Frosina has a minion!

Monet the Artikat

The moment that Frosina had been waiting for had finally come.

After months of saving, the angel illumis finally had enough to pay the cost to become a member of Bud-Bud Roses.

Bud-Bud Roses was a company that had taken the business world by storm. It all started when a young and hopeful charlie entrepreneur began selling her personally designed shirts to the local women in her hometown. Other pets came to the charlie for advice on how they could successfully sell their own clothing design. Eventually these pets all came together to found Bud-Bud Roses.

The company’s mission was to promote the underdog by providing an avenue to earn some extra cash. After paying initial membership dues, one was sent a package of clothes from Bud-Bud Roses. The new member would then sell the clothes to their friends and family. Selling clothes wasn’t the only way to earn cash as a Bud-Bud Roses member though. Members of the company earned additional revenue by referring people to Bud-Bud Roses. If you referred a new member to the company, you would receive a small amount of money based on the purchases your referrals made. Naturally, this meant the more people you referred to Bud-Bud Roses, the more money you would earn. Millions of people and pets all over Subeta had jumped head-first into the company, hoping to make some easy cash.

Two weeks later, Frosina found two packages containing her first Bud-Bud Roses inventory on her doorstep. The angel illumis opened the packages and found multiple nightcaps, shirts, and leggings. All of the items had bright and loud pattern schemes. One nightcap was sky blue with prints of purple clocks. There was also a bright green shirt littered with banana images. Frosina began to search for all the nightcaps that had been shipped to her, for the illumis believed that those items would be the easiest to sell.

A few months later Frosina had managed to sell all the nightcaps, but the angel illumis had noticed some of her friends react to her new business venture with concern. A couple had even spoken up and asked Frosina what on earth was she thinking by getting involved with an obvious pyramid scheme.

“That company reeks shadiness!”

“Oh Sweet Shinwa, do you even know what that company has done to people?!”

Frosina ignored these comments and continued about her daily life.

A few more months passed, then one day the online art world began to stir.

Users on Bumbii Canvas were taking notice of some strange new art pieces that had surfaced. There was a user who was using clothing from Bud-Bud Roses as components of her work. The art pieces were aesthetically pleasing, which was a notable feat since many criticized Bud-Bud Roses clothing for being too bright and loud. One of the most popular pieces was “Vibrant Bananas”. The center of the art piece had three bananas arranged in a triangle. These bananas had been taped to the canvas and the tape had been spray painted yellow in order to not disturb the integrity of the art. Scraps of banana-printed leggings were arranged around the bananas.

Comments on the artwork were generally positive, with some showing general indifference.

“I didn’t think Bud-Bud Roses leggings could be used in artwork!” [laughing emoji]

“Well, at least someone is trying to get some legitimate use out of those things.”

“I…honestly don’t know what to say about this, given the notoriety that Bud-Bud Roses has in the marketing world.”

“Eh, I guess it’s alright. Better than other modern art I’ve seen.”

Word about the mysterious Bud-Bud Roses art pieces even reached the ears of the Bud-Bud Roses consultants. The topic actually came up at a Bud-Bud Roses meeting in Frosina’s hometown. The consultants at the meeting generally showed amusement towards the unique art compositions that used scraps of Bud-Bud Roses’ wares, though some had questions about why someone would go to such lengths to create art.

“I have this weird feeling that the artist behind these compositions is a Bud-Bud Roses consultant because I honestly don’t see too many people here wearing our products,” said an angelic mortiking.

“Uh, I don’t think art projects were what the Bud-Bud Roses founders had in mind when they started this company,” a darkmatter anyu stated as she pet one of the dark matters that floated around her.

A hydrus cadogre shrugged and suggested, “Maybe this can be some good publicity for Bud-Bud Roses. The company needs good publicity after what’s happened in the last few years….”

The moderator of the gathering quickly moved to change the subject to a more positive one, but the mysterious new Bud-Bud Roses artwork remained in a few pets’ minds.

A riftborn urubu turned to Frosina and whispered, “So what do you think of that mysterious art that uses pieces of Bud-Bud Roses clothing?’

Frosina only responded with a smile.

Subeta-chute, a website where one could upload videos that were viewed by everyone in the world, had jumped into the media’s line of sight once again. A video named “Confessions of a Bud-Bud Roses Consultant” had gone viral. The video began with the uploader introducing herself and giving a basic rundown of the company Bud-Bud Roses. Then the video took a more somber turn as the uploader began talking about some of the people who had been lured in by Bud-Bud Roses’ alluring claims of prosperity.

“One of the good friends I made here is a glade cybil. He actually joined because he hates the cold and wanted some project to work on during the harsh winter days in the Arctic Frost. This cybil has a very strong interest in fashion and felt that Bud-Bud Roses would be a safe space for him. Another consultant that I’m good friends with is a marsh charlie. She’s been with the company for about six months now. When I first met her at a group meeting the poor thing clearly wanted to hide in a corner away from everyone. And it’s not because she was trying to be a cool edgelord; she’s more shy compared to other charlies. As time passed, she began to open up thanks to the support of the other members. She’s shown me some of her drawings on social media and they’re pretty cool.”

“Both pets joined with the hope that they would eventually rise to the rank of Charming Couturier. At that rank you are permitted to submit your own personal designs to Bud-Bud Roses. If your designs are accepted as official Bud-Bud Roses artwork, you will earn $50 for every sold item that bears your design. However, in order to become a Charming Couturier, Bud-Bud Roses members must first either make $12,000 in sales or refer 100 new members. Neither pet could meet these requirements. The glade cybil saw his profits dry out because people in the Arctic Frost got disgruntled with the low-quality of the leggings. The marsh charlie really struggled because her shy personality caused her to be afraid of talking to random strangers about Bud-Bud Roses products. My friends are a good representation of the experiences of many consultants. They join with promises of financial freedom but eventually reality hits and those dreams begin to fade away. And for some pets, reality hits them HARD…”

The video then showed a bizarre art piece resting in the uploader’s backyard. It had several scraps of Bud-Bud Roses leggings attached to a long stone. All of the clothing scraps showed mold clusters clinging to the fabric.

The uploader sighed and began explaining the backstory behind the art presented: “This is a reality many Bud-Bud Roses consultants face in their regular business life. Hundreds of consultants have ordered packages from Bud-Bud Roses only to discover that their new packages are wet and occasionally even moldy. I…decided to call attention to this issue by gathering as many of these wet/moldy clothes as possible…and repurpose the clothes as artwork. So I went to all the Bud-Bud Roses consultants that I knew and privately asked them if they had any inventory they knew they couldn’t sell. A couple of them actually had recently received moldy and wet clothes and were willing to give them to me. However, most of the time I ended up buying clothes that were in good condition but too ugly to the common consumer.”

“Once I had gotten the clothes, I cut off the moldy parts and glued them to this stone. I also thoroughly wet some of the clothes I had bought from my fellow consultants and stored them in a dark room until mold was present on the fabric. Don’t worry, I took the proper precautions to lessen my chances of illness due to mold exposure. I wore gloves when I was cutting the pieces of moldy fabric and gluing them to this stone.”

The video then began to display the mysterious Bud-Bud Roses art pieces that had appeared on the internet. The uploader revealed that she was the creator of the collection! She explained that she had created the art pieces to inspire Bud-Bud Roses consultants with lots of unsold inventory to rework what they had into something that was more likely to sell.

“People seem to be more interested in buying bizarre art to display in their homes rather than clothes to wear in their daily lives,” admitted the uploader. “However, you don’t have to limit yourselves to making art pieces with your wares. You could make them into towels or headbands; the possibilities are endless!”

“With that aspect cleared up,” said the uploader, “I have one more confession to make. Before I became a consultant, I actually had heard about all the controversy that Bud-Bud Roses was embroiled in. The unpaid vendors, the intense pressure to buy and recruit new members, the below-average quality of the products, all of it. So if I knew about all the trouble that this company was causing in the market, why did I choose to join anyway?”

Up to this point in the Confessions video, the uploader had not shown her face. But now the video presented a face reveal.

The true identity of the mystery consultant was an angel illumis.

“I joined because I wanted to make a statement. I wanted to encourage people to stand up for themselves and take back what companies like Bud-Bud Roses are stealing from them. They’re stealing money, dreams, and….worst of all: friendships. Ruining friendships is what I consider the saddest of the damaging aspects that Bud-Bud Roses has had on our society. Bud-Bud Roses claims to be a company that promotes empowerment via a supportive community. Some personal accounts of people who have left the company suggest otherwise.”

The angel illumis shook her head and continued, “They were extremely distraught when they discovered that other consultants would now have nothing to do with them. If those accounts weren’t bad enough, I’ve heard stories of long-time friendships and even romantic relationships going down the drain because of Bud-Bud Roses. It’s ridiculous, and it needs to stop. When someone leaves this company to pursue other ventures, we should be encouraging them instead of putting them down."

The consequences of Frosina’s video reverberated far and wide. Several of Frosina’s fellow consultants began to withdraw from her. The angel illumis even got angry emails for two of the uplines, which are high- ranking consultants, about “betraying the Bud-Bud Roses sisterhood.” However, Frosina gained support from not only former Bud-Bud Roses members but also people who had fallen prey to companies with a similar business model.

Frosina’s video was enough to convince the glade cybil, the marsh charlie, and the angelic mortiking to leave Bud-Bud Roses as well. The angelic mortiking admitted to Frosina that the rift between her and Bud-Bud Roses had begun when an upline lied about payment for dinner at a fancy restaurant. The mortiking had told Frosina that Bud-Bud Roses would pay for everything she ordered, but she ended up being stuck with paying the bill.

“I would have never ordered that lobster and fish platter if I knew that shady upline was going to pull such a stunt!” the angelic mortiking fumed. She huffed and continued, “Then I ended up with those wet packages…I’m so glad you took those off my hands. Finally, I watched that video of yours and found myself agreeing with you about the friendship fiascoes the company’s caused. I’m gonna find as many former Bud-Bud Roses consultants as possible, and together we’re gonna stomp on those greedy fat felis!”

A few weeks later, Frosina was visited by one of her closest friends, an experiment #1102 named Tiderella. The experiment had seen Frosina’s video and had been very surprised by Frosina’s plan.

“You know,” Tiderella said, “I was a little worried that you might become brainwashed by all that Bud-Bud Roses stuff. I have a cousin who had a friend that became a consultant for that company and now they barely talk to each other anymore. The friend kept trying to get my cousin to buy some stuff but my cousin is not a fan of the patterns. Eventually my cousin just avoided her friend altogether because it seemed that all the friend could think about was Bud-Bud Roses clothing.”

Frosina nodded and showed the experiment #1102 some of the emails she had received. Tiderella shook her head at the upline’s emails.

“Betraying the sisterhood? They sound like those popular girl cliques in those classic high-school flicks,” Tiderella said. “Honestly, the fish swimming around in my head has more brains and personality. Speaking of brains, I‘ve heard that a few of the consultants in our area have quit and are spreading the word about the evils of Bud-Bud Roses and similar companies.”

Frosina nodded and stated, “The two pets I mentioned in the video have also quit. The glade cybil has barely managed to make any sales for a while so he just quit. He still has mountains of Bud-Bud Roses inventory but is looking for ways to make the items more viable for the market. As for the marsh charlie, she realized that she just didn’t have the right kind of personality for a consultant. At first she had considered staying in the company but stop buying more clothing until she had sold everything she’d already received. The marsh charlie was considering this because the friends she had in Bud-Bud Roses were the first new friends she had made in a long time and she was afraid of losing them.”

“So,” Tiderella asked, “what made her quit?”

Frosina’s face soured as she replied, “Hearing some of the rude comments that I and other former consultants received. The marsh charlie realized that those people couldn’t be considered genuine friends.”

Tiderella nodded and asked, “I’ve heard that many former consultants carry quite a bit of debt as a result of buying all that stuff. How much did you spend on this whole thing?”

Frosina smiled and said, “I bought only five packages. Most of the stuff I bought was used for those art compositions. I’m no longer a consultant, but I plan to buy the extra stock of the other consultants in the area for use in new compositions. It makes my creative juices flow, and I’ll also drum up awareness about the dark secrets hiding behind Bud-Bud Roses.”

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