#the article says they've been together 14 months

[larrylimericks]

19May24

Precisely a year since it started (The Sun forgot ratrry tongues darted)— May the next be as mild (We’re still detoxing Wilde)— The curtain’s come down, Hussell’s parted.

[botanyshitposts]

Garden sales have been absolutely wild here (mid-sized city in the Canadian prairies). In 2020 my main supplier smashed their previous record for mail orders by 300%. In late January this year they had *15,000* more orders than they'd had at the same time last year. Currently they've suspended phone orders, instituted a daily quota on online orders and are frantically hiring more full-time warehouse staff.

oh man, this is fascinating to hear; cool because of how notoriously hard greenhouses are to keep afloat financially, and fascinating from a garden industry perspective.

for those not acquainted with the really interesting world of garden and flower industries, most (ornamental flower) greenhouse and florist sales in recent years come from valentines’ day and mothers’ day alone, as opposed to several decades ago where flowers (in floral arrangements at least) were considered a thing you got on a regular basis without any special occasion needed. the turnover rate for retailers selling flowers for planting in gardens is really high unless you’re a big chain that sells flowers/florist services on the side, or you expand to include garden equipment, landscaping, houseplants, etc (my fave book on the flower industry and how this all goes down is called Flower Confidential by Amy Stewart, for anyone interested).

that aside, this feels like the other side of a new york times article i saw last month called We’re Saying it with Flowers. Loudly and Repeatedly, by Carly Lewis (which to be fair is specifically about florists, not greenhouse or houseplant sales; i’d assume gardening is way up too for similar reasons, though). it was really conflicting for me to read, because like...it’s a horrifying set of circumstances where this huge influx is happening, but it’s happening for really human reasons. excerpts for those who dont have access, although the whole article is really cool:

---

Three weeks ago, Julia Gray, a florist, delivered a bright bouquet of flowers to a customer in Queens — spring colors, by request. Judging by the accompanying card, which the sender had carefully dictated to Ms. Gray by telephone, a familial falling out had taken place. The flowers were sent as an apology.

“It was this young woman, sending flowers to her aunt,” Ms. Gray said. “She hadn’t seen her family for a year and a half.” When Ms. Gray told the recipient the flowers were from her niece, her face lit up. “People are realizing that time is of the essence,” Ms. Gray said. “You can’t hold a grudge.”

[...]

Spending the past 11 months in various states of lockdown has inspired many a soul-searching expedition. It’s been a period of perhaps involuntary rumination, during which many people have had no choice but to be alone with their thoughts. And when those thoughts sometimes become softhearted mea culpas, florists get the call.

[...]

Mr. Harkins estimates that his business is up 50 percent compared with this time last year. “My father told me when I was a young man that the flower business is recession proof,” he said. “He started during the second dip of the Great Depression in 1937. He said, ‘When things really get bad, a guy can’t go out and buy his wife a new car or a mink coat, but he can buy a dozen red roses and feel like a big shot.’ It’s kind of a denial of the hard times. That’s where the florist steps in.”

According to a recent survey conducted by the Society of American Florists, over 80 percent of respondents reported an increase in holiday sales compared to 2019. In January, 1-800-Flowers, a leading e-commerce retailer, announced what it said was the company’s highest quarterly revenue and profit in history, with a total net revenue of $877.3 million, an increase of 44.8 percent compared with the same quarter last year. Chris McCann, the president and C.E.O., estimated that approximately 22 million stems, including about 14 million roses, were delivered by the company for Valentine’s Day.

[...]

“It’s wrenching to know that the reason someone is sending flowers is because otherwise they’d be there in person,” said Whit McClure, who runs the floral design studio Whit Hazen in Los Angeles. “I get choked up thinking about that.” Ms. McClure also noted that, given the staggering number of Covid-19-related deaths in Los Angeles, she has been receiving a significant increase in condolence and sympathy orders.

[...]

“We’re getting more deliveries just to say hello and check in,” Ms. Gray said. “There’s this one couple we just started taking orders from during the pandemic. He lives in Brooklyn and she lives in Queens, she’s taking care of her elderly mother. He sends flowers to her every two weeks — beautiful arrangements, always decadent, gorgeous long-stem roses. Had the pandemic not happened, he could have been seeing her and not sending her flowers. You should see the cards he writes. He is madly in love with her. They actually got in a fight, I think they broke up at one point. But they got back together. He kept sending flowers.”

Emily Scott, who owns Floriconvento Flowers in Harlem, said that customers and florists alike are mindful of exacerbated sensitivities amid the pandemic. “There have been so many deaths, and that is such a touchy subject,” she said. “But whether it’s a death or a great, positive occasion like a new birth, there’s still so much love that needs to be expressed.” As well as less clear emotions: “There’s a lot of nuance that can be acknowledged through flowers.”

----

yeah so anyway

[oootsevenlyon]

why I'm not happy about the cb/mOnO

mOnO is OnlyOneOf's announced new single to be released on September 10, 2021 and OnlyOneOf isn't excited about it.

Not to mention there's a song release while 8D Entertainment still refuses to address fans' concerns about Jisung's departure.

I'll put most of the rest of this under a cut because it's long and i'll be discussing bubble messages. but just in case you're like "what's mOnO?":

It's a digital single announced as their first 6 member release, first teased with individual portrait shoots starting September 1st and then more properly announced on September 7.

Under the tagline "from boy to man", it is supposed to convey a "more intense and mature look."

[here's the Naver article this quote is from]

So here's all the things that bother me:

First, a few short comments on things I don't have a lot to say on but that are still notable:

- the line "from boy to man" really bothers me because their previous releases haven't been immature at all, they're literally all adults who for the most part manage their own content and Kyubin is literally 29 none of them are boys what are you on about?!

- the whole release, including the photoshoot, feels very rushed. the picture quality is... decent enough i guess? Except if you look at the group teaser picture, the "OOO" mark is incredibly low-res which is really weird for a watermark

look at that. what's that?

As I've said before, quoting the TV show Skins is... a choice I can't make sense of? And there was that one quote that wasn't even a real Skins quote. It really feels like 8D just ... googled that? And then didn't even fact check? Doesn't feel like something OOO would do. Doesn't feel like something Jaden would do..

- obviously it's ridiculous that 8D was silent for a month about a major reorganisation of their only group and them quite apparently silencing their members and then just drops some teaser as if everything is normal, that's a given and i'm not elaborating on it here because i talk about it literally every day.

- "mOnO", paired with the black and white pictures, the whole theme appears to be about "monochromatic" - anyway, here's a quote by Nine from an interview: "It means a lot to get away from black and white. By adding more elements and colors to our albums, we hope to represent our growth.” (he's talking about the ice and fire packaging)

[link to the article is here]

And now - OnlyOneOf isn't excited about this release.

I'm really only basing this on bubble messages - we also have the fancafe and the member twitter account. But bubble is that one platform where I, like, check my phone on my lunch break and there's 37 new messages from Rie. So. Bubble. I'm paraphrasing in parts and you aren't supposed to post their messages outside of bubble because it's a paid service. But if you don't have bubble and you want to see their messages for yourself, there are places on the internet where you can find translations of all their messages from the very beginning.

I'll do this teaser by teaser, and put everyone's reactions:

Yoojung -

from Yoojung: "who saw the teaser~~~" (0:47 am KST) + that he was surprised when he saw the picture + thanking everyone for complimenting him.

from KB: saying that yoojungs photo is "a big hit 🤯 " (0:48 am KST)

KB -

from KB: "i like the teaser.." (17:02 KST)

from Nine: saying that KB's picture came out well (6.11 am KST)

Rie -

from Rie: "wow you guys are seriously amazing, i can’t believe you put it together.." (0:48 am KST) (*bc people were right abt his teaser being next)

Mill -

- Mill hasn't mentioned his or any other teaser -

from Nine: "oh!! it's Yongsoo?!? I thought it would be Junji 흐흐" + Mill's hair has gotten long + he's handsome (0:05 - 0:14 am KST)

from Rie: saying that his teaser looks like a perfume model (2:01 am KST)

Junji -

from Junji: "it’s me?!ㅎㅎㅎㅎ" (1:18 am KST)

from Nine: "doesn’t junji's hair fit him perfectly????!??!?" (17:53 KST) (but he didn't fall in love with him!) (+ next day talking about it again, "oh my jjunji isn't that too erotic...?!?!" (Sep 6, 1:27 am KST))

Nine -

from Nine: 19:28 KST - is looking forward to the teaser, hopes it comes out soon / 23:50 KST - "is it time already?!?!?" + what kind of picture will it be? / 1:28 am KST - "oh right my teaser is up too" (after talking about Junji's teaser again) + how he took out his piercing bc he thought it would fit the picture better

group picture -

- nothing -

video teaser -

from Nine: "oh the teaser was uploaded ㅎㅎ it's my voice 하 " (4:15 am KST)

basically - that's nothing. even with wookjin clowning us like that, it's literally nothing. they've talked about getting vaccinated a whole lot more than they've talked about this song. no word of excitement about the actual music. big "oh, right... the teaser" vibes. all the reactions we have are basically about the visuals, not about the content or the concept

[alicesloane13]

okay so your answer about the coping mechanisms and how they've figured it out but it took a lot of fights to get there (100% agree) made me suddenly want to ask about the angsty relationship asks. but not all of them, if you don't want, just the first 10-15 or whatever. :)

Had to break out my laptop and glasses for this one. 

1. do they have a lot of arguments? if so, over what?

They don’t argue a lot most of the time. Once they start though it seems like it’s one thing on top of the next. Neither mean to do it, but they both tend to keep score. Their fights always spiral into past mistakes and arguments etc. 

2. who apologizes first? in what way? is it hard for either of them to apologize?

Not in the beginning, but once they’re comfortable and settled: Emily apologizes with words. Andy apologizes in actions. Andy doesn’t like admitting that she’s wrong. Emily always apologizes first because of her own insecurities. 

3. which one has more insecurities? over what?

Emily does. Andy has a good supportive family so even when she struggles she has a strong foundation. Emily has been on her own for a while now. Both family wise and friend wise. She has very little faith that she can make a relationship work. It’s not just relationship insecurities though. She has a lot of insecurities about herself in general too. 

4. who gets more riled up? do they show their anger? 

I think they’re both pretty fiery and would have no qualms about getting into a yelling match. As far as showing their anger... I’d rather not think about this. I think Emily would be more passive aggressive though and I’ll leave it at that. 

5. how do they hide their pain when they’re upset? do they try to hide their pain?

Andy is pretty open about her feelings and not afraid to show them. She trusts Emily and because of that, it’s easier to just be hurt or upset in front of her. Emily is a little more guarded. She tries too hard to mask what she’s feeling. This always leads to her not being able to hide it at all. She can handle stress well enough, but if she’s truly hurt... she just can’t fake that. 

6. who tries to make up first? does it work?

It depends on the fight. Andy is reluctant to ever admit she’s wrong, but when she does she goes big on the make ups. They usually work, because she’s genuinely sincere when it comes to them. The rest of the time it’s Emily. When they fight Emily’s first goal is to stop the anger. She wants to be able to talk about things or ignore them, but she hates fighting. Sometimes she makes up too much. She apologizes for things that aren’t her fault etc. Anything to just get them moving forward. Andy doesn’t always notice this, but when she does she doubles her efforts to make things right. 

7. would they hate-fuck if they were mad at one another? if they had a falling out?

I wanna say yes because that would be hot. But I don’t think so. 

8. do they hold grudges? is it hard for them to let go/forgive each other?

Andy holds grudges like there’s no tomorrow. She hates that she’s like that, but once you mess up it’s hard for her to let go of that. Emily doesn’t hold grudges as much. She just gets resentful. She especially can’t stand when there’s a double standard. There’s pretty much a running list in her head of every fight and transgression they’ve had.

9. is there something big that could potentially tear them apart if it was revealed?

I don’t think either of them would handle the other cheating very well, but I think even that they could work through. 

10. if something already happened to tear them apart, what would make them come back together? is it even possible?

Let’s assume this something is Miranda? They just genuinely like each other. Despite being pitted against each other, they want to get to know one another better. And hell, if they can survive that then very little will break their bond. 

11. what’s their favorite pass time when they’re upset?

Andy works on anything and everything. If there isn’t work to do she cleans. Emily likes to get in the tub, super hot water, maybe cry a bit. They both like walking and/or driving around aimlessly. If they’re not upset at each other than cuddles, handholding, etc. On the rare occasion, she does get really emotional and upset, Emily has been known once or twice to sit in Andy’s lap, straddling her and just cling to her, face buried in her shoulder and cry. Andy, on the other hand, likes to be in bed and held. She wants to be the little spoon though because when she’s upset and feeling vulnerable she doesn’t like being totally exposed. 

12. who do they confide in when 💩 hits the fan (besides each other)?

Since this is a very limited “world” let’s say Emily and Andy both look to Nigel for advice. He hates it and mostly just lets them talk themselves into figuring things out. He has zero interest in getting into the middle of things. Emily also talks to Serena. Andy talks to Lily. 

13. is it hard for them to talk about their feelings openly with each other? if so, is there any way that can be resolved, even in the slightest?

Not usually, unless it’s a big problem between them. LIttle stuff they can handle. They talk about their feelings pretty openly when it comes to outside stuff too. Things can always be resolved with these two, but it might take time. Andy has been in failed relationships before but has never been truly devastated. Emily has been, and because of that, she takes things very slowly. Once they're together that’s it for her though. She works through things. She doesn’t give up. 

14. who grieves more when the other is away?

Emily because she’s been alone longer. Now that she has someone, she never wants them to be gone. Andy is pouty and sad when Emily is gone, but it isn’t heavy. 

15. who misses the other more, or really thinks about them more?

Andy thinks about Emily way more. Emily is good at compartmentalizing, so she can focus on things without constantly getting wrapped up in thoughts of Andy. However, sometimes it catches her off guard and Andy pops into her head and she just gets the whole goofy first crush vibe. She loves it, even if she’d never admit it. 

16. do either of them have a special item (an article of clothing, a necklace, a 📓) that they use when they miss the other? if so, what is it? what do they do with it (read, wear, look at, smell)?

Emily has lots of comfort books. Getting lost in books makes it easier to forget about how much time has passed or how much longer she has to wait. Andy snaps photos of Emily all the time when the other girl isn’t paying attention. She likes to scroll through them when she’s missing her. There’s a lot of good ones, and she’s kept most of them for herself and no one else has seen them. 

17. who cries more? who gets more emotional in general?

Most of the time it’s Andy. She doesn’t cry much, but she does get emotional. Emily doesn’t fall apart often, but when she does it’s a lot. She’s also the one that cries through movies, holiday commercials, certain songs on the radio, etc. 

18. do either of them have the other’s stuff lying around their 🏠? 

Both, definitely. Despite having the bigger apartment, Emily spends a lot of time at Andy’s. They eventually move in together at Emily’s, but the first few months they spend more time at Andy’s. It might actually be a while before Emily even lets her see her place. 

19. how about teasing? do they tease each other while in a fight (whether it be with themselves or just general teasing)?

this one has me stumped... 

20. do either of them have any vices?

Emily’s vice is definitely chocolate. Andy... bad tv? maybe reality tv? Which Emily hates. 

21. what’s the thing they miss most about each other?

Have a safe place they can let their guard down and just be themselves.

22. what’s their go-to breakup/angst song?

Okay, I’m stealing this one from a real-life thing... but it’s “Come What May” from Moulin Rouge. Because even when they’re fighting they know that they can get through it. 

23. who’s more jealous?

Emily!

24. who is the first to forgive?

Andy. Once she does forgive it’s real. It may take a lot to get there though. Emily has a tendency to make Andy work for forgiveness--mainly an insecurity testing kinda thing. 

25. what’s the one deal breaker for either of them (lack of communication, fear of commitment, etc)?

lying

26. who would take longer to let go? do they ever really “let go”?

Andy. She never REALLY let’s go--even though she hates that about herself. Emily has taught her that the best way for someone like Andy to do this is to make new memories over the bad ones. If they fight or something bad happens... they find a way to overlap that memory with something positive. 

27. which is more 😨 of confrontation?

It depends on the fight. Andy is scared if she thinks Emily is gonna lose her shit. Emily is scared if she thinks she might really lose Andy.  

28. who’s the first to distance themselves (if either)?

They both do it for different reasons. Emily distances herself if she thinks she’s about to be hurt. Andy distances herself if she thinks she’s going to say something to hurt Emily. 

29. who’s more patient? is it hard to break that patience

Andy is more patient. It takes a LOT to break it. 

30. who’s the first to blame themselves?

Emily. She’s insecure. There’s probably some backstory here that I’m building up, but idk what that is just yet. 

31. who’s more likely to do something out of spite?

Emily. She hates herself for it, but she’s been trapped in the Runway lifestyle for so long that it just happens sometimes without her even thinking about it. She would NEVER truly sabotage or hurt someone though. 

32. who would be the first to say they hate the other? would they mean it?

Emily. Not at all. 

33. who worries more?

Emily worries ALL the time, but it’s just the way she functions. Andy is the one that worries about the more serious things. She also is affected by it more because she only worries when there’s something big. 

34. what scent reminds them of the other?

The smell of rain reminds Andy of Emily. Emily thinks of Andy when she smells certain perfumes because Nigel is always giving her new things to try. Most of the stuff Emily already knows, but she swears it smells different on Andy

35. do they have any regrets (regarding the other, or just in general)?

They both mainly just regret how easily manipulated they were by Miranda. They regret not standing up for themselves and each other more. Emily has a lot of regrets about how she’s spent her life.

36. who’s quicker to walk away if a situation gets heated?

Andy. She bolts. Emily has times when she gives Andy the silent treatment, but she doesn’t walk away. 

37. who is more prone to anger?

Emily is more prone to quick anger. Andy is more prone to lingering anger. 

38. who cries more in an argument? do either of them 😭?

Emily. She cries any time things get super emotional. 

39. does it take a lot for it to get to the point of yelling?

No. They’re both pretty passionate, and while the situations may not come up often if things get serious so do they. 

40. who sleeps on the 🛋️? can either of them 💤 without the other?

They struggle to sleep without each other. Emily hated sleeping together at first, but now she’s gotten used to it. When Andy is in bed with her, Emily is all sprawled out, half on top of her etc. If Andy isn’t there, Emily tends to curl up in a small ball and sleep like that. Andy sleeps okay if Emily isn’t there, but she always steals Emily’s pillow or something to hold onto. 

41. who’s more likely to protect the other?

Emily can slay someone with words alone and would do so in the blink of an eye, but she knows Andy can stand on her own. Andy is protective over Emily in all ways. Whether Emily can defend herself or not, Andy is always there and ready to go. 

42. if one of them gets injured, who worries more?

Emily keeps a calmer head because she goes into instant planning mode. She looks at the situation and figures out what she can do. Instantly, she’s making plans and directing things etc. Andy gets helpless when things go wrong so she worries more than anything. She kind of just shuts down and focusses on worry and fear. 

43. who would be more 😨 of the other’s death/harm?

Equal

44. who ends up yelling first? are they always yelling when arguing, or do neither of them yell at all?

Emily raises her voice out of a need to be heard. Andy raises to match. They don’t usually yell though. 

45. who would be more likely to save who?

It would really depend on the situation. 

46. who stays up at night brooding?

Emily. She’s a night owl by nature. She’s just been conditioned to be a morning person. 

47. who has more dreams/nightmares about the other?

Andy dreams a lot, but Emily has a lot of nightmares. 

48. who comforts who after a bad dream/event?

Andy comforts Emily. She’s literally the only one Emily will allow to comfort her in any situation, but especially waking up scared. 

49. do they think about each other a lot? does it affect their performance/schoolwork?

It definitely affects their work when they’re working together. The rest of the time things are pretty okay. Emily is generally too busy to stop and daydream, and Andy is usually far too invested and engaged in what she’s working on to daydream.

50. if one of them were to come back after a long time, who would come to who? would it go well? would the other person take them back?

This one is really hard. Only because I’m having some very strong feels about the second book... I’m going to say that Andy would come back to Emily. It wouldn’t go well at first. It would take a LOT of work on Andy’s part to get Emily back. 

Sorry for how redundant some of these may seem. I feel like I kind of just kept saying the same things. Hopefully, it’s not disappointing.