#so forgive me if I don't feel fond about this new set in the store and assume it's offensive by proxy

[anarkhebringer]

Oh Boy, that new Far Northern glam in the FFXIV store is yet ANOTHER Indigenous clothing set appropriated. As if I didn't have enough of a headache seeing my own people's traditional clothing disrespected and tied with a racist questline with the New World set.

[spicycreativity]

Howl - Chapter 1

Rating: Teen

Fic Content Warnings: Blood, injury, suggestive content, alcohol use

Characters: All

Pairing: Analogical, background Moceit because apparently I can't help myself

Add'l Notes: dw if you don't know what a loup-garou is or how the lore works; all is explained in the story / Have I ever been to Louisiana? No 💕Did I write an entire story set in rural-ish Cajun Louisiana anyway because I hate myself? Yes 💕 / If you're from Louisiana and noticed any screw-ups, pls correct me so I can fix it

It also comes with a playlist! For ambience, not necessarily for the lyrics

Summary:

Two things happen to Virgil Landry on Halloween:

1) Logan Doucet, his longtime friend and slightly-less-longtime crush, asks him out

2) He becomes cursed to spend his nights as a half-man, half-wolf monster: a loup-garou

Despite his new affliction, Virgil strives for normalcy all the way up until he can't anymore and everything falls apart.

The floorboards creaked in their familiar pattern as Virgil paced over them, his feet sliding around awkwardly in his over-the-knee boots. He was supposed to meet Logan alone in an hour, an hour! His heart thumped painfully under his ribs. What did Logan want?

Virgil yanked his phone out of his pocket to re-read the message for the 85th time, ignoring a few new messages in his assorted group chats:

Logan: If it's not inconvenient, could you meet me early at the Plaza tonight? Maybe 6:30?

Virgil: yeah sure 

Virgil: everything OK?

Logan: Yes :-)

What did it mean? Was everything okay? Or was Logan just lying to make him feel better? Because if so, it wasn't working. Virgil ran his hands through his hair, careful not to smudge his makeup. It had taken him an hour and a half to perfect his vampire makeup in the mirror and he didn't want to risk messing it up.

With a sigh that turned into a groan, Virgil threw himself down on his couch. It made the walls rattle, nearly displacing a few trinkets on his crappy, rickety shelves. He heard a tell-tale scrape above his head and knew that his favorite painting had gone crooked again. God, this place was a wreck-- Just like Virgil. He made a mental note to ask Patton for help patching up the leaky roof. It was as good a time as any, as they were well out of rainy season, but it did seem a little rude. What was he even supposed to say? Hey, Patton, I know carpentry is literally what you do for a living, but could you help me for free since I'm broke and sad? Thanks, bud. Yeah, right. He sighed again and tugged at his medallion, a rusted old thing with a glass gem in the center. He had picked it up from a thrift store months earlier in anticipation of Halloween, but maybe he should have made some effort to restore it. It smelled strongly of rust and decay and felt terrible between his fingers, all oily and sticky.

So far, the only saving grace of the day was that it wasn't raining now. Virgil had spent his workday in silent anxiety, eyeing the storm clouds through the shop window and rubbing a small piece of sunstone between his thumb and forefinger. It seemed to have worked, as the clouds had dispersed a little and allowed the watery light of the autumn sun to peek through.

Virgil's phone lit up with a few more messages in his group chats: Roman having hysterics over some detail of his costume, Janus and Remus discussing how to avoid the small army of toddlers that always ran rampant at the Halloween parade. Virgil ignored them all. He was in no mood to be friendly, would probably snap at them. Logan hadn't said anything since his message to Virgil, which he had presumably sent on his lunch break. The question haunted Virgil, that great unknown lurking behind him and instilling a fear that no ghost ever could: What did Logan want?

Virgil set his phone down and leaned forward, heaving a sigh that turned into a yawn. Great. Whatever. That meant he was on the verge of hyperventilating, his breathing already irregular. Damn it, Logan knew better than to leave him hanging like this! They'd known each other for so long and he'd always been more perceptive to Virgil's needs than the others.

Especially lately… They'd been spending more time alone, and Virgil couldn't deny the sweet, warm giddiness that enveloped him every time they were alone together. First meetings were always his favorite, seeing Logan's face light up with a smile. He hadn't dared to think that Logan might feel the same way, but it was getting harder and harder to keep his fantasies on a leash. Worst-case scenarios and best-case scenarios dueled in his head: Logan kissing him, Logan telling him they couldn't be friends anymore, Logan confessing, Logan announcing that he had some incurable disease.

Virgil grabbed his phone and jumped to his feet. He couldn't do this anymore, couldn't sit here and torture himself. He would just leave now. He would rather arrive freakishly early than face another minute of this self-inflicted torment 

He double and triple checked he had his wallet and his plastic fangs, which he

was planning on putting on later. The medallion bounced against his exposed chest as he walked and he wondered briefly if it might be more trouble than it was worth. He could always swap it out for one of his pendants, maybe amethyst to calm his nerves. But it looked so good against his skin, falling perfectly in the deep V of his flowy white poet shirt. Unlike his other necklaces, it screamed vampire. And Janus would tease him if he caught Virgil wearing a subpar costume, and then Roman would join in, and Remus, and it would turn into a whole thing . He could wear the stupid medallion for one night.

 -

Virgil regretted this decision as soon as he got his moped going. Even at its 30 mph crawl, the heavy necklace bounced against his chest in a maddening rhythm. At least it was distracting. Every time he started to worry about Logan, the erratic tap-tap-tap of cold metal on his chest brought him back to Earth.

It was a long ride into town down a windy country road. He hugged the shoulder as best as he could despite the lack of traffic; Virgil's neighbors were few, but they all liked to take corners at frighteningly high speeds. The one person who did drive by honked at him and flashed their lights. Virgil's heart dropped and he nearly flipped them off before he realized that they liked his costume. It occurred to him then that he must look pretty absurd: A vampire riding a purple moped, cape fluttering on the wind.

Upon reaching the Plaza, Virgil did a few laps around downtown, smiling at the spiderwebs decorating Vaillant City Hall. Another lap revealed that empty parking spots were already becoming scarce, so Virgil pulled into one and checked his phone. Nothing from Logan. Just more hysterics from Roman, and Patton's best attempts at comfort. Virgil rolled his eyes. Maybe Roman did need some tough love. He scanned through the messages to orient himself, to make sure he didn't look dumb, and then typed out his reply.

Virgil: look, Prince Charming. 2 rolls of body glitter is more than enough. Stop freaking out

Roman: That's DOCTOR Prince Charming to you

Virgil: :*

He put his phone away, tucked his keys in his pocket, and forced himself to walk slowly toward the Plaza. He was still excruciatingly early, but maybe he could pop into a bar or grab a coffee or even swing by his work-- Oh.

There, standing by the reflecting pool with his hands in his pockets, was Logan. Virgil smiled despite his nerves and sped up. Leave it to Logan to somehow be earlier than early.

"Hey, Data," Virgil said once he was in earshot.

Logan's face lit up, and even the yellow contacts he was wearing couldn't mask the fondness in his face. "Evening, Virge," he said. His smile dropped too quickly and he kept his hands shoved in his pockets. Virgil surveyed all this with dread. Was he reading too much into it? Most definitely. Could he stop? No way.

"Everything okay?" Virgil asked, tugging at his medallion and turning his nervous gaze upon the placid waters of the reflecting pool. Great. Now he had two awesome reasons to be nervous. It was an old Vaillant legend that anyone who disturbed the waters of the pool would be cursed, and Virgil did not mess with curses. He usually took pains to avoid the Plaza, even if it meant he had to take the long way to work.

"Yes, Virgil," Logan said in a voice that was far too breathy. He cleared his throat. "As you know, we have been friends for a long time. I…" He paused, blinked. "I forgot what I was going to say."

"Jeeze, Lo," Virgil tried to tease. "You're making me nervous."

"But I--" Logan ran a hand through his hair. "Virgil. I had prepared something far more eloquent than what I am about to say, but I can't seem to remember it at the moment. Forgive me if this comes across as confusing."

"All good," Virgil said, making only a minimal effort to hide his confusion. The medallion was cold and oily under his fingertips, but he couldn't stop messing with it, tugging at it, rattling the chain. He needed some outlet for all this nervous energy.

"We've been spending more time alone together and I

thought-- I wanted--" Logan touched his face and Virgil realized a second later he had tried to push up his glasses, which he wasn't wearing. Oh, how cute. "Virgil, I would like to go steady with you."

A rush of vertigo smacked into Virgil with such force that he had to take a step back just to keep his balance. "Go steady?" he heard himself say. "Like-- Like, boyfriends?"

"If you are amenable to that," Logan said, furiously running his fingers over the piping on his uniform. "If not, I-- We can pretend this never--"

"Yes," Virgil interrupted. "Yes, yes, yes. Logan, I do want that."

"Oh," said Logan, his face breaking into a smile. "Good."

Virgil clenched his fist around the medallion wondering if it was too soon to ask for a kiss. He took a breath and felt something give with a quiet snap. The broken chain snaked along his neck, dragged down by the weight of the pendant. Virgil watched in silent agony as the necklace landed in the water of the reflecting pool with a quiet splash. "Shit."

"Allow me," said Logan, already in motion.

"No!" Virgil caught his hand and held it. "The curse." He realized what he had done and let go of Logan's hand.

"I don't believe in such things, Virgil, but if it's important to you, then I'll leave it."

"Thank you." Virgil stared down at the water and sighed through his nose. He'd already disturbed the water. Would it be better to leave the necklace or take it out? Littering seemed more disrespectful, he supposed. So he bent and grabbed the necklace before he could change his mind. "I'll, uh, de-curse-ify myself later."

Logan nodded, looking preoccupied. "Let me know if I can help. I might be able to repair the chain."

"Actually," said Virgil, stuffing the wet necklace into his pocket, "I was wondering if maybe, um…"

"Yes?"

"Can I kiss you?"

"Please do."

Virgil closed his eyes so he wouldn't get weirded out by Logan's contacts. He had been expecting a short kiss, sweet and chaste, but Logan's hand tightened in the loose fabric of Virgil's poet shirt and his teeth grazed Virgil's bottom lip. Fuck propriety, then; the Plaza was still fairly empty. Virgil raised a hand to grab a fistful of Logan's hair and ran his tongue along the edge of Logan's lip.

They were interrupted by a wolf whistle and golf claps. "I'll be damned." Crap. Why did it have to be Janus? He was never going to let Virgil live this down.

Virgil pulled away so fast it made pain shoot through his neck. He exhaled sharply and covered the area with his hand for all the good it would do, turning to face Janus with a blush blooming on his cheeks. "What are you supposed to be?" he asked, looking Janus up and down. Janus had always been unnecessarily private about things that really didn't matter. He had evaded all of Virgil's attempts to guess his costume, and now presented wearing an old-fashioned suit including top hat, gloves, and cane.

"Don't change the subject," said Janus, dismissing Virgil with a wave.

In true vampire fashion, Virgil snarled and bared his teeth, then remembered something. "Oh, shit, my fangs!" He dug in his pocket for them, leaving Janus to do… whatever he was going to do.

"Logan, I presume?" Janus asked. Virgil stopped in the process of sticking on one tooth, heart hammering again. Janus and Logan had never met, and they could both be… a bit much in their own ways.

Logan nodded. "Logan Doucet." He held out his hand for a shake.

Janus took it. "Thank God you didn't bother to paint your face, else Virgil would have more than smudged lipstick to contend with. You've got some on your mouth, by the way."

"Thank you," Logan said stiffly. He withdrew his hand and used it to wipe away the lipstick stain on his face. "Nice to meet you, Professor Moriarty."

Virgil's eyes darted back to Janus, who smiled. "When I'm not acting as the Napoleon of Crime, you can call me Janus. Janus Bellefontaine."

"Where's Remus?" Virgil interjected, looking around. "Didn't he ride with you?"

"He got waylaid by some angry mothers because his costume made their kids cry," Janus said, nonchalantly running a

fingertip over the brim of his hat. "He'll be along." To Logan, he said, "Virgil tells me you're an accountant."

"Yes," said Logan. 

"And you haven't killed yourself yet, so I assume you must like it."

Virgil busied himself sticking his fangs onto his canines so he wouldn't worry about the conversation at hand. A sideways glance at Logan revealed that he seemed to find the comment amusing, thank God . "I've always been good with numbers. People, less so."

"Never would have guessed," Janus said, and Virgil didn't have to look at him to know he was smiling that crooked, tight-lipped smile that might have been genuine or might have been mocking. Asshole. "Well, if you have any rich clients, send them my way, won't you? I sell nice suits to dumb men with low self-esteem and too much money and I'm always on the lookout for another rube to swindle."

"If the suits are any good, I'd be happy to," Logan said.

Satisfied that his fangs were in properly, Virgil's attention shifted suddenly to the cold, wet medallion in his pocket. Right. He was cursed. Despite his interest in the occult and the supernatural, Virgil didn't have much experience with curses. His friends weren't really the type to play around with magic (well, maybe Janus, maybe- maybe Roman) and he wasn't the kind of guy who made enemies. No one had ever cursed him before. How soon would this one take effect? Should he go home and come back? Should he hop into the bayou, makeup be damned? Did bayous even count as running water?

He was so caught up in his panic spiral that the sudden sensation of hands on his shoulders made him jump. "Fuck!"

To his surprise it was Roman, not Remus, who laughed from somewhere behind him. "What, are Logan and Janus boring you?"

Virgil looked up and flinched again. While Roman looked relatively normal in his glittery Doctor Frank-n-Furter costume, Remus, who was lurking just behind his brother, was a horrorshow of fur and face paint and fake blood. "Um…" He shook himself and noticed Patton standing a ways off, peering at Remus. Distracted, he went to introduce Patton to Remus and Janus only to learn that he and Roman had run into Remus on their way over and rescued him from a brigade of shouty young mothers.

"He's Macavity," Patton said in a tone like he was pronouncing the death of the family goldfish.

"The other Napoleon of Crime," Janus agreed. "And you are?"

"Patton Haydel!"

A pause. "I gathered that. " Janus gestured at Patton's costume, which he had also kept a secret. Virgil had been staring at it as well, trying to figure it out. Patton was wearing what appeared to be a headless bear costume, round glasses, and what might have been a cowboy hat, though Virgil wasn't 100% sure. "What are you?"

"You have to guess!" Patton said, extending his arms and backing up so everyone could get a good look at him.

Virgil stared at him, running his tongue over the edges of his plastic fangs. "I got nothin'."

Logan took a sideways step and tapped Virgil's hand. Virgil nodded, and Logan interlaced their fingers as casually as he might clock in for work. "He's Teddy Bear Roosevelt."

They all groaned. "Good work, Pat," Virgil said begrudgingly.

"You have a big wet spot on your crotch," Remus pronounced, pointing at Virgil.

Janus raised his eyebrows, turning to Virgil with undisguised schadenfreude, but Logan stepped in before anyone could say anything. "It's water. He dropped his necklace in the reflecting pool."

"Well," said Patton, "that's not good."

"You dropped something in the reflecting pool and didn't immediately run for the nearest source of running water?" Janus asked. He looked from Virgil to Logan, then to their intertwined fingers and grinned. "Ah. More pressing matters at hand?"

"Maybe it's not too late," Roman said, drumming his acrylic nails against his thigh. "We can still dump him in the bayou."

"There's alligators in there!" Virgil said. "Fuck that. You know my house is plastered with wards. I'm sure I can make it through one evening."

"Your funeral," said Remus, leering. "Let me know if your dick falls

off.

 -

Despite his friends' concern, Virgil had a wonderful evening. Logan stuck close the whole night through, and they even snuck a few kisses here and there like infatuated teenagers. Each one sent a lightning thrill down Virgil's spine and made him want a dozen more. His friends noticed in turns and either teased or cooed, but each reaction was encouraging.

Logan kissed him goodbye at the end of the night and he practically floated back to his moped. He was so caught up in his daydreams that he only remembered the curse when he caught sight of the nazar hanging on his kitchen wall. Cursing under his breath, Virgil went to his bookshelf and began to compile a few methods of curse-breaking. Did a shower count as running water? God help him, he was not getting in the bayou. Maybe he could combine methods.

A few moments later, Virgil had everything set up in the bathroom. He lit the last candle, tightened the herb sachet around his neck, and stepped into the shower. Okay, time to focus. He was washing himself free of the curse and wouldn't it be nice if Logan were here? Logan didn't believe in magic and his clear-headed confidence would undoubtedly make Virgil feel better, too-- Focus! Wash away the curse. Logan would probably help him if he asked, helping Virgil set up the crystals and making sure his candles stayed lit-- Virgil! The curse! Wash away the curse.

The bathroom smelled of candles, incense, and herbs. Almost like Virgil's workplace, except that Virgil was using lavender and his boss preferred nag champa.

He stepped out of the shower and inhaled deeply, letting the mixture of scents relax him and draw him toward sleep.

[wrathfulspark]

@dabrowskievolution

     Perhaps the term Elidi had been looking for was ‘humanity’, seeing as Stanislav didn’t view himself as human--at least not anymore. It’d been far too long since he’d last felt the natural flush of life within his veins; but seeing as this was only pleasantry and easily brushed over in favor of moving on to the next topic of conversation, Stanislav refrained from commenting any further on the matter. 

          While this was by no means a bragging contest, Stanislav merely gave a subtle shrug of his shoulders. “It was hard not to know her. You and I both know Miss Reznikov has a certain air about herself, one that can be hard to ignore.” This was by no means an insult, merely fact straight from the elder vampire’s mouth. 

           His hues narrowed as he observed the way Elidi seemed to look at him, although he was able to distinguish no hint of malice...though perhaps thought? Stanislav could very much relate to the sentiment, but he tried not to get that ahead of himself--at least for tonight. It was a Masquerade after all. Even if he felt much too embarrassed to express his fondness for Kiki, perhaps Stanislav was willing to place much more trust into the witch seeing as she was an important figure within his lover’s life. 

      An amused, though silent huff escaped the taller male’s frame as Elidi both complimented and noted his mannerisms. If it had been anyone else he likely would have felt defensive. “Yes, maybe so.” The vampire agreed. Giving a dismissive shake of his head, Stanislav raised his glass to his lips once more and partook in a small drink. “Your line of work makes sense--such is to be expected of a detective. You needn’t worry, Miss Elidi. Though I harbor a feeling you already know that.” As much as Elidi came forward as a woman who rarely let go of composure, it seemed everyone didn’t quite know how to interact with the vampire king. One one hand such intimidation helped him keep his subjects under law, but it didn’t seem to dissuade any nosey publicists keen on prying into the LSA’s affairs. 

            “You understand what  your duties entail, but I suppose when it comes to your obligations there is an almost scripted routine. Less room for error--than say, leisurely conversation. I understand such a sentiment.” Despite not divulging any further detail, the vampire knew his way around the politics of Tabula Rasa and had even found himself to be quite formidable at negotiation. This was something Kiki and Tamryn had mentioned, however--outside of work, Stanislav was virtually a blank canvas. Even if Elidi’s predicaments weren’t as drastic, there was an element of familiarity within her words that had seemed to resonate within the LSA official.

           

Elidi let out an amused laugh, nodding along in agreement with his statement about Tamryn. There had been a time when Elidi would go out of her way to avoid the Alpha, the entire pack even. Not because she feared her or her clan but because of the energy Tamryn carried herself with, a dangerous enticement, something Elidi deemed herself too busy to be distracted with. So much so she'd go as far as changing her number to detere any interaction with the redhead.

A dark blush settled across her cheeks, though she refused to avert her gaze this time around, a smile still present on her reddened lips, "I know exactly what you mean..." How amazing how particular their relationship was now. The witch could feel her heart, warm in her chest, stomach fluttering with butterflies at the thought of Tamryn alone. She felt grateful, treasured to be able to experience a side of the Alpha that no one else knew, this journey new to both of the women. Elidi's head tilted forward bashfully, her gaze earthward as she observed the intricate design along the floor boards. "Forgive my sentiments but I'm... glad I finally got to know her."

Somewhat grateful for a change in topic, she thoughtfully weighed his observation, finding herself both agreeing and disagreeing. "I worked outside of Tabula as an officer, albeit briefly, that felt more routine. That is, if you're following the book like you should. Tabula tends to vary in all things, I can't say I've had a case that is entirely the same as one before. With so many species brings an assortment of ways to commit a crime, distinctly varying." Of course, unless they happened to be a serial killer. Her brows raised thoughtfully. It would be best not to mention that.

A smile tugged the corners of her lips, a pleasing sense of familiarity overcoming her. They both seemed to be lacking a bit in the social department, though Stan seemed to carry himself better than she did in some aspects. How silly that she felt quite proud to carry on a conversation and not feel the pressure to keep the discussion afloat. It felt natural, comfortable to the witch.

"May I ask a question? You dont have to answer of course but I've been curious. How exactly did you meet Kiki, at the fair perhaps?" Her head tilted thoughtfully. Her student hadn't mentioned how she met her vampire, only that she had one, and then slowly her friend circle kept expanding. More vampires, an angel, Kiki had even mentioned Jaylah. It was a headache to try and keep up with who Kiki befriended, it was easier to note who wasn't a friend, if any. The thought presses another matter, Kiki wasn't exactly on good terms with Tamryn. Whether she knew that or not.

She knew the question was out of the blue, especially since she had just asked one previous, part of her thought it was rude even to ask such a inquiring question, especially on this night. Yet, she didn't know anyone else who knew Kiki quite as well, someone closer to the wiccan than he was. Elidi didn't think she was being foolish, Stan would give her an honest answer, if he chose to give any at all.

Briefly she's apologetic, perhaps ruining the slight progress the two had made together. "....Do you think Kiki has malicious intent?" There is a short pause, struggling to find the appropriate words, "Please don't misunderstand, I think very highly of Kiki, and this is not a discussion for me to discuss her poorly. I know she wouldn't -- ... I just want to make sure my judgment isn't hindered by my connection with her." Her brows draw together, fingetips tapping nervously together. While Kiki hadn't destroyed anything of value, the witch had strong spellbooks stored in her home, ones that could be dangerous in the wrong hands. Hence the wards set around to alert the detective to any intruders. That and a few other reasons..

[morningmindsetpodcast-blog]

MM160 - Don't Cut Corners | MM Book Study Pt. 18

One idea that the late, great Dave Thomas left us with was this, don’t cut corners. How often do you or those around you attempt to save time or money by cutting corners? Does cutting corners make your company more attractive or less so?

If you like the show, please check out our Official Morning Mindset Merchandise!

Episode Transcription

[INTRO]

♫ Trenches by Pop Evil ♫

*Alex*

Welcome to Morning Mindset. A daily dose of practical wit and wisdom with a professional educator & trainer, Amazon best selling author, United States Marine, Television, and Radio host, Paul G. Markel. Each episode will focus on positive and productive ways to strengthen your mindset and help you improve your relationships, career goals, and overall well-being. Please welcome your host; Paul G. Markel.

*Professor Paul*

Hello and good morning, or good afternoon or good evening whenever it happens to be. I was listening to a podcast recently and the host said “Good Morning”, he said I say good morning because all decent human beings listen to my podcast on their way to work in the morning. So I'm going to assume that you're all listening in the morning, but you don't have to listen to this show in the morning listening.

-

Listen the evening do whatever but I think it'd be a good time for you to listen at least once a day or at least a good suggestion. Alright, we're continuing on. With our book study. The book is called Morning Mindset: a 30 Day Plan for a More Positive and Productive Life by Paul Markel. That is me. You can get it at Amazon get it a Kindle. You can go to Morning Mindset podcast.com and you can order yourself a signed copy of the book. Alright, we are on chapter or section number 18 so far, in today's topic is called Don't Cut Corners now. Yes, I am fully aware that we are not supposed to use the negative.

-

We're supposed to use the positive. We're supposed to say do not, don't, or do not. However, it doesn't really work in this current situation. Now, my bride has been involved in the restaurant, the Food Service management business her entire adult life. She was managing a restaurant when I met her as a matter of fact, that is how I met her.

-

You'll forgive me while I take a quick sip of coffee, because I really need it. I thought I was going to cough there for a second. But one of the many things that she did over the years as she worked for the Wendy's Corporation or franchise of the Wendy's restaurants. You know Wendy's hamburgers, right, and when she started the company was still owned and operated by the Thomas family, Dave Thomas, and Dave Thomas was still alive. Actually at the time and all new managers got a copy of the book Dave's way. By Wendy's founder Dave Thomas and after she read it. She handed me the book and I read it too, and so every long book is matter of fact, I would highly recommend that if you are a business person, especially if you're a small business person or if you're a manager, get the copy a copy of the book Dave's way. I'm sure you can find them on eBay or Amazon or Kindle whatever get a copy of that book now in the book Dave's way.

-

He tells several stories of going to visit franchises and how they set up and established the Wendy's franchise and. Dave used to show up at Wendy's stores as franchises and to spot inspections, and Wendy's hamburgers are all square and I don't know if they do it anymore. But when my wife was working for Wendy's and actually my oldest son Jarrad worked for Wendy's for a while. Wendy's hamburgers are square and Dave Thomas was very fond of when people would ask like “Well all of your competitors burgers around Dave, you know, they're all round in yours are square Burgers. Why why would you do that? Why would you make your hamburger patties square when everyone else is around?”

-

He would he would get a smile on his face and he would say “Because at Wendy's, we don't cut corners��� and of course, you know, the interviewers were all chuckle and everything, but Dave was actually very serious about that, and when he meant don't cut Corners, he didn't mean cutting the corners of a hamburgers. He meant we don't take cheap shortcuts. Now quite often in a business experience. You will see your you'll encounter a maybe you encountered a favorite restaurant or shop or what have you and you and became your favorite because you went there and they treated you.

-

Well, the service was good, the product was good. Whatever that product was and you enjoyed it and you enjoy the experience and you kept going. But then over time after they had established themselves and become popular and and we're making enough money to keep the doors open it changed. How many of you have had a favorite restaurant?

-

It used to be your favorite restaurant, used to enjoy going there all the time and then you noticed, not overnight but a slow incremental decline and after a while you just decide I'm not going to go there anymore. Because I don't like the service the food is cheap the food doesn't taste the same. What have you you know, they used to give you blankety-blank now, they don't anymore what will happen with many businesses there.

-

They're very hungry and they're very eager to establish themselves, to fight against their competition to to make their way, and so they'll begin real strong out of the gate, and they establish themselves as a good business or reputable business and they start getting a solid customer base. Then they feel comfortable after a while like okay. We have a regular customer base, we're making our rent. We're paying our bills looks like we're solvent we're going to be around, and they assume that because that's a good thing or because that they're in that position that it will always be that way and now they start looking for ways to cut Corners.

-

They start looking for ways to save money they switch up ingredients. Whereas they were using an ingredient that cost X they're like, well we can get a generic version. That's basically the same for less money. So what we'll do is we'll do that, you know and simple example is you go to a place and it's just a burger place a custom burger place right or high-end hamburger place and they have really good tasty hamburger buns and you enjoy them very much then you come back and you haven't you're like this doesn't seem the same and you realize oh it's because they change the bun.

-

Why did change the button well, but because the bond they're using now is 10 cents a unit or five sensor unit or whatever cheaper. It's just about the same. It's pretty much the same. But but this is just cheaper restaurants will do things with employees where they were having, you know, one shift had four people on it, and they realized “You know, if we bring somebody in a little earlier and then have someone stay a little later instead of having four, we’ll have three” and what happens when you eliminate one employee? Service times go down and customer frustration goes up, but they're cutting Corners because they feel comfortable.

-

How many of you have been in a position yourselves or have been in a company or with a company that starts cutting corners and getting cheap and trying to find the cheap easy way to do something rather than the good way or the best way how many of you have ever been in a company or work for a company that didn't want the best way?

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They wanted the easiest way. They didn't want the best product. They wanted the cheapest product and you can stay there and you can do that all you want but I'm telling you this if you hope to be successful someday, if you have hope to be like a person person like Dave Thomas who should be emulated by all small business owners in the United States of America, and it's sad to me.

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The Dave has been gone for so long. Now that people have forgotten and they forgotten the example that he said, but if you hope to be productive if you have to help to have a successful business a successful career. You need to be very very aware of that. Now, I'm not talking about wasting money unnecessarily, but there's a difference between being Frugal enough not to waste and deliberately being cheap or going for the easy way instead of the quality way or the best way you do that. You start cutting Corners you start cheapening the experience and eventually it will come around and it will bite you in the butt. So my advice to you as Dave said don't cut Corners if you want to be productive and have a successful business and career. Don't do things the cheap and easy way do things the correct and best way.

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Don't cut those Corners. Alright, ladies and gentlemen that is it for today. Thank you for joining me for the Morning Mindset book study. It's never too late to get a copy, you know where to go Amazon Kindle all that good stuff. I am your host Paul Markle. I'll be back to talk to you again real soon.

[OUTRO]

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*Alex*

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