"Simon, come in."
Ghost isn't quite sure why Price had called him to his office. He's been downright docile this past while. Between his new bond with Hugo, his deepening relationship with Soap, and a mild injury to his shoulder, he's been spending most of his time parked on base whittling away the hours before the next mission.
He takes a seat in one of the Captain's mismatched chairs. Price takes a long drag of his cigar and Ghost tilts his chin, responding in kind.
"There's no easy way to say this son..." He pauses as if he's weighing his words. "I'm glad that you and Soap are getting close. And I support it I do this isn't about that."
He'd be a hypocrite if it was, Ghost thinks, and Nikolai would be inconsolable.
"Guess It's best to just to come out and say it..." Simon tilts his head in question.
"You can't buy sex toys on the company card."
If he'd been drinking anything it would be splattered up the inside of his mask.
"Fucking what??"
"I can see the receipts son and so can the MPO." His Captain's lips are pulled back in an uncomfortable grimace.
"I don't know what the fuck you're talking about cap." He leans back in his chair, arms crossed defiantly. All that shit was on his personal card.
"I'm not judging you or your decisions Simon I just can't justify it as a business expense."
"Can I at least see the receipt? Bit unfair not to show a man what he's accused of innit?"
Solemnly, Price shuffles through a stack of papers on his desk; holding out the printed off the email notification from the military post office when he finds it.
Simon takes the page with no small incredulity, scanning it over with a careful eye.
"Fuck my Pink Princess is here? That was a bitch to get through customs."
If possible, Price's face screws up more.
"I don't want details Simon, just your word that it won't happen again."
"Price it's a Philodendron."
"I'm shocked and appalled that you think I'd know what that is."
Ignoring the complaints of his scandalized Captain, Simon reaches for the small box on the desk, producing a knife to carefully slit the tape. All the while ignoring the increasingly vocal complaints coming from the other side of the desk.
"I don't want to see it son, it's none of my business what you get up to behind closed doors just- the fuck is that?"
"A Pink Princess Philodendron." Simon mutters as he examines the carefully packaged plant.
"...Simon thats a plant."
He grunts.
"Simon that was 150 quid."
He grunts again.
"Simon you used the company card for a 拢150 pink plant."
"Plus shipping."
"For fucking why??"
"It matches Hugo's coloring."
...
"Get out of my office."
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Holy moly it's been a while since I last posted some THSC tarot cards. These three were tricky to match up with characters that didn't already have cards associated with them.
Set one
Set two
Set three
Set four
Meanings under the cut:
Temperance:
Upright:聽Balance, moderation, good health, cooperating with others, and diligence
Reversed:聽Imbalance, discord, hastiness, overindulgence, and risky behavior.
The Star:
Upright:聽Hope, renewal, creativity and inspiration, generosity, healing, and change
Reversed:聽Despair, lack of hope, creative block, boredom, and focusing on the negative
The Tower:
Upright:聽Intense and sudden change, release, painful loss, tragedy, and revelation
Reversed:聽Resisting change, avoiding tragedy, a narrow escape, and delaying what is inevitable
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2/6 PACKAGES ARRIVED!!! <33 馃摝
This time I actually made it to the preorder !! (Barely </3) AND LOOK AT THESE -I feel so spoiled rn-
-presented on my iPad cause I have no table atm-
H*NTAI HOODIE REN <33
All the stickers, pins, and charm were made by @decafdoodlez!! <- check them out and buy their stuff ;)
And I just wanted to say that the charm is ADORABLE (and double sided) EVERYTHING IS SUPER HIGH QUALITY!!! And I鈥檓 so glad I was able to get all these items!!
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Oh while I'm on U.S. economics, I have another thing that bugs the hell out of me: the hiking of mortgage interest rates.
For those who don't know, mortgage interest rates dropped low during the pandemic. Which is not all sunshine since it resulted in many bidding wars and a ton of way-over-asking offers in competitive areas, but it put home-ownership way more within reach for a lot of people.
Then the fed started to pee their pants over inflation, and hiked their rates up, prompting mortgage companies to follow.
Here's a chart of mortgage interest rates over the last 4 years
It hit a trough at 2.65% on average in early January 2021, and then you see it hiked itself way back up, now chilling at 6.27%
For context on how different these are: let's use an example of a $400,000 home - someone pays 20% down ($80,000) in cash, and finances the remaining 80% ($320,000).
Monthly payments at 2.65%:
This results in paying back, in total, $464,040. You'll notice that's well over the initial $320,000, and that's because of the interest paid over those 30 years.
Now, monthly payments at 6.27%:
This results in paying back, in total, $710,640. That's more than twice the initial loan of $320,000.
And, of course, it means the same exact property which could be paid for with a monthly budget of ~$1,300 in early 2021 now requires a monthly budget of ~$2,000 in 2023.
Also, those pandemic lows were an anomaly... Historically, mortgage interest rates were on average HIGHER than 6.27% - but also, historically, wages were much better relative to the prices of homes and people could afford the high interest rates (with the exception of the people who got screwed over in the 2008 housing market meltdown... There's a really good Cold Fusion video on that.)
And because these low interest rates were an anomaly, they may never come back...
So with mortgage interest rates going up, home-buying becomes harder. When home-buying becomes harder, rents increase (because renters have no alternative).
So who DOESN'T get affected?
ENTITIES THAT CAN PAY IN ALL CASH.
They need no mortgage. They pay the sticker price on-spot with no interest applying to them. And I say ENTITIES because, sure, some people can buy their home in all-cash. But a huge number of the entities that can buy in all cash are BIG investment companies--the Blackrocks and the Mega-landlords who scoop up properties to sit on, rent out, and turn for a profit later like it's a piece of stock, and not a habitable property...
Anyway I don't have a conclusion for this. Fix wages, or bring interest rates back down, or kill Blackrock. Preferably all 3.
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I absolutely LOVE the Squirtle/Wartortle illustrations by kantaro in Pokemon 151!
The Squirtle jumping so joyfully from the rock into the ocean, the colors are STUNNING! I love the contrast of the Squirtle's aqua blue framed in the vivid orange sky, the soft bit of blue reflecting in its shell and its tail just catching the sun, how little and squishy its body looks as it launches itself towards the water with such tremendous excitement!
The lineless style of the background gives me the feel of a travel poster and I sense the tropical environment around it from the rocks and trees framing the corners, the waterfall splashing with as much energy as the Squirtle!
The layered blues on the surface of the water and the bubbles rising at the corner make me FEEL the liquid rising to meet the Squirtle--I can just feel how the next moment it's going to break through and be immersed in a cool island swim!
And the Wartortle running along the sunset beach, this is somehow everything I always imagined for Wartortle! I adore the way the rich purple melts into the warm red/orange sky, the matching purple clouds and shadows in the foreground, and how the dimming sunlight glows red on Wartortle's deep blues!
I love how the yellow and orange of the sky illuminate the lapping waves, I can just feel the gentle motion of the sea at dusk. The aqua color of the ocean matches Wartortle's ears and tail and sets off the red-orange sand, I just love how the colors are here!
Wartortle looks so round and squishy, I love its happiness as it goes frolicking through the shallows, chasing the bubbles caught in the setting sun! The shine and deep shadow on its shell give it an almost jewel texture like real tortoise shell; I love the silhouetted splash Wartortle leaves as it goes running across the shore. It's so full of energy and delight at the end of a gorgeous day!
The colors in these are SO vivid and harmonized and the style is so cute and bursting with energy and joy. I just LOVE it (also Squirtle is my starter)
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