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[anthonypaulh]

CAUGHT NAPPING - ITP and FATIGUE

CAUGHT NAPPING - ITP and FATIGUE 

Fatigue is the one subject which most often comes up on our social media platforms, online support group meetings and at our annual convention.

It is a key symptom of and is present in ITP but it is less easily recognised because there is no physical evidence to explain it and no simple way to measure it. We also know that excessive anxiety and stress can be triggers for fatigue. 

So what can we do about it ?

There are many things that we can do to help combat fatigue. That said, not all of the following things will result is a completely fatigue free life if you do them. Many of these suggestions will be effective for one person but may not work as well for others.

 After 18 years of living with ITP here are a few ideas. These things all play a part in my daily routine and seem to help me.

At the end of the article I have included some useful links to sources that I use. I hope they help.

BUT I emphasise that - 

It is important to discuss your own individual medical situation with your specialist first before making any changes to your routines/diet/exercise etc.

SLEEP

1. Go to bed and get up at a regular time if you can. Try to follow the same sleep routine every night. Good sleep is vital allowing our bodies to rest and repair.

2. Do some mental and physical exercise during the day, especially late afternoon or early evening as it should help you sleep.

3. Only take a short afternoon nap if it doesn’t interfere with your sleep at night. 

4. Avoid dozing in front of the TV in the evening. Instead try reading, listening to music, or writing. In the evening don’t overuse computers, tablets, mobile phones or over engage with social media. These things over stimulate the brain and prevent our systems from winding down towards day’s end.

5. Keep your bedroom dark (seems obvious but always close the curtains or blinds). 

6. Make sure noises in the house during the night are minimised. Switch off electrical appliances that hum, buzz or disturb you. Turn off TV’s, mobile phones, lap tops, iPads well before you go to bed. 

7. Make sure your bedroom is not too hot.

8. Have a warm, milky drink before you go to bed. Avoid anything with caffeine . Don’t eat anything heavy for a couple of hours before you go to bed and avoid too much alcohol.

9. Try to keep calm if you really cannot sleep. 

      10. If you are going to be awake don’t keep tossing and turning, get up and read for a while or listen to some music using headphones of course, then go back to bed and try to drop off.

 EATING HEALTHILY

1. Eat a good, fresh, well balanced diet. It gives your body the best chance to fight fatigue. It also helps your body in many other ways too.

2. It is important to eat a good mix of protein, carbohydrates, fresh fruit and vegetables. We are all different and may have other medical issues in addition to our ITP. It is important to discuss your diet and any changes you might make with your doctor or specialist. 

3. With ITP we must avoid quinine and any products that contain quinine. We also need to avoid aspirin, ibuprofen and any products that contain them.

4. Eat less salt, reduce fat and sugar intake. With ready made meals check carefully the levels of salt, fats and sugars included as they can be surprisingly high. Eat less ultra processed food, ready meals and fast foods.

5. Drink plenty of water. Dehydration causes many health problems including kidney stones, kidney infections, urinary tract infections. Dehydration makes you feel lethargic, tired, fatigued.The NHS suggested intake of water per day is between 6 and 8 glasses. During hot weather we should drink more.

6. Avoid too much caffeine. It is in many drinks, not just coffee & tea. It is in cola for example. Caffeine keeps you awake and also prompts you to urinate more so dehydrates you. It is also a stimulant and increases the heart rate amongst other things. 

7. Being overweight increases fatigue and has other health risks like developing heart disease and cancer. Avoid snacking and too much sugar. Reduce fats and processed food like ready meals, take away foods like  burgers, pizza, fried chicken. Eat more fresh fruit and vegetables .

8. Cook your own meals. In preparing and cooking your own food YOU know what is going into it. YOU control the amount of fats, sugars, salts that you are eating by measuring how much of it you add to your food.

9. Greens….For us ITP folk  green vegetables and fruits are very helpful. Consuming spinach, kale, cabbage, lettuce, broccoli, apples and pears are very helpful in boosting the health of our immune system. Greens contain plenty of Vitamins A, C, E, and K. (they help in the clotting process).

REDUCING STRESS

1. In the modern world, it is virtually impossible to eliminate all stress. We do actually need a some stress to function properly.  BUT it is being able to control, manage and limit stress levels that helps determine how well we live and how healthy we are. 

2. Include some relaxation every day. Try to go out and walk every day as it is a really good way to wind down. Getting some fresh air is so beneficial, it clears the mind and helps our physical well being. It helps joints and muscles, and has many other benefits. 

3. Take time every day for YOU. Listen to radio, music, read, have a warm bath,  talk to family and friends, go to the movies, take up a hobby, go to a museum, visit a gallery. Do some meditation and/or breathing exercises. DO SOMETHING ! 

4. Turn OFF PHONES, computers, iPads, gadgets, tablets. Have some down time. Be unavailable for at least a while every day. NOTHING is more important than YOUR peace of mind and long term health. The World can wait occasionally.  

5. Pace yourself, be realistic about goals you set (Try the SPOON THEORY (see links at the end of the article).

6. Stay in regular contact with family and friends and share your feelings with them. Fatigue and stress are invisible to others so talk to someone about it. Use the many ITP social media based forums/support groups and share your experiences.

7. Avoid stressful situations. It sounds ridiculous but sometimes the smallest word is one that is the most difficult to use. The word is NO. Sometimes for your own good say NO.

8. Along with saying NO, keep a planner. Make sure people around you know what that planner consists of. Don’t allow people to double book you or steel your time. Be clear what you want to do and when. YOU have to MANAGE it or it will MANAGE YOU. 

9. Plan properly. The old adage of “failing to plan and planning to fail” is the truest of them all.  Plan well and know what success is, know what you are aiming to do, when you are aiming to do it by, how you are going to do it.  (ie set SMART GOALS).

           10. Don’t be afraid to ASK for help. So many people take everything on themselves and forget that a problem aired is a problem shared.

           11. Tell your doctor, ITP specialist, consultant if you are feeling stressed, fatigued, tired. You would tell them if you have a nosebleed or bruise so tell them about stress, fatigue and tiredness. 

12. Join in with ITP local group meetings and social media forums. The ITP Support Association  have regular local and national meetings and platforms on Facebook, You Tube, Twitter and there is also the ITP Support Association HealthUnlocked group.

13. Get a little bit of sun. It is essential for supplying our Vitamin D requirements. Not getting enough sunlight can exacerbate fatigue and feelings of tiredness. Obviously too much sun has other negative effects but a little exposure to the sun is useful.

EXERCISE

1. Many studies confirm that exercise boosts energy levels. It improves the efficiency of your heart, circulatory system, lungs and muscles and is good for the brain. It aids flexibility and helps prevent obesity and the negative health issues that may arise from it.

2. You don’t need to do too much. We are all different in what we can do . Be sensible, start slowly and discuss any plans you have to start exercising with your doctor or specialist first

.

3. Regular light exercise is proven to be beneficial to combating fatigue. Just a short walk every day is a great start, especially in nature.

4. Cycling and swimming are great alternatives to walking or jogging.

5. Don’t sit too long. Even if you move around in the garden cutting the grass, picking up leaves, just pottering around, it is all helpful.

6.     Getting some fresh air & it will help to relieve stress, improve your sleep and reduce tiredness. 

Many of these suggestions are common sense and probably things we all think that we are already doing.  The most important thing is that it should not become too onerous because if it is then you will not stick to it. You have to make it fun, simple and really want to do it.

Good luck and best wishes

Anthony Heard 12/8/2024

USEFUL LINKS

THE SPOON THEORY - 

https://www.gwh.nhs.uk/media/rk2krmbw/fatiguemindmaptrifold1604.pdf

WATER, DRINKS and HYDRATION -

NHS EATWELL GUIDE - 

NHS - EVERY MIND MATTERS - How to recognise and cope better with Stress-

FOOD FOR LIFE - Book by Tim Spector

INSIGHT TIMER - BREATHING , MEDITATION, MINDFULNESS -

SMILING MIND - BREATHING, MINDFULNESS -

BALANCE - BREATHING, MEDITATION, IMPROVING SLEEP -

GROW MODEL for SMART GOAL SETTING - 

ITP SUPPORT ASSOCIATION YOU TUBE CHANNEL - numerous videos on Fatigue -

FUTURE LEARN via THE OPEN UNIVERSITY - numerous FREE online short courses on many subjects including NUTRITION and HEALTH -

[dietraumerei]

Femslash February 6: Stars

AO3 Collection | Thank you to @ineffable-wives-central for the prompt list!

Aziraphale and Crowley stargaze, and remember their first night on Earth.

(Set in my Renovations universe. All you need to know for this story is that it's essentially canon, and Crowley has a physical disability that means she sometimes uses mobility aids. And Aziraphale is very butch, and very handsome.Rated G.)

“Mind some company?”

Aziraphale actually startled, then smiled over at Crowley. “From you? Never, darling.” She laughed as Crowley settled smack on her lap and stowed her crutches, snuggling up in Aziraphale's arms.

“Well you said...”

Aziraphale laughed and rubbed Crowley's arm – her darling's hips were starting to act up again, and it always took a day or two to adjust. “By the way, your new raised bed is built.”

Crowley brightened up at that. “Dove! Thank you so much, I'll plant some winter crops in there tomorrow.”

Aziraphale laughed and flexed a little, pretending it was a stretch, and snuggled her demon a little closer. “How're the old hips, darling?” Crowley had spent the day in the house, doing small repairs that needed doing – and a big one or three, which meant they hadn't even had dinner together.

“Absolute bastards, both of them,” Crowley said cheerfully. “But I'm getting by fine.” She sighed happily in Aziraphale's arms, just as the sun went below the horizon. “Let's stargaze tonight. Just like this.”

“Well, of course,” Aziraphale said, and snapped her fingers, ensuring that a bottle of quite good wine and two glasses – already full and the wine breathing a bit – were on hand. It was Crowley's turn to caress her, her cool fingertips tracing Aziraphale's collarbone, exposed when she had – feeling rather scandalous – unbuttoned the top two buttons of her work shirt.

“You're so handsome,” Crowley mumbled, and kissed her collarbone. “Can we play something where you rescue me from grave danger and nurse me back to health again soon?”

Aziraphale laughed, and promised they could play just exactly that soon, in between pressing kisses under Crowley's ear. “The very gravest of danger. I shall carry you away, if you like.”

“Yes, please,” Crowley requested, very happy at the thought. She smiled at the rumble of Aziraphale's laugh, and reached for their wine. They toasted each other silently and sipped, settling down to watch the stars slowly come out.

“Clear night,” Crowley said at one point. “'s'nice. Remember the first night?”

“Of course, dearest,” Aziraphale said. “It was so lovely of God to make a cloudless night and show off the stars.”

Crowley grunted, and Aziraphale laughed.

“It was a desert, you know,” Crowley said. “Not much to do with God, not directly.”

“Well of course, but I wanted to see if I could rile you,” Aziraphale said cheerfully. “And that was such a lovely night. Really something special.”

Crowley made another grumpy noise, knowing full well she was only playing into Aziraphale's hands. Her soft, strong hands. That were holding Crowley.

God, she hated her life some days, she thought, snuggling into Aziraphale's lap more firmly while her own sweet angel kissed her hair.

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[diyunho]

The Joker x Reader - “Trapped” Part 3

Almost one year ago, someone tried to kill The Joker in a speeding car and Y/N pushed him out of the way, getting hit instead. With a fractured skull and broken bones, she was out of business for 6 months; when she finally recovered, The Queen of Gotham wasn’t the same anymore. Trapped inside her own mind and exhibiting severe cognitive impairment, Y/N’s life switched upside down without any hope of ever returning to normal.

Part 1       Part 2     Part 4     Part 5

Same day, later in the evening

“What are you doing, Pumpkin?” The Joker crawls next to you although he has an idea about why you look upset.

You’re on your tummy scribbling on a piece of paper and he can tell you are concentrating hard while working on the current project: writing down your name. Only got the first three letters then the rest went blank.

“I….I can’t think…” you intensely stare at the blue pen in between your fingers.

“Of course you can!” J reaches over so he can guide your arm since it’s clear you need help. “There you go… done. Now try to copy it bellow, alright?”

“Hm?”

“Try again Princess,” he taps on the sheet and watches Y/N struggling to imitate the word. “Well done!” The King of Gotham praises. “Wanna give it a shot with a few more simple words?”

“Mmmm…” you debate. “OK?...”

You analyze The Joker’s movements as he depicts four letter words, one of them getting your attention in particular.

“Love?” you smile, happy you deciphered the meaning.

“Yes, a basic…”

“Love?” you scoot over, more and more excited and it clicks for your boyfriend.

“It’s just an example for you to exercise and relearn how to write, understand? It doesn’t mean anything!”

You giggle and touch his nose with yours.

“Love!”

“No Pumpkin! I don’t love you, how did you get such atrocity from my note??!! It has no hidden meaning! I barely, from very afar, remotely, not even similar to love, sort of like you and that’s it!”

You snicker and quickly slide to grab the yellow teddy bear, whispering in its ear:

“Love.”

“Aren’t you listening Princess?? Don’t start fake rumors!!”

Still…Y/N lives on her own little planet and her damaged brain grasped a wonderful concept despite The Clown vehemently dismissing his actions.

“Serves me right for being supportive,” he grumbles and resorts to diversion, the best weapon against your new found logic.

“Wanna read to me?” he points at the pile of children’s books resting on the nightstand: they are the best to use in your present circumstance.

“… … Read?... ” you ask, confused.

“Here,” J picks a random publication and gives it to you.

Might as well fully take advantage.

“Spoil me!” he buries his cheeks in your cleavage, guiding your free hand towards his green locks.

You never figured out how he doesn’t suffocate with his face glued to your skin; sometimes he sleeps like that for hours. Must be a special talent.

“The … ummm… the…. The duck…” you read the first page and massage his scalp, frowning at the words you can’t make sense of. “Cross… … crossed?...”  

“Yeah,” The Joker’s mumbled voice agrees.

“… the… g-glass…” you stutter at the sentence.

“Grass,” J corrects you.

“Hm?...”

“Grass Pumpkin, not glass.”

“Ummm… grass…” you continue to read the best way you can and he rectifies your errors until no more sounds emerge: The King is softly purring, a clear indication he’s dreaming.

You toss the book on the floor, fed up with the difficult task of organizing your thoughts; pampering him is better. You slowly tilt his head backwards so you can kiss him: The Joker frowns in his daze and you pinch his butt, chuckling.

“What is it?” he opens one eye and you pull down on his boxers. “Princess, we had sex an hour ago. Do you think I run on batteries?” the complaint is fast to follow.

... … … Batteries?... …                                            

You jump from the bed and stump to the closet, fumbling around for a couple of minutes before returning to a puzzled Clown.

You stretch the elastic of his underwear, dropping two batteries you snatched from the flashlight inside.

“How… how long do we w-wait?” you innocently ask.

The Joker bites his lip, attempting to contain himself yet he can’t: he bursts out laughing at your quirky solution while dragging you on top of him.

“You’re the funniest and smartest person I know, Pumpkin!” he cracks up, actually convinced he’s telling the truth. “Who’s my clever girl, huh?”

He’s talking about a girl again…What girl?...

Y/N peeks behind her and J reminds his baffled half:

“For God’s sake, Princess! I’m talking about you; you’re my girl! Can you get my phone?” he gestures at his mobile ringing by your pillow.

You give the cell to J, ignoring his conversation with Frost: you keep kissing him with the sole purpose of getting undivided affection.

“I guess Adam is here to pick up the cars you damaged,” he finally ends his chat. “Let’s go supervise the process. Don’t be disappointed, Pumpkin, we’ll have fun later. It’s your fault for destroying my collection!”

****************

The Joker watches his crew sweeping the concrete in the garage: broken glass, pieces of metal and debris scattered on the pavement after his vehicles were hauled inside huge trucks in order to be transported to Adam’s workshop for repairs.

“Thanks a lot, Y/N!” he growls, frustrated.

“Y-you’re welcome,” you serenely reply without a care in the universe.

“You’re the worst thing that ever happened to me, Princess!” he huffs at your indifference.

“Love,” you confess to the fluffy toy squished in your embrace.

“I heard that and it’s an aberration! Why do you keep persisting with this nonsense?! I’m literally stating the opposite!” J admonishes but who’s listening to him?

Not Y/N.

“Nolan is texting me,” he changes subject. “He wants me to meet him at his warehouse to inspect the boxes of ammo for the deal. Will you accompany me?”

“Hm?”

“Car ride?” The King of Gotham simplifies his request.

“U-hum!” you nod, preparing to enter the purple Lamborghini which luckily wasn’t in the garage when you smashed J’s cars.

“Frost, if you see me parked up the street in the driving alley, don’t come investigate, got it? This woman’s been pestering me for extracurricular activities, might not make it inside the mansion.”

“Of course, sir!” Jonny finds it wise to consent to his boss’s rambling.

“Tell everyone: if the Lamborghini’s rockin’, don’t come knockin’!”

**************

You’re sitting on J’s lap, completely blocking the arrangements happening at the table: you’re more preoccupied with your game than whatever it is they are negotiating about.

“What are you playing, Y/N?” Nolan curiously inquires because your thumbs are surely moving at a crazy speed on your cell’s screen.

“Hm?” you stop and gaze his way.

“What are you playing?” the man repeats.

“Mmmmm… Tetrixx Bricks.”

“What level are you on?” Nolan leans over, his eyes getting big at the revelation. “Holy shit, Y/N! How did you make it this far??! I’ve been striving to pass level 98 for a month!”

“She’s smart, that’s how!” your boyfriend sassily underlines.

“Do you think that you can help me?” the guy slides his phone in front of you.

“I’m sorry, is this a gaming party or a business matter?!” The Joker scoffs.

“Well, we’re pretty much done: we accepted the terms, we just have to move the merchandise in the morning.”

You are already matching the colorful blocks on Nolan’s game, his face ecstatic when the obnoxious song announces with great fanfare: “Level Up!”

“Holy cow!!!!” he shouts and you return his phone. “Thank you!”

“Hey Y/N,” one of the mobster’s henchmen dares to voice his demand. “Would you help me too? I’m stuck on level 76.”

“I’m dead on 105,” another goon mumbles under his breath, stepping in the line forming to your left.

J would normally cut off this useless waste of his precious time yet he can’t deny the gratification building up in his heart: heavens knows how it feels to be trapped inside your own mind and his girl has definitely battled unimaginable odds to be where she’s at right now.

Living with cognitive impairment is not easy, but she’s still here and it beats the alternative.

“Good job, Pumpkin!” The Clown boasts at the long string of cell phones parading through your fingers while you aid Nolan’s team leveling up on Tetrixx Bricks.

And somehow his hands are holding you tighter, not even bored with the random outcome of his meeting.

**************

You escaped on the terrace for a break and J is discussing the last details with your host: tomorrow you have a routine checkup, thus he has to wrap it up soon.

“Out of my way, half-wit!” Derek aka Nolan’s oldest son pushes you. Would he have done it if you were the same individual from almost a year ago? Nope. Apparently he believes he’s entitled to take advantage of Y/N since she’s alone outside.

“Why did Mister Joker bring you anyway?” he lights up a cigarette, annoyed. “Stupid monosyllabic bitch!” he ogles your summer dress, swiftly lifting it. “Are you wearing diapers?” he chuckles as you walk backwards, trying to process what he’s throwing at you. “Come on, show me!” he approaches and carefully scouts the premises to ensure you two don’t have company.

Perhaps the neurons in your brain are overcharged for the moment; nevertheless, they warn of imminent altercation: the dude’s a total douchebag.

“Are you shy?” Derek grins. “C’mon, lemme see!! Oooohh…fuuuuck…” he bends over in pain when your knee unexpectedly kicks him in the crotch: you used all your strength and he drops down, curling up in a ball. “God…dammit!” Derek shrieks at the defense he didn’t anticipate.

“I…I’m not wearing diapers!” you stammer and because he landed on the edge of the pool you roll him in the water also.

The loud splash makes The Joker wave at you, glad he eventually found you: he’s been searching around the warehouse for the last 5 minutes.

“There you are! Quit playing around, Pumpkin; we have a swimming pool at home!”

You rush by his side eager to bail before the asshole pops up from the bottom of the pond.

“Sushi for dinner?” J suggests and Y/N is not the type of individual to reject one of her favorite dishes.

“I…I love sushi,” you smile elbowing him. “Love.”

“Don’t start with me again!” The King barks at your obvious hint.

*************

“Are you eating the last piece?” he glares at your salmon roll.

“No,” you offer the treat to him. “You…you need it more,” Y/N verbalizes her concern regarding his well-being.

“Can’t disagree, Pumpkin. You exhausted me you naughty girl,” J pretends to be super tired. “What can I do? Princess wants, Princess gets,” he inhales, resigned.

You’re not focusing on his whining: frankly, your intellect has been challenged enough for today. You cuddle in his arms while he chews on his food and watch TV without paying attention to the movie.

“Don’t forget tomorrow morning you have your doctor’s appointment,” J mentions. “I have to stay and wait for the guns I purchased from Nolan; you’ll have to manage without me. I’ll send an escort, deal?”

“U-hum.”

“Don’t yawn, Pumpkin. I’m the one that should yawn,” The Joker scratches his thigh. “This move sucks,” he pouts and turns off the TV. “I have a better idea,” he chooses a kid’s book from the stack. “Read to me.”

You open the textbook and although your brain is overwhelmed, you still make an effort for his sake.

“Mmm… Rainy… sky… Skies?...”

“Yup,” he turns on his side and nuzzles in your hair.

“Float over…hmm… t-town…”, your voice echoes in the room, soothing a worn out Joker.

Strange he can’t properly rest unless you read to him: after all J barely, from very afar, remotely, not even similar to love, sort of likes you.

Also read: MASTERLIST

You can follow me on Ao3 and Wattpad under the same blog name: DiYunho.

[the-voltage-diaries]

Embrasse-Moi (Part 2) - Eisuke Ichinomiya x Soryu Oh

For, @kbtbbposts. Hi. It’s been a while. (Lmfao utter lies, it’s been over a month). I’m sorry for the delay <3

‘Embrasse moi’: French for ‘Kiss me’.

Disclaimer: Guy x Guy, Suggestive. Also there’s cussing here so tread carefully who am I kidding all of us love an Eisuke and a Soryu who say fuck and also do it later on. Also, this chapter includes the PoVs of both characters, i.e Eisuke and Soryu (totally not just for the heck of it) First it’s Eisuke, then Soryu and then back to Eisuke. The change of banners will tell you.

Word count: 3022. Lol the least I can do in an attempt to make up for the delay is publish a long ass chapter.

P.S.: I’m always open for feedback. Feel free to hit my asks anytime, about any of my works (you can ask as anonymous if you don’t want me to know who you are lol)

I wake up to the sound of something chiming near my head.

With one of my arms draped lazily over Soryu’s sleeping figure, I reach out for my mobile with the other. As soon as I type in the password and check the mail, I almost immediately regret it. Sighing, I place the phone back on the nightstand and turn around to face Soryu’s back, conveniently ignoring the message, ready to doze off again for a little bit. 

The moment my eyes close, my phone starts buzzing. An annoyed huff escapes me before I manage to find the device again and answer the call.

“Good morning, Ichinomiya!” Jason says on the other end of the line, his voice retaining its usual cheeriness even at 7AM in the morning. Does this man not sleep, or what.

“What do you want.”

“Yes, yes, Eisuke. I’m doing well, thank you for asking,” the fucker says, sarcasm practically dripping from his words, “How about yourself?”

“Bye.” I mutter, about to hang up. Don’t get me wrong, but I have neither the time nor the desire to be happy go lucky for someone who ruined my peaceful morning.

“Hold your horses, mister. I called for a reason, actually.”

Then get to it already, damnit. 

“I wanted to let you know we’re meeting at my office at ten-thirty today. Works for you?”

“Mm,” I reply, sitting up as I think. I feel Soryu stir beside me and I pause, not wanting to wake him up.  But instead of opening his eyes and waking up, he just turns around and wraps an arm around my lap, nestling into it as if I was a body pillow. “Yeah. I’ll be there.”

“Okay, see you then.”

I hang up and run my fingers through my hair, letting myself enjoy the calm for a minute more before I need to get up. The moment I lift myself off the bed, I feel Soryu stir again at the loss of contact, but he manages to grab on to a nearby pillow to make up for it.

I’ll admit, for a moment I am tempted to rip that pillow out of his hands and get back into the bed with him, because Eisuke Ichinomiya doesn’t take kindly to being replaced, but I quickly shake my head to dismiss the thought.

I take a quick shower and put on my shirt, opting for my usual formal attire. Every little movement of mine is made quietly with the desire to not wake him up, because I know he needs the sleep if he doesn’t want to face the full wrath of a terrible hangover.

“Mmm,” he groans, still fully asleep, having no idea of the tough morning that awaits him. Speaking of hangovers, I walk over to the landline in the room and dial up the reception, trying to choose between the ideas of letting his hangover kill him or being a good citizen and saving his sorry ass.

“Morning, I’d like a bottle of ibuprofen and a glass of water in my room, and make it quick,” I tell the receptionist and hang up, my eyes catching the sight of a small notebook and pen on the nightstand.

I grab the pen and open the notebook, smirking as I write down a few words.

“I’m out to meet Jason for the business you definitely fucked up yesterday. I hope you’re no longer a man-child who yells ‘I am batman’ out of nowhere. On the off chance you are, let me remind you that puking on the bed is something you shouldn’t be doing.” “P.S. Yes, you did actually yell ‘I am batman’ yesterday.” 

I tear the piece of paper and place the note beside him on my side of the bed, already imaging his reaction in my head.

I wake up with the unquenchable desire to throw my head into either a toilet or a paper bag.

The light blaring into the room through the windows feels nothing less than needles pricking into my eyes. As soon as my eyes adjust to the light, I get off the bed and make my way towards the bathroom, although barely in time. My hands grab on to the sides of the toilet seat as if it were a life support and my stomach somersaults as I vomit its contents out. 

It, no doubt, is one of the worst hangovers of my life. This is also the first time the hangover is so bad that I feel the need to puke, that it doesn’t just stop at a headache. I can hold my liquor well, and have never had to face a lot of them, but this one is so violent that the back of my throat stings. 

What in the hecks did I drink last night? How bad was it?

The memories of last night start to flood in, although they are fragmented beyond repair. The last thing I remember as clear as day is the time Eisuke and I met Jason at the bar. I vaguely recall us having a discussion over a few drinks and Eisuke walking out to take a call.

“That bastard,” I hiss, remembering the part where Jason showed me a new drink, the name of which I don’t remember, and asked me to try it. That’s where my brain starts getting fuzzy again.

A broken, foggy memory of the man laughing at my intoxicated ass passes through the front of my mind.

“Fuck.”

I got drunk.

Scratch that, I got wasted.

I got wasted at a meeting where I was supposed to remain in control of myself.

Damn it, Soryu. Could it get any worse?

That’s when I realise, yes, it could. And yes, it definitely did.

Wait a second. What happened after that? How did I make it back to the fucking room? Don’t tell me, did Eisuke bring me back?

I slowly lift myself up and walk back to the door of the bathroom. I try to remember what happened after I got completely inebriated but nothing comes to mind. My eyes sweep the room for a sign of anything that would help me at least piece the broken fragments of last night in some sort of a cohesive sequence. I don’t find any sign of Eisuke, but instead, my eyes stop at a note lying on his side of the bed.

Before I can so much as take a step in its direction, though, I feel the world go for a toss and my body once again turns back to the support of the toilet… only to throw up again. I hold the commode tightly as my body heaves, tired after spilling the contents of last night twice now. I take a moment to calm down and then get up and make my way towards the note I remember seeing.

Out of all the things to do, why the fuck did I do that?

Sweet mother of holy crap.

If Eisuke is to be believed, which he mostly is, the only way to describe my behaviour last night would be complete madness. My fingers clench around the paper in embarrassment, clutching it hard while my feet carry me back to the bathroom to clean myself up. Just when I think I have regained control over my exhausted self, I feel my stomach do a practice run-through of a gymnastics session as my body lurches forward, spilling its remaining contents into the toilet.

“Ah, shit,” I mutter, resting my head on the back of my palm, my eyes stinging with the pain of throwing up thrice this time, “I’m never drinking anything Jason gives me, ever again.”

“That sounds like a wise decision,” Ichinomiya butts in. Funny, because he doesn’t have a butt, really. Although cracking jokes right now isn’t really my best option.

My body agrees, because his voice coming out of nowhere makes my shoulders jump in an almost comedic way and I whip my head to look back at him like a literal deer caught in headlights. He’s keeping his jacket on the bed and chuckling at my reaction as we speak.

“I see you didn’t puke on the bed,” He smirks, undoing the top button of his shirt. “Very considerate of you.”

“Shut up, Ichinomiya,” I say, turning around and sitting down so that my back is against the toilet seat.

I hear his footsteps as I close my eyes, taking a deep breath. I roll my head back, regretting everything that has led me to this situation. Before long, a dull pain starts pulsating through my head and that’s all it takes for me to know I’m in for a crappy headache for breakfast. Just as I am about to let out an annoyed groan, I hear Eisuke’s footsteps cease a short distance away. “Here, have this.”

I open my eyes slowly and blink a couple of times before looking up at him. He is leaning against the door leading to the bathroom, holding a glass of water in one hand and a bottle of ibuprofen in the other.

I reach out to grab the bottle and take a pill out, muttering a low thanks, and take the glass of water from him. It doesn’t take me long to swallow the pill gratefully, and I notice Eisuke take a few steps forward and sit down beside me on the floor. My fingers freeze in the middle of tightening the bottle cap as I stare at him, then at the spot he is sitting on, then back at him.

Is this Ichinomiya? Or am I in some fucked up fantasy land?

I blink for a second or two before looking at him again.

There is no way in hell this pain in the ass without an ass is sitting on the floor right now. 

“What.” He asks when he sees me staring at him for a whole minute… or at least a whole minute.

“Are you okay?”

He turns his head to look at me, raising a brow.

“Why is Your Royal Highness sitting on the floor of a bathroom?” I ask, overlooking the throbbing in my head for a moment to smirk at him. Of course, it’s just for a moment because the moment that moment gets over, my headache comes back to me with full force.

Needless to say, he ignores the jab. Instead, he bends his body a little closer to my own and looks up at me, and I almost lose my shit again at the actual look of concern he gives me. “Feeling better?” he asks, his face close enough that I can smell his cologne.

Which is worth noticing, because he doesn’t wear strong scents. “I… yeah, I’m fine,” I say, focusing on the way a few strands of his hair fall over his eyes. I’m not sure why I have a faint feeling that he is about to kiss me.

The moment that thought enters my mind, a few more fragments from yesterday come back to me. I vaguely remember bits and pieces of the scene where Eisuke helped me out of my business clothes and put on the casual ones. I recall a small bit where I brought my face closer to his and before I can walk through it any further, the memory cuts out, leaving a throbbing pain in its wake.

Wait… does that mean we kissed last night?

“Okay, enough small talk,” he says, stopping me from thinking any further, “We have a long day ahead of us and you might want to freshen up if you want to play a productive role in it.”

“Give me a break, my head feels like someone has opened a club in here.”

“You’ve got 20 minutes.”

... Motherfucker.

Soryu places the platinum key card in front of the card reader and the door to our room slides open to allow the both of us to enter. It is now eight-thirty in the evening, and the both of us are a little tired because wow, it was a long day. 

Since I already finished the business part of our trip this morning with Jason, Soryu and I were free to do whatever we wanted for the rest of the day. I took him out for brunch to a private little restaurant just a little way away from the main city and gave him a run-down of the crux of what happened in the meeting this morning. After brunch, we went for a little sightseeing around town and on Soryu’s suggestion, checked out some of the local spots he knew about - much to my dismay, of course. 

Why? Well, the crowds here are no joke, and we couldn’t take the limo so we had to walk around the city. Yes, we had to walk around the streets. In a city full of people. People left and right. People front and back. People here, people there. Basically every fucking where. No wonder I was drained out.

“Let’s pack our bags before calling it a night, yeah?” Soryu says, pulling me out of my reverie. I look around the room and find it to be just as clean and fresh as it was the night we checked in. 

“Mm,” I hum, walking into the room and towards my suitcase. Placing it on the bed, I walk over and open the door to my side of the closet and take a handful of clothes. I start packing my bags and I see Soryu following suit.

He starts gathering his clothes and after he is done packing the ones in the closet, he reaches out to the ones we wore yesterday. They are placed on one side of the bed, clean and folded, thanks to the room service. As soon as his fingers come in contact with the blue shirt I made him wear to bed last night, I notice him pause mid-way.

“What is it?” I ask when he doesn’t move for a few moments. He doesn’t answer me immediately, looking almost as if he was in the middle of thinking something deep. “Earth to Soryu,” I call out again, and he finally gives a non-committal hum. “What is it?” I ask one more time, even though I hate repeating myself.

“Uh, some pieces of last night are coming back to me,” he says, closing his eyes as one of his hands starts massaging his temple.

That should be a good thing, right? What’s got him so serious?

I stop thinking when I see his eyes open in my periphery, and he slowly lifts his head up to look at me. “Did we kiss? I-I mean, did I kiss you last night?” He blurts out, and I look at him only to see his face looking in my direction without its usual emotionlessness. 

Wait, is that even a word?

“I don’t-” he cuts in, stopping my thoughts midway, “Th- I don’t think that’s possib-”

“Yes.” I interrupt, not wanting him to dismiss it just like that. “Yes, we kissed last night.” He freezes completely. He just looks at me in what seems like complete shock, and doesn’t speak for a few moments before he finally comes to his senses.

“Fuck, I’m sorr-”

“There’s nothing to apologise for,” I say, taking a step towards him. “So, don’t.”

“No, Eisuke,” He says, taking a small step back, “You don’t get it. I was completely out of my mind and I shouldn’t have-”

“You don’t regret it, do you?” I ask, taking another step towards him to cut him off.

He takes another step back and pauses, contemplating. He looks like someone just asked him to give up on omelettes, which would be comical enough to make me chuckle any other day except right now, I am not in the mood for jokes.

“The kiss,” I repeat, taking another step in his direction. 

Goddamnit, how many more times will I have to repeat myself in this one god forsaken day?

“Do you regret it, Soryu?” I ask, my voice low, and he tries to take another step back - only to bump into the wall behind him.

“Should I?” He suddenly says, looking up, his eyes staring into my own. I take the one last step towards him that brings us just mere inches away from each other.

“I don’t know about you,” I whisper, and I see his breath quicken, “But I don’t.”

“You don’t?” He repeats, his voice cracking. A light blush creeps into his cheeks as I take one small step forward, now almost pressing our bodies to each other’s.

I bring a finger up to his face and graze his jawline with it, slowly trailing it down his chin and along his neck. His eyes involuntarily close at the contact and he takes a sharp breath. “No, Soryu,” I whisper, my other hand finding its way to his side, lightly scratching over the cloth, “I don’t.”

I hear his breathing pick up some more pace as he dips his head, his forehead barely touching my shoulder. I bring my face closer to his ear and I feel him catch his breath, his body ceasing all movement.

“There seems to be a lot of confusion between us,” I whisper, and I watch as his body shudders slightly the moment those words leave my mouth, “How about we do something to ensure there is no more confusion?”

“A-and what is that?” He chokes out, nearly melting when my tongue slides down his ear.

Fuck, Soryu.

He lets out a pleased hum at the touch, and I barely manage to keep it all together.

Oh god, this is going to be the death of me.

His hands come to rest on my chest, his fingers folding against my shirt.

“Soryu Oh,” I whisper, my fingers reaching out to hold him by the back of his neck while my teeth nibbled on  his earlobe, “Let me fucking kiss you.”

He gasps, his fingers coiling around the fabric of my shirt. After a pause, he answers me in breath so shallow I almost don’t catch it.

An answer that makes me lose my fucking mind.

“Okay.”

[friendlyneighborhoodmadscientist]

Settle in folks, here’s a story from my most recent gaming session, it’s pretty long but it was such a transcendent moment I have to share it with all of you. Due to length I’m going to try to put it under a cut.

So a bit of background information. We are playing a Kingdom Hearts game and have been for… A while. We can’t quite remember exactly how long. It’s a custom system of the DM and my design (THAT I WOULD LOVE TO SHARE BUT CAN’T GET DISNEY OR SQUARE TO TALK TO ME ABOUT IT).

Our PCs:

Lonnie Clawford, a snow leopard from Zootopia, with an affinity for Ice, and focused on Power abilities (like Terra). Lonnie is functionally immortal in combat, kind of anxious, and grew up in Zootopia’s foster care system until she was like 12 and was picked up by our Master. Played by @thepioden​

Lydia, a young woman from The Corpse Bride (in our defense, we knew it was Tim Burton and forgot it wasn’t Disney until we finished the world) with an affinity for Moon (blame Saïx) and focused on Speed abilities; her combat style focuses especially on aerial tricks and abilities. Gravity is a suggestion at best for Lydia, she’s a hopeless romantic (“MISSION OF LOVE” is a common refrain from her), and she grew up an orphan on the streets until she was about 5-6 and was adopted by our Master. Played by @tsukidoesthething​

Polaris Caelestis, a young man from ??????????? (likely a Final Fantasy World; we didn’t learn my last name until halfway through the campaign so far) who was found as an infant by their Master in the void between worlds (earning him the nickname “Space Baby” from his friends). He has an affinity for Thunder and is focused on Magic abilities. Pol has spent the most time with his Keyblade, tends to try to solve every problem with his knowledge or magic (earning him the nickname “Mage-Wrists” from his friends), and he tries to be a Fixed Point for his friends. I play Pol.

By this point, we have journeyed through so many worlds. Atlantis, The Rescuers, Wall-E, Princess and the Frog, Wreck-It Ralph, Secret of Mana’s Japan-only Sequel, Zootopia, Corpse Bride, Treasure Planet, The Incredibles, Monster’s Inc. And we have ended our first ‘lap’ in Chrono Trigger. We arrive in the bleak, dead, post apocalyptic future, and pick up Robo/Prometheus as our companion. Together, we visit the remains of human civilization, lightly perform a few miracles for the survivors, and end up making our way up to Death’s Peak. All the while, an oppressive feeling of despair, desolation, and Darkness is mounting. At the summit, we find ourselves face to face with a Lavos-Spawn. A horrible tick-like monstrosity the size of a bus that at least in our game was ALSO a variety of Heartless.

So, it’s already not looking GREAT for us. As the boss fight begins, our DM starts this music:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nReqeBSp_WY

Our DM hands us each two notecards taped together along the edges; on one side was a Whisper of Darkness, and the other was a new keyblade (with some flavor text) the Darkness forced us to use.

Lonnie declined to share the Whisper of Darkness she received, but she was forced to use Shattered Steel: 

“If someone has to take hits, let it be you, because you deserve them. Maybe you will be remembered fondly if you keep real heroes alive. Better to spend yourself until you’re battered, broken, and shattered, than to let them see what you really are.”

It lightly corrupted her heart with Darkness if she gave or received a buff, which she does automatically when she stands next to an ally.

Lydia heard this Whisper of Darkness:

“Your mother would have lived if you had not abandoned her and run to spare your own petty feelings. You always have, and you always will flee when you fear pain, and it will always harm those you claim to love and protect.”

And she was forced to use Broken Wings:

“Only unburdened hearts can soar. When you think about what you could have done differently, you only drown in doubt and loathing; cast it aside, and the guilt and regret hang around your neck like unseen weights. Better to give up the skies before you crash, broken, to the ground.”

It lightly corrupted her heart with Darkness if she went into the air or used an ability while aerial.

Polaris heard this Whisper of Darkness

“You spout the tenets of hope, desperate to distract yourself from the ugly truth. Your identity is staked upon it; if there really is no hope, no redemption, then you yourself are a cruel lie to those around you.”

I was forced to use Endless Night:

“Light brings not hope, but casts how much is lost and beyond relief into painful clarity. You cannot heal all wounds, and insufficient healing does more harm than good. Better to do nothing, and turn away from a night you cannot dispel.”

It lightly corrupted my heart with Darkness if my MP pool changed.

With each boss fight thus far, our DM showed us an “Information” notecard that gave a hint to the boss fight’s gimmick.

This one was completely redacted out in permanent marker.

Needless to say, the boss had abilities that forced us next to each other, knocked us aerial, and drained our MP. On top of this, our characters could not communicate.

It was bad.

We fought futilely for a time, and I did crit the bastard with a melee attack to the face, but after we dealt about 100 damage, the boss rewound time and healed itself to full. We were on the ropes; I had nearly been knocked out, Lonnie had nearly been halfway corrupted, and Lydia … well she was actually kind of the MVP but it was still Not Great.

Prometheus spent most of the fight trying to get our attention and was very concerned about how atypically we were behaving. He pulled us back, out of the fight and out of the worst of the boss’s aura. Prometheus started playing some recordings of his creator, a Professor Ashtear (likely a descendant of Lucca, but our DM created the character from whole cloth). As the recordings played, the music swapped to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FvEJSvgl9Us Our DM’s delivery of the below was quite frankly superb.

“Okay, diagnostics are complete; everything’s in the green. Ready to go offline and get some upgrades?”

“Professor? I have a concern.”

“What’s up, 66?”

“I understand the mission and I will assist to the best of my capacity, as always. However, my calculations all project that I am insufficient for the role I have been given.”

“That’s what all this preparation is for.”

“Acknowledged, but am I not a sub-optimal model for integration? A military unit such as a mobile defense platform--”

“--Wouldn’t have what you have. It’s nothing in the numbers, 66, it’s something you’ve got to feel in your heart.”

“I am a robot. I do not possess a heart.”

“You don’t think so? I’m sorry to hear that. Maybe one day you’ll understand, but in the meantime I guess you’ll just have to trust that you’ve been chosen for a reason. Do you trust my judgment?”

“Of course, Professor.”

“Then believe in my trust in you. Fate has a way of putting us all where we are supposed to be. And if you have doubts, check in with me, or Lumie, or the people you’ll be helping. You won’t ever be alone. Not really.”

“Acknowledged, Professor.”

“But not really understood, right? Hm, maybe a good first step would be to give you a proper name... I think I’ve got just the one. See you again when you wake up, Prometheus.”

 “No. I appreciate the thought, Prometheus, but we can’t cut out the groundwork we’re laying for short term gain.”

“But if we do not take any measures to accelerate our action plan--”

“I’m under no illusions. The work ahead of us will exceed my lifetime. Even optimistically, I will never live to see the fruits of our labors. Neither will Lumie, nor any child of hers or grandchild. The world’s going to get worse --a lot worse-- before it gets any better.”

“...Regretfully, I have reached the same conclusions. You are not perturbed?”

“Of course I am. I’m a problem-solver. It’s what I do, and I’ve always been very good at it. To be confronted with something like this, where there’s no possible way I can see it resolved? Especially when it’s so important? It’s a bitter pill to swallow, some days. But I’ve come to peace with it, because I know my efforts won’t go to waste. What I do now, I do to fling a light into the future. Every step I take is one that Lumie can follow forward. She can take what I’ve started and advance it a little further. The rest, we can entrust to you, and to those who come after us.”

“Future generations may not be as capable as you are. How can you be certain that they will know how to use what you will leave behind?”

“I can’t. All I can do is have faith. I won’t be the last good man in the world. Where there’s life, there is always hope. Besides, you’ll be there to tell them what I’ve done, right? Our legacies live on in the hearts we influence. If I know that, through you, my example will continue to guide and inspire --even if it’s in ways that I can’t expect or imagine-- then I can rest easy in the knowledge that I’ve done all I can do.”

“Understood, Professor. I will remember.”

“Registration complete. Administrative access and privileges have been successfully transferred to Mistress Illumina Ashtear.”

(coughs) “Excellent. Thank you, Prometheus. When you go down, would you mind sending Lumie up alone, first? There are some things I want to make sure to tell her before I say goodbye to the rest of the family.”

“...As you wish, Professor.”

“Something on your mind, old friend?”

“Regret. If I had returned to escort you here sooner, your condition would not have degraded so acutely. If I had prioritized repairing the medical facility over stabilizing the foundation, Mistress Illumina might have had time to treat your symptoms or cure them.”

“Maybe. Or maybe we’d have lost a promising young mind to that mutant attack that we’ll need in the future. Maybe the building would have collapsed, and all the functioning medical equipment would have buried Lumie and me both. Or maybe all of that would have worked out and we would have learned that there was nothing that could be done for me anyway.”

“Those are only negative hypotheticals. There are an equally infinite number of positive alternatives, and the only concrete data I have to analyze is from this negative outcome.”

“Listen to me, Prometheus: we all make mistakes, believe me, I know. Heated words regretted, or necessary words left unspoken; time not spent, or misspent. Things we’re not proud of, and can’t do over, and good intentions that don’t work out the way we thought they would. But what do we do when we break something?”

“Attempt repairs.”

“And if we can’t fix it, make something new from what you learned. The only way a mistake leads to a wholly negative outcome is when you choose not to face it. It can hurt. Sometimes it can hurt like hell, but that pain will shape you, whether you acknowledge it or not. It can slow your hands from doubt, or it can guide them with purpose.”

“I do not understand, Professor.”

(coughs) “That’s alright. You will, one day. For now, let me just say this: don’t forget me, but don’t let me haunt you. Keep moving forward, Prometheus, even if you stumble. Be who you are meant to be and do what you’re meant to do. Live on. It’s all I’ve ever hoped for you.”

As these recordings wrapped up, Prometheus turned and addressed the monster directly, (DM’s robot voice is exquisite), and the DM swapped the music track to his leitmotif from his original game:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaUNpJAgD4w

“I understand. You are not the creature that has taken so much from this planet. You are its offspring, leaching from our remains as you prepare to invade another world and repeat this heinous tragedy. Defeating you will not restore our resources, or the people we have lost. It will not save our planet; it will only spare a host of strangers I will never meet. And I understand now, that this is a worthy cause.”

“I am a robot. I was not designed or built for this battle. I still have reservations about my aptitude for the role and responsibilities I have been given. I have no statistical evidence to prove that I can prevail. But fate has a way of putting us all where we are meant to be. I have no compunction in my code to fight this battle, but I feel an imperative to achieve victory. It is irrational, but I understand it. Logic and concrete analysis compel me to doubt. My belief in those who chose to invest their hopes and dreams in me instruct me to ignore the odds.”

“I understand now. I am Prometheus, and I am alive. When we prevail over you, I will take what I have learned down off this mountain, and I will get back to work. I will let myself feel loss. I will let myself hurt, and I will grow to be more than I have been. I will continue on, as I know those I have left behind would want me to. I am alive. Their memories are alive in me. There are still people I have to protect. This world is still alive.”

The Professor’s voice sounds one more time. “Where there is life, there is hope.” A woman’s voice answers. “Where there is life, there is hope.” (The phrase echoes again and again, on down through the generations. Finally, the whole host of voices, Prometheus’s among them, rings out in a shout.) We were offered the opportunity to roll an Insight check to join in. Lonnie and Pol rolled first, and we BOTH got nat 20’s; with that, he didn’t even make Lydia roll, and we three joined our voices to the chorus: “WHERE THERE IS LIFE, THERE IS HOPE!”

With this, the DM said we were fully healed, the corruption to our hearts gone in an instant, and the DM instructed us to open the sealed notecard-packets. On the back of the corrupted keyblades were new purified (and mechanically magnificent) ones for each of us (also with flavor text).

Lonnie received Resonant Glass:

“No one voice can sing a chord. If I fear I am unworthy for the melody, then let me be the harmony. If I doubt the character of my soul, let me raise my voice with those that know me best, that I may hear my heart resonate with theirs.”

Lydia received Reclaim the Wind:

“Hopes and dreams have ever been the wind beneath our wings. If I sin, then let the hope to mend what may yet be righted and lift my face to the skies --not to avert my eyes, but to pursue the dream of my better self.”

Pol received First Light

“Not even the brightest star can light the void alone, and a beacon saves only those that pursue it. If my spark must pass before the Darkness, let it seed an ember in the hearts of those that chase the Dawn, a reminder that every night ends.”

 Prometheus addresses the boss one last time before the fight begins anew: “Now, Spawn of Lavos. (Dukes up) Prepare for termination.”

It was electric; we all could perfectly visualize the moment. I think we all had tears in our eyes at one point or another.

The DM changed the music one last time (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWSB3qL5qs8) and showed us an Information card about how we could disable the boss’s temporal rewinding. Furthermore, any Dual-Tech/Team Attack we performed with Prometheus would automatically critically hit.

We kicked its spiny ass.

[purkinje-effect]

The Anatomy of Melancholy, 34

Table of Contents. Second Instar II, Ch1. Go to previous. Go to next. The beginning of Second Instar. ‘Choly worries too much.

Melancholy rode Angel past a sign which indicated ‘turn left now to visit Jonathan Emery Historical Site,’ and continued down Route 62 East through Concord. His mind wandered a bit, and he decided that, at least for the time being, donning the vault suit wasn’t so bad. Now that he had found new foundation-wear in the form of the surgical corset, the bodysuit fit acceptably, and contrary to the Vault-Tec staff’s insistence, wearing anything underneath it didn’t seem to have impeded the effects of its technologically advanced lining. He could appreciate its efficient thermal regulation, and also its dry-wicking technology. It seemed to sync up with his Pip-Boy as well somehow, though beyond introducing an additional icon on his health screen, he couldn’t discern how at a glance it even mattered. Of course, he still wore the belt from his dress military uniform so that he could utilize the suspender cases which held his then limited stock of syringer ammunition, as well as his white Pharm Corps coat. To make himself less visible at a distance, he figured the coat would dull out the bright royal blue of the vault suit, and the belt and bracers would dull out the rich gold edging along the bodysuit’s zipper and collar.

His canvas ankle braces didn’t fit inside the short boots that Vault-Tec had provided as footwear with the vault suit, so he stored the boots in Angel’s compartment and continued on with the oxfords from his dress uniform.

Following the road around the perimeter of a quarry property, the route switched to North Road Route 4, and from there it only took a matter of minutes before they finally came upon the junkyard ‘Choly sought. They entered the open double hurricane fence gates, and ‘Choly surveyed the yard with the impression it had been heavily looted in recent years, but knew better than to trust his eyes. The only visible salvage at a glance seemed to be car bodies stacked as many as five high, but he could tell robotics parts lay scattered here as well. Without going up to the piles, he couldn’t tell what robots they’d once belonged to. He dismounted from Angel and kept his syringer rifle at the ready, in case they happened upon any unwelcoming occupants in the office at the South corner of the property.

“Before we get to work, I think we should stop for lunch first.” He opened the metal door with its reinforced glass window, and skimmed the room with his weapon before dropping it.“Guess it’s just you and me as usual.”

“I can appreciate that,” Angel replied, following him inside.“You’ve only the one Melancholia left. What should I fetch you from my stores?”

“You could put on a pot of coffee, and fish out a sweet roll and the deviled eggs.”

“As you wish! Sounds like we’re here for the day. Forgive me for asking something likely quite obtuse, but Sir...What are we doing at the robotics disposal ground?”

“Making use of the facilities to repair you.” The chemist slung his rifle onto his back and pulled up a folding metal chair, sitting at the operational terminal to poke around.“And upgrade you, if you’ll allow it. We can stay here a day or two I think, before rations make it more urgent to keep moving. Getting you freshened up is my top priority today.”

“Beyond refilling my Handy Fuel tank, and reaffixing my laser attachment, I can’t possibly imagine what upgrades you’ve in mind.” It filled the percolator with canned water and measured out the coffee grounds.“There’s only so many different features that General Atomics offered for the Mister Handy line.”

“If you’ll recall, one of your tendrils is a Miss Nanny's, actually. Looking back on it, I’m surprised the DIA let me put in any sort of custom order for receiving you. All kinds of robots got discarded here. Maybe we can find a Mister Gutsy or two, to get you some hardier shell plating. I’m sure there’s some paint laying around, so that you don’t look quite so cobbled together after we’re done.” He looked up from the log entry for what all had been disposed of there between June and October 2077.“This place was a robotics graveyard on the surface. Most of its clients just wanted a place to dump broken or defective robots on the cheap, no questions asked. But the owner made good money by also offering salvage scrap as well as repairs. There’s good equipment here. I was taking a chance, coming out here without knowing for sure, but it looks like it’s survived in tact, unrusted, here in the office space. --Hm. What’s a Robobrain?”

“It doesn’t sound like anything General Atomics might have created... Perhaps it’s a RobCo product?”

“That’s my thought. I’m not nearly as versed with RobCo technologies as I am with G.A.” His head drooped over the terminal keyboard. “You wouldn’t dislike it if we mixed components between Nanny and Gutsy parts for you, would you? My priority is maximizing your hydraulics, to make it as easy as possible for you to carry me. I... I feel bad that you have to.”

“Mister Carey, it’s company-approved to combine any of the parts families you listed. As long as we don’t void my warranty, I want to optimize my performance any way you see fit. Until we find a better option to increase your mobility while out and about in the Commonwealth, you can count on me to provide that service. It’s not your fault that the apocalypse so direly ruined accessibility across the state.”

“You’re sure you’re all right with it? You’re not just a wheelchair. You’re an artificial intelligence.” For a moment, the Handy only replied by handing him a melamine plate with a sweet roll and two egg halves on it, and a ceramic mug of coffee. It observed him as he took these from it, and he ate one-handed with the plate in his lap.“Thank you.”

“It’s my pleasure to see you continuing to function and excel, Sir. My behavioral matrices thrive when my owner thrives. Emotionally, physically, financially. ...Spiritually...” It let out a reserved holographic chuckle, then fell quiet.“Did you mean it, that we’re headed up to Chelmsford after this?”

With the question, suddenly the entendred use of the word exceldidn’t sound accidental. Yet, Angel hadn’t been there when he’d spoken to Missus Murphy. It couldn’t have possibly known. He set down his coffee and glasses and screwed up his face with both hands.

“I have to go to the base. I have to know what I was supposed to be working on when they sent me that letter calling me back to active duty. If they meant for me to cook more Psycho for another war, it’ll put my mind and soul at ease, knowing the nuclear exchange prevented any need for military-size shipments of the stuff. In hindsight, I suppose the fact they called me back to active duty two weeks before the bombs fell is all the proof I need that the government had advanced paranoia that something was wrong. I... I wonder if they knew what was imminent, but didn’t know how to stop it in time...?”

“Oh, Sir. That’s not a constructive mental track to get on. It doesn’t change what’s transpired since. If going to the Deenwood Compound will provide you some manner of closure, then we shall do so. But you cannot keep dwelling on a course of events over which you had no control. You have so much more control now than you ever did.”

“That’s part of the problem. Who the hell died and gave me self-agency?” He swallowed half of one of the egg halves and choked a bit, having forgotten to chew it enough. He washed down the musky, salty protein with black coffee and sat a moment to recollect himself.“I’ve made very few decisions in my life on my own behalf. And I feel like every decision I’ve made since I came back into the world has been poor.”

“Ah yes. This misguided worry again. We’re here to repair me,” it offered, topping off the mug.“I know you care about my well-being just as much as your own. It’s just that your needs have been a little more... time-sensitive, shall we say? Things will work out in the end. Just like with the wonderful people who settled into Sanctuary. They couldn’t have gotten there without us. Without you.”

“I’ve gone too long without giving you maintenance. In my own defense, I didn’t have access to the materials I needed to do true repairs and calibration. You really think they’ll be all right?”

“I’m more worried about you doing well, especially with us headed up to the Lowell area. Are you certain it’s wise? You don’t handle memory of your military career very well.”

“You’re here with me. And it’s not like Johnston will be there to put me right back to work. Besides, wouldn’t you like to figure out how Jared knew X-Cell was a Deenwood product?”

“There’s little greater meaning my programming could find, I could imagine. I’m positive that the DIA would love to nip that leak in the bud.”

‘Choly almost reminded it that the DIA likely no longer existed, but he still wasn’t completely sure. He didn’t say so, but he hoped to measure his speculation of the continued existence of the DIA, going by how Angel would react to his navigation of the military base. It ate at him, not knowing for certain whether all his behavior had not only been transmitted to some DIA outpost, but also observed by someone still surviving to this day--whether he’d eventually see consequences to his actions in Lexington. He balked into laughter and quietened himself with part of his sweet roll.

“Was it something I said?”

“It’s nothing. I just realized that the concept of having to answer for misdeeds, and the fact we’re operating on faith alone that the DIA still exists... It’s like with the Christians, and the belief that if they sin, they have to go to hell. Like they have to be held accountable by a higher power, in order to behave. A ridiculous comparison, I know, and without tact or nuance. The DIA is simply... an intangible source of authority that has not yet stepped in and punished me. Or maybe it has. I don’t know. I suppose I’ve sought accountability from others all along, to validate whether I’ve made the right choices in life.”

“Need I remind you that the Defense Intelligence Agency has offices at the Deenwood Compound. You might find those answers there as well.”

“Something in me doesn’t want to know for certain whether it exists. But you’re right, that I might.” He finished off his food and nursed on his coffee while he continued reading the terminal.“There’s something here about a Sentry Bot. Warnings not to let the temptation get the best of you, and to not under any circumstances power it on. It was dumped by government personnel, it seems. Wonder what the fuss is.”

“A shame it’s a RobCo product, isn’t it, Sir? Even if it’s survived in tact, its parts wouldn’t be compatible with a robot in the Mister Handy line.”

“They were hulking things. They had to carry the weight of a tank on their treads, with how heavy their armor was. It’d be a dream, it it were possible to harvest the hydraulics from their wheel-treads.” He glanced to the holotape on the desk, and pretended he didn’t see it was labeled ‘Combat Sentry Proto MK IV.’“It’s probably impossible, though, since mecanum mobility is a completely different mechanism than hover-thrusters. We should focus on locating Handy, Nanny, and Gutsy parts. I never said I was a genius with this stuff, so going wild is probably outside both my knowledge and skill set. Even if it were doable.”

“Just don’t overdo it, Sir. It’s all right to only do what you can manage. Even the most minor of adjustments will facilitate my facilitating you. I’m entirely content with an algorithm scan, a tank refill, and my laser repaired... and if you do feel so inclined, perhaps a bit of fresh polish.”

“First, let’s see what we can put our hands on out there.” He pocketed the holotape surreptitiously, and slung his syringer rifle onto his back while he pulled his cane from his belt. With his free hand, he brought his coffee with him. “That way, we’ll know what we’re working with.”

Go to Next »»»

[ruffsficstuffplace]

And The AWRD Goes To... (Part 39)

Evening came, a new nurse showed up at team AWRD’s hospital room. “Excuse me,” she said, “visiting hours will be over in fifteen minutes. I am sorry, but I must ask the guests to please prepare to leave soon.”

“Just 10 more minutes past seven!” Snowie cried, her eyes glued to the screen like almost everyone else. “Just let us finish the last episode of this season plus the epilogue, please!”

Taiyang looked up from the show and smiled at her. “Ten minutes doesn’t sound too bad, does it?”

The nurse smiled. “No, no it does not; I will return ten minutes after seven. Excuse me, I will take my leave now,” she said, before she closed the door after her.

She returned when Haven Hopsital’s clocks all read 7:10 PM, to find the epilogue’s credits rolling and tissues were now being passed around, tears being wiped for those that couldn’t for physical injury (Ruby, Diana, and Akko), or how emotional they had become (Snowie).

The nurse smiled sympathetically. “I’m sorry, but visiting hours are already over, and I must ask all the guests to leave. I’m afraid I can’t give another extension, too.”

“No, no, it’s fine!” Snowie said between her sobbing and blowing her nose. “It’s not the first time I’ve ever been caught ugly crying over fictional characters in public, we’re going, we’re going!”

“Would you like me to escort you to the nearest bathroom so you may ‘ugly cry’ with some privacy, Ms. Schnee?” the nurse asked.

“No, it’s fine—trust me, it’s not new...” Snowie muttered. She blew her nose and wiped her tears one more time before she hugged Weiss and Akko both, Winter and Whitley following suit. “I’ll see you all as soon as things die down in Hoshiko,” she blubbered as she took one of the boxes of tissues with her. “Try not to escape and risk falling out a window and breaking your bones all over again on the pavement like Grandpa, okay?”

“We won’t, Mom/Auntie Snowie!” Akko and Weiss replied.

“And warn us when the Shiny Rod does more strange, significant things, so we can start mobilizing hunting parties earlier and get the defenses primed,” Winter said.

“We will, Winter!”

“And please try not to get killed or horribly injured by whatever misfortune comes your way, Shiny Rod or simply luck of the Schnees!” Whitley said. “As a medic-in-training, there is nothing more stressful and anxiety-inducing than learning the people you care about have gotten seriously injured while you could have conceivably been there to help them.”

“We’ll try, Whitley!”

On the other side at the same time, Taiyang kissed Ruby on the forehead before he ruffled her hair goodbye. “Get better soon, Ruby,” he said, smiling.

“I will, Dad,” Ruby said, smiling back.

Diana watched them go out single file, the nurse discretely scanning them and the room as they left. The nurse noticed Diana’s eyes, red and still tearing up since the epilogue, and prepared to go back in the room.

“No, no, I’ve got this, thank you!” Weiss said, climbing out of bed with one of the tissue boxes in tow.

“Are you sure, Ms. Schnee?” the nurse asked. “It’s no trouble at all.”

“I’m sure, you can go, thank you,” Weiss said as she made her way over to Diana’s side.

The nurse stayed for a few more moments, watched Weiss wipe the tears from Diana’s eyes and cheeks, the frown on her face slowly turn up into a smile. “As you wish, Ms. Schnee,” the nurse said, before she turned to the others. “Is there anything I can do for anyone else?”

Diana shook her head. “No, none, thank you for asking,” she said, Ruby and Akko saying much the same.

The nurse nodded. “Then good night, I will take my leave now. Please do not hesitate to use the call button should you need anything, and we’ll have someone assist you as soon as possible,” she said before she left and closed the door after her.

“Thank you for that, Weiss,” Diana said as the last of her tears were wiped off.

“You’re welcome,” Weiss replied. “Do you need a hug? Because you look like you need one.”

“Can we join in?” Akko asked.

“You know, in spirit?” Ruby added.

Diana felt her eyes growing moist again. “Yes, yes you may—physically, or in spirit...”

Weiss carefully hugged her, before she was back to wiping Diana’s tears up again.

“Can I just say something?” Diana asked after her eyes were dry again.

“Sure, what is it?” Weiss asked as she settled into the chair beside her bed, the box of tissues in her lap.

“I’m just… really rather surprised we’ve all gotten so close and familiar over the course of a single week.

“On the day of initiation, we were essentially strangers who only knew each other through our family’s reputations, and the only thing that was memorable to me about Akko and Ruby was that one had mentioned Shiny Chariot for the first time in years, and the other had an obsession with weapons, and wielded a high-velocity sniper scythe—not exactly the most common choice of weapons for young huntresses.

“Now, we’re all opening up about our mental health and the more unsavoury parts of our pasts, pledging and volunteering our time to help one another far past the point you’d expect most newly formed teammates would, and rushing off to save each other from whatever horribleness is threatening to kill us this time, regardless of whether or not there are perfectly capable professional hunters available.”

She chuckled humourlessly. “I even found myself seriously dreading, but still agreeing to a potentially disastrous and lethal ‘Kagari Express,’ something I doubt I’d have ever agreed to back in Combat School, the odds of an incredibly dangerous Grimm escaping or not.”

“Guess that’s just the power of the Shiny Rod!” Akko said, smiling at the weapon. “Shiny Chariot always said she loved using it to bring people together, even if it was only for however long her shows were.”

“Shame it seems to be continuing her legacy by attracting misery and danger to its new wielders, though,” Diana said.

“To be fair, it’s not like all four of us haven’t literally signed up to actively seek that out, mysterious, possibly sentient ancient artifacts or no!” Weiss said. “So, everyone still game for more anime?”

“Yes!” “Sure!” “Starlight Crusaders was rather enjoyable, more anime sounds lovely.”

“Anyone up for a different season of SC?” Weiss said as she went off to fetch the remote. “There’s still a lot of the really good seasons left, before we start having to go into the decent, but not incredible ones.”

“I’m actually wondering if there’s any other shows you might want to recommend,” Diana said. “Not to rail on the quality of the show, I’m sure it’s excellent for the most part, but it’s just that I find myself wanting to explore how diverse this medium can get.”

“Oh! Then I’ve got something perfect in mind: still action packed, loaded with humour and silliness, but a LOT darker, bloodier, and serious than SC,” Weiss said as she navigated the Haven Hospital’s extensive library of media.

“Seems like a sensible next step,” Diana said. What’s it called and what’s it about?”

Weiss smiled. “Oh, I’ll just let the title card answer the first, and the second, well… how do you feel about a just-before-the-Great-War era Valen gentleman doing battle with vampires using a fictional aura marital art, with a power similar to the sun?”

Diana blinked. “… I would say my curiosity is piqued, if only to see how all of these connect...”

“What kind of show is this?” Ruby asked excitedly.

“A very, very bizarre one,” Weiss replied as she settled back into her bed, and pressed “Play.”

Meanwhile, outside AWRD’s room, just after the others left, the Schnees were saying a second round of goodbyes.

“Sure we can’t spare a little more time to see you off at the docks?” Snowie asked as she hugged Winter.

“Sorry, mom, I’m actually due there in five minutes,” Winter said as she hugged back. “Don’t want to stretch the first time in a long while I’ve ever asked to be late for something.”

Snowie sighed, before she pulled away and smiled at Winter. “Don’t go taking anymore ‘shortcuts’ off the roofs of buildings again, alright?”

Winter sighed. “This is going to end up as one of those incidents you’ll never let me forget, are you?”

“To be fair, it’s not exactly every day that a great deal of the Haven campus is treated to the sight and sound of a woman falling off the top of the CCT tower, screaming ‘Motherfucker’ at the top of her lungs before she safely landed back down on the ground,” Whitley said. “Remember to hand that padlock back before you go, now!”

“I will, I will!” Winter snapped, before she pulled Whitley into a hug, ruffling his hair before she turned around, waved, and hurried down the halls of Haven’s hospital.

Snowie sadly waved goodbye, before she turned back to the others with a big smile on her face. “So! Anyone got any plans for dinner? I hear the patisserie chefs here still seriously up their game every Sunday!”

“I’m afraid I’ll have to pass, mother,” Whitley said. “Between all the Grimm and anxiety attacks, plus all the time it took to pack and move most of my things here to Haven while our house gets repaired and reforested, I have not nearly made as much progress on all my schoolwork as I should have.

“And with that, I regretfully say dasvidanya,” he said, hugging Snowie’s side before he left.

Snowie frowned, and turned to Taiyang with a hopeful smile.

“My landlady likes having the whole building over at her apartment for dinner every Sunday, and I already RSVP’d...” Taiyang started.

Snowie frowned.

“… But, she always likes having new guests over—just gotta try whatever it is she’s made for the main course, unless you’re definitely allergic to it. Then, you’ve got to try the alternate options she made specifically for that.”

Snowie nodded. “How would you describe her cooking?”

Taiyang paused and thought for a moment. “’Piping hot field ration lovingly warmed by a KP you’re fond of, and was generous enough to provide plenty of beer.’”

“Mantle Steinbier, by any chance?” Snowie asked.

“San Lorenzo, sorry,” Taiyang replied.

Snowie shrugged. “Eh, it’ll get me drunk, anyway, let’s go!” she said, smiling. “Thanks for the invite.”

“Don’t thank me just yet!” Taiyang said teasingly as the two of them started heading down the halls to the stairs.

“So, Tai, I couldn’t help but notice you wanted to try and name the Starlight Crusaders season earlier,” Snowie said. “I take it you’re a new fan?”

“Not exactly,” Taiyang replied. “It’s more like I try and keep current with whatever it is the kids today are watching, try and understand all the references flying about, and maybe try and connect with them on a deeper level.”

“How’s it worked out for you?” Snowie asked.

“Ehh… kinda hit and miss, but mostly miss, to be honest,” Taiyang replied. “It feels like it’s an entire part-time job just trying to watch the source material or find the time to do it, let alone trying to understand all the ‘fandom’ stuff...”

“Sounds about right!” Snowie said as they went down the stairs. “Trust me, Tai, unless you actually enjoy watching the show itself, you’re better off just feeling left out of your students’ conversations, if only because you’ll actually have time to do the things you actually do enjoy.”

“Ehh, I’ll take it into consideration,” Taiyang said. “How about you? You ever tried talking pop culture with younger people?” he asked as they went down another flight.

“Oh, yeah, I’ve tried, long time back, but generally I just try and keep it to online discussions now,” Snowie replied.

“Why not in real life?” Taiyang asked.

“Ah, whenever I tried, I always end up creeping them out if they don’t just awkwardly get out of the conversation, their parents or guardians can’t take them away fast enough, and/or I get the attention of nearby police officers and security, and not the good kind.

“Though, be fair, it uh, probably doesn’t help that I’m usually moving in between levels of ‘hungover’ and ‘drunk’ at any given moment. I try to be more the first than the second, though!” She paused. “Ah, operative word ‘try...’”

“Maaaybe it might help if you’ve got a job or a socially acceptable reason to be interacting with them anyway,” Taiyang said as they reached the lobby, headed out the doors. “You know, teacher, tutor, professional huntress consulting for the Academies or the Combat Schools?

“We’re always looking for that last one at the Bunker, especially new faces—I think you’ll fit right in, actually!”

Snowie’s eyes widened, she stopped, and started shaking her head and frantically crossing her hands in the air. “Oh, no, no, no, I really can’t!”

“Is it because you’ve heard it’s full of crazies?” Taiyang asked. “Because it is, but I assure you, they’re all functional, healthy, happy, and we’ve got plenty of staff specifically on hand to make sure they don’t pose a threat to others and themselves.

“I’m actually one of the teachers there who double as Meltdown-Cooldown patrol, and it’s rarely as bad as they make it out to be!”

“No, it’s not that!” Snowie cried. “I’ve heard lots of things about the Bunker—GOOD things, but also bad things, I guess, but I mostly pay attention to the good things and--” she groaned. “Could you give me a minute…?”

Taiyang nodded. “Take your time. Want to sit somewhere more comfortable while you’re at it?” he asked, gesturing at an empty bench nearby.

“Thanks,” Snowie said. The two of them walked over to it, sat down, and she took a few moments to collect her thoughts and think. She turned back to Taiyang, and said, “Tai… I can’t be near kids. Teens. However old they are and however you want to call them, just… basically anyone under the age of 17, and especially below the maturity of an adult, not without someone else who actually is an adult in age and level of responsibility!”

“I thought you were doing just fine back there with Ruby,” Taiyang said. “Pretty impressive, how you could keep up with her—lot of the R&D staff have to take her in five minute intervals.”

Snowie sighed. “That’s because she’s coincidentally into combat tech like I am, and I just happened to be a mechanical engineering graduate from Atlas.”

Taiyang brightened up. “Even better!”

“No, not better!” Snowie snapped. “Look, just—hmmnnn!” she sucked in a few deep, calming breaths, before she said, “You should know that I’m not legally allowed to have custody of my own kids—haven’t been since my divorce, which was little over a decade ago.

“My family’s contingency plan if the universe decides it’s finally time for the both of my parents to kick the bucket is to have Winter become Whitley’s legal guardian, with Akko’s folks as godparents, if that tells you anything.

“You remember what Whitley said earlier, about the convenience store? I spent an hour in there, half of it at the Kari-Kari section alone!”

“To be fair, there were 47 varieties on sale,” Taiyang said, smiling.

Snowie was unamused. “Still.” She sighed and looked away. “You don’t want me there at the Bunker, talking to and interacting with kids, Tai.”

Taiyang reached out to her. “Do you mind if I touch you?”

“Go ahead,” Snowie said.

“Thanks.” Taiyang put his hand on her shoulder. “Snowie, I’m telling you right now, I still want you there at the Bunker, talking to and interacting with the kids, preferably with Ruby, too.”

Snowie looked at him warily. “Is this some sort of weird, roundabout way for you to set up a play date for your daughter?”

“That, and a way to help the institution I love that also happens to employ me, yes,” Taiyang replied.

“… You really want her being friends with a woman three times her age, who just said to your face that she spends all her life in varying states of inebriation?”

“I still let Qrow hang out with her, and he’s always drunk!”

“… Fair point.”

“And conveniently, bringing him up allows me to illustrate just how liberal the hiring and guest policies are at the Bunker. You know he taught there, right?”

“Yeah, he mentioned that sometimes when we still went on missions together,” Snowie replied. “I always thought it was that ‘I had the job for a week before I got kicked out for my drinking’ sort of deal.”

“He had the job for two years, Snowie, went in at the same time as Ruby, left when he felt he taught her and his handful of other mentees everything he could about scythe wielding.”

Snowie blinked. “Wait, seriously...?”

“The Bunker is very generous with the interpretation of ‘functional and acceptable’ behaviour for its professors.”

“… Please don’t take this the wrong way, but are you guys over there really that desperate for staff?”

“Well, yeah, we are, but that’s beside the point!

“My point is: we at the Bunker understand that people have problems. Sometimes they have really big problems, problems that require professional and medical help, along with a sustained and extensive support group, a community, and organizations that will offer them the means and the resources to get or hold a job and live decently, especially when it’s hard for them to get it anywhere else.

“Maybe the position needs them non-disabled. Maybe their potential employers aren’t willing to offer the insurance, the facilities, and the flexibility they need to attend to their special needs. Maybe they’ve just been officially or unofficially blacklisted, because they’re ex-convicts, recovering addicts, or, like Qrow, are very high-functioning alcoholics, but alcoholics nonetheless.

“But whatever the case, the Bunker is a place to belong for everyone that’s found they don’t belong anywhere else.

“Me and the rest of the staff will love having you over there to talk with the kids one time.

“Ruby will love having a reason to go back there and see her old friends, after she got boosted to Haven early this summer.

“And I know, in my heart of hearts, that you’ll love having a reason to hang out with her for an entire Saturday surrounded by what is basically an entire combat school dedicated to creative and inventive solutions to problems most people will never have to face, never even realized were there until someone came along to give them a new perspective on it, or even show them a better way to do something they couldn’t have seen themselves because they had working eyes.

“… That, or just figure out how much armaments and armour you can equip a Battle Saddle with, just for the hell of it, and how much it needs to be downgraded so it can be street legal again!”

Taiyang took his hand of Snowie’s shoulder, held it to her. “So, what do you say…?”

Snowie looked at his hand, up at his smiling, hopeful face, before she slowly reached up, and gently pushed his wrist down. “I’ll say, ‘Ask again when I’ve got more beers in me.’ I make it a point to generally follow through on what I say drunk, so I have motivation to not say as much stupid shit next time.”

“Does it work?” Taiyang asked as they both got up.

“No, but it does give other people a great way to bypass my crippling menagerie of mental health and emotional issues!”  Snowie replied. “Only thing worse than feeling like shit for not doing something, is to have already promised someone you’d do something and not done it!”

Taiyang laughed. “I’ll try and keep it to self-improvement and personal growth.”

“Thanks...” Snowie muttered. Her expression softened. “I mean it, honestly.”

“I know, Snowie,” Taiyang said, patting her on the shoulder again. “I know.”

[caitlinsocurious]

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[globalsource-blog]

Rotterdam -> Berlin, Part 3

Let’s get straight to the point here, I have taken a long time to serialize this road trip. While I’d like to imagine every one of you reading this has been waiting at the edge of your seat, anticipating the next update as eagerly as I waited for the hammocks I just got in the post, I also recognize I’ve kept people waiting a long time. If this post was a hammock, then if I were you I’d have made a complaint about the shipping time by now. Apologies. In compensation, here’s a great album of African percussion to listen to while you read this post:

Hand-wringing out of the way, let’s do a quick recap. The characters in the story which we’re resuming are: yours truly, the fighting pride of Pateley Bridge Stan Sands, and Arthur “shall we just do it” Delamare. Our heroes are cycling about 850km from Hook of Holland to Berlin to raise money for Médecins sans Frontières (our JustGiving is still live, if you’re reading this and haven’t donated, the link is at the bottom of the post). They’ve made it through wind and rain on arrival, through the beautiful and pancake-flat fields of Holland, and having eaten a great many cookies and chocolate bars, made it across the border into Germany, land of straight roads, fast cars and logistical efficiency. Just the place for a trio of clueless Englishmen without a map to really show the superiority of ineptitude with flair over po-faced competence. 

Would you trust this guy to get you to Berlin? Course you would.

Where we left off, we’d just crossed over into Germany and spent a moonlit night in a stunning little grove of trees just off the side of the road. With Holland behind us, we’d found our pace and were getting good and comfortable on the roads. It was time to knuckle down and kick on; with about 500km left to go, the only motivation we needed was the knowledge that the road was pretty much paved with Lidls and Aldis, and that every one of them was full of hot fresh pastries. What a way to live. Lidl’s that way mate. 

The first morning in Germany turned out to be the biggest detour of the trip. We’d run out of ethanol fuel for the Trangia camp stove I’d been using to make our nightly two or three-course meals, and hoping to find some more we did a quick Google Maps search and set course for “Camping World” about 40km to the South-East (bearing in mind Berlin was pretty much dead east of us at this point, this was a bit out of our way, but there’s nothing like the idea of a hot meal to help you rationalise a bit of extra effort). Having spent a couple of hours on the road fantasizing about pasta, noodles and whatever other hot carbs we could think of, imagine our disappointment when we arrived at the destination to find a parking lot full of giant mobile homes. Turns out the German idea of camping is driving an enormous and ugly white bus with double beds and a flatscreen TV to a field full of other people doing the same. Illegal or not, I’d rather go wild camping and take my chances with the wild boar than participate in such ridiculous behaviour.   

Anyway, we did eventually find a big green bottle of bio-fuel which turned out to do the trick (I played it cool while lighting the stove despite a slight worry it might explode). Once we’d had lunch and sorted out a flat tyre on Arthur’s bike, we ended up having a very pacey afternoon with the notable exception of doing a 5km circle (and nearly turning back onto it for a second lap) around a windmill construction site; Arthur convinced me and Stan we’d gone wrong and just afterwards we saw the same woman we’d seen ten minutes before, going back the way she’d come, proving his point for him. Despite the detour, we were going so quickly at this point it didn’t cause too much delay. 

After covering a good 80km in the afternoon, we pitched up camp for the night in a beautiful spot outside the village of Bramsche, on the eastern shore of a small lake ringed by trees. A three course meal of garlic mushrooms, couscous stew and bread & brie, washed down with a few bottles of outrageously cheap and tasty Pilsner (the surest sign yet of being in Germany), along with a few slugs of some local liquor which Stan brought out with a cheeky smile, and we were ready to hit the sack. 

The next morning we ate a crate of strawberries for breakfast, with another golden shot of firewater to get us fired up and ready to crunch down 50km to Minden. Legs pumping, we set out on probably the fastest morning of the trip so far. I remember feeling that the momentum was continually building. We’d all started riding in higher gears and were pushing on further and harder with each rotation. I don’t think either myself nor Arthur will ever forget the image of Stan Sands steaming past us both, in his fake Ray-Bans with his Lycra top unzipped, hips pumping like the pistons on a steam train. We kept up this pace with a continuous intake of sweets and biscuits which I kept in a Tupperware box inside the little red front pannier that spent the whole trip bouncing up and down on my handlebars, full of bike repair gear and snacks- all the necessaries for the upkeep of man and machine. 

Having stopped mid-morning for pastries and a toilet break, we kept pounding the pedals until we arrived at Minden. Sweaty and a bit sore, we stopped for lunch in a pretty woodland park.

 After a rest and a quick regression to childhood in the nearby playground (highlight being Arthur flying 100 miles an hour off a slide straight onto his arse), we got back on the road. Stan’s knee was giving him a lot of grief so we stumped up a few Euro for some Ibuprofen gel, which we all rubbed into our many and varied aches and pains. After eating a large pack of cookies we got ready to leave Minden behind, but this proved difficult... After following the signs to Stadthagen (the next town along our route), which at no point made mention of the roads not being suitable for bikes, we ended up in a state of confusion and terror on a busy dual carriageway and then turned left onto what turned out to be an on-ramp for the Autobahn. Needless to say, we weren’t interested in adding to the plentiful roadkill lining the sides of Germany’s roads, so we hopped over the roadside barrier and trekked the bikes down a steep hill and through a field to join a small country road, with a synchronised sigh of relief like a short-staffed barbershop quartet. Thankfully we’d all brought plenty of clean underwear.

Following this stressful episode, the afternoon played out like a montage from a film, as we cruised and laughed through farms and villages soaked in sepia tones by the April sunshine. To top it off, we ended the day in a forest carpeted with tiny white flowers, above the town of Bad Nenndorf. After a dinner of fried broccoli and lentil stew, we lay in our tents listening to an owl who cried defiance at the moon and stars, while the bushes nearby rustled with some local critters intrigued by the strange new shapes in their forest. 

  Waking up early the next morning to take down the tents for the sake of any morning dog-walkers, I whipped up some scrambled eggs (we’d bought a box of ten from a vending machine at the front gate of a farmhouse) with garlic and spring onions; you could tell the quality from the bright orange and yellow yolks. With a tasty breakfast inside us, we checked with Tourist Information for a cycle map, but the bookshop to which they sent us only had one to Wolfsburg (about 120km), at which rate we’d have to buy a new map almost every day. So, we sacked off the idea of a map once and for all, resolving that if three wise men on camels could make it to Bethlehem only using a star, then three clueless Brits using a compass and road signs could cycle to Berlin just fine. 

Living up to our established incompetence we set out towards Hanover alongside the Mittellandkanal without any water, with the sun bearing down hot and heavy. However, providence smiled on us as we stopped to ask at the right house; a short and smiling woman named Elka, in work pants and a bandanna, provided us each an alcohol-free beer and gave us a selection of cereal bars left over from her recent trekking in Patagonia. Leaning on the huge pile of firewood she’d clearly spent several days chopping herself, she gave us some travel tips and asked about our journey so far. Given that generally speaking the Germans we’d met so far had been noticeably less friendly than the Dutch, Elka was a welcome exception and more than made up for the suspicious looks and surliness we’d received at other houses. After filling our bottles and directing us the best way through Hanover, she waved us off down the canal. 

We stopped in Hanover to charge up two of our phones, so we’d be able to use Google Maps to prevent any more terrifying close calls with the Autobahn like we’d had in Minden. By this point we’d realised we much preferred the open road of the countryside to navigating the junctions, noise and and traffic of urban areas, but thanks to the magic of GPS  our way out of Hanover was quick and easy. We spent the afternoon heads-down over our handlebars, pushing through 60km eastwards to Oetze. With arrival in Berlin quickly becoming a reality, we celebrated a good day’s ride with the first and only takeout food of the trip, a trio of generous falafel wraps at a friendly Turkish café where the boss whipped us up fresh chili sauce on request. Despite a hefty language barrier, I managed to make some conversation with the guys behind the counter and explain what we were up to, as well as getting permission to charge up our devices using the sockets around the café. We ended up sitting in a comfortable lounge area drinking bottles of Turkish lager while the boss and his friend played backgammon, enjoying our first time within four walls (besides 20 minutes in a supermarket) in a week.

As we paid the bill, our new friend gave us a generous discount and even the kind gift of a bottle of Martini, which he showed (through basic yet effective sign language) was to keep us warm in our tents. Feeling well-fed, a bit tipsy and very content, we set off on a short and slightly wobbly ride down the road to find a nice spot to camp for the night. However, Stan suddenly fell behind as it turned out he had a puncture, so we wheeled the bikes up to a scrubby set of trees between two roads, pitched up and went to sleep. Waking up with traffic passing within a couple of metres of us, we quickly packed the tents down and set off on our second-to-last day of riding. 

We’d decided the previous night that we wanted to cross over the river Elbe before we stopped, which would mean a ride of 140km, but that if we managed it then we’d have an easy final day into Berlin. Knowing this, we’d bought enough snacks to incapacitate John Prescott, and we set off at a roaring pace, blazing through Gifhorn (probably the strangest place name we encountered after Nutter in Holland) and arriving in the industrial city of Wolfsburg by midday. Given the bleak appearance of the city and our need for speed, we decided to keep going until we found somewhere a bit more scenic where getting lunch would be less hassle. We stopped for orange juice and coffee in a village called Rühen, then bought ingredients for lunch at, you guessed it, a Lidl. 

Google Maps suggested we follow the ever-present Mittellandkanal once again, so we quickly cooked up lunch on the northern bank and continued on our way. However, we ran into difficulty when the bike path which Google insisted we follow for another 5km simply ceased to exist. We came face to face with a steep grassy bank covered in fallen trees with no path to follow, and decided we’d try to rejoin it after cutting cross-country to the left and then back. We followed a small waterway which led up to the left just before the path stopped, and as we went the noises of the wildlife all around us became ever louder. Frogs, birds and insects all seemed to be within a few feet of us. Suddenly, we all looked instinctively to the opposite bank of the side-channel we were walking down, as something brown shot from the bank into the water with a heavy splash. Beaver? Otter? Boar? Whatever it was, it swam around under the water watching us for a while. 

As we came to the end of the waterway, it quickly became apparent we were walking into an honest-to-God swamp. The ground was getting increasingly muddy and then just straight up wet, and we tried a couple of different directions before deciding to follow what looked like an SUV track. Eventually we came to be walking the bikes single file along a marshy stripe of grass with murky water on both sides, rising as we went further in. As it started to look more and more like the scene out Snow White where she gets lost in the forest, we made an executive decision to sack it off for a bad job and went back to the canal. However, we didn’t consider this a setback. Any lesser team would have turned back long before, but I personally look back with pride at the optimistic (if clueless) determination that got us forty minutes into the sunken trees and moss before giving up. Boys, if you’re reading this, there’s nobody I’d rather get lost in a swamp with.

Anyway, we went back the way we came for a while, crossed the canal just outside Rühen and made a loop around for about an hour before rejoining our route about 20km down the line. Turns out cycling is quicker than walking a bike through marshland! We got onto highway 188 and smashed through kilometre after kilometre, watching the numbers next to Berlin on the signs dropping by 5, 6, 7 at a time, going easily the fastest any of us had ever been on a bike. After what felt like only an hour or so, the sun had started to go down and we’d travelled almost another 80km, speeding alongside cars that didn’t seem to be going very much faster than us, with deer parks and forest wildlife reserves on either side. After a long, long stretch of highway-quality road (great for speed) along the 188, through the towns of Gardelegen and Stendal, we finally crossed the Elba at the town of Tangermünder about half an hour after sundown. It was dead quiet as we crossed, the bridge lit up by the moon which by now had waxed to almost full. The other two went ahead of me as I stopped to sort out some loose straps on my bag, and I caught up with them halfway across, looking down in quiet reflection at the wide expanse of the river rushing dark and unending beneath us. We’d nearly made it, and each of us knew it. As tired as we’d ever been, we rolled down the other side of the bridge onto the home straight, with only 80km between us and the finish line. This was it. We were so exhausted we pitched up for our final night in tents just beyond the treeline at the first junction we came to, in full view of the cars whose high-beams caught us like worn-out rabbits, stood blinking, bleary-eyed, holding mismatched tentpoles. After moving further into the woods, we made a quick dinner of rice and veg, and I went straight to sleep while the other two made one last pan of food. 

The next day started with the groans and creaks you might expect from a camping holiday organized by a care home for octogenarians, not three young men in the prime of their lives. Despite the pain and stiffness, there were smiles on our tired faces, as we all imagined the relief of a hot shower and a soft bed when we arrived at our friend’s apartment in Berlin. For the record, it should be noted that neither we, our socks nor our tents were smelling all too great by this point. When we reentered civilisation we stopped for pastries and a cup of coffee. As we continued on our way, the kilometres ticked off more and more quickly, with signs for Berlin becoming more and more frequent (we’d startled some dog-walkers pretty badly the day before as we all burst out cheering at the first one we’d seen. On arriving at the town of Nauen, we spent a good forty minutes doing laps all the way up and down the same two roads and roundabout, trying to figure out which way to get to Berlin. We eventually got on the right track thanks to directions from a local football team, whose battering of another local side hadn’t dampened the spirits of the away fans, who were staggering arm-in-arm out of the ground, singing loudly. Surely, fans who are so merry regardless of league standings must be a double-edged sword. 

   Anyway, to cut what has already been a long story a bit shorter than it might have been, we eventually got to Berlin. Simple as that really, if you cycle for eight days straight then you’re bound to get somewhere, even if it’s only a Lidl. I don’t need to go into the details of the rest of the trip; this post is about the ride itself and to be honest there are probably more interesting things you could be finding out about than the logistics of international train tickets. Suffice it to say that we had a lovely few days in Berlin and then in Amsterdam, after which we got the boat back to the UK from Rotterdam, taking the same Stena Line as got us there what felt like several weeks before. We made it, and we had a fucking great time in doing so. We’d raised a total of about £863 when I last checked, and the JustGiving page will be live for the next few days just in case anyone was waiting to hear the whole story before donating. 

If you’re reading this, thanks for sticking with it, I hope these three posts have been interesting enough to make up for the delay in their output. I’ve certainly enjoyed recording and reliving some memories that I know will stay with me for the rest of my life. I’ll sign off here, and leave you with a couple of photos from the last few days of the trip. Peace!

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/standelakersey 

[mymoneymantra]

Types of Loans in India Should You Take

Have you ever come across the dearth of finances at any point in your life? If not, it means you have diligently planned out your finances in place. If yes, then you really need to start planning for your finances. Effective financial management is a part and a parcel of life especially for leading a stress-free life. If you have made enough savings and successfully kept some money aside to face emergencies, then it is not good that you keep on utilizing your savings every time during cash crises. It can pose doldrums for your future or retirement planning. Instead, go for bank loans as it can serve you as a great utility to take you out from such a situation.

Many banks and non-banking financial institutions have been there in the market that assists you in granting loans so that you have the power to overcome the crises.

 Types of loan

Taking a loan is a big financial commitment that needs you to make some informed choices. With a variety of loans available in the market that offers attractive interest rates and repayment tenure, choose the one that makes the most of your requirements. Let's take a look at the common types of loans facilitated by the lenders in India.

 (1)  Personal loan

A personal loan is an unsecured form of financing option available to the borrowers without any collateral. It is basically a multipurpose loan that can be utilised by the borrower for meeting their personal financial requirements such as paying medical bills, tuition fee expenses towards studies, wedding expenses, home renovation expenses, business expansion, foreign vacation, debt repayment etc. Many prominent banks and NBFCs extend personal loans for upto Rs. 40 lakhs for 5 years at attractive interest rates.

(2) Home loan

A home loan is a secured financing option extended to the customers by the financial institution for buying their dream home or residential property. You can Apply for a Home Loan against collateral security provided by the customers to their lenders. The loan amount obtained can be used for the construction and purchase of the residential property, for renovation , repairs and extension purposes. The maximum tenure for home loan repayment in India is upto 30 years, without any restriction on the maximum loan amount availed. Home loans are high priced loans that can be provided upto Rs. 5 crores. 

 (3) Business Loan

A business loan is a credit financing option available to the small and medium enterprises;  medium sized enterprises and large organisations to cover various expenditures in businesses. No mortgage is required to avail business loans. Some of the popular business loans available in India are Working Capital Loan, Machinery Loan, CC limit, Letter of Credit, etc.

Based on the type and purpose of the loan, business loans provided can be secured or unsecured financing options available to the business owners. The borrower can avail such loans in the form of Term Loans, Overdraft and Dropline Overdraft facility. However, there is no maximum limit to avail such loans while the repayment of business loans can go upto 15 years.

  (4) Loan Against Property

Loan against property is a secured financing option extended to the customers by the financial institutions against the property mortgage. The customers are required to mortgage a commercial or residential property with their lender against obtaining the loan against property. The loan amount can be mobilised for any personal or business requirements by the customers.

Even the customers can avail the top-up loan against property offered to them by their lenders. Normally, the repayment tenure for LAP is 15 years without any restriction on the availability of the maximum amount.

(5) Gold Loan

A gold loan is a secured form of financing option available to the customers. The loans are availed against the mortgage of the gold jewellery or bullion with the loan provider. Normally, the lenders extend the gold loan amount of upto 75% of the market value of the gold. The repayment of such loans can be done via equated monthly instalments or paying the full amount at the time of maturity. So, there is no fixed repayments option available to the customer. However, the repayment duration differs from a few months to some years. The customers avail the amount of gold loan as per their requirements only.

(6) Education Loan

Education loan is an unsecured form of financing option available to the student borrower to pay for their higher studies. The education loan amount availed can directly be transferred to the university or college as a fee paid by the student. The student needs to add a guarantor or a co-application while Applying for the Education Loan with the lender. The students are required to pay the interest during their study period while the loan repayment starts after one year of course completion or on securing the job.

(7) Vehicle Loan

Vehicle Loans are a secured form of financing option available to the borrowers for the purchase of a vehicle. The vehicle loans can be availed to purchase a car, scooter or motorbike or any commercial utility vehicle such as truck, vans, auto or tempo. The vehicle purchased is hypothecated with the lender until the loan amount is paid in full. However, the maximum repayment tenure for vehicle loans is of 7 years.

 (8)  Consumer Durable Loans

Consumer duration loans are the unsecured form of financing option available to the customers for buying several consumer products such as television, washing machines, mobile phones etc. The repayment period is of 2 years while no interest payment is applicable for availing such loans. However, no interest option is facilitated by some lenders not all. The customers can avail such loans both online and offline.

 With a variety of loan options discussed above, simply go for the one that suits your requirements. Moreover, with flexibility in repayment options available with some lenders can give you sufficient time to plan for your repayments. This way, you can be at ease while taking care of other responsibilities as well.

[latestnews2018-blog]

How did Thumbtack win the on-demand services market?

New Post has been published on https://latestnews2018.com/how-did-thumbtack-win-the-on-demand-services-market/

How did Thumbtack win the on-demand services market?

Earlier today, the services marketplace Thumbtack held a small conference for 300 of its best gig economy workers at an event space in San Francisco.

For the nearly ten-year-old company the event was designed to introduce some new features and a redesign of its brand that had softly launched earlier in the week. On hand, in addition to the services professionals who’d paid their way from locations across the U.S. were the company’s top executives.

It’s the latest step in the long journey that Thumbtack took to become one of the last companies standing with a consumer facing marketplace for services.

Back in 2008, as the global financial crisis was only just beginning to tear at the fabric of the U.S. economy, entrepreneurs at companies like Thumbtack andTaskRabbit were already hard at work on potential patches.

This was the beginning of what’s now known as the gig economy. In addition to Thumbtack and TaskRabbit, young companies like Handy, Zaarly, and several others — all began by trying to build better marketplaces for buyers and sellers of services. Their timing, it turns out, was prescient.

In snowy Boston during the winter of 2008, Kevin Busque and his wife Leah were building RunMyErrand, the marketplace service that would become TaskRabbit, as a way to avoid schlepping through snow to pick up dog food .

Meanwhile, in San Francisco, Marco Zappacosta, a young entrepreneur whose parents were the founders of Logitech, and a crew of co-founders including were building Thumbtack, a professional services marketplace from a home office they shared.

As these entrepreneurs built their businesses in northern California (amid the early years of a technology renaissance fostered by patrons made rich from returns on investments in companies like Google and Salesforce.com), the rest of America was stumbling.

In the two years between 2008 and 2010 the unemployment rate in America doubled, rising from 5% to 10%. Professional services workers were hit especially hard as banks, insurance companies, realtors, contractors, developers and retailers all retrenched — laying off staff as the economy collapsed under the weight of terrible loans and a speculative real estate market.

Things weren’t easy for Thumbtack’s founders at the outset in the days before its $1.3 billion valuation and last hundred plus million dollar round of funding. “One of the things that really struck us about the team, was just how lean they were. At the time they were operating out of a house, they were still cooking meals together,” said Cyan Banister, one of the company’s earliest investors and a partner at the multi-billion dollar venture firm, Founders Fund.

“The only thing they really ever spent money on, was food… It was one of these things where they weren’t extravagant, they were extremely purposeful about every dollar that they spent,” Banister said. “They basically slept at work, and were your typical startup story of being under the couch. Every time I met with them, the story was, in the very early stages was about the same for the first couple years, which was, we’re scraping Craigslist, we’re starting to get some traction.”

The idea of powering a Craigslist replacement with more of a marketplace model was something that appealed to Thumbtack’s earliest investor and champion, the serial entrepreneur and angel investor Jason Calcanis.

Thumbtack chief executive Marco Zappacosta

“I remember like it was yesterday when Marco showed me Thumbtack and I looked at this and I said, ‘So, why are you building this?’ And he said, ‘Well, if you go on Craigslist, you know, it’s like a crap shoot. You post, you don’t know. You read a post… you know… you don’t know how good the person is. There’re no reviews.’” Calcanis said. “He had made a directory. It wasn’t the current workflow you see in the app — that came in year three I think. But for the first three years, he built a directory. And he showed me the directory pages where he had a photo of the person, the services provided, the bio.”

The first three years were spent developing a list of vendors that the company had verified with a mailing address, a license, and a certificate of insurance for people who needed some kind of service. Those three features were all Calcanis needed to validate the deal and pull the trigger on an initial investment.

“That’s when I figured out my personal thesis of angel investing,” Calcanis said.

“Some people are market based; some people want to invest in certain demographics or psychographics; immigrant kids or Stanford kids, whatever. Mine is just, ‘Can you make a really interesting product and are your decisions about that product considered?’ And when we discuss those decisions, do I feel like you’re the person who should build this product for the world And it’s just like there’s a big sign above Marco’s head that just says ‘Winner! Winner! Winner!’”

Indeed, it looks like Zappacosta and his company are now running what may be their victory lap in their tenth year as a private company. Thumbtack will be profitable by 2019 and has rolled out a host of new products in the last six months.

Their thesis, which flew in the face of the conventional wisdom of the day, was to build a product which offered listings of any service a potential customer could want in any geography across the U.S. Other companies like Handy and TaskRabbit focused on the home, but on Thumbtack (like any good community message board) users could see postings for anything from repairman to reiki lessons and magicians to musicians alongside the home repair services that now make up the bulk of its listings.

“It’s funny, we had business plans and documents that we wrote and if you look back, the vision that we outlined then, is very similar to the vision we have today. We honestly looked around and we said, ‘We want to solve a problem that impacts a huge number of people. The local services base is super inefficient. It’s really difficult for customers to find trustworthy, reliable people who are available for the right price,’” said Sander Daniels, a co-founder at the company. 

“For pros, their number one concern is, ‘Where do I put money in my pocket next? How do I put food on the table for my family next?’ We said, ‘There is a real human problem here. If we can connect these people to technology and then, look around, there are these global marketplace for products: Amazon, Ebay, Alibaba, why can’t there be a global marketplace for services?’ It sounded crazy to say it at the time and it still sounds crazy to say, but that is what the dream was.”

Daniels acknowledges that the company changed the direction of its product, the ways it makes money, and pivoted to address issues as they arose, but the vision remained constant. 

Meanwhile, other startups in the market have shifted their focus. Indeed as Handy has shifted to more of a professional services model rather than working directly with consumers and TaskRabbit has been acquired by Ikea, Thumbtack has doubled down on its independence and upgrading its marketplace with automation tools to make matching service providers with customers that much easier.

Late last year the company launched an automated tool serving up job requests to its customers — the service providers that pay the company a fee for leads generated by people searching for services on the company’s app or website.

Thumbtack processes about $1 billion a year in business for its service providers in roughly 1,000 professional categories.

Now, the matching feature is getting an upgrade on the consumer side. Earlier this month the company unveiled Instant Results — a new look for its website and mobile app — that uses all of the data from its 200,000 services professionals to match with the 30 professionals that best correspond to a request for services. It’s among the highest number of professionals listed on any site, according to Zappacosta. The next largest competitor, Yelp, has around 115,000 listings a year. Thumbtack’s professionals are active in a 90 day period.

Filtering by price, location, tools and schedule, anyone in the U.S. can find a service professional for their needs. It’s the culmination of work processing nine years and 25 million requests for services from all of its different categories of jobs.

It’s a long way from the first version of Thumbtack, which had a “buy” tab and a “sell” tab; with the “buy” side to hire local services and the “sell” to offer them.

“From the very early days… the design was to iterate beyond the traditional model of business listing directors. In that, for the consumer to tell us what they were looking for and we would, then, find the right people to connect them to,” said Daniels. “That functionality, the request for quote functionality, was built in from v.1 of the product. If you tried to use it then, it wouldn’t work. There were no businesses on the platform to connect you with. I’m sure there were a million bugs, the UI and UX were a disaster, of course. That was the original version, what I remember of it at least.”

It may have been a disaster, but it was compelling enough to get the company its $1.2 million angel round — enough to barely develop the product. That million dollar investment had to last the company through the nuclear winter of America’s recession years, when venture capital — along with every other investment class — pulled back.

“We were pounding the pavement trying to find somebody to give us money for a Series A round,” Daniels said. “That was a very hard period of the company’s life when we almost went out of business, because nobody would give us money.”

That was a pre-revenue period for the company, which experimented with four revenue streams before settling on the one that worked the best. In the beginning the service was free, and it slowly transitioned to a commission model. Then, eventually, the company moved to a subscription model where service providers would pay the company a certain amount for leads generated off of Thumbtack.

“We weren’t able to close the loop,” Daniels said. “To make commissions work, you have to know who does the job, when, for how much. There are a few possible ways to collect all that information, but the best one, I think, is probably by hosting payments through your platform. We actually built payments into the platform in 2011 or 2012. We had significant transaction volume going through it, but we then decided to rip it out 18 months later, 24 months later, because, I think we had kind of abandoned the hope of making commissions work at that time.”

While Thumbtack was struggling to make its bones, Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest were raking in cash. The founders thought that they could also access markets in the same way, but investors weren’t interested in a consumer facing business that required transactions — not advertising — to work. User generated content and social media were the rage, but aside from Uber and Lyft the jury was still out on the marketplace model.

“For our company that was not a Facebook or a Twitter or Pinterest, at that time, at least, that we needed revenue to show that we’re going to be able to monetize this,” Daniels said. “We had figured out a way to sign up pros at enormous scale and consumers were coming online, too. That was showing real promise. We said, ‘Man, we’re a hot ticket, we’re going to be able to raise real money.’ Then, for many reasons, our inexperience, our lack of revenue model, probably a bunch of stuff, people were reluctant to give us money.”

The company didn’t focus on revenue models until the fall of 2011, according to Daniels. Then after receiving rejection after rejection the company’s founders began to worry. “We’re like, ‘Oh, shit.’ November of 2009 we start running these tests, to start making money, because we might not be able to raise money here. We need to figure out how to raise cash to pay the bills, soon,” Daniels recalled. 

The experience of almost running into the wall put the fear of god into the company. They managed to scrape out an investment from Javelin, but the founders were convinced that they needed to find the right revenue number to make the business work with or without a capital infusion. After a bunch of deliberations, they finally settled on $350,000 as the magic number to remain a going concern.

“That was the metric that we were shooting towards,” said Daniels. “It was during that period that we iterated aggressively through these revenue models, and, ultimately, landed on a paper quote. At the end of that period then Sequoia invested, and suddenly, pros supply and consumer demand and revenue model all came together and like, ‘Oh shit.’”

Finding the right business model was one thing that saved the company from withering on the vine, but another choice was the one that seemed the least logical — the idea that the company should focus on more than just home repairs and services.

The company’s home category had lots of competition with companies who had mastered the art of listing for services on Google and getting results. According to Daniels, the company couldn’t compete at all in the home categories initially.

“It turned out, randomly … we had no idea about this … there was not a similarly well developed or mature events industry,” Daniels said. “We outperformed in events. It was this strategic decision, too, that, on all these 1,000 categories, but it was random, that over the last five years we are the, if not the, certainly one of the leading events service providers in the country. It just happened to be that we … I don’t want to say stumbled into it … but we found these pockets that were less competitive and we could compete in and build a business on.”

The focus on geographical and services breadth — rather than looking at building a business in a single category or in a single geography meant that Zappacosta and company took longer to get their legs under them, but that they had a much wider stance and a much bigger base to tap as they began to grow.

“Because of naivete and this dreamy ambition that we’re going to do it all. It was really nothing more strategic or complicated than that,” said Daniels. “When we chose to go broad, we were wandering the wilderness. We had never done anything like this before.”

From the company’s perspective, there were two things that the outside world (and potential investors) didn’t grasp about its approach. The first was that a perfect product may have been more competitive in a single category, but a good enough product was better than the terrible user experiences that were then on the market. “You can build a big company on this good enough product, which you can then refine over the course of time to be greater and greater,” said Daniels.

The second misunderstanding is that the breadth of the company let it scale the product that being in one category would have never allowed Thumbtack to do. Cross selling and upselling from carpet cleaners to moving services to house cleaners to bounce house rentals for parties — allowed for more repeat use.

More repeat use meant more jobs for services employees at a time when unemployment was still running historically high. Even in 2011, unemployment remained stubbornly high. It wasn’t until 2013 that the jobless numbers began their steady decline.

There’s a question about whether these gig economy jobs can keep up with the changing times. Now, as unemployment has returned to its pre-recession levels, will people want to continue working in roles that don’t offer health insurance or retirement benefits? The answer seems to be “yes” as the Thumbtack platform continues to grow and Uber and Lyft show no signs of slowing down.

“At the time, and it still remains one of my biggest passions, I was interested in how software could create new meaningful ways of working,” said Banister of the Thumbtack deal. “That’s the criteria I was looking for, which is, does this shift how people find work? Because I do believe that we can create jobs and we can create new types of jobs that never existed before with the platforms that we have today.”

[ernestinehead-blog]

1 Thousand Utilized Cars Are actually Concealing An Awful Secret.

Right here is the vehicle spawner for GTA San Andreas (which has actually been uploaded just before), but this time around includes a listing of all the automobiles present to ensure you won't collapse GTA using a number that does certainly not have a car delegated to it. I prefer the cars and truck to alter it's Direct Rate X and Y whenever you guide, to be relocating more-so in the instructions that you are actually right now dealing with. In truth, you still miss out on split-folding back seats or even satnav until you upgrade to Sporting activity slick, which additionally features 17in alloy steering wheels, vehicle parking as well as hot seats. The E-Class is actually a development car that acquired its own driver's certificate in Nevada as an independent auto along with a few program tweaks. All of our analysis shows that many individuals settle on around 10-20 vehicles that they appreciate after that obtain little by little burnt out along with the absence of tracks. With a no to 100km/h (62mph) opportunity of around 12 secs and a top speed from 145km/h (90mph), this automobile isn't pant-wettingly quickly, but the facility of its own acceleration is an enjoyment. You may select that up off the shelve and also resolve in to a significant elbow chair in the book store and also read through the entire point for complimentary in an hour (even reveling in as well as re-reading components). Google states at some time, when this regards its software program risk-free, it will definitely start putting actual folks into the automobiles beyond Google.com designers. The Q7 is an expensive auto to buy or rent, although CO2 discharges are reasonable. Whether you possess an Audi, BMW, Volkswagen, Mini, Mercedes, Smart Automobile or even office automobile, there is one technique you can keep expenses to a minimum required and also ensure you don't pay way too much via the nose: making certain that you have a frequent auto service. That may read visitor traffic indications, sense curvature in the road and also pick up particular items, like various other vehicles. While it takes a reasonable amount from tinkering to obtain the AI and challenge settings correct, one you've located the wonderful area, Job Automobiles could maintain you on the edge of your chair for hours at once (especially if you handle one-too-many laps from the Nurburgring Nordschleife). Excellent writing, likeable characters, story low on dread along with merely the correct amount of yummy things - suggests sexual activity and ... food! A year back, the 2007 full-year sales numbers viewed car and light vehicle purchases merely a tick over 16 thousand (in vehicle argot, the light vehicle group includes pick-ups, minivans, SUVs and also some crossovers). Certainly not only any sort of glasses, of course, yet Oculus Virtual Reality goggles, which made it possible for visitors not simply to appear like complete berks, however additionally to see a short virtual video clip from the vehicle maker's Paris celebrity, which marks the begin of Renault's concept supervisor, Lauren's Truck Den Acker's newest generation of concept foreign language. Camping tent camping outdoors in a sea of Mobile homes, with my Coleman Gladiator Collection FyreKnight range as well as Jenny Lake 8-person tent; both would certainly be actually as well massive for backpacking, but are perfect for cars and truck backpacking. This is actually, Vehicle de Fe, Elias Canetti, yet he has actually welcomed me right into this novel through rejecting the thud of a report of physical descriptions from his status. For example, a 60-year-old singular male motorist is actually spending, typically, 59 percent much less for automobile insurance compared to his 20-year-old version. This is actually a great beginning factor for determining just what you are willing to invest in the motor vehicle. There are actually a few main reasons for this: poorer-performing autos possess hardly any grip and also there are actually no owning assistances, so this's a complete headache to dispel of tool and also low-speed corners. Obtaining the ideal advise as well as the correct folks to do deal with your automobile is crucial and Cardiff damage repair service uses you the most ideal solutions for your automobile nick needs. Judging by styling that gets out to a realistic beginning, with a much sharper as well as much more edgy design changing the Micra of old, in a car that is actually likewise longer as well as larger in comparison to before. This's certainly not very important any longer - I made a decision to really remove auto scroll and also damage off monitor to ensure the gamer possesses the electronic camera adhering to themself once again rather than a dummy actor (free of cost roam). For more info on you can look here review our site. Nevertheless, if you are actually appearing just for a cars and truck rental voucher then this is a last choice you need to look at. Times after The Really good Other half's dissentious finale in the US, a derivative paying attention to Christine Baranski's role, Diane Lockhart, was declared. Project Cars makes use of the shift motor which is now crazy aged so its own it's not surprising that it runs horribly. Various other alternatives consist of making use of Autolocate or even the slicker web site AllApprovedCars, to search the supplies of thousands of pre-owned auto dealers. She's been actually don't doing anything, but complaining concerning being actually wheelsed, and this and that injuring considering that our company started moving our things early today. As holds true along with many people; when they perform this, they begin to justify affording a car they either can't pay for, or even possess also stretch past their pleasant methods if you want to do this. Performing your budgeting to begin with as well as recognizing what you could manage (and also exactly what you cannot) will definitely assist take the emotion from your purchasing method ... in fact, this will perhaps spare you time too considering that you will not be trying to obtain a vehicle that is actually not within your spending plan limits. The bright side is actually that Chappelle hasn't already lost a beat - he's still shocking, opinionated and comes to the desk with an attitude that is actually finest described as sorry-not-sorry. Thus along with your reasoning in lifestyle absolutely nothing can easily possess same features?best go as well as inform auto makers they cant usage wheels anymore as well as engines to earn all of them go or utilize a guiding tire to make it turn.

[itsworn]

300 Plus Photos of Chevy’s Win at the 12 Hours of Sebring

If you followed our coverage of the start of the 2017 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship at the Rolex 24 at Daytona, the Ford vs Chevy cross-town battle in the GTLM class, returned for another installment. After the drop of the checkered flag at that race, all attention shifted to the next round in the championship, the Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring. Ford claimed the top spot on the podium in the GTLM class at Daytona with a hard fought win, but could they pull off another win at Sebring?

While the Daytona circuit boasts a smooth surface and steep banked turns, Sebring is notorious for its lack of elevation changes, and extremely rough surface. The 3.74-mile track is partially built on a World War II–era airport and still uses parts of the concrete landing fields, along with a mix of other paved surfaces, which makes for one bumpy ride–– a real test of man and machine.

In our coverage of Daytona, we reported that the Ford Chip Ganassi Racing (CGR) crew would revert back to a two-car squad for Sebring. That changed when the No. 68 Ford GT was added to the line-up. This entry was crewed by the mechanics from the European arm of CGR in the World Endurance Championship (WEC). With this addition, the Blue Oval again stacked the odds in the GTLM class with a trio of Ford

GT’s. Chevrolet had a pair of Corvette C7.R’s entered, while the rest of the group was comprised of two BMW M6 GTLM’s, one Ferrari 488 GTE, and a pair of mid-engined Porsche 911 RSR’s. Arguably the toughest class with every entrant capable of pulling off a class win.

The race-week kickoff started on Thursday morning with the first practice. In that session, the No. 911 Porsche 911 RSR driven by Fred Makowiecki set the fastest lap. The second session had a Corvette and Ford sandwiched at the front. The No. 4 Corvette C7.R driven by Tommy Milner set the fast lap. The No. 66 Ford GT piloted by Sebastien Bourdais split the Corvette duo, with the No. 3 Chevy, driven by Antonio Garcia, a close third. The last session of the day, which is run at night, had the No. 66 Ford GT at the top of the time charts with the No. 912 Porsche 911 RSR in the second spot with the No. 68 Ford GT in third. A potential issue for the GM squad took place when a fuel leak triggered a pit lane fire on the No. 3 car. The team quickly repaired the damage and the Corvette eventually joined the session.

Day two of on-track activities had Dirk Mueller in the No. 66 Ford GT at the top of the time charts. This was the last practice before qualifying later that day. When the dust settled after the GTLM qualifying session, Ford Chip Ganassi Racing had swept the top two spots in GTLM. Ryan Briscoe in the No. 67 Ford GT posted a 1:55.939 time which shattered the track record of 1:58.402 set in 2016 by Bill Auberlen in a BMW. He edged out the No. 66 Ford GT of Dirk Mueller by 0.236 seconds, while the No. 4 Corvette C7.R piloted by Tommy Milner posted a 1:56.252 time. The No. 3 Corvette C7.R driven by Antonio Garcia posted a 1:56.368 time placing it fifth on the grid. The No. 68 Ford GT with Stefan Mucke at the wheel set a 1:56.441 time placing it in the seventh spot. All ten cars in the GTLM class were below the existing track record. After qualifying was over, and the cars went through tech inspection, the No. 4 Corvette was moved to the back of the grid because of a ride height infraction.

On race day, the general consensus was that the Ford squad was going to run away from the pack and claim another win. As the cars lined up to do their formation lap, the pole sitting No. 67 Ford experienced a mechanical issue on the grid, which forced it to start from pit lane. It also forced them to do a drive-through penalty.

As the race approached the first hour, the No. 66 Ford GT was in the lead while the No. 3 Corvette C7.R was running in the second spot. The No. 68 Ford GT was sixth, while the No. 4 Corvette C7.R was eighth, followed by the No. 67 Ford GT in ninth. By the second hour, Corvette Racing’s podium aspirations were dealt a crippling blow when the No. 4 Corvette retired with irreparable overheating issues. The No. 66 Ford GT was still at the front closely followed by the No. 3 Corvette C7.R, while the No. 68 Ford GT was now up to fourth with the No. 67 sister car in fifth.

By the third hour, as a result of a full course caution, most of the field came in for fuel and tires. The No. 67 Ford GT was running on a different fuel strategy so it stayed out, along with the No. 25 BMW. The No. 3 Corvette C7.R rejoined the pack in third, while the No. 68 and No. 66 Ford GT’s slotted into the fifth and sixth spots.

With one third of the race in the books, the No. 67 Ford GT was running first in class followed by the No. 66 Ford GT, with the No. 3 Corvette C7.R in the third spot, followed by the No. 68 Ford GT.

As the race progressed, the game of musical chairs at the sharp end of the GTLM pack kept playing itself out with the running order shifting, usually as a result of pit stops. Just before the half way point the No. 3 Corvette came into the pits while they were closed for a splash of fuel. This forced them to do another full pit stop for fuel, tires, and a driver change. This unscheduled stop compromised their track position and as a result, they ended up in the seventh spot at the midway point of the race. At the front of the class it was a Ford GT pairing. The No. 67 and No. 68 were running together, separated by a mere 1.929 seconds. The other Ford GT was in the sixth spot a full 12 seconds adrift of the leaders.

With night approaching, again as a result of pit stops, the running order kept changing. The No. 3 Corvette ran as high as first, and as low as sixth. The Ford GT trio also mixed it up with each assuming the lead at some point. At the nine-hour mark, the top five cars in class were running a mere 18 seconds apart.

With about two hours and fifty minutes left, The No. 3 Corvette C7.R came in for another scheduled stop. Antonio Garcia climbed in for his last stint behind the wheel. As the last two hours approached, another full course yellow bunched the field up again. With two hours to go, the Ford GT’s claimed the top three spots in class with the No. 66 at the front, followed by the No. 67 and then the No. 68. The No. 3 Corvette was in the fourth spot with a 2.733 second deficit to the leading Ford GT. The battles for position in GTLM were starting to become clear as the weather cooled and some of the teams started to come to life and show their true pace.

Within a fifteen-minute window, Garcia in the No. 3 Corvette managed to pass two of the Ford GT’s to take over the second spot. Behind him, other plays for position were also starting to take shape. With just over an hour left, the No. 3 Corvette had assumed the lead, followed by the No. 911 Porsche with the Ford GT’s stacked up behind it. The No. 66 was the leading Ford GT, followed by the No. 67 and No. 68. As the last yellow flag flew with an hour left, the field once again bunched up. As the pits opened up, all the GTLM cars came in for their final stop. The No. 3 Corvette took on tires and fuel and exited the pits ahead of everyone. In the last forty minutes, the battle at the front was between the No. 3 Corvette and the No. 911 Porsche, which was turning the fastest laps in GTLM, and reeling the Corvette in. That didn’t last as the Porsche suffered a tire puncture, which was then compounded by a penalty for running over a hose in pit lane. That took them out of contention leaving the Corvette at the front, followed by the No. 66 and No. 67 Ford GT’s. In the last minutes of the race, the No. 3 Corvette pulled away from the No. 66 Ford GT, and the No. 62 Ferrari passed the No. 67 Ford GT in the final lap. At the drop of the checkered flag, Antonio Garcia, in the most impressive drive of his career piloted the No. 3 Corvette across the finish line first.

After twelve long hours of racing, seven of the ten GTLM cars entered were still on the lead lap. For Antonio Garcia and the No. 3 Corvette squad, this was a hard fought victory. The Chevrolet was clearly not the fastest car on track, however, an almost trouble free run coupled with stellar pit stop strategy delivered the goods in the end. In the Blue Oval camp, it is undeniable that the Ford GT is the weapon of choice this year in the GTLM class. Ford’s commitment with resources in their campaign to reach the top step on the podium hasn’t been matched by its competitors. In terms of the championship, after two rounds, the No. 66 Ford GT squad leads in the drivers, team, and manufacturers standings with 67 points, followed closely by the No. 3 Corvette lineup with 63 points in each category.

Next on the schedule will be the BUBBA burger Sports Car Grand Prix at Long Beach. This is will mark the start of the sprint races in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. The next endurance battle between Ford and Chevrolet will take place at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

2017 GTLM champions at the Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring, the No. 3 Corvette Racing C7.R trio of Garcia, Magnussen, and Rockenfeller climbed to the top step of the podium. In the runner-up spot was the No. 66 Ford GT squad of Mueller, Hand, and Bourdais, followed by the No. 62 Ferrari 488 GT trio of Vilander, Calado, and Fisichella.

Both Corvette C7.R’s took to the track on Thursday morning for the first practice session. Two would start on Thursday morning, and one would finish on Saturday night.

Going into the weekend, the Ford GT trio was favored to win in Sebring. They were the fastest cars and shattered the existing qualifying record.

The cat and mouse game that was expected during the race was between Ford and Chevrolet, which accounted for half of the GTLM field. This was the order which most pundits predicted would take place.

Fan engagement at IMSA races is part of the weekend schedule. The autograph session is usually the best spot to meet a driver, and the line at Corvette Racing is regularly one of the longest.

At the drop of the green flag, the pole sitting No. 66 Ford GT paces both the GTLM and GTD field as the No. 3 Corvette C7.R attempts a pass on the No. 912 Porsche.

During the race, the Ford trio was often bunched together as they swapped positions. With three cars in the GTLM field, the Blue Oval was the odds-on favorite to win.

With only two hours in the books, the No. 4 Corvette C7.R had an early retirement due to excessive engine temperatures, leaving the sister car to battle the rest of the GTLM field.

After the sun goes down, the real racing takes place at Sebring.

The Corvette C7 Z06 pace car saw plenty of action during the 2017 12 Hours of Sebring. A total of six full course yellow sessions had the white Z06 pacing the field for many laps.

The man at the helm of Multimatic, Larry Holt sits back waiting for the race to end. His cars came up short against the lone surviving Corvette C7.R of Corvette Racing.

The agony of defeat in the Ford pits right before the checkered flag. After many hours of racing and a huge amount of resources expended, Ford came up short on their quest for back-to-back endurance wins in Florida.

The sweet smell of victory. Jubilation of the entire Corvette Racing squad at the drop of the checkered flag.

Corvette Racing drivers Antonio Garcia, Jan Magnussen, and Mike Rockenfeller claim the top spot on the podium in the hotly contested GTLM category at the 2017 12 Hours of Sebring.

The guys behind the wrenches and air guns. The crew on the winning No. 3 Corvette C7.R at the 12 Hours of Sebring.

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