And then it goes, “Ajax, because you deserve better” or something like that and it feels a little… detached from reality. They stopped selling us products and started selling us these dreams of what they think we want. I remember when cooking shows made sense. A woman would come out and show you how to set the timer on your microwave so the chicken didn’t dry out too much or come alive or something. Now they’ve fetishized the baked beans to such an extent that kids turn to their parents at dinner time and say, “Is it fried in truffle oil? No? Then I’m not having it. Would you at least making a fucking effort Mother.”

And all this fetishized nonsense has pushed the price up. I remember when you didn’t need a second mortgage just to afford a bag of onions. I remember when I could by onions and tomatoes in the same month. And they didn’t have to be organic! You used to be able to choose. You could choose between buying organic or not starving, and it was a decision we all got to make each week.

Then there’s these home living shows, do you ever try to watch these? The young couple who had a significant family member die, inherited a few million and decided to convert an abandoned petrol station into a 2 bedroom bungalow with a chocolate swimming pool and walk in freezer. Again, we fetishized houses so the market went crazy and now you have to be a lawyer-prostitute to afford one.

So what do they do to help us deal with the disappointment? Drugs! “Do you ever get thirsty?” a man in a white coat who looks vaguely like the eldest child from Home Improvement asks. Looking up from your jug of rum you say, “Yes! Yes I do.”

Well you might have OLDD or Oral Liquid Digesting Dysfunction.

Shit, you think, what can I do about it?

Next comes a lovely image of a man taking his shoes off at the beach and the voice over goes, “For just the price of a small corvette each year, we can help you feel like this guy with sand between his toes.” And your drunken self struggles with this notion. But meanwhile you’re already signing up to a 12 year subscription and purchasing the loose-your-pills insurance plan at the same time.

So this idea of tv aspirations just isn’t sustainable. You can’t be gods like the presenters you watch. You can never purchase enough shit to be king. And if you try and set your aspirations where they want you to, you’ll end up a withered corpse gripping a box of golden cornflakes in a public bathroom being eaten alive by wolves.

Thank you very much.

[liamthemarowak]

The opening starts with the SMG4 Logo and Mario saying: "That's A So nice!" The episode starts with Mario shopping at the store, with his something to buy list for Him and Luigi. "Oh boy, more pasta for-a-me and luigi!" Mario said as he goes down the pasta section. He collected so many pasta ingredients because he really loves pasta! "Ok, that's the pasta down!" Mario said as he crosses down the pasta on the shopping list. Mario was thinking that he could get a game for game night. "Hmmm, Maybe I could have a game for Me and Luigi to play with! Oh ho, great idea there mario!" Mario said as he dashes to the gaming section of the store. When he was there, he was trying to find something that Him and Luigi would like. "Hmmmm, there should be a game with multiplayer on it." Mario said. But then, something has caught mario's eye, it was an Arcade Machine, containing 9999+ games from all consoles, netflix, twitch, youtube and more! It even has four players with controller support. Mario eyes started to glitter like a diamond. He also has a thought bubble with Him, Luigi, SMG4 and SMG3 Playing on the big arcade machine. "This is the perfect machine for the castle! But how much is it?" Mario said as he looks at the price of the arcade machine. The price was 5,000 dollars, And this made Mario very shocked about it. "What?! 5,000 Dollars?! I can't even afford that! Seems I need to make some money!" Mario said. Mario started to think about what he could make tons of coins. He looks at the pasta that he is going to buy, and also looks at the cafe. "Hmmm, Pasta and cafe..." Mario thinks. This gives him a idea, he could have his own spaghetti cafe! "I got it!, I could open my spaghetti cafe, so I could be able to make coins and buy this arcade machine, but I need someone to help me, Like Meggy, or SMG4, even SMG3! I'm gonna ask them now!" Mario said as he quickly buys his pasta ingredients and rushes to see SMG3 First. He went inside SMG3's place, and asked him to help him with his spaghetti factory. "Hey SMG3, Would you like to help me set up my own Spaghetti Cafe?" Mario asked. "Not right now Mario, I'm busy playing a new Zelda game called Tears Of The Kingdom, and I'm also streaming, so you can't be in it." SMG3 Said. "Ok, I'm trying Meggy next." Mario said as he went to Meggy's place. Mario knocks on Meggy's door, and Meggy opens the door to see Mario. "Oh hey there Mario, How can I help?" Meggy said. "Well, I was going to get an arcade machine for the castle, but it seems so expensive, and I need your help to work with me at my very own spaghetti cafe!" Mario said. "Oh, you're getting an arcade machine?! That's great! Well, I really would love to help, but I'm in a middle of doing my jigsaw puzzle, so I suggest that you would ask someone else." Meggy said as she closes the door. This made Mario started to feel a bit mad. "Well, I Need to ask more, or else I will not have fun!" Mario said as he tries to ask more people. He tried Fishy Boopkins, Bob, Tari, Saiko, Swagmaster and even Melody, but all of them are declining his help. "Well, I guess SMG4 is my last Hope." Mario said as he goes to see SMG4 at the castle. At the castle, SMG4 was working on his video that he is making. "Well, this video is gonna be perfect in to time!" SMG4 Said as he is making his video. Mario came to see SMG4, and he was begging to help him. "Hey SMG4, I need your help, because I need you to help me work in my new Spaghetti cafe to get that big arcade machine for the castle for us to play on!" Mario said. "Um, sorry mario, I'm working on my video, and I'm also saving money on the castle, an also my studio as well." SMG4 Said. "But, I want that arcade machine!" Mario said. "Wait, how much does that arcade machine cost?" SMG4 asked. "Well, it's about 5,000 dollars." Mario said. SMG4 was very shocked about it. "5,000 dollars?! I can't afford that, and you need to help yourself to that spaghetti cafe as well!" SMG4 said. Mario was very upset about it. "Please! I want you to help me!" Mario said as he is begging even more. "Ok fine, I will help you in your new spaghetti cafe, but we need to make sure that food is good, or else we don't get any money from the customers." SMG4 Said. This made Mario very pleased about it. "Oh thank you very much! Now let's get that money!" Mario said as they open their spaghetti cafe. SMG4 is now making the grand opening of the spaghetti cafe. "Uh, Hey, everyone, welcome to our new spaghetti cafe, here you can try out some spaghetti such as our spicy spaghetti, classic spaghetti and many more to choose! We also serve some garlic bread for free if you spend more! So what are you waiting for? Come on into the spaghetti factory! (Hope they will like the spaghetti we made)" SMG4 Said as he opens the doors to the spaghetti cafe. Everyone went in and they orders a spaghetti for them. They try to taste the spaghetti, but they don't seem to like it. The customers are getting mad, and Mario was shocked that he is going to lose his cafe! "Oh no, I need to tell SMG4 right away!" Mario said as he is ran to see SMG4, But for some reason, SMG4 was working on his laptop, and this made Mario very angry. "Hey, there is no time to work on your laptop, our customers are very mad about our food!" Mario said. But SMG4 Was still working on his laptop. Mario decided to take the laptop away from SMG4. "Hey, I was working on my video!" SMG4 said. "There is no time, the customers are getting angry at our meal!" Mario said as he points to the counter. SMG4 decided to take a look, But he doesn't see any customers. "That's odd, they just vanished. Wait, they don't like our spaghetti that we made! This is all your own fault Mario!" SMG4 said. Mario and SMG4 started to argue, until Liam The Marowak came into the spaghetti cafe. "Oh, hey, welcome to our spaghetti cafe! How can we help?" SMG4 Said. "Hey, I just heard about your spaghetti cafe, hope it will be awesome!" Liam said. "Yes, so you must be the first customer to be in our spaghetti cafe!" Mario said. "I am? Oh that's neat! So, can I have the spicy spaghetti please? Because I ran out of my fire power, and I need to recharge it." Liam said. "Ok, One spicy spaghetti coming right up!" SMG4 said as SMG4 and Mario make the spicy spaghetti for Liam. Mario gave the spicy spaghetti to Liam, and Liam decided to eat it. "That spaghetti, its..." Liam said. "It's what? Tastes bad?" SMG4 asked. "It's tastes awesome! You well do make some best spaghetti of the spaghetti cafe! Hey, I could use to have more to take home for me to save some cooking for Jack!" Liam said. "Oh, you like some to takeaway with you? We could do that for you!" SMG4 said as they put some of the classic spaghetti into the bowl and cover it up. "Here you go, all of the spaghetti that you can take to home!" Mario said. "Thank you very much, here, keep the change!" Liam said as he pays for his spaghetti and leaves with his spaghetti. "That is some great work there Mario, now we need to wait for another customer to come in!" SMG4 said as they wait for another customer to come in. Then, Luigi appeared to come into the spaghetti cafe, and he is not happy about Mario. "Mario, you supposed to do your shopping for me, and why did you open your spaghetti cafe for no reason?" Luigi said. "Well, I can explain." Mario said. "Wait, you didn't tell me that you are doing a shopping trip for your brother Mario!" SMG4 Said. "Oh come on, I was getting something special for us!" Mario said. Mario and SMG4 Decided to battle, until the spaghetti cafe was collapsed. They looked at the collapsed spaghetti factory, and Mario was so sad about it. "My Spaghetti Cafe, it's gone... there is no way that I could get that arcade machine..." Mario said sadly. "Mario, that is the reason why you and SMG4 decided to make a spaghetti cafe? is to get that arcade machine for that castle?" Luigi said. "Well, yes but we tried our best to get coins, and we have one successful customer that like our food." SMG4 Said. Then, Luigi had an idea. He decided to whisper into SMG4's ear, and SMG4 listened on what he is going to do. The Next day at the Castle, Mario was thinking about his Spaghetti cafe. "Oh, I really miss you my spaghetti cafe." Mario said. Then, SMG4, Luigi and SMG3 Came to see Mario, and they have a box that looks like an arcade machine that they could fit in. "Hey Mario, seems we brought an arcade machine for the castle." SMG4 said. "Yes, it much bigger and better!" Luigi said. "Trust me, you are going to love it!" SMG3 said. Mario was very excited about it! "Oh thank you very much! We really did a great Job SMG4! Time to open the box!" Mario said as he decided to open the box. "Inside, it was a small Nintendo 64 with four wired controllers. "Huh, a Nintendo 64?" Mario asked. "Yeah, we have to get it for you because it's much cheaper than the arcade machine, it's all thanks to that Marowak." SMG4 Said. "Plus, it has all 388 games from different countries such as The US, Europe and even Japan!" SMG3 said. "Perfect for the castle!" Luigi said. Mario felt very happy about the new Nintendo 64. "Thanks, now let's set it all up and play!" Mario said as they Set up the Nintendo 64 and played it. In the distance, Liam happily sees them. "hope you will complete the castle in no time SMG4." Liam said as uses his speed element to go back home. The end title pops up and plays the remix of birabuto kingdom from super mario land aka The theme of SMG4.

Liam The Marowak belongs to Me

SMG4 Belongs to himself

Super Mario Belongs to Nintendo

Pokemon Belongs to Nintendo and Game Freak

[thenighttrain]

I honestly think Simon really wanted to push Liam originally but Harry and Niall had more charisma and presence, Zayn had better vocals and Louis was the behind the scenes person writing songs and managing things (tho he also had more charisma in interviews). Liam kinda ended up more in the background as the "basic" one.

You can even see the shift from the first album being so Liam focused to the second one. Niall and Louis didn't even get to really sing till Take Me Home.

It was Nicole who saw the potential in Niall and Harry, because she saw the charm and presence they could bring. Liam was there to do the actual singing, once the others could also sing the part Liam wasn't as center focus because he lacked the elements the other boys had.

Honestly if Zayn didn't have such bad anxiety he could probably be as successful as Harry. But I think he's happier chilling with his family and releasing music whenever he wants without promoting it or anything, he's already rich so I don't think he needs the money anyway.

Niall had a great album with Heartbreak Weather but he stopped promo once covid hit and it was sad because the songs on that album are great. What I love the most is that while all the boys in 1D were just learning how to sing Niall immediately started picking up other music skills like the guitar, it was Niall that later started teaching Harry how to play. That's I think part of what makes Niall so great he's always trying to get better and learning from other people, and he never releases anything unless he thinks is good enough.

Louis is so talented behind the scenes. He wrote most if not all of 1Ds greatest hits, he honestly had the strongest behind the scenes presence. He isn't as comfortable singing or performing but he's such a chill lad, his concerts are like hanging out with a friend that happens to know how to sing and is on a stage. He's also such a gem in telling fans to pirate his stuff if they can't afford it and lowering ticket prices to the minimum lol. Precious boyo.

And there's Liam who has struggled a lot with wanting to be the Justin Timberlake of one direction but never got there. He was in theory the perfect one to succeed with the singing and dancing... and yet. He also has a lot of personal struggles that bleed into his professional life but that's not our business. I think specially early on he felt like he was owed the success, but he just didn't have that It thing.

Harry always had the star quality, that boy was eating the stage up since he was sixteen. He was made for the stage. They can say whatever they want but all 1D fans knew Harry was going to have the best solo career. He just has the full star package.

-

God I've been in this fandom too long. I talk about stuff like this with my friends all the time, we kinda ended up agreeing that Liam had the basic voice of 1D and all the other boys added the flavour to it. Now that they all have solo careers the other boys developed their unique flavours but Liam just feels basic and generic. I feel cruel saying it but it's how i see it.

omg i strongly agree - we know liam was simon’s favourite. but i think nicole, being a woman, was able to see who would be more popular with teenage girls (aka their target demographic).

zayn is soo talented but yeah, i don’t think he enjoys the spotlight which is fair. i am still SO heartbroken about heartbreak weather, it’s an amazing album and deserves more :( but that’s a good observation about niall- he’s always pushed himself to learn and do better. and i loove louis, he’s so grounded and down to earth, he may not have the best voice but like you said, he does a lot of behind the scenes stuff. i honestly think liam needs a break to get himself together bc he’s been a mess for years now :// and yeah we all knew harry would do the best. liam does have the most basic voice haha and there’s nothing that sets him apart which is a shame, and one of the main reasons why he hasn’t done well