"Please commission me! Cheap commissions!!" and then I go to view the details and

uh

uhhhhhhhhhhhh

Re-living my childhood and working on doing a fashion history spam of the American Girl dolls!

Oh my god I can’t begin to tell you what a huge part of my childhood those dolls were. Before I go on, let me clarify my family’s financial circumstance growing up: I was a pretty solidly middle-class only child. I definitely wasn’t rich, but my mom was willing to spend a lot of money on buying me a shitload of American Girl stuff because A.) she thought they were cool, and B.) they provided a much smarter alternative to Barbies. And when I grew up and got too old for them, I was able to give my stuff over to my younger cousins.

Looking at what the brand has to offer now, it’s pretty clear that the brand has changed over time and that the emphasis has gone from the historical dolls to the modern ones. Honestly, that’s not a 100% terrible thing. I fully embrace change as a part of the universe, and if it’s a part of the survival of the brand, so be it. As long as the historical dolls remain in tact and the brand integrity is respected. And for the most part, until very recent years, it looks like it has been.

Mattel bought the American Girl brand in 1998, and from then on, you can see the brand shifting away from the original five dolls. I’m going to get waaay more into this with the spam, but really, the historical dolls until very recently have actually remained pretty great. If there’s one really broad critique I could give, it’s that the overall color palette skews towards the modern, with a lot of very bright colors and a heavy emphasis on pink, but when taken individually, the pieces remain very accurate.

HERE’S THE THING! In 2016, a new historical girl was released: Maryellen, repping the 1950s. She’s blonde and has blue eyes, following shortly on Julie, who repped the 1970s and also had blonde hair and blue eyes. You can kind of see a theme developing here. The girls from the 30s, 50, 70s, 80s, and 90s are all blonde with blue eyes. You’d think that girls in the 20th century were only blondes. But anyway I’m getting away from the point. Maryellen was released with only TWO books! The fuck?! Maryellen’s collection remained the same very immersive collection that I love about the brand, but clearly, shit’s changing.

The next historical dolls, Nenea (repping Hawaii after Pearl Harbor), Melody (repping Black girls, Motown, and civil rights in the 60s), Courtney (repping blonde hair blue eyed girls with 80s nostalgia and very little historical engagement), Claudie, (Black girl in the 1920s Harlem Renaissance) and Isabelle and Nicki (again blonde girls repping 90s nostalgia with little historical engagement) all only have two books. The brand has LITERALLY been diminished. The books were an equally important part of the playset, not only providing context for the garments and objects you were playing with, providing REAL, often complex lessons about history, making history feel real and relatable, but they fleshed out the girls, their lives, and the worlds they lived in. They made what you were playing with more than just a playset, more than just a dollhouse or Barbie accessories, they were a whole universe for girls to explore.

Like I said at the beginning, I didn’t grow up rich. I definitely had more privilege than others out there, but I still wasn’t the rich kid villain from a 90s kids movie. I had a lot of American Girl shit because my mom saw the value in the brand and was willing to spend a lot of money on it in a way that she wouldn’t be willing to spend a lot of money on Barbies.

Honestly, I don’t know the toy industry, I don’t know what little girls today want out of their dolls. I know that times change, and that what’s beloved in one generation isn’t necessarily going to be carry over to the next. But I find it hard to believe that little girls straight up no longer are interested in history, and that moms no longer want to give their daughters toys that will actually teach them things. I’ve read a lot of articles about how the brand is struggling, and I don’t think it’s a generational divide. Mattel has fucked up the brand, and I am not just saying that out of Boomer toxic nostalgia that says that everything from the past is GOOD, everything today is BAD, and that anything that changes is inherently not only bad but a personal insult. The stuff that made these expensive dolls worth buying just isn’t there.

Stray Kids as Different Kinds of Shopaholics

Pairing: OT8 x gn!reader Genre: headcanon, fluff, crack Warnings: none

1. Bang Chan- The Idiot

You would think that Bang Chan would be the sensible one when it comes to shopping 

This is false.

Unlike the other boys, he doesn’t really have super niche hobbies like art or dance, so he believes that he doesn’t need to spend so much money on such “unnecessary things”

He’ll even hoard coupons and try to use them, even though they expired months ago

But two seconds later, he’ll be whipping out his wallet to buy the most useless shit ever

He would 100% fall for stupid scams, like a self-stirring coffee mug or a “gravity-defying” umbrella hat

As long as they make “life more efficient”

But if you want to buy a book or socks or something, he’ll side eye you and scold you for buying dumb things, as if he just didn’t spend a fortune on an automatic shoe-tying machine

2. Lee Know- The Gordon Ramsay Wannabe

Now Minho is pretty wise with money, except when it comes to one thing

His kitchen

I can absolutely envision him wanting to have an immaculately stocked kitchen

After all, he likes to try making new and elaborate dishes, and he needs the tools for that

Minho will have no problem with buying the fanciest, most expensive supplies

He’ll have a bluetooth wireless cooking sensor to time his roasts from a distance, a soy milk maker, and that KitchenAid artisan mini stand mixer with the fancy beater

He’s so extra that he will even buy a juice extractor to facilitate his morning fix for green juice (gross)

Will get mad if you question his purchases.

3. Changbin- The Gym Bro

Every single exercise contraption known to man will go into his personal home gym

He needs fifty different kinds of weights, 

Maybe even those arm exercise bands for when he’s “on a road trip”

Also spends a lot of money on nutrition

Like those organic seed packets or high-quality kale or something so he can make healthy stuff for himself

If you even open your mouth, he will immediately get defensive, explaining why each and every one of his purchases make sense and why you need them too to be healthy

4. Hyunjin- Ariana Grande

The “I want it, I got it” mentality

Going shopping with him has no budget. He hates that word

The kind of person who doesn’t bring a shopping list; he just strolls the aisles and buys anything he wants

Likes buying name brands: Gucci, Versace, Tom Ford, Chanel, and of course, Celine

Bougie bitch right here

LOVES jewelry and accessories even more than clothes; anything that glitters

Might ask you to go shopping with him sometimes just because he needs someone to help him hold all of his bags

Simply will ignore you if you ask him why he needs $5000 in new shirts when he’s already got a closet full at home

5. Han- The Real One

Surprisingly, Jisung would be one of the more practical shoppers

He has a normal budget that he follows religiously, because there’s only one thing that he really wants

Food.

Whenever he goes out, he absolutely must buy a drink. Probably boba, to sip on while walking or when sitting in the car

He’ll have “secret” hiding spots in his room for his snacks

Can’t cook so loves taking it as an excuse to always get food outside & he loves doing it with you

Loves ordering-in all kinds of meals as well, whether it’s pizza or butter chicken

Every morning, Jisung needs to buy his coffee at Starbucks and be all aesthetic, or else he can’t do his work

Pouts when you remind him that you literally have a coffee machine at home.

6. Felix- Santa Claus

Now Felix is also a little like Jisung, being a little more realistic

EXCEPT when it comes to his friends & family, especially you.

Will spoil you rotten will all sorts of gifts, from new clothes to perfume

And he insists on taking you on shopping sprees and showering you with new things you don’t really need

Receiving expensive chocolates imported from Paris or somewhere is a regular thing for you

And he’s even managed to get you a designer bag that even the richest people have to be on waiting lists for

Doesn’t get offended at all when you tell him that he needs to cut down on the spending; he’ll just cutely hold out a pretty dress for you to wear

And how can you refuse him?

7. Seungmin- The Mom

Doesn’t give a crap about being fashionable; definitely stingy when it comes to that

“But Seungmin, that hoodie is seven years old…” “Well it fits, so I can wear it.”

Will lecture people (Hyunjin) on their horrible spending habits

Meanwhile, he’d rather spend time in the cleaning sections

He’ll stock up on extra paper towels and wipes and other practical materials

The kind of shopper to absolutely ADORE sales, and will buy everything with a discount

Would buy snow gear in June just because it’s 5% off and will force you to try on a hideous sweater just because it’s in clearance or something

8. I.N.- The Guilty One

Can’t be trusted when given money to go shopping

You could give him your wallet to tell him to go buy milk and when he comes back, he’ll have his arms full of crap that you didn’t even mention

Is such a binge-shopper that he has no choice but to live simple

Because the moment he steps into Target or the mall or somewhere, it’s over.

You had to stop giving him your credit card and just hand him a limited wad of cash when you need him to run errands for you

TAGLIST @hamburgers101 @chansburgah @ajxreads @hash2013 @pixigreen @ana-marais98 @ohish @chizumiyoshi @lilydaisyyy @jetblackbelle @143hyunes

Hello! I've been really loving your contents so far! Just thought I'd try my luck and request hehe. Perhaps a Miles Edgeworth headcanon with an S/O with the same chic and expensive taste as him? Just thought it'd be interesting 😆

Hellu anoon! Thank you so much for the support! This ask is so cute, so I hope you'll enjoy what I wrote even if late <3 --------------------------------------------------------------------

Miles Edgeworth x S/O with his same expensive taste:

The fact that you had the exact same tastes as him was the first thing that made him fall in love;

He took you out to a cafè near his office as your first date and remained surprised by your quite unusual choice;

It then started a conversation at least half an hour long about tea and the best brands that sell something that tastes like something and not dirty water;

He absolutely loves your style and more than once you exchange pieces of clothing, from shirts to cravats and jackets;

He finally has someone with whom he can be himself without being called a snob or "too much";

He gladly invites you to his office and lets you explore the bookshelves with his favorite books;

Whenever he takes a break from his papers, he invites you to a chess play that can even last an hour between your small talk and comments on each other's moves;

You're the one of the couple that loves buying matching clothes and have some tea in cafes;

He, on the other hand, prefers the intimacy of your house for a cup of the, a discussion over a book you both read and many chess matches;

The seriousness is regularly broken when Miles has to watch his weekly episode of the steel samurai, new or replica;

He tries to make you passionate about the show, too, but he also likes that you enjoy other kinds of things;

He doesn't like spending too much money on the thing he likes for himself, but seeing you happy with a new shirt or relaxed with a cup of a new tea infusion is all he needs to be satisfied;

One thing he always wanted to do was list every kind of tea leaves and put them in an "encyclopedia" that he tried to illustrate as well;

(Since his drawing skills aren't exactly the best, the draft was kinda funny);

But you gladly helped him, creating a "hobby" for you two;

The two of you sometimes play your instruments and, surely you, try to write some arrangements for a duet with your instruments.

Becoming Black Canary’s sidekick…

Black Canary x Male Reader (platonic)

Warnings: superhero violence, threats…

N/n = Nickname

Summary: Black Canary pulls a ”Batman”…

——

Dinah was out patrolling Gotham, there nothing to out of the ordinary so far, a few muggers and a bit of attempted gun violence and one or two robberies, just regular old Gotham.

But then while on a rooftop she came across something she wasn’t expecting, down in an alley she saw a gang of thugs making some kind of deal with… a teenager. The teen presented the thugs with a brand new motorbike. ”No scratches, just how you wanted it” the kid said.

”Nice work, N/n” one of the criminals said handed the younger a roll of cash. The kid checked how much cash he got and then asked ”How much are you reselling it for?”. ”10% more than the original price, why interested in buying” the same criminal who had gave him the money answered.

”No, just curious, see you guys later if you need anything else” the boy said turning around to leave only getting uninterested ”yeah”s in return. Dinah knew she should focus on the criminals but was more interested with questioning the teenage boy how he ended up part of their opperation.

She followed the boy as he sneaked in to another alley. ”Hey kid” Dinah said getting his attention. ”Aren’t you a bit young to be playing around with the big boys?” she asked sarcastically but the boy looked unfazed by being met with a superhero.

”Aren’t you a bit old to be playing dress up” he questioned using the same amount of sarcasm. ”Very funny” Dinah answered more seriously this time.

”Why are getting involved with people like them” she asked. ”Don’t have many other options” the kid said and jumped and started climbing the ladder to a fire escape, Dinah followed and noticed the boy was not trying to escape from her.

He waited for her to get up ladder and on to the fire esape, he then walked up it’s stairs and Dinah continued to follow wordlessly. The boy then climbed in through a window, Dinah climbed inside after him on the other side was a room with torn wallpaper, a single matress for a bed some book and a few pairs of clothes laying around.

There were also some more unexpected things for a teenage boy to have laying around in his room, a crowbar, a toolbox, car and motorbike manuals, a Katy Perry cd and a package of cigarettes.

”You live here alone” Dinah found herself saying not knowing if it was a question or a statement. ”Yeah, the whole building was abandoned after the goverment declared it unsafe” you informed her while you were putting the cash inside a backpack hidden under a floorboard.

”So…?” you then asked. ”So, what?” Dinah asked. ”Are you gonna arrest me? Cause if you are can i at least have one last smoke” you questioned. ”No and no” she answered simply. ”Why not?” you asked curiously. ”Because if i do i might send you further down the wrong path” she answered in a wise manner.

”Then what are you gonna do with me?” you wondered still curious. ”I haven’t decided” she stated thoughtfully. ”For now i just wanna know who your friends were” she continued. ”I don’t know, wouldn’t be very smart of me to blab on my only source of income” you said sneakily.

”How much do you want?” Dinah asked and you shrugged ”Nothing, i hate them just as much as anyone else, but if i tell on them it will just put a target on my back and once they get out of prison, they’ll do whatever they want with me and then leave be bleeding to death in an alley” you explained.

”Well… you’re a clever kid, i’ll give you that but what if i give you the thing you need then” Dinah suggested. ”And that would be?” you asked. ”Protection” she answered.

”Yeah, cause you’ll have all the time in the world to keep tabs on me, while going around and fighting crime” you said sarcastically. ”I promise” she said seriously and you realised she was fully serious.

”They call themselves the Street Demonz” you started explaining…

——

You and Black Canary spied on the Street Demonz from a rooftop while they were counting their score from their latest sales on the black market. Black Canary turned to you and said ”Stay here, no matter what and if things go south use this” she commanded and gave you a small remote with a single button with a green colored arrow-tip logo on it.

Then she jumped down in to the alley and said ”Hi boys, got a minute”. ”It’s Black Canary” one of them yelled and they started attacking her. You had a front row seat of watching Black Canary kick ass and it was magical.

She made easy work of thugs almost as if playing with them before she took them down, meanwhile they were trying their hardest to get one single punch in on her.

When they were all defeated she looked around ”Easy enough” she said and went to leave and go back to you. But one of the bigger and stronger gang members got back up and Black Canary hadn’t noticed.

”Look out!” you yelled to her but it was to late the man grabbed her around the neck with one arm and the other over her head putting her in a head lock. ”I’m not gonna kill you yet” he said to her in a deep voice and then continued ”I’m gonna wait till my guys wake up and then we’ll have some fun with you and little N/n and we’ll make you regret turning him against us”.

The man then looked towards the rooftop where he had heard your voice from and said ”Where’d the little shit go?” he asked and just as he did you hit him over the head with your crowbar you had brought in case of immdiate emergency.

The man fell to the groun again and you said quietly ”Asshole”. ”Didn’t i tell you ”stay on the rooftop, no matter what” Black Canary scolded. ”You didn’t specify on the rooftop for all i know you could have meant the general area, the city, the country, whatever” you explained sneakily.

She released a small snicker and said ”Good job, kid, let’s get out of here so i can get the cops, i’ll drop you off at your apartment”. You nodded and followed the superhero out of the alley.

Your apartment wasn’t far from where the alley where you had fought the street demonz, so she dropped you off and said ”Pack your bag and get a good nights sleep, tommorow you’ll need to find a new place now that you’re compromised” you nodded and did as she told.

The next day…

When you woke up Black Canary was sitting on the windowsill and asked ”Ready?”. You nodded and took your backpack where you had packed your cash and your Katy Perry cd.

Black Canary had a motorbike waiting outside she climbed on to it. ”So… where are you taking me?” you asked. ”Well i have two suggestion, either i take you wherever in the U.S you want to go and help you find a place to live or you come and live with me and if you want i’ll train you to become my sidekick” she told you while holding out a motorcycle helmet to you.

You took the helmet and put it on and said cooly ”Let’s go fuck up people’s shit” making Canary smile and hold out her hand ”I’m Dinah Drake” she introduced herself which made you realise you two hadn’t had a formal introduction yet so you took her hand and shook it.

”I’m Y/n L/n”

A couple of days later…

Oliver Queen knocked on the door of Dinah Drake, she had been quiet for few days and Oliver had grown slightly worried.

He heard footsteps coming towards the door and then it opened revealing a teenage boy with y/c/s skin and y/c/h hair. Oliver found himself on impulse asking ”Who the fuck are you?!”.

You in return asked ”Who the fuck are YOU?!”. ”I asked you first!” the grown man stated. ”I asked you second!” you responded sassily.

I'm watching a show where someone offhandedly mentioned they're a nightclub bartender

"That's the way you do it, you make $1000 in two days and you have the rest of the week [to pursue her dream job]."

So now I'm just thinking about

obviously when Desmond first started at Bad Weather he wasn't on the best nights. He was new and didn't know what he was doing. He got the shit shifts, the slow days. He didn't mind. It gave him time to figure it all out--the job, yeah, but also what the attitude of the place was, what people expected from a bartender, a coworker, an employee. He doesn't have a lifetime of norms, he has to figure it out every new place he ends up.

And he does. He figures out what people want, what they expect, and gives it to them. He knows how to read people, how to avoid drawing negative attention.

It helps that he's not bad to look at, too.

So he gets moved to the good shifts, to the busy nights with thumping music and drunk party girls asking if he has a place nearby. And he's in New York, and New York is *expensive*, but also--

"You want another shift?" The manager looks him up and down, a twist to his lips, and Desmond knows he's done something wrong. "If you've got 'em," he says, an easy smile, a careless shrug. "I'm trying to scrape together enough for deposit, get a place that's not halfway to New Jersey, y'know?"

It passes scrutiny, and buys him the time to figure out another set of expectations: people don't like working.

That should've been obvious, maybe. People were always complaining, saying how they didn't want to be there or wanted to go home. Desmond just....hadn't figured that was really an option. Not being an Assassin had never been, until he ran away. And then it was such a struggle to get a job, to feed himself and find somewhere to stay, that he just hadn't thought about it.

But apparently, people don't spend all their time working. He could. He could ask for as many shifts as they'll give him, but that'll get him negative attention and distance from his coworkers. So he gets himself some savings and then he....doesn't work as much. Enough that his manager likes him. Full shifts Friday and Saturday, a half shift Sunday, and there early on Tuesdays for delivery. That only takes a couple hours but he gets paid a half shift for it since no one wants to be there mornings.

And then he has the rest of the week to himself. No training, no evaluations, no missions--and no working. What's he supposed to do with all that time?

Maybe he should learn to play guitar.

Yeeessss. This is so good.

Maybe he tries to learn to play the guitar. Go to a pawnshop or a second-hand store, buy a cheap guitar, and try to learn using second-hand books that teach guitar and music in general.

From there, he starts trying out new things, just trying to find some kind of hobby or something that would keep him busy. The guitar was nice and it was relaxing but it sometimes gets boring so he branches out.

Tries different instruments.

Even bought a cheap mp3 player to play the cheap absolutely not legal CDs he buys from a dude that sells CDs and DVDs of varying ‘quality’.

He could buy brand new items, of course. It’s not like he was spending all the money he gets from his job anyway but he knew that saving up was the normal thing to do. That splurging should only be reserved for what he’s passionate about.

And that’s what he’s trying to find.

Something to be passionate about.

Something… anything… that would not bore him at all.

That would make him feel ‘normal’.

Music, books, movies…

They were nice. They can be relaxing.

But, sometimes, Desmond just gets so bored.

So he tries other things.

Taking walks which turn into people-watching whenever he knows he should take a rest.

He uses what he sees as basis on what he should try out next.

Jogging.

Knitting.

Cooking.

Staring mindlessly at a blank document in front of his secondhand laptop that he mainly used to watch those cheap DVDs (and it took an hour and a waitress asking “Writer’s block?” for Desmond to get what he was trying out, then a few minutes of spent being embarrassed at staring at nothing)

Hell, he tried writing a diary but that just made him remember his father’s warnings. To be a ghost, to leave no trace. He ripped and burned the pages he had already written and threw away the diary the next day.

When he told Lucy that motorcycles were a guilty pleasure of his, he wasn’t exactly lying.

His guilty pleasure had been trying out new things.

Trying to find something that he thinks he would like to keep doing again and again.

Motorcycle driving was simply the next thing on his list.

In the end…

He never did find it…

Something to be passionate about.

Since pip has no parents, I would be interested to know where he lives and some details in general:

- clothing

- accommodation

- money

- medical care

- Toys (he is still a child)

- school supplies

- who looks after him

- his bedroom

And so on

I always assumed he lived at an orphanage and if he wasn't there he was at summer school (s2 ep8 "summer sucks" he says that he can't be left alone so he has to attend summer school every year) so that's what I'm sticking with

• clothing

Possibly his clothes could come from donations to said orphanage or he saves money to buy thrift clothes

• accomodations

I'm not too sure what this means so I'm just going with what Google says: I would say hes not very smart book wise (but then again what 4th grader is) but I would like to think he has a lot of street and common knowledge like he would probably have some difficulty with solving math problems but he knows how to do other stuff pretty well (such as archery, fencing and how to act like a gentlemen)

•money

Ok this one is a bit tricky but I like to think that when he left Britain he was given some money to help him stay on his feet and when that ran out (probably quite fast because knowing children he most likely spent it on stuff he didn't really need like see here) he did some mini day jobs around the neighborhood

He most likely just caved to pier pressure when buying these but he also offered 75$ to buy a starving Marvin for himself

So Its a bit of a mystery to say how he's doing money wise but it looks like he's doing good from what I can tell

•medical care

I would say he was kinda screwed there considering his only kind of healthcare was the school nurse who wasn't very good at her job considering her method for helping a giant open wound on his head was a single bandaid and a shot

He probably had to take a lot of sick days cause really the only thing a school nurse can do is call your parents and tell them to pick you up and pip is an orphan....so that wasn't a option but on the bright side he probably has a very strong immune system

•toys

Kinda the same for the clothes all his toys were most likely donated to the orphanage or he bought them from thrift shops but occasionally he would save up enough money for a brand new toy like for example he has two Chinpokomon figures and I'm assuming that like real life Pokemon merchandise it's pretty expensive

He probably worked random jobs all over town (raking people yards, washing cars etc) to save up for those toys

•school supplies

Growing up being kind of poor we never really could afford School supplies either and usually when the kid or parent can't afford school supplies the school should provide it for you but not all cases are like this, and if that was the case he was on his own

•who looks after him

The teachers at the summer school or the workers at the orphanage I'd assume as he stated he can't be left alone

•his bedroom

Knowing orphanages he probably split a room with like four other kids so not a lot of privacy and he probably just shoved all of his stuff in a bag ethier under or on his bed (if it was on his bed it could've double as pillow as well)

Title : Genshin characters as highschool students part 2.

Some things I forgot to mention in the first part😭.

Warnings : Mentions of vaping.

Characters : Jean, Lisa, Ayato, Ayaka, Yoimiya, Thoma, Amber, Heizou, Mona.

Tags : crack, fluff, general headcanons

Scaramouche absolutely violates the dress code, sees no point in it and always fights with whoever tries to scold him for it.

Venti either does follow the rules, or doesn't care about them at all.

Kazuha follows them but can wear a sweater/hoodie over the shirt sometimes.

Jean is the strict school patroll worker, the one who goes to every classroom to check on students outside look, if they have fake nails, makeup, or wear something out of the uniform rules. Scolds the students, but tries not to do it harshly, as she still cares about them🥺. Would never ever write someone to the list of consistent "bad" students,(yes we have those) unless it is something very serious.

Lisa is Jean's sly and more kind follower, who doesn't scold students nor follow the rules herself. She would literally violate all of the rules, but get nothing told in her address because of her status. The one that the students admire and call iconic.

Amber is the girl who confidently submits herself as the school president, wins all the hearts of the school and confidently wins. She is the really active school president who always tries to add something new and fun to those boring passing by school weeks. Like a no backpack day, or a themed party, she will always try her best to make education fun and cool for the students. Also the one you can always come to if you need help, or want to confess something. She will always support you.<3

Ayaka and Yoimiya are the two very popular bestfriends, both having connections and relationships with all the hype in the school. Yoimiya is that type of friend to always seek adventures and journeys and drag Ayaka along with her😭. Ayaka is comfortable with it, but just sometimes Yoimiya can be too much... The popular kids that are not mean and would always go out of their way if you need help. Yoimiya doesn't follow the dress code perfectly, but she tries, believe me. Ayaka follows it religiously, she would rather get in trouble with Yoimiya than to get scolded for the dress code.

I can see Ayato as two types of people. First, the more serious helper of the president, or second, a Math teacher that everyone has a crush on, even if sometimes he can be an asshole... Like you know those types of teachers that are nice, but strict at the same time? He's one of those. He teaches well, and communicates with his students well, but can and WILL demand excellent grades. The one to always scare you with talking about the upcoming tests and exams, saying that he will not help you during them. Though on the same tests won't take your phone away, or bat an eye when you try to look up the formula in the book or on your notes. Huh, where were your words about not helping us, Mr. Ayato?🤔.

Heizou is the drama expert, the journalist of your school that always asks too much questions. Hangs out with Venti in the bathrooms, vapes and one of those vapers who can't live without their flavoured air at least for 1 minute😟. Bro trades the single taste that he has with the whole school, really be oversharing that bacteria🤢. That one student who is always too interested in your private life, the wrong one giving you the right attention😭. Heizou spontaneously violates the rules of the dress code, wearing a hoodie above the shirt from some cool ass brand just to flex in the school.

Mona is that one astrology girl who always tries to advertise her tarot readings just to earn some money. The one who can never buy anything in the cafeteria, and always asks if she can take a bite from your food. Takes the biggest bites anyone has ever seen, literally eating half of that small ass food you bought💀. The girl that never goes to PE, somehow goes loose with Childe and always wants to play volleyball with someone.

Thoma is either a kind cafeteria worker or the friendly technician. The one to have special bonds with certain students and always greet them. The type of cafeteria worker that if you beg enough and complain enough can get you free water or even some food, but will get scolded by his colleagues if he gets caught. Would actually listen to your menu recommendations and cooking advice seriously, he would always try to upgrade his cooking quality just for you.

Phew, this was a lot. Some of them are quite short, and I'm sorry for that!! I'm literally writing this at night, so I'm kinda tired and maybe uninspired😩. I think a little bit of them might be too OOC, but pls bear with me!!!

its that time of year again

To all the new undergrads out there, here are the best ways I found to save money without completely sucking all the joy out of life, from a current grad student :) (a lot of this advice is usamerican-centric for students that live on/very close to campus because that was my undergrad experience)

Advice under the cut because I wrote too much:

School stuff:

Don't buy the textbooks from the bookstore. Especially don't buy them new. Rent them from Chegg or Amazon, or straight up pirate them from the internet. (I am a huge advocate for textbook piracy)

You can also see if your school has a textbook swap. You can try to start a textbook swap, or coordinate with friends about swapping books if you take the same classes at different times. Maybe talk to your RA about organizing one for your dorm floor/building.

Apple, HP, and Dell all have educational discount programs, if you need a computer with a little more oomph than a Chromebook or a ThinkPad. (I also highly recommend getting anything BUT a chromebook, but I know that's not always in the cards). DON'T get an Apple computer if you are a STEM major. It will cause more headaches than it's worth.

Take advantage of the bus pass your college tuition comes with. Go places. It's not as fast as an uber but it's a hell of a lot cheaper and you've already paid for it. Consider using this service instead of keeping a car on campus, too! Parking passes are also usually pricey.

Some regions have services like ZipCar where you can rent a car by the hour. Universities where this is available often have a deal to make it more accessible to students. (Use this when the bus isn't an option! It's usually also way cheaper than an Uber, and you can get different sized cars for different needs!)

If you get sick/hurt (of the non-emergent variety) badly enough to warrant a doctor visit: try visiting your campus health center first! Students usually get a free visit or two per semester/quarter.

Your student health center will often have free safe sex supplies. Sometimes they have the good stuff. They really don't care how often you come in and dig through the condom bowl. My campus had a monthly delivery service you could sign up for (for free). I've managed to get free condoms, lube, dental dams, and gloves this way. (This is a very cheap way to figure out what lube and condoms you like and hate, btw)

Don't say no to ANY of the free stuff. Take all the t-shirts, stickers, pens, mugs, markers, discount codes, reusable shopping bags, temporary tattoos, snacks, and cheap sunglasses they're willing to give you. Even if you won't use it yourself, it all makes excellent branded merchandise for the people in your life supporting you. You can even save on gifts during holidays by passing some of this stuff off to people who will use it. (I was given a free pair of sunglasses in my freshman year that I still use—7 years later—in situations where I don't want to lose/damage my better ones).

Smaller businesses close to campus will probably have a student discount. Ask. It'll probably be less than 20% but take what you can get, because it adds up.

Often your college will have some amount of free software for you to use while you're a student. Typically Microsoft Office, but sometimes others. I've gotten access to Photoshop, ArcGIS, MATLAB, JMP Pro, and a few others this way. (Piracy is an option here, but it's more challenging because these things are more closely guarded.)

Sometimes at the end of the year, people moving out will just leave the furniture they don't want anymore outside. I don't recommend doing this, because someone has to clean it up but take advantage of it when it happens if you see something you want.

Steal food from the dining hall (if it's the buffet kind). Some places you have to be more sneaky about it, but some places you don't. My bestie used to straight up bring in two half-gallon jugs and fill one from the dining hall milk dispenser and the other with lemonade once a week or so and nobody ever stopped her or said anything. Generally dining halls are staffed by students that don't get paid enough to care that it's your fourth stop by the pizza station and you can't possibly have eaten that much pizza in the last thirty minutes. (Bring tupperware in your backpack. If they don't allow backpacks, napkins in a sweatshirt front pocket also work (transfer to tupperware once you get your bag back)

IF YOU QUALIFY FOR WORK STUDY: do it! The WS jobs generally pay better because half the wage comes from the government and half comes from the person who hired you (makes it easier to pay you more because they don't even have to budget for a minimum wage employee).

Activities:

Go to the activities put on by the dorms and various student groups. I promise you'll have more fun than you think, and they're usually free to very inexpensive. Get a free succulent. Make friendship bracelets and cute soap. Watch a free movie. Go on that kayak tour. See a sports game for a team you don't care about. This is an excellent way to supplement your work-life balance and you might make a friend.

Share streaming service passwords/costs with friends or roommates. If everyone in the friend group comes in with one, you can have the whole shebang for a fraction of the cost. Alternatively, split the cost of one or two that you rotate between every few months (in my experience, this works best seasonally: Autumn is Netflix and Hulu, Winter is HBO and Disney+ etc) Piracy is also an option here as well.

Try to make most of your fun beverages on your own at home. Limit the starbucks coffee or boba to once or twice a week. Take the $15-30/week you saved by not buying starbucks everyday and go to the movies or something. Save up for a camping trip with friends. Idk. I spend $12/every six weeks-ish on the costco-sized container of the coffee I like and that's roughly the same price as two medium lattes. I like having that money for other stuff.

If you have metered internet: do all your big downloads on the free campus network.

Support your on campus artists by going to shows, showings, exhibits, and galleries. They're often a very inexpensive way to see art.

Like reading for fun? Check out your local library. They have the books, but also movies and games. Some libraries have a Library of Things where you can borrow like. Baking pans or a lawn mower. The city library is guaranteed to be quieter than the university libraries, if that's your thing. You also probably won't have to trip a basketball player to beat them to the last available table during finals week.

If you're going on hikes that are less than 10 miles round trip, I'd argue that you really don't need much in the way of specialized equipment* (especially if you have cell service the whole time (for maps/GPS)), which makes it very inexpensive if you already have a couple water bottles, snacks, comfortable shoes, and a backpack. *See the great outdoors section for more recommendations

Live somewhere like Alaska? Like outside? Find someone who knows what they're doing and go foraging. It's very important you bring an expert the first few times ESPECIALLY if you live in an area where you could be ingesting poisonous mushrooms or berries. My roommate and I love going on berry picking hikes.

Like hiking but don't like hiking alone? Join an on-campus club OR a meet-up group. This is an excellent way to make friends (and find a few hiking buddies)

Regal movie theatre is the most expensive. If you have a different one in your area your tickets will likely be a few bucks cheaper. (we only have regal where I am and I am angry)

General shopping:

My personal philosophy is if I don't need it immediately, I don't buy it unless it's on sale.

Get a credit card or two with decent cashback rewards. DO NOT SPEND ANY MONEY YOU CANNOT IMMEDIATELY PAY OFF (this will avoid interest charges AND build your credit score, which will be important later on for things like renting an apartment, buying a car from a dealership, or buying a house). Use the card(s) for all your expenses. Cashback will add up pretty slowly, but it will add up. Discover It is pretty good for students and comes with a quarterly rotation of different things that get higher cash back. Apple Card has good cashback ONLY if you're using actual Apple Pay instead of the physical card (which is harder in less urban areas where cardreaders haven't been recently updated).

Make a throwaway email and sign up for stamp cards, loyalty programs, and rewards programs everywhere you shop (new email is so you don't have to be spammed with all the junk they send you but you can still access the coupons when you want them). Don't sign up for the ones with the credit cards unless they have good cashback (> 1-2%) for places that aren't their store. The Fred Meyer program slaps because it gives you gas discounts. I am currently paying less than $3.00/gallon (current cost in my area is ~$4.30/gallon). Fred Meyer is a Kroger brand, so if you don't have Freds but do have a different Kroger thing, see what they've got.

Check thrift/consignment stores and yard/garage/estate sales for things that you don't necessarily need to be in the nicest condition. Suitcases, dishes for that camping trip, a mat for outside your front door. Be really careful with soft furniture (it could be hosting bugs; if it's from a yard sale, ask the owner where it was stored before the sale. Items in the garage or a storage unit or outside should be extra scrutinized) and give everything you can a good wash/scrub down before letting it live in your house.

Estate sales are fantastic for furnishing an apartment. Usually an estate sale is done when (old) people die and the family wants help getting rid of the stuff they don't want for themselves. Currently, old people generally have very well made, solid wood furniture. It will go for much cheaper than it's actually worth if you buy it at an estate sale (rather than at an antique store). A lot of the time the furniture even matches. They'll also have things like vacuums, kitchen stuff, and maybe garage stuff.

TJ Maxx, Ross, and Homegoods (et cetra) are good for finding inexpensive clothes or home items.

Back to school sales are great for just about everything. Lots of big stuff like good furniture and electronics go on sale for things like labor/memorial day.

Don't buy a mattress just because it's the cheapest one. Buy one you actually like. Buy sheets and pillows you actually like. Having a good night's rest in a bed you are comfortable in is invaluable. It will make the rest of college way less bad I promise.

See if you can repair something before buying a new one. At best, you fix it. At worst, it continues to not work. I was gifted a pair of bose noise cancelling headphones that I use often enough that I've had to replace the foam over-ear pads 3 times and the aux cable once. This has cost me about $40 over 7 years instead of the ~$300 getting a new pair would cost. Replacement parts and patch kits are where it's at.

Some insurance companies give discounts for good grades. Take advantage of that.

Check Buy Nothing groups. I've never done this but I've heard good things.

Some car companies give a small discount to recent graduates who are buying a new car. (I did this, it was only $500.)

IF YOU HAVE THE MONEY TO DO SO!!!! Buy something that is going to last over something that is cheap. You will save money in the long run if you can pay the upfront cost.

IF YOU HAVE THE MONEY TO DO SO!!!! (and the space for storage of the larger package) Buy in bulk. Unit price is always cheaper and one large package is generally wrapped in less packaging than the same amount in many smaller packages (save the earth!)

Keep track of warranties and register products for them if necessary. If something breaks and it's still covered under the warranty, the company may be obligated to replace it (depends on how it broke). Shoot your shot! If you're really lucky, the warranty period will start over with the arrival of the replacement, and if the replacement breaks within the warranty period, it will also be eligible for replacement. (I've managed to take advantage of this on multiple occasions and have saved probably $600 this way.)

The Great Outdoors:

Need to buy seasonal equipment (like snow gear or swimsuits)? Wait until the end of the current season. Prices will drop as stores attempt to clear inventory for the upcoming season's stuff. Buy your kayak and bikini in October or November and your heavy winter jacket and ski goggles in March. Keep an eye out for the sales beginning in the weeks prior if you are a common size, as those will sell out first).

I really recommend getting an REI membership. It's a one-time cost ($30??) that opens up the used website, the garage sale, and extra bonuses like random coupons, member only sale prices, discounts on gear rental and classes, a wider window for returns/exchanges, and free US shipping (I live in Alaska and the free shipping makes this one of the best deals I can get). It will pay for itself probably within your first purchase.

Consider buying open box, but make sure all the parts are there.

Keep an eye on warranties and register products for them when necessary. Trust me, given how expensive outdoor stuff is, it's entirely worth it. Keep receipts, packing slips, and tags if you can as proof of purchase.

On campus clubs for your activity of choice. Make friends, get to go cool(er) places possibly for free/cheap.

Trying a new activity? Rent/borrow some gear to do it a few times before committing to purchasing your own. This will ensure you don't spend hundreds of dollars just to find you hate backpacking. REI has a good gear rental program and a plethora of classes, and your campus may have an outdoor equipment rental option. They may also have lessons or classes you can take about your new activity so you can learn to do it safely. I learned how to ice climb this way in March, and am going to take advantage of my current university's free gear rental and free ice climbing tower until I feel comfortable enough to go out into the wild and do it on my own.

Decided you like your new activity? Check these places (none of this is sponsored lmao I just like outside and have personal experience with all these sites):

Geartrade: Discounted new* and used gear in a variety of conditions. Definitely read all the fine print here. *Geartrade sells things sometimes that are brand new but had some packaging defect; these things are usually half off.

REI ReSupply: Used gear in a variety of conditions. Defects are detailed in product descriptions. Even things in excellent condition are usually at least half off the original price.

Sierra(dot)com: brand new stuff from well-known brands at a fraction of the price. It's usually past-season overstock, but it's all perfectly serviceable and the differences between this season and last season's gear is usually negligible. They have sales and clearance as well. Get what you want/need even cheaper if you have time to wait for it to be further discounted.

Costco sometimes has pretty good outdoor gear. I personally know that the bear spray here is NOT a good deal (it's a two-pack, but the can volume/spray-time is smaller than the two-pack at REI and they go for the same price) but their trekking poles are good and I really like their men's merino wool socks. I've heard from reputable sources that the costco snow-shoes suck. Definitely read reviews before committing here.

Facebook marketplace/craigslist: Both can be hit or miss. You'll usually have better luck for equipment that is used for activities that can be done locally (ie. you will probably not find an abundance of skis in desert Arizona) but that's not a hard rule. DEFINITELY read the fine print here, and ask to inspect the item before you hand over any money (people usually aren't weird about this and if they are you might be being scammed). I got a new dog last year and got everything for him for under $100 (two beds, two crates, bowls, harnesses, dog sized sleeping bag for camping, lick mats, the whole shebang)

I'm sure that other people have better advice regarding things like electronics, traveling, and activities that don't fall into the category of Wandering Into The Woods, but this is what I know!

If Sam wants to show hetty about how unfair society was when she was alive, make her see any a Christmas carol film. The book would of been available to read during hetty’s life. I think the story is criticising the very rich ie Scrooge

That would be really interesting. The promo for the christmas special implies that Sam loves Christmas, and I can imagine the holiday season would give her (or anyone vaguely aware 19th century classic or popular culture) inspiration for that exact idea. I can imagine Hettie refusing to accept it as a valid point, since it’s all just fiction, or treating it as propoganda against the rich. 

The book would have been published around the time of her birth, so unless there were some major changes during the next 5 decades, and differences between uk and usa, regarding the classism and working condition of the working classes, and other issues relevant to the story, then Christmas Carol should portray a world familiar to Hettie. Regardless of any differences between Scrooge’s life and Hettie’s, classism, income equality, greed, selfishness, stinginess and poor treatment of lower classes and employees are, sadly, relevent throughout time and place, especially in larger and more complex societies. I haven’t read the original story, but I have seen a movie adaption or two (Mickey’s Christmas Carol and the GoodTimes Entertainment’s version), but from what I gather one of the most important messeges is that poverty isn’t the fault of the poor (or, at least not always, or not entirely) and that people have a social and moral responsibility towards those in need. 

Hettie has many similarities to Scrooge. She is from the same era, she was rich, classist, not very compassionate, especially to those who had less means then her, rude, neglected as a child, and she was probably lonely throughout her life. We don’t know if she had friends or close relationships with her family. Her line about Thor being there for her when no one else was, implies at least a lonely childhood. Her marriage was loveless, and it seems she didn’t have any affairs of her own. 

 She is different of course, in that she seems like someone who would actually spend her money, and enjoyed the luxuries it could buy. She had children, and she seems to care about familial connection, based on her treatment of Sam, and her comments about Sophie in the Halloween episode. 

It would be funny, and kind of on-brand for Hettie to watch the movie and learn the wrong lesson. She has a tendency to learn the wrong lesson, or only partially learn her lesson. She might get offended at how much Scrooge is demonized for being careful with his money, instead of "squandering it on poor people", or simply decide that the lesson is to buy everyone's love so you don't die (o spend your afterlife) alone. She could become so terrified, that she would try and turn around a new leave, but with mixed-results. She could simply be appalled by how Scrooge lives despite being wealthy. Or she would simply decide that since she is dead and doesn't techinically own material things anymore, that this doesn't apply to her, though given how possesive she is of the house, I doubt it.

A Christmas Carol could be used as a basis for a episode plot, or even just a single scene or a running gag in a Christmas special. 

I think cbs ghost would be the perfect show for a Christmas Carol inspired holiday episode. I mean, it's a sitcom, which are known for adapting famous work of fiction into episodes, and we already got mansion filled with ghosts, one of them who is literally a rich, greedy, victorian with a somewhat ruthless attitude towards life. But it would be funny to simply have a small b-plot, or a single scene where someone tries to force Hettie to have her “Scrooge epiphany”, where the joke is that she see through it, or simply fails to grasp the message. 

If it’s just a single scene, then I love the idea of Thor or Sass telling her a tale from their culture, which was either intentionally or unintentionally inspired by Christmas Carol, to scare her straight, but Hettie sees right through it, beause she knew the story. It would also be funny if she didn’t know it, because her parents forbade her from reading it, because they thought it was nothing but propoganda against the rich.

As for a full episode adaption, then I can imagine a few ways that could go. 

While I would personally not love it, I could imagine Hettie watching xmas carol and having a nighmare. 

A better idea imo, would be Sas learning about christmas carol, and the storyteller in him would drive him to create a scenario based on the story, and get the other residents to join. They would because they are bored and they want to teach Hettie a lesson (and in Isaac's and Alberta's case, because they are performers at heart).

Sam could fill the role of Fred, as a younger relative who wants Hettie to open herself up to other values. Pete could be Bob, since he is kind and descent family man. Tiny Tim could be a child sick with something that would be life threating in Hettie’s lifetime, but is easily treatable today, unbeknowst to Hettie. He could be Pete’s grandson whose family is at the B&B, or Mark could come to fix something, and bring his son with him. 

Thorfinn is jolly, but harsh and blunt, so he could be ghost of Christmas present. The plague ghosts could be the Want and Ignorance (Sidebar: Want and Ignorance reminds me of a few figures in norse mythology, especially Ganglati and Ganglöt, the slaves of Hel. Their names both means “lazy at walking” - löt and lati being the female and male version of the adjective lazy. Hel also has a few object named after negative things, like utensils named named starvation and hunger, so these figures remind me of Want and Ignorance). 

Sass would be great as the ghost of Christmas past, as the second oldest ghost, and the story teller. I don’t know who could play the role of Christmas yet to be. Maybe a basement ghost, or Jay in a costume. Or Crash - and the reason he doesn’t say anything is simply becausae he doesn’t have his head.

Jacob’s Marley role is harder to cast. Maybe Elias, who somehow pops up for a moment, despite it not being Halloween, or the other residents could pretend that he is contatcting Hettie from Hell. 

Alternetively, we could simply have one of the residents tell Hettie some story, real or made up, as warning.Isaac or Trevor could also suffice. Isaac and her consider each other equals, and have some similiar flaws (elitist, classist). Trevor seems to have been focused on gathering wealth in his life. As presumably rich, status focused men, they could both tell her cautionary tales from their time among the living, or they could tell Hettie that they believe ther reason they are stuck ghosts is because of their greed or lack of compassion and generosity. Maybe even make up a lie about narrowly escaping getting dragged to hell. Thor could pretend he was left behind by his shipmates because of his greed and miserly ways, and he just lied about not knowing why they abandoned him out of shame. 

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My internet went out for four days and rather than, y’know, read a book or something, I decided to annoy my friends by replaying Let’s Go Pikachu and doing what we’re now calling ‘The Banana Challenge’.

Named after my pikachu this playthrough, the Banana Challenge is simply that I only battle using my pikachu and no other pokemon. I do this because it irks my friends, which I enjoy. I didn’t grow up with any pokemon games like they did - we’re of the same genration but I had a weird childhood - and so I kind of Don’t Care about learning the game or playing well. My satisfaction comes from my friends yelling at me “you can’t use electric moves on rock types!” and similar objections. While they’re off playing the new framerate abomination game, I’m just swinging my pikachu like a pillowcase of bricks at everything in sight.

What makes this better for me (and worse for my poor friends) is that I’m using what I call ‘The Vinci Strat’, which is named after my first playthrough’s pikachu: Vinci. Because at some point during that first playthrough I realised I could catch a whole lot of pikachus and feed their candy to MY pikachu to make her stronger. I also realised that those pikachus are very, very close to the start of the game. I also realised you get a lot of leftover candy which sells for 10 coins a piece.

So I started this game, named my Pikachu as ‘Banana’ and off we went right away to the forest to chain-catch what ended up being 300 pikachus. All the XP plus all the candy resulted in an extremely overpowered Banana in about three-to-four hours.

This was before the first gym. This was before pretty much *anything* that was important. The game let me do this. I could just... do this. After the first 100 pikachus they became so easy to catch it was basically a guarantee. I didn’t even run out of pokeballs because I could just sell candy to buy more. The only thing that actually stopped me was that Banana leveled up so much that I couldn’t feed her anymore Pikachu Candy, so that was that.

Everyone in the first gym died in one hit, once I realised I had to use the non-electric moves.

“Oh you’ll have to use other pokemon eventually,” my friends said.

Nope, guess again.

Not long after that I bought a Magikarp (also to annoy my friends) but discovered there was a good use for it - in so much as it was completely useless. It’s only available move does fuck all which made it the perfect partner for double battles against those Team Rocket guys.

Banana forever.

And finally to make myself really insufferable I got a TM for a move called ‘Pay Day’ where my pokemon just throws a fist-full of coins at their opponent. I love it. It’s insulting, it’s visually hilarious, it’s demeaning, it smacks of arrogant snobbery, it’s completely off-brand for a heroic pikachu protagonist, and also it gives me a few hundred extra coins at the end of every battle. With Banana being so overpowered it was sufficient to knock everything out in one hit for quite a while after.

Eventually some things started to need two hits, and then three, but that just meant I got more coins at the end of the battle. I used a PP up on it (much to my friends’ horror) and it’s still working really well for me. I can buy whatever I want and not worry about cost. I’m an absolute jerk.

It doesn’t work on ghosts but I can just electrocute those guys.

So that’s where I’m at now: an extremely overpowered pikachu who beats everyone to death with money, occasionally paired up with a very useless fish.

My internet’s back now so I have other things to do, but I’d like to try and finish the game with Banana and see if the challenge holds out.

Various Ob.ey Me Kiwa Headcanons !

under the read more because this is a long post !!

Sleep ; Kiwa has a few odd sleeping habits! For one, she usually sleeps mostly in the nude. Typically just shorts! She overheats really quickly at night and it wakes her up, so she figured that would be the easiest way to handle that. On some nights she does just have a very loose, thin fabric nightgown though! For sleepovers where clothes are kinda, y’know, necessary— She likes tank tops and shorts!

Sleep 2 ; Kiwa sleeps with a ridiculous amount of stuffed animals and other various cozy, cuddly items. She is a ridiculously cuddly individual and actually can’t sleep well if she doesn’t have her arms wrapped around something. She also just always loves being surrounded in a little pile of soft things!! She will, however, sacrifice some of her plush space for a partner to share her bed with her though… they wouldn’t fit otherwise lol

Bed ; Kiwa’s bed is covered in stuffed animals, pink, and many kinds of pillows and blankets. She doesn’t use the blankets too much, but she likes the texture of most of them! Her bed is also set up with a soft pink sheer fabric canopy, and she has a few extra stuffed animals atop the canopy for storage in a place she can still see them when she lays down! The bed is SUPER fluffy to sit on and very cozy!!!!

Art ; Art is a very, very important thing to Kiwa! Quite a few different forms of art too! She adores painting, and actually has painted a small mural on the wall of her room! Yes, she argued with Lucifer over it at least once lol. He could not stop her no matter how hard he tried. The mural is of various types of flowers with some clouds. She adds small new things to it sometimes when she’s bored! A few of the added things have been clouds in the shapes of various animals! She’s been considering asking Diavolo if she could paint a larger mural somewhere around R.A.D.

Art 2 ; Another form of art Kiwa really adores is music! She’s generally pretty good with a two instruments— piano, taught by her mother, and the guitar she learned in high school! She doesn’t play either too much anymore, but they’re still near and dear to her heart! If you catch her glancing longingly at a piano, it’s probably cause she misses the one she has at her parent’s place back home… she’s just not gonna say anything about it.

Art 3 ; A big (but subtle) way Kiwa shows her affection is sketching things of people she’s close to. She kinda finds herself doodling crushes of hers in class pretty frequently. She also draws them gifts and little sticky notes with motivational drawings very often! That applies to friends too, they always get cute little stuff on their books, doors, and various little places they’d stumble across in their day to day! She just wants to give them little random mood boosts!

Art Supplies ; Kiwa has and uses many different types of art supplies! These take up a good portion of her room and storage within it! Canvases, many kinds of paint, pencils, pens, stickers, and more! She has drawers upon drawers full of them. She typically goes for nicer brands, she’d rather shell out more money for higher quality supplies than have to buy more supplies bc cheaper ones run out faster! A good chunk of her funds go into art supplies. She also has a very large tower of storage drawers full of fabric!

Sewing ; Kiwa is a seamstress who runs her own small business. On top of her various other forms of art, sewing is one that’s especially important to her. Her adoptive father was a fashion designer as well (though he is now retired) and taught her a lot of what she knows about it! She did a lot of online classes about it as well— one of the few school-like things she’s ever been able to focus on. This blossomed into her running a small business making custom lingerie focusing on plus sizes.

Small Business ; Kiwa’s business started while she was in the human world, it’s one of the big ways she paid rent and bought her art supplies and fabric! Her business did continue into her moving to the Devildom, and she’s been having a lot of fun making lingerie for demons now as well! She has also started shifting into making regular clothing clothing items as well since coming to the Devildom. May as well expand her abilities as long as she’s somewhere new!

Angelic ; Kiwa is a human. Her mother, however, was not. For many, many years her mother was angel in the celestial realm. However, her mother eventually fell in love with a human man and gave up her blessing to become a human and live with him. Eventually Kiwa was born from their marriage, and she is completely a human.. but some angels can possibly sense she has a bit of angelic descent in her. Kiwa’s mother unfortunately passed away due to a human disease when she was a pre-teen, a disease that for a long, long, long time wouldn’t have impacted her at all.

School ; School…. isn’t really Kiwa’s thing. She’s not super good with it, nor has she ever been. Even throughout her time in the human world. It’s actually why she dropped out of college to just pursue her small business and the like. Even now enrolled in R.A.D., she’s not doing too well in majority of her classes. She’s a little frustrated about it, and it makes her upset more often than she’d like to admit, but she’s trying… kind of.

Side Business ; Kiwa started doing cam girl-type work around the time she turned 20. Alongside her lingerie business, it brought in a good amount of money! She paid rent, bought her supplies, and lived pretty nicely. She also gave a bit to her parents to assist her brother’s college fund! She really enjoys the work she does, she finds it a very nice way to express herself and her sexuality a little more, but she’s also not super attached to it. She would drop the more explicit work once in a relationship if her partner wanted her to! She would love to still do suggestive photoshoots with her own lingerie on occasion if her partner was comfortable though.

Side business 2 ; despite Kiwa being a cam girl, and doing very explicit stuff for strangers on the internet, she’s never dated or really had any romantic or sexual partners in person. She’s been far too busy, but it’s not for lack of interest!!! She hasn’t even had her first kiss in most situations solely because she’s just… busy. She has always been busy!

Brother ; Kiwa’s younger brother, Shion, has always been someone she’s very close to and who is very important to her. She always values Shion’s opinions and always enjoys being around him! This is possibly because on top of being his older sister, she did spend a good chunk of her teenage years basically half parenting him because of how busy their dads got. Their fashion design business picked up at a super unfortunate time, and they tried to be their for the kids as much as physically possible, but Kiwa assured them she didn’t mind helping out taking care of Shion. She did a decent job basically parenting him!!

Parents ; Kiwa’s birth parents unfortunately passed away when she was still fairly young, pre-teens, but she was adopted by two family friends after that. Her dads are two of the kindest, most loving, sweet people ever. One of them used to be a fashion designer, while the other was basically his secretary and assistant. They worked so well together and Kiwa always looked up to them! They are now retired and teach a pottery class in her hometown. Their hometown is small and in the country side, not very big, but warm and welcoming. One of her dads became mute from an accident a few years before her time in the Devildom, and as such, Kiwa, both of her dads, and her brother all learned and know JSL to communicate.

Mornings ; Kiwa isn’t much of a morning person. She can’t really wake herself up too easily— when she first wakes up is one of the main times you can ever really make her mad or see her grouchy! She’s pretty huffy in the morning when she first wakes up unless it’s on her own terms. She falls back asleep pretty easily too! If you try to wake her up, and you don’t see her put her feet on the floor, she’s probably gonna fall back asleep. She’s a little better about mornings if she has a partner who she shares a bed with— waking up cuddling someone she loves negates any possible bad mood.

Pets ; Kiwa has had quite a few pets throughout her life— animals are something she is ALWAYS going to adore. She’s always cared so much for animals. Currently, though, she has a few pet ferrets. There are five total, and they are absolute little trouble makers. Their names are Cupcake, Macaron, Donut, Bonbon, and Pudding! Their enclosure takes up about an entire wall of her room, and she takes wonderful care of them!! They are her babies!! HER BABIES!! They have plenty of toys and places to hang out!! Sometimes… they run around the House of Lamentation.. chaotic babies.

Magic ; Kiwa has an odd and distinct lack of magical power. She doesn’t have much of an interest in pacts, but she doesn’t have much innate magic either. She struggles to learn it and doesn’t do well in classes that teach and involve magic. She doesn’t really seem to mind it too much, mainly because she knows there’s other things she’s good with! Maybe one day she’ll be more interested in pacts with the demon brothers, but as for now, she’s a little uneasy about the idea.

Love Languages ; Kiwa’s main two love languages are physical touch and quality time. She is a cuddly, touchy, lovey thing and being able to touch and be close to her partners (and friends!!) is so important to her. She respects those who are nervous about it, and she does her best to be considerate about it!! Her brother isn’t much of a cuddly person either, so she’d adapted to try her best to ask less affectionate people before just tackling them into a hug. She forgets sometimes but she’s doing her best!! Quality time is also very important to Kiwa, she’s the type who’s very content just being in the same room with someone she cares about even if they’re doing completely different things. It’s bonding time that she really treasures.

Is the Possibility (with a capital P) of being able to quit your day job to be a full-time writer still a possibility? Or are all authors destined to get smaller advances than what anybody can live on from here on out? (i.e. Does the chance still exist for somebody to become a Stephen King or JKR?)

You are asking two wildly different questions, friend.

There is certainly the possibility (with or without a capital P?) that an author might be a full-time author. LOTS of authors are full-time authors. Many of MY authors are full-time authors.

"Full-time Author" just means you don't have a separate day-job, but you make all or most of your money from writing and associated activities. That doesn't generally mean you get one huge advance, then kick up your feet and call it a day. It means you are a WORKING WRITER -- you quit your day job because now writing IS your day job.

Even if you DO get that huge advance -- you won't be able to kick up your feet and call it a day, because that's THIS year taken care of. . . you still have to keep writing and working if you want more income to come in to take care of FUTURE-you.

And even a "Huge Advance" as you may know is divided into multiple parts, you have to pay taxes on it, and at the end of the day, isn't generally as LIFE ALTERING it sounds like from the outside.

The point is: If you want to be a working writer, you absolutely can be, but regardless of the level of your advances, that usually means that you hustle, write lots of books, and cobble together advances, royalties, speaking engagement / school visit income, probably freelance opportunities or work-for-hire writing, maybe giving workshops or other writing-related activities. UNLESS you are lucky enough to have a supportive family or something like that -- you WORK. It's not an office, and it's not 9-5 -- it's freelance work, but it's still HARD WORK. So, if you don't have a support system and/or the hustle to find income streams by networking, trying new things, and sometimes taking on very random opportunities, it MAY not be for you.

(Many authors, in fact, choose NOT to leave their day-job, or keep some kind of day-job even if they are making decent money with writing, particularly if they get benefits and a steady paycheck and don't want the potential feast-or-famine life that is being a freelancer -- that kind of grind would not make them happy or productive, and if they don't have to worry about at least making rent and buying food and having insurance, they are MORE able to concentrate on writing great books. That's fine, too. Some writers choose to leave their day-job, but take on something different but writing-related that acts as a day-job, such as teaching classes, so they get some kind of steady income but still have time to write. Whatever works for you and your family and your situation.)

None of that has anything to do with becoming "Stephen King or JKR" -- two of the most famous and wealthy writers in the world, both of whom, I'd venture to say, worked incredibly hard to get where they are, and NEITHER of whom could possibly be characterized as Overnight Successes. Soooo.... sure, if you grind your ass off in relative obscurity for a long time, are lucky enough to achieve popularity and grow that popularity over the course of years / decades to the point where you sell a shit-ton of books just by sneezing, keep writing books AND/OR leverage your popularity and brands to expand into even more lucrative ventures like film/TV, theme parks, gaming, etc, YOU TOO could be an extremely famous multi-bajillionaire. (Just try not to like, taint your own legacy along the way pls).

But VERY few writers will EVER reach that kind of financial success or popularity, just because like -- that's a bizarre and noteworthy level of success? Most people aren't EXTREMELY RICH AND INCREDIBLY FAMOUS? That doesn't mean that they can't be successful and comfortable and happy.

The choices aren't "live in a ditch and subsist on mouse-meat and puddle water" OR "live in a castle and subsist on swan-meat and ambrosia" -- the VAST MAJORITY of working writers are somewhere in the middle of those two extremes. "Live relatively comfortably in an apartment or house, eat food from the grocery store, spend and save their money prudently" etc.

"If you flaunt your wealth too much, people might rob you. Or they might get envious, come after you with pitchforks and guillotines. Or worse–taxation!"

Pyro let his eyes wander around Sebastian’s study while Shaw droned on.  On the desk, an open bottle of wine that Sebastian had not bothered to offer to Pyro, despite his pretentions of being a polite gentleman, label reading Domaine Leroy Chambertin Grand Cru.  One wall was entirely lined with shelves of whiskey, both Sebastian’s own Krakoan brand, and fine brands collected from around the world.  Another shelf held a display of glittering Faberge eggs that Pyro imagined hurling across the room like the world’s most expensive grenades.  There was a suit of armor in one corner, and an antique globe, the kind set inside a massive polished wooden floor-stand, in another corner.  And knowing Sebastian, those were both genuine antiques, not recreations. 

“Are you listening to me, Allerdyce?  I am trying to give you valuable advice on how to properly spend the riches that you have somehow stumbled into.  I can’t fathom why this self-indulgent drivel that you co-wrote with my son has become so popular, but you might as well actually properly invest the funds instead of pissing them away like so many new-money idiots do.”

“Why?  You clearly don’t much like me, Shaw, and the feeling is mutual.  Why bother giving advice?”  Pyro asked, still looking at the exquisitely woven tapestry that draped across half the far wall, the bear-skin rug in front of the fire-place. Poor bear.

“Because you actually know the value of a day’s work, Allerdyce.  And unlike my son, you might have a chance of using your money sensibly, assuming you can resist the lure of Vegas, fancy cars and drugs.  I admit, I don’t have high hopes, but I do have some small hope for you.  And let me tell you, buying a party castle in Europe is not a sensible use of your money.  You’re too flashy, you have to be subtle.”

Pyro finally turned to look at Sebastian, across the desk topped with an intricately carved jade paperweight in the shape of a Chinese dragon, and a gold quill-holder molded into the shape of two ancient Greek wrestlers.  Diamonds gleamed in his cufflinks and tie-clip.

“Right, Shaw, I certainly wouldn’t want to flaunt my wealth, would I?”

OOC – This is once again playing with the idea that Pyro “helped” (meaning did ALL the writing) Shinobi with a series of supernatural romance/adventure books based on an obvious self-insert.  They will be making millions when the Netflix series comes out.  Pyro would absolutely buy a party castle if he could.  I head-canon that he actually loves old historical stuff, he writes gothic romance after all.  He probably starts kicking guests out if they trash the place.  “No, don’t carve your name in the walls, this is from the 14th century for fucks sake!”

Pyro will also absolutely include a scene like this in a later book, where the cruel, rich, hedonistic and hypocritical villain Bastian Claw lectures his son on not misusing his riches.

Restocking the Buffet: Of Reporter Cats, More WBD Tomfoolery and Karate Kids

Hello all you happy people. So i've tried multiple times to find a consitent format to talk about stuff that's not this blogs normal structure (i.e. reviews of various media), trying to do just updates for the blog , smaller movie reviews, all kinds of things.

So instead i'm reintroducing restocking the buffet, what was intended to be how I did updates, but now is that plus whatever's on my head, as the shockingly massive popularity of my post railing against Warner Brothers discovery made me realize a lot of you LIKE my ranty stream of concious thoughts and opinons so there they are. Some are angry, some are less so, and some are just plain confused.. and starting off with the latter..

Warner Bros Discovery II: The Search for More Money WBD has thankfully been mostly quite these past few weeks, which is good. I barely can manage the stress of having anxiety and depression, I don't need a large major corporation essentially poking me with a stick and saying "Is this making it worse, is this making it worse, is this making it worse?".

There's still some news on that front. For starters their CFO was quoted in an article saying he really dosen't care about exclusivity just what makes them money.

With WBD having let Amazon stream The LOTR films in time for the Rings of Power which I dont' really care about. Do like the Peter Jackson OG Trilogy though, watched the second two in theaters and feel their excellent, still gotta read the books.

And honestly... it's the only time since the merger WBD has made sense in a way that dosen't make me want to shirtlessly chop down a tree to sooth my shattered Soul Ala Bill Murray. See he kinda has a point about JUST keeping a property or film to your service that isn't an original from said service just to make people buy the service. Sure i'm sure some people would've tuned into HBO Max just to watch the movies for it, but most fans that hardcore would just buy the films somewhere already or likely already have all the editions for these films and the animated films and know all the words to "Where there's a whip there's a way". There's no harm in letting two services hold the ring of power. Granted I do feel this is in part because WBD is run SOLEY on profit and not artistic integrity of any way shape or form, so it could be troublesome down the line, but two services having the same film dosen't really hurt them and hasn't. Hulu and HBO Max and Disney+ have shared films due to lingering lisecnding deals, but people will likely just watch the film on what they have avaliable. So I support this philosphy, I just want it in the hands of people who aren't using it to try and justify scraping content off the platform to have more money to swim in.

That said there was something horrible I found out as turns out there was a cameo for a kid with a fatal disease in Batgirl... whose parents now want her to be able to see it. Just when I thought it couldn't be worse.. jesus. Not much more to say but anything I can do to shame WBD more helps.

We also have the news that the Batman: Caped Crusader is getting shopped around. Sadly unlike Kevin Smith excellently suggested, Disney seems uintrested, but I did see this coming: Disney dosen't want brand confusion and also dosen't quite need it: They have a superhero show every few months, and almost every marvel cartoon ever, including two i'll talk about in a moment. That said the other names in the fight are interesting: Netflix, Amazon and Apple TV+. ANY of them would be able to give it a good home: Netflix is killing it in mature action animatoin and thus Batman would be right home, Amazon likewise, and Apple TV+ has exactly two animated properties (Central Park and the various Peanuts things) of note, so they could use this. And all of them still give WBD a fine and hardy fuck you, so i'm fine

FInally we have rumblings that Comcast may buy WBD. I'm. .iffy on it. Part of it is that one of their branches, Universal has been excessively shitty lately when it comes to YouTube and a certain channel (more on that later). Another is we really don't need more corpprate mega mergers. That said if it dosen't happen while i'm not thrilled about it, ti's still obviously better than the alternative and Peacock is finding it's footing, doing more day in date releases or next day releases than ever for it's tv shows, and is honestly doing better at the day and date streaming than HBO did, actually asking creators as far as I can tell with most seeming to be their decision or have their consent (If i'm wrong or missed one feel free to tell me) and while I still FULLY love and support seeing films theatrically, Streaming does make it easier to see some. Peacock also hasn't abandoned the 45 day window, which WBD did. I'm also okay with it if it happens as frankly at this point Discovery is selling warner for parts. The biggest danger of one of these mergers, as i've realized afte rsomeone called the disney fox merger and I realized, x-men getting to go to the mcu aside, they were right, is that a lot of projects might get canceled and reboots put in cryo. But given the current owner is canceling thigns, making shows unavaliable and generally being a dick, it's really no diffrent except those properties will likely come out of the box and they'll at least let full movies and stuff you know.. get released instead of trying to write it off for taxes. I don't WANT this merger, but it's sad when another megacorp rising is somehow a good alternative.

Disney+ Gets MOST of the Spider-Man!

Moving on from something infurating, we have some good suprising news; Spectacular Spider-Man and Spider-Man: The New Animated Series are coming to Disney+ in october!

This is also one of the omissions from the service that made some sense instead of just Disney going can't make me dont' wanna: Sony owned the rights to these two, and thus tried keeping them to Crackle and other services, and recently put Spectacular on netflix, likely as part of the two being friends now. Which is fine by me as it means I can watch Bullet Train again over and over when it comes to the service and watch the Invitation when it comes out and Watch Morbius out of morbid curosity without having to pay extra money to say keep Starz or buy a dvd that would curse my house. I'm happy to realize this deal exists even if finding it out via a failed vampire movie starring a Cult leader was the weridest way I coulda.

As for why this is a big deal it means that Disney+ is now ONE series away from having all the animated spider-man shows under one roof, two from having all of them (three if you count electric company, but I could see them just getting the rights to put just the spidey skits on there). The 60's and live action series are both missing for whatever reason. I geinely do not know, though I assume with the former it's the same kind of weird type of rights hurdles that have kept the 87 turtles from streaming (Which is frustrating if say, you've only saw a few episodes and would like to watch the one turtles series you haven't seen a good chunk of without paying money to own the series as you already own some of the dvds (Ponits to self).

I never honestly expected either series to come to D+, but i'm excited they are. Only season 1 of spectacular is, but I highly doubt it'll just one one for long and it could be a misprint for all we know.

So breaking both down for the unintiated: Spectacular is one of my faviorite superhero shows period. Granted I procastinate on those a LOT (as evidenced by the fact i'm horribly behind on doom patrol and haven't watched the much loved Harely Quinn), but it's still a classic to the genre, a clever reinvention of spidey's career that manages to take the same concept of pre-miles ultimate spidey (telling peter's early career with a modern bent) and do it even better, taking a page from the 616 and the Ultimate universe to craft something intresting well thought out and sadly short lived. It's also where Gwen Stacey being into science, something ASM codified and has kept with the character since, came from. I intend to fully review it someday, either as a season or in the various arcs wiseman cleverly packed in to make it easier to put on dvd. Check it out. It's a short binge and a worthy one. I also find it enjoyable two of Greg Weisman's two season classics (in gargoyles case one I need to see badly and yes there's a third but he wasn't involved so ... yeah two seasons), are on the same platform. Maybe we can get Gargoyles Meet the Spectacular Spider-Man Marvel? Eh Eh?

The New Animated series i'm less familiar with, having watched it once or twice when i'm younger, but is intresting enough that I want to check it out. NAS was based directly on the first Rami Film, being a sequel to it that takes it's own path.. and also actually turns Curt Conners into the lizard. Fancy that. Being the only spidey property based on one of the film series for now makes it something unique, a time capusle for the character and something fun to check out. It also has NPH as Peter, a great choice.

All this gives me the idea for a possible spider-man month at some point as he has tons of shows (and of course comics). Let me know if you think that's a good idea. I'd love to do it!

Real Dead Meat So we pivot next from some really good news to something that's been consitently frustrating, heartbreaking and obonoxious.

So as i've made no secret of i'm a huge fan of the Horror Review Channe Dead Meat. I've used their gifs..

And ocasionally used one or two of James catchphrases as a refrence.

In case your curious Dead Meat is a channel that has two primary series: The flagship Kill Count where the energetic, joyful and snarky James A Janeese breaks down a film, giving us analysis, cool behind the scenes information on the film, and lots and lots of jokes. It's sister show is the Dead Meat Podcast, where James and his Wife Chelsea (who runs said podcast) discuss horror films or subjects pertaning to the genre. Both shows are excellent and worth seeking out and some of my faviorite things to unwind to. I can't tell you how much i've watched certain kill counts. The counts ar einformative while still doing what the title says, and since his return from a hiatus (having his editor and now co-writer Zoran take over to review tremors and Chelsea also getting a shot with the american psycho films), has stepped it up in even the counting, with comparisons to other films that have been counted, the franchise and other fun stuff.

So naturally I was really amped when James decided to revisit one of my faviorite horror franchises and one he loves and appricates as much as I do Child's Play. James has as of last year (which is also when I found the channel ironically enough as I assumed it was just litterally counting kills. I feel bad I ddin't realize it wasn't sooner as I was missing something dope) started Re-Counting films he did in the first year or so of the series, as the early reviews didn't have the behind the scenes stuff or as much analysis of the films themselves, and he wants these films to get the proper treatment, Especailly Chucky and the due to be re-counted Scream as their two of his faviorites (and as we've established two of mine).

After the first two though thigns went from great, getting two counts a week... to REALLY fucking frustrating and horrible. As almost anyone who watches a content creator or has been one on youtube can tell you their copyright system sucks dirty ass in thunderstorms, being VERY slanted towards corprate intrests and making it a nightmare to run up that hill run up that building to refute claims. MAKING A CLAIM, is childlishly easy and more oftne than not automated. Fighting them can take weeks, and if their claimed it means no revune till it's resolved if it can be.

EVERY Child's Play and Chucky Film since has been claimed like this by the dickheads over at Universal. It's extra baffling because they parntnered with Shout Factory's Scream Factory imprint to do cool fancy new blu rays/4ks of Childs Play 2 and 3 and sent James those early so he could use them for the re-counts... and despite being endorsed iwth review copies this STILL fucking happens. Said counts are there to hype up Season 2 of Chucky, to ACTIVELY PROMOTE THESE FILMS NOT REPLACE THEM, and even when he dosen't like a film like CHild's Play 3 he still credits the good parts. Hell having the behind the scenes bits from the dvd means more people might buy these new versions.

The reason I feel the need to rant about this as thanks to twitter i've had to watch two creators I enjoy who as far as I can tell are some of the nicest people on the interent feel defeated and beaten down by a company whose bullying them for free promotion. And i'm not saying go scream at universal: as james himself said it's a big company: one hand likely dosen't know what the other is doing, to the point two diffrent hands made copyrights on some of the counts.

But I do want people to know about this, to watch these counts as they come out so their work pays off (You can find it just by googling dead meat), to help promote them since doing so for something they geninely love has caused them a lot of pain, and to get my rage out about this as it's likely going to be something James has to grapple with till the recounts are finished. It's not going to get much easier, so i'd like to send my best to a man who has done nothing but try to make people laugh, get them informed and hang off the bars in his new professionaly made set like a monkey, his just as warm and talented wife, and the whole dead meat crew. I'm sorry you guys have to put up with that. If your looking for a count to start with i'd recommend the Child's Play recount, which keeps a few jokes but mostly has a ton of great brand new jokes and content highly praising one of my faviorite horror films.

Seriously check these guys out, and hopefully this situation will get less obnoxious so james can get back to

As usual

Breaking Cat News

Finally I just wanted to gush about something else I like that isn't getting clubbed over the head: Breaking Cat News

BCN is a brilliant, decently long running and now as of the last few years Syndicated strip by Georgia Dunn, part of a wave in the last few years of brilliant new strips like Crabgrass and Rosebuds. I thought once in a while I could just spotlight what i'm reading righ tnow to help more people read it and full review it later.

As you can see BCN follows three (later 4 cats) who live in an apartment in a big pink house and report on the things that really matter like strange company, the leaves trying to kill us all every year, fuzzy new toilet covres making a great cat bed, horrible new cat food that's good for you, and that strange cat outside who won't go away, and MANY more.

It follows three good boys: Elvis, a cranky old siamese who flies into rages at the drop of a toy mousey, Puck, a kind, gentle good boy who while scared of company is the voice of reason of the trio, and Elvis, a white cat who can blend in with his surroundings and frequently runs around and breaks things and acts like h'es in the middle of a sugar high 80% of the time. They live in said house with The Woman, a kind and somewhat anxious nerd based on Georgia herself, The Man, an often annoyed by his cat children and somewhat snarky but still deeply kind and lovable husband to the Woman, and the boy and girl, the couple's children who the cats are ocasionally annoyed by but just as much doted on, especially by elvis who seems himself as more of a dad ot them than their actual dad. As you can tell the comic is mostly autobigoraphical, following various real incidents through our heroes eyes.

That isn't to say the world isn't deep as Dunn also incorpeates her upstairs neighbor, her best friend, and their various pets into the mix, giving the strip a decent sized continiutya nd a wide bench of supporting characters: We have Sir Figaro and Tabitha, the two spanish language reporters who live above our heroes, Tommy, a cat who at first annoys our heroes (patciually elvis) by showing up outside their window but later becomes their field reporter, Sophie, Tom's shyer artistic roomate, Beatrix, a cute kitten and former intern to the group living at a bookstore and serving as their fact checker and social media gal, Bert, the sometimes stoic patient barn cat who does their av, Baba Mouse, a cranky but wise old barn cat, The Robber Mice, a girl gang of Rodents, and most recently and adorably Goldie, a stray who heartbreakingly was simply left out by her family who moved without her and clearly didn't treat her well (As I found out recently 3/4 of the cats are rescues with Puck having had to be taken from his owner by a well meaning neighbor lest a leg infection kill him (and thus only having three legs, a detail i'm shocked I never noticed until it was pointed out to me) and Elvis being kept in a closet, catching a fever and sadi fever leaving him deaf. She quickly adapts, is warmly adopted and after a while becomes the station's investgative reporter. It's a fun, wonderful strip and I highly recommend it. Read it and thanks for reading this

Do You Fear Auto Shopping? Check These Tips

For many people, car shopping is a simple exchange of money to get a car. However, it involves much more than that. The article below will show you the ropes. It's important that you pay attention to this advice so you can get the best deal possible. Think about getting your car loan from your bank. One of the reasons it takes the dealer so long is that they have to check your credit and find a lender. By securing an auto loan beforehand, you can streamline the process at the dealership. Prior to car shopping, make sure your vehicle's financing is taken care of. Visit your local bank or credit union to do this. Doing this often nets you interest rates better than dealers would give, and you also get to shop knowing what your budget is for a new vehicle. Know what kind of truck or car you want before going to a lot. Research is important to give you all of the possible details that you need. You will also find out what it will cost, so you won't get scammed by a salesperson that is trying to trick you. Have a mechanic look over any used car you are considering. If your dealer does not allow you to have a mechanic inspect it, then walk away from the deal. You need a mechanic to give you an objective opinion about the car's condition and check for damages, submersion in water or other problems some dealers try to hide. Always test drive a car before you buy it. Even if you've already test driven this exact brand and model, you must know if it drives well. There could be Car with trailer license with it that you don't know about unless you drive it. Speak with your bank regarding loans before you head out to purchase a new car. Doing so is in your best interest. Normally a dealership can give you a better interest rate than a bank. If the car you own is fairly pricey, do not take that car with you when visiting a car dealership with the intent of making a purchase. If they see your expensive car, they will not consider your low offers, unless you plan to trade in your expensive car. Get the price settled before looking into additional incentives or trade-ins. All of this should come out of your agreed bottom line. This ensures you get a real deal. You need to test drive any car you are interested in buying. It is important to get behind the wheel to get the feel of the car before purchase. This will give you a real life feel of the car. The car may not be what it's cracked up to be, and this is the only way you can find out. Do not talk about your trade-in vehicle right away. First get a price on the new car before negotiating the trade-in. When a salesperson knows about your trade-in, he or she may factor it into the sales price, which can work against you. The best deals can be found online. There isn't much of a reason to go to a regular car dealer in this day and age. Check out community area classified ads, as well as websites like Craigslist and eBay. You will not have to spend as much and you can avoid dealing with high pressure sales tactics. Do plenty of research before purchasing a used car. The Internet is replete with useful resources about a car's value. You can find out what a vehicle is worth by using the NADA or the Kelly Blue Book. If your dealer is attempting to sell you a car for a larger price than these two sources say it's worth, then walk away. Salespeople simply want to maximize their profit. Although this should be obvious, it can be easy to forget this fact if the salesperson is very friendly. Watch out for the add-ons and extras that might get attached to the purchase price. Even low-priced cars can be overpriced by adding just a handful of things. Do not settle for a car that does not correspond to your needs. This article has shown you ways to make car shopping easy and effective. The only thing you need to do now is use this advice. Do not spend another hour wasting time, it is time to shop for your next car!