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transsexualhamlet · 4 years ago

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sherlock holmes reactions part six (aka me losing my mind over the final problem)

Hi, I am once again reminding you all that I've formed a parasocial relationship with the crackhead detective 👍 This made me overly emotional for the fact that he didnt even die

But like

hhhmmmmmmmm those were certainly an interesting 14 pages

Yeah, I already made a post about how the final problem relates to yuumori's final problem and how incredibly sexy it is but yes now I'd just like to relay to you how absolutely heart brocken i am over this lol I will eventually get to reading the post hiatus stories i just. I haven't emotionally recovered from this yet

Yelling below the cut somehow this reaction feels longer than the story itself. but it's about half cracking jokes and half sobbing so be prepared

I mean, starting off strong with "well yknow since i got married my and sherlock's Very Intimate Relations had to be modified and all but we hadnt seen each other in a while so it was kind of jarring to see him crawling in my second story bedroom window clutching Wounds and closing the shutters absolutely fucking wasted losing his mind over some dude named moriarty"

We've been over this but. Oh my god why are they gay

I just like????? Imagine how fucking bizzare that would be to just see your old homie crawl into your window bleeding on your floor and asking to exit the other way in case he's followed like "hey bro can we Talk i hope you're not busy" WHAT IS HE SUPPOSED TO DO, SAY HE IS? Imagine watson just like "no dude I'm fucking busy go get killed"

But legitimately. That's certainly something. And like, I see a lot of books starting like this lmao but. Holmes's stuff usually starts off kind of easily with watson going "yeah so lately ive been Experiencing Sherlock Holmes" and spend 20 minutes on exposition with them having a Conversation but no. mans just fucking escaped a hitman and went directly to his boyfriend's house having apparently Never Before In His Goddamn Life mentioned his actual nemesis to this guy. How the FUCK has watson never heard of him before.

And how sherlock starts talking about it isn't any less funny he's just like "UHHH SO THERE'S THIS GUY. THIS ABSOLUTE MAN. AND HES REALLY IMPRESSIVE I MEAN HES LIKE SUPER FUCKING SMART AND HES LIKE DOING CRIMES????? SO I LIKE. I NOTICED AS I DO BUT HE NOTICED THAT I NOTICED AND I MIGHT HAVE MADE A LITTLE FUCKY WUCKY DUDE CAN YOU HELP ME LIKE. FLEE THE COUNTRY" and watson's like my dear sherlock What The Fuck

Im also loving how he calls moriarty a "mathematical celebrity" awhi;grih;oaewhhta;ioh;iaewh;ii;oewh;eh;rg mans just. ok lol hes a Math Celebrity that had to quit his math teacher job because EVERYONE JUST KNEW HE WAS A CRIME LORD LIKE THEY TOOK ONE LOOK AT HIM AND WENT MANS DEFINITELY HAS BODIES IN HIS BASEMENT I DONT WANT HIM TEACHING HERE

But yeah, it was interesting to see what the big deal about og moriarty was... especially since the deal simply did not deliver. There was not really a big deal. It's like reading the first chapter of a book and immediately skipping to the climax. Everything is so hyped up and clearly having been building for years and you just get like NO CONTEXT. I swear Moriarty wasn't goddamn mentioned any time before this. He's just suddenly the big guy and watson has just never fucking heard shit about this guy.

What's so funny about this whole situation is that I just. Cannot objectively know anything about Moriarty at all because sherlock just... does not go into what this dude's alleged crimes even were, other than. The fact that he like. Does them. He's just really involved in crimes. How? Why? For how long? In what way? For what purpose? NO FUCKING CLUE HE JUST. HE JUST DOES. And there's nothing to really suggest that Moriarty was honestly a really evil guy. They're all like trust me he was just. he was just really bad but show absolutely No examples of being such. The most evil thing we saw Moriarty do personally was call sherlock stupid for letting him get into the apartment. And even then he immediately followed it up with complimenting him lol

yeah, my impression of Moriarty was like. I expected him to be worse, honestly. I expected him to be like a cartoon villain because he was kind of made out to be one and then he's just honestly a really polite and refined guy?? Mans strolls the fuck into 221B like hi shawty and it is Not like yuumori obviously man's holding a gun but like. What the fuck they are just. They have never met before but They Clearly Have and it's. its so weird

Like honestly I don't dislike og moriarty. He's really what william tried to be (and fucking failed, but beside the point) but like. Dude's so powerful and for what. He just walks into the apartment with No Pretense like why sherlock holmes is that a revolver or are you just happy to see me oh my goodness you are a dolt why would you hold the gun that way. disgusting. disgraceful. dreadful. Oh my god. I love him I'm sorry

abngnahhghifeah;iewh and Why does sherlock describe him like that hes like "MANS A REALLY REFINED LIZARD /pos" HIEHIFEHW:HGIHOEWFEEW FOR WHAT. FOR W H A T

baaaaaaaaghhhhhh but likeeeee they went STRAIGHT to "you know what I'm here for" "you know how I'm going to respond" "well then" "yeah" "mhm" "damn well it really do be like that sometimes" "ur really smart by the way" "im fucking aware let's kill each other as we both Thought in our Minds" "yes lets" AHDHDHDHDFS WTF THIS IS INSANE

But damn uh. mutual destruction my beloved this is very different from sherliam but im not. im not. opposed to it tucks hair behind ear

I just. Holy shit they really went "if you destroy me I will ensure that we both go down hand in unlovable hand" "I wouldn't mind that"

Annnnd I just noticed that the actual lines for this part kind of. that kind of happened in chapter 31 when sherlock was like i would Gladly die to take down the lord of crime and william was like. hahahah yeahNO NO NO NO

BUT SERIOUSLY THO IM LOSING MY MIND OVER HOW SHERLOCK SAYS THIS WHOLE THING TO WATSON AND HES LIKE DAMN SHAWTY HES LIKE THE REASON FOR HALF THE CRIME IN THIS CITY BUT HES SO NICE THO??? LIKE I EXPECTED HIM TO BE TOUGH AND EVERTHING NO HES JUST SOME POLITE PROPER UNDERSTANDABLE MAN WHO JUST HAPPENS TO BE VERY DIABOLICAL shawty is having a Crisis

And then watson is like wowww that was cool you wanna spend the night and sherlock is like "UNFORTUNATELY BESTIE I AM BEING FUCKING TRACKED DOWN ID LIKE YOU TO NOT DIE WITH ME"

This bit gave me a Moment Moment because oh my god. Then watson is like "no shut up i'm coming with you i don't care" and i just had to Take A Minute because THEY SWITCHED PLACES AAH SHERLOCK IS TRYING TO KEEP WATSON SAFE NOW AND WATSON IS NOW MORE RECKLESS BC OF HIM AND. AHHHH

Completely random but. How sherlock still refers to 221B as "our rooms" to watson even though watson hasn't lived their in years........ shawty i am emotional.........

SO THEY GODDAMN FLEE THE COUNTRY TOGETHER BC WATSON SAYS THEY HAVE TO STICK TOGETHER AND SHERLOCK HAS A MOMENT WHERE HE'S LIKE YEAH NEVERMIND PLEASE GO HOME WATSON AND WATSON IS JUST LIKE. NO. AND HSERLOCK IS LIKE. DAMN OK I HAVE NEVER HEARD YOU SAY THAT BEFORE

But. Ok as funny as this is. They have this fucking Conversation on the train to switzerland where sherlock is like "I have not lived in vain" and watson is like "YOURE NOT DYING" and hes like "i have not lived in vain. like i said. this will not be a bad way to die" UHHHHHH DAMN SHAWTY

hhhhhh and it just Gets. it. it. it Gets. These fuckers get to switzerland and they stay in a hotel and then leave for reichenbach but watson gets this goddamn letter telling him that hes needed at the hotel to basically save this lady's life. And he doesn't. Like. he doesn't even want to go he's like FUCK IT SHE CAN DIE IM NOT LEAVING YOU but sherlock convinces him to go fULLY KNOWING THE LETTER WAS FUCKING FAKED BY MORIARTY JUST AS A PLOY TO GET HIM ALONE

AND THEN HE JUST. WENT ANYWAY AND WATSON HAD TO WATCH HIM JUST LIKE GODDAMN WALK OFF INTO THE SUNSET LIKE "LITTLE DID I KNOW THIS WOULD BE THE LAST TIME I WOULD SEE HIM BUT IT JUST. IT HAD THAT VIBE YKNOW"

God I just. Wow sherlock really did that huh. He really went and did that. And I went over it in the post about this compared to yuumori but it just RUINED me how watson just. Never saw what happened and there's just so little information about it that all they have is these assumptions and pieces that just suggest that these guys met up, walked up to the goddamn waterfall having a nice civil conversation about how talented and smart they both were at this and how they revealed their methods to each other and complimented them because of course they did

And they just sat up there talking to each other so long and Moriarty legit waited politely or even possibly was the one that suggested he write a letter to watson in which sherlock just went "damn lol moriarty's pretty nice actually anyway uhhhh sorry watson ily ✌" and just like. left it up there in his damn cigarette box

But just like. damn the insinuation that moriarty just sat there and watched while he wrote that entire goddamn letter, sealed it up, and then got up and went alright buddy let's go but it makes no goddamn sense if they wanted to actually kill each other and assure they themselves would survive I could name like 23 different ways they could have managed it so easily and they Didn't. they were really set on mutual destruction huh. There's no way they were even trying to do anything but Die Together at that point and that's Something huh

It absolutely baffles me how they could say that these guys had plummetted like, holding each other tho. Like. ok lol but How Do You Even Know

It was certainly a ride. But the fact that Watson had to actively try to think like Sherlock to figure out what happened in the scene was just. The cherry on top. Especially after they'd consciously started to switch roles in this i just. Damn.

In conclusion uhhhhhhhh gay people real I suppose

#rowan views moriarty #rowan's hyperfixation essays #sherlock holmes #*screams* THIS BOY GOT ME FUCKED UP. FUCKED UP

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haechanokeh · 4 years ago

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Other Half

pairing: jungwoo x reader

content: bestfriend | angst | short

You and Jungwoo are an outcast, both of you are introvert and shy types that's why you get along. However, unlike you, jungwoo is likable probably because of his looks and his awkwardness is really cute.

you're currently in your room doing your statistics homework. both of you are sitting on the floor while munching a crisp. you just remembered that one of your female classmate invited him to her birthday.

"aren't you supposed to go to the party?" you asked while munching. he stopped whatever he's writing and looked up to you.

"party?" his forehead creases.

"danny invited you to her birthday party in there house." you replied. your classmate danny seemed interested to jungwoo.

"she messaged me, party will starts at 8 but i really don't want to go." he sighed and resumed writing his notes. he went back focusing in his lovely world of math.

"you aren't going? she seemed to want you around and it takes a lot of courage to invite you because because she or they knew that there's a higher chance of not appearing there." you said, absolutely commending the lady's courage. it seemed like she's interested to jungwoo.

"i don't like crowded place and new faces, plus..." he looked up again but this time he showed you his puppy dog eyes while pouting. "you're not there."

you felt your heart skipped a bit it feels so wrong. you ignore whatever it was and continue convincing your friend to go and experience SOCIAL at one in his lifetime.

"i'm not invited but- i mean there's no harm? try it." you reached for the glasses of water beside the chips and drink it.

jungwoo staring at your face contemplating whether you're serious or not but it seems like you're not joking and your encouragement was full of sincerely.

"fine." he sighed.

if you only knew what's going to happen next, you should've not pushed him to go to that party. everything changed between you. he begun to hangout with your classmates, living you alone.

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

1:40 am you woke up from your noisy ringtone. you answered the call without checking the caller's id.

"hell-"

"Y/N, thank you for pushing me to go." you could hear his happy and excited voice.

"why?"

"was so much fun!"

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

he changed after that, he's ditching you.

you ran and walked beside jungwoo who's focus on his phone. you nudge him.

"hey, let's eat-"

"jungwoo!"

his eyes transferred from his phone to the one who called him. he's one of your classmates, and he's with your other classmates.

jungwoo faced you quickly.

"sorry, i have to go. catch up with you later." he said in a hurry then quickly walked away on his feet.

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

"hey jungwoo, can i be your partner for the homework?"

you heard one of your girl classmate asked jungwoo to be her partner. they were behind your seat so you could clearly hear them. to be honest, you wanted to ask jungwoo to be your partner but somehow the birth of awkwardness between you became a hindrance.

"yea sure."

yeah, it did changed. your chest was heavy, you don't know why.

when did i become this possessive over a friend?

you asked yourself. fuck, now who am i going to partner with?

you sighed and decided to just wait whoever hasn't found a partner. this is a math homework and you badly need jungwoo but you guess it was just you now.

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

days turns to month, you never hangout, doesn't eat together. you sometimes sadly watch him from afar having fun with his huge circle of friend. you realize that he really does fit in. you felt jealousy amd loneliness at the same time happy because jungwoo became more confident in himself.

"are you ready?" your mom shouted.

you're in your now empty room. this was where you and jungwoo used to spent most of your time together, alone with chips everywhere and his favorite drink that he always spills. you looked up refraining yourself to spill the warm tears from tour eyes but it failed, it just streamed down on your cheeks. your lips quivered and pang in the chest made you cry more.

you have to move out from your house because your mother got transferred from another branch. you didn't tell jungwoo, you don't have any courage, afraid that he doesn't care- well that's how he treats you now.

"Y/N?" your mom called you again..

"Yes!" you said and closed the door.

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

it's been 3 days and you didn't show up to any classes. jungwoo became so worried that he have to call you but no matter how many time he attempted to call you never answer.

jungwoo approached one of his professor.

"may i help you mister kim?" your professor asked him while fixing piles of papers on his table. he's in the faculty.

"i wonder what happened to y/n? i haven't seen her attending the class this past few days." jungwoo was really woried. after months of ignoring he, he just noticed your absence.

"what? aren't you two always together? you supposed to know where she is now." the professor asked with straight forwardness.

a lump form in jungwoo 's throat. he suddenly felt guilty.

"She ahm, she didn't tell me..." his voice became little. His professor glance to him, analyzing what's with him but decided not to care.

"she transferred school in ***, so yeah she's in another city. her mom moved to a new brach she said."

jungwoo felt as if the sky becoming low and pressing him down. he said thanks and leave. sadness, loneliness, and guilt enters his soul all at once.

what i have done? she was there, infront of me almost everyday but i became naive when i tried new things forgetting the first person who was there for me.

he went back to his own self, but this time he felt lonely which he never felt when you were there. he tried to text you, call you but you're out of reach. jungwoo concluded that you changed your number.

then it finally sink in him, he lost his other half.

✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨

i didn't know i have this not until i casually scrolling to my drafts hahaha. hope everyone is having a great day!

#jungwoo #jungwoo angst #jungwoo nct #nct #nct 127 angst #nct 127 #nct 127 scenarios #jungwoo imagines #nct jungwoo

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percysaysfuck · 4 years ago

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THREE OLD BITCHES KNIT THE SOCKS OF DEATH

I was used to the occasional weird experience, but usually they were over quickly. This twenty-four/seven hallucination was more than I could handle. For the rest of the school year, the entire campus seemed to be playing some kind of trick on me. The students acted as if they were completely and totally convinced that Mrs. Kerr—a perky blond woman whom I'd never seen in my life until she got on our bus at the end of the field trip—had been our pre-algebra teacher since Christmas.

Every so often I would spring a Mrs. Dodds reference on somebody, just to see if I could trip them up, but they would stare at me like I was psycho.

It got so I almost believed them—Mrs. Dodds had never existed.

Almost.

But Grover couldn't fool me. When I mentioned the name Dodds to him, he would hesitate, then claim she didn't exist. But I knew he was fucking lying.

Something was going on. Something had happened at the museum.

I didn't have much time to think about it during the days, but at night, visions of Mrs. Dodds with talons and leathery wings would wake me up in a cold sweat.

The freak weather continued, which didn't help my mood. One night, a thunderstorm blew out the windows in my dorm room. A few days later, the biggest tornado ever spotted in the Hudson Valley touched down only fifty miles from Yancy Academy. One of the current events we studied in social studies class was the unusual number of small planes that had gone down in sudden squalls in the Atlantic that year.

I started feeling cranky and irritable most of the time. My grades slipped from Ds to Fs. I got into more fights with Nancy Bobofit and her shit faced friends. I was sent out into the hallway in almost every class.

Finally, when our English teacher, Mr. Nicoll, asked me for the millionth time why I was too lazy to study for spelling tests, I snapped. I called him an old sot. I wasn't even sure what it meant, but it sounded good.

The headmaster sent my mom a letter the following week, making it official: I would not be invited back next year to Yancy Academy.

Fine, I told myself. Just fine.

I was homesick.

I wanted to be with my mom in our little apartment on the Upper East Side, even if I had to go to public school and put up with my obnoxious fucking stepfather and his shitty poker parties.

And yet. . . there were things I'd miss at Yancy. The view of the woods out my dorm window, the Hudson River in the distance, the smell of pine trees. Id miss Grover, who'd been a good friend, even if he was a little fucked up. I worried how he'd survive next year without me.

I'd miss Latin class, too—Mr. Brunner's crazy tournament days and his faith that I could do well.

As exam week got closer, Latin was the only test I studied for. I hadn't forgotten what Mr. Brunner had told me about this subject being life-and-death for me. I wasn't sure why, but I'd started to believe him.

The evening before my final, I got so frustrated I threw the Cambridge Guide to Greek Mythology across my dorm room. Words had started swimming off the page, circling my head, the letters doing one-eighties as if they were riding skateboards. There was no way I was going to remember the difference between Chiron and Charon, or Polydictes and Polydeuces. And conjugating those Latin verbs? Fucking forget it.

I paced the room, feeling like ants were crawling around inside my shirt.

I remembered Mr. Brunner's serious expression, his thousand-year-old eyes. I will accept only the best from you, Percy Jackson. I took a deep breath. I picked up the mythology book.

I'd never asked a teacher for help before. Maybe if I talked to Mr. Brunner, he could give me some pointers. At least I could apologize for the big fat F I was about to score on his exam. I didn't want to leave Yancy Academy with him thinking I hadn't tried.

I walked downstairs to the faculty offices. Most of them were dark and empty, but Mr. Brunner's door was ajar, light from his window stretching across the hallway floor.

I was three steps from the door handle when I heard voices inside the office. Mr. Brunner asked a question. A voice that was definitely Grover's said ". . . worried about Percy, sir. "

I froze.

Shit.

I'm not usually an eavesdropper, but I dare you to try not listening if you hear your best friend talking shit about you to an adult.

I inched closer.

". . . alone this summer," Grover was saying. "I mean, a Kindly One in the school! Now that we know for sure, and they know too—"

"We would only make matters worse by rushing him," Mr. Brunner said. "We need the boy to mature more. "

"But he may not have time. The summer solstice deadline— "

"Will have to be resolved without him, Grover. Let him enjoy his ignorance while he still can. "

"Sir, he saw her. . . . "

"His imagination," Mr. Brunner insisted. "The Mist over the students and staff will be enough to convince him of that. "

"Sir, I . . . I can't fail in my duties again. " Grover's voice was choked with emotion. "You know what that would mean. "

"You haven't failed, Grover," Mr. Brunner said kindly. "I should have seen her for what she was. Now lets just worry about keeping Percy alive until next fall—"

The mythology book dropped out of my hand and hit the floor with a thud.

Fuck.

Mr. Brunner went silent.

My heart hammering, I picked up the book and backed down the hall.

A shadow slid across the lighted glass of Brunner's office door, the shadow of something much taller than my wheelchair-bound teacher, holding something that looked suspiciously like an archers bow.

I opened the nearest door and slipped inside.

A few seconds later I heard a slow clop-clop-clop, like muffled wood blocks, then a sound like an animal snuffling right outside my door. A large, dark shape paused in front of the glass, then moved on.

A bead of sweat trickled down my neck.

Somewhere in the hallway, Mr. Brunner spoke. "Nothing," he murmured. "My nerves haven't been right since the winter solstice. "

"Mine neither," Grover said. "But I could have sworn . . . "

"Go back to the dorm," Mr. Brunner told him. "You've got a long day of exams tomorrow. "

"Don't remind me. "

The lights went out in Mr. Brunner's office.

I waited in the dark for what seemed like forever.

Finally, I slipped out into the hallway and made my way back up to the dorm.

Grover was lying on his bed, studying his Latin exam notes like he'd been there all night.

"Hey," he said, bleary-eyed. "You going to be ready for this test?"

I didn't answer.

"You look awful. " He frowned. "Is everything okay?"

"Just. . . tired. "

I turned so he couldn't read my expression, and started getting ready for bed.

I didn't understand what I'd heard downstairs. I wanted to believe I'd imagined the whole thing.

But one thing was clear: Grover and Mr. Brunner were talking about me behind my back. They thought I was in some kind of danger.

The next afternoon, as I was leaving the three-hour Latin exam, my eyes swimming with all the Greek and Roman names I'd misspelled, Mr. Brunner called me back inside.

For a moment, I was worried he'd found out about my eavesdropping the night before, but that didn't seem to be the problem.

"Percy," he said. "Don't be discouraged about leaving Yancy. It's . . . it's for the best. "

His tone was kind, but the words still embarrassed me. Even though he was speaking quietly, the other kids finishing the test could hear. Nancy Bobofit fucking smirked at me and made sarcastic little kissing motions with her lips.

I mumbled, "Okay, sir. "

"I mean . . . " Mr. Brunner wheeled his chair back and forth, like he wasn't sure what to say. "This isn't the right place for you. It was only a matter of time. "

My eyes stung.

Here was my favorite teacher, in front of the class, telling me I couldn't handle it. After saying he believed in me all year, now he was telling me I was destined to get kicked out.

"Right," I said, trembling.

"No, no," Mr. Brunner said. "Oh, confound it all. What I'm trying to say . . . you're not normal, Percy. That's nothing to be—"

"Thanks," I blurted. "Thanks a lot, sir, for fucking reminding me. "

"Percy—"

But I was already gone.

On the last day of the term, I shoved my clothes into my suitcase.

The other guys were joking around, talking about their vacation plans. One of them was going on a hiking trip to Switzerland. Another was cruising the Caribbean for a month. They were juvenile delinquents, like me, but they were rich juvenile delinquents. Their daddies were executives, or ambassadors, or celebrities. I was a nobody, from a family of fucking nobodies.

They asked me what Id be doing this summer and I told them I was going back to the city.

What I didn't tell them was that I'd have to get a summer job walking dogs or selling magazine subscriptions, and spend my free time worrying about where I'd go to school in the fall.

"Oh," one of the guys said. "That's cool. "

They went back to their conversation as if I'd never existed.

The only person I dreaded saying good-bye to was Grover, but as it turned out, I didn't have to. He'd booked a ticket to Manhattan on the same Greyhound as I had, so there we were, together again, heading into the city.

During the whole bus ride, Grover kept glancing nervously down the aisle, watching the other passengers. It occurred to me that he'd always acted nervous and fidgety when we left Yancy, as if he expected something bad to happen. Before, I'd always assumed he was worried about getting teased. But there was nobody to tease him on the Greyhound.

Finally I couldn't fucking stand it anymore.

I said, "Looking for Kindly Ones?"

Grover nearly jumped out of his seat. "Wha—what do you mean?"

I confessed about eavesdropping on him and Mr. Brunner the night before the exam.

Grover's eye twitched. "How much did you hear?"

"Oh . . . not much. What's the summer solstice dead-line?"

He winced. "Look, Percy . . . I was just worried for you, see? I mean, hallucinating about demon math teachers . . . "

"Grover—"

"And I was telling Mr. Brunner that maybe you were overstressed or something, because there was no such person as Mrs. Dodds, and . . . "

"Grover, you're a really, really bad fucking liar. "

His ears turned pink.

From his shirt pocket, he fished out a grubby business card. "Just take this, okay? In case you need me this summer."

The card was in fancy script, which was murder on my dyslexic eyes, but I finally made out something like:

Grover Underwood

Keeper

Half-Blood Hill

Long Island, New York

(800) 009-0009

"What's Half—"

"Don't say it aloud!" he yelped. "That's my, um . . . summer address. "

My heart sank. Grover had a fucking summer home. I'd never considered that his family might be as rich as the others at Yancy.

"Okay," I said glumly. "So, like, if I want to come visit your mansion. "

He nodded. "Or . . . or if you need me. "

"Why the fuck would I need you?"

It came out harsher than I meant it to.

Grover blushed right down to his Adams apple. "Look, Percy, the truth is, I—I kind of have to protect you. "

I stared at him.

All year long, I'd gotten in fights, keeping bullies away from him. I'd lost sleep worrying that he'd get beaten up next year without me. And here he was acting like he was the one who fucking defended me.

"Grover," I said, "what exactly are you protecting me from?"

There was a huge grinding noise under our feet. Black smoke poured from the dashboard and the whole bus filled with a smell like rotten eggs. The driver cursed and limped the Greyhound over to the side of the highway.

After a few minutes clanking around in the engine compartment, the driver announced that we'd all have to get off. Grover and I filed outside with everybody else.

We were on a stretch of country road—no place you'd notice if you didn't break down there. On our side of the highway was nothing but maple trees and litter from passing cars. On the other side, across four lanes of asphalt shimmering with afternoon heat, was an old-fashioned fruit stand.

The stuff on sale looked really fucking good: heaping boxes of bloodred cherries and apples, walnuts and apricots, jugs of cider in a claw-foot tub full of ice. There were no customers, just three old ladies sitting in rocking chairs in the shade of a maple tree, knitting the biggest pair of socks Id ever seen.

I mean these socks were the size of sweaters, but they were clearly socks. The lady on the right knitted one of them. The lady on the left knitted the other. The lady in the middle held an enormous basket of electric-blue yarn.

All three women looked ancient, with pale faces wrinkled like fruit leather, silver hair tied back in white bandannas, bony arms sticking out of bleached cotton dresses.

The weirdest thing was, they seemed to be looking right fucking at me.

I looked over at Grover to say something about this and saw that the blood had drained from his face. His nose was twitching.

"Grover?" I said. "Hey, man—"

"Tell me they're not looking at you. They are, aren't they?"

"Yeah. Weird, huh? You think those socks would fit me?"

"Not funny, Percy. Not funny at all. "

The old lady in the middle took out a huge pair of scissors—gold and silver, long-bladed, like shears. I heard Grover catch his breath.

"Were getting on the bus," he told me. "Come on. "

"What?" I said. "It's a thousand degrees in there. "

"Come on!" He pried open the door and climbed inside, but I stayed back.

Across the road, the old ladies were still watching me. The middle one cut the yarn, and I swear I could hear that snip across four lanes of traffic. Her two friends balled up the electric-blue socks, leaving me wondering who they could possibly be for—Sasquatch or Godzilla.

At the rear of the bus, the driver wrenched a big chunk of smoking metal out of the engine compartment. The bus shuddered, and the engine roared back to life.

The passengers cheered.

"Darn right!" yelled the driver. He slapped the bus with his hat. "Everybody back on board!"

Once we got going, I started feeling feverish, as if I'd caught the fucking flu.

Grover didn't look much better. He was shivering and his teeth were chattering.

"Grover?"

"Yeah?"

"What are you not fucking telling me?"

He dabbed his forehead with his shirt sleeve. "Percy, what did you see back at the fruit stand?"

"You mean the old ladies? What is it about them, man? They're not like . . . Mrs. Dodds, are they?"

His expression was hard to read, but I got the feeling that the fruit-stand ladies were something much, much worse than Mrs. Dodds. He said, "Just tell me what you saw. "

"The middle one took out her scissors, and she fucking cut the yarn. "

He closed his eyes and made a gesture with his fingers that might've been crossing himself, but it wasn't. It was something else, something almost—older.

He said, "You saw her snip the cord. "

"Yeah. So?" But even as I said it, I knew it was a big deal.

"This is not happening," Grover mumbled. He started chewing at his thumb. "I don't want this to be like the last time. "

"What last time?"

"Always sixth grade. They never get past sixth. "

"Grover," I said, because he was really starting to fucking scare me. "What the fuck are you talking about?"

"Let me walk you home from the bus station. Promise me. "

This seemed like a strange request to me, but I promised he could.

"Is this like a superstition or something?" I asked.

No answer.

"Grover—that snipping of the yarn. Does that mean somebody is going to fucking die?"

He looked at me mournfully, like he was already picking the kind of flowers I'd like best on my coffin.

Fuck.

#Percy Jackson #Percy Jackson and the lightning thief #percy jackson and the olympians #PJO #Percy says fuck

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mysticalmusicwhispers · 4 years ago

Text

APH College AU: Thailand

Headcanons for a good boy! Intro here, tag is #college au musings

— Zoology major (inspired by aph-sweden’s post here)

— Electronic notes (he’s trying to save the environment) but he wishes he could handwrite it because he likes the feel of paper

— He has multiple handwriting styles: a neat one (default), a fancy but unreadable one, and a really bubbly “cute” handwriting that he practices on and off when he’s bored (Taiwan taught it to him)

— He’s very friendly, kind, super approachable. Also known for giving out solid advice for how to survive university to first years. Basically a dad friend.

— Mostly mature, but will nonchalantly drop a dirty joke in the middle of a rather serious conversation and act like it’s nothing

— He and Vietnam are super close. (they share an apartment and are childhood friends, as per Vietnam’s hc post).

— Buddhist. He has accidentally set off the fire alarm in the apartment burning incense more than once; Vietnam finally convinced him to dismantle the fire alarm, and now he has to hastily put it back for apartment inspections.

— Walking plant encyclopedia, spits out random facts about them a lot. Knows an unusual amount of info on which ones are edible and which cause unpleasant effects

— He likes megafauna the most; small mammals and birds are ok but. they’re Small. Big animals are more his speed: elephants, bears, crocodiles. He’s sad that North America doesn’t have many large things besides wolves, bears, moose, and deer tho.

— That being said, he likes birdwatching! He finds birds the most accessible wildlife to observe and it’s just really peaceful looking through binoculars for them.

— Loves traveling! He really wants to visit every single country in the world, both for the unique wildlife in different regions of the world, and for the different cultures and peoples in each one.

— Hates when the AC is on in lecture halls; he thrives in summer when it’s humid and warm

— Less phone addicted than most people, but he still has to consciously make an effort to unplug and stop staring at screens. Finds going outside for a walk is the best distraction

— Becomes a TA during senior year for Ecosystems and Biodiversity, a first year class. Makes friends really fast with Seychelles and meets some of the other younger underclassmen through her.

— China trusts him, so a lot of times he just “babysits” HK and Taiwan (because although they’re whole adults, China doesn’t trust them) when they want to go out. Thailand lets them do whatever they want though, so they always end up pulling a ridiculous but funny stunt at the mall or somewhere. And they always get boba tea before they need to go back on campus/to China’s apartment

— He’s a bit airheaded and sometimes forgets to finish his work, but most of the time he’s a good student. Except for the days he decides to binge watch rom coms on Netflix.

— B to A- (83 to 92) student! He’s really excellent at math, history, and science, but his English scores are... not that good. It hovers between B-s and C+s (78-82).

— Best at projects, worst at tests. He has failed a fair amount of tests, but his other assignments make up for it.

— His professors like his kindness and how he’s willing to help other students with their work. Also, he asks thoughtful questions and is just... so excited about learning they’re like “:) I like this one”.

— His taste in shows and movies is absolutely awful. After one impulsive movie night, nobody lets him pick what to watch anymore. He’s sad about it but resigns himself to the media the others pick :(

— Designated driver at parties; he doesn’t really care about drinking at parties and prefers to dance and just talk to people, but when he does drink, he holds his alcohol pretty well.

— Known as the university-wide dad friend. Approached by a wide variety of people asking for advice/help/random questions. Vietnam does not understand why he bothers, some of the things he gets asked are the most ridiculous things she’s ever heard (“do you think it’s acceptable to carry books on your head to school” “can I bring my dog to meet you”) but he’s always so sweet about answering

— Really gentlemanly; holds the door for you, asks how your day’s going, gets things you dropped, etc. SO NICE TO EVERYBODY. Gives off the general vibe of being a huggable person.

— Don’t try to mess with him; he’s very clever, although he doesn’t look it. He will find a way to get out of your scheme and avoid whatever you have planned for him. Not a fan of taking revenge though; he doesn’t wish anything bad on anybody, no matter how hard they try to hurt him.

— There’s about a 1% chance anyone can make him angry, but please watch out. He’s good at calming down in intense situations so he won’t do anything rash, but he’ll silently fume and hate you for a while, stop talking to you, and generally be a big ol’ thundercloud until he snaps out of it.

— He plays soccer and is on the swim team. Organizes litter clean up campaigns and invasive plant weeding projects every now and then, and he volunteers for citizen science projects a lot. IDing seagulls, watching wildlife cams for animals and unusual activity, stuff like that.

I keep saying I’ll do Taiwan next but who knows, since I’ve procrastinated her post for no reason at all... Anyways there’s only 3 more Asians left (Taiwan, Macau, and India), so I’ll see you next time!

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kpop-pick-me-up · 6 years ago

Text

Jaemin with a stressed S/O

___________________

Hello! 💚 Can I request a Jaemin from nct dream scenario in which the reader is like super stressed because of finals to the point of crying and so Jaemin is like comforting the reader? Thank you so much Love you!!💖💖

Sorry this took so long :( I took a break for the holidays because they are always stressful for me to get my school work done while simultaneously cooking/baking for the whole family, and I took a small mental health break after all of that. But that’s not an excuse, so hopefully this year I’ll get better at making a schedule!

Thank you for requesting, and I love too bb ^ . ^. If you have finals, I’m cheering for you! And if you already took them I hope you did well! Take care of yourself, and don’t be too hard on yourself ^ 3 ^

Warnings:

Slight language if you look for it

A bit of angst? Finals stress is real y’all.

__________________________________________

A loud groan escaped your lips as you slammed your head against your science textbook. Your arms encircled your head and a deep sigh heaved from your lungs, feeling like the only thing you wanted to do was curl up under your blankets and call it quits. Your pillow was screaming your name and it was hard to ignore. But just as were were about to give in, Jaemin’s words of encouragement he gave you this morning as he dropped you off at your classes echoed through your mind

“Here we are.” Jaemin pulled up to the front doors of your school, glancing at the doors, and then you. “You ready?”

You smile at him and nod. You pick up your bag and grab the car door handle to open it, but a hand on your arm keeps you from continuing.

“Are you sure?” He asks his eyes scanning your face for any sign of stress “Because if you need a ‘sick day’ you could always come sit with me at the studio. I know it can be boring but if it’s what you need-“

“I’ll be fine Jaemin. I am fine.” You catch his wary gaze and add with a chuckle “Really, everything’s okay”

“If you say so.” He shrugs unlocking the car door. You open the door and step out onto the pavement, shutting the door behind you and walk to the doors of the school. You hear the car window roll down, and a loud “Hey!” Causes you to turn around.

“You got this today Y/N! I love youuuu“ he gave you finger hearts through the open window accompanied with cute sound effects. You turned with a laugh, sending some back “I love you too Jae.” before opening the schools doors and entering.

That happened over twelve hours ago, and you can still hear his aegyo. Thinking about the cute cringey affection causes warmth to spread through your chest. “I can do this.” You mutter to yourself.

Peeking up from above your crossed arms you began to try and continue reading, moving only to slide your arms down the page to uncover the words. You finished the page with a squeal of excitement as you finished the chapter. You were about to turn the page but you stopped yourself, closing the book and setting it to the side.

“Okay, let’s review what I read.” you giggled proud of yourself for making progress. Staring off out your window, you rack your brain for information from the text you’ve just read. “It was....I.....uh” you felt your excitement began to dwindle as no matter how hard you tried, you couldn’t remember anything. Nothing. All that work and you couldn’t even remember a single word.

“You’ve got to be kidding me it’s already-“ you glance at your phone “9:30pm, I can’t do all.....there’s no time I have to study history and math as well. I can’t-“ the panic begins to set in as you throw your phone to the side and frantically open the book to flip to the pages you’d just read. “What page was it? 87?-no that’s not far enough...230?” The flipping gets faster, so fast your scared the pages would rip from the speed. “Why can’t I-why, why, why-WHY CAN’T I REMEMBER?!” You shove the book away and bury your head into your arms trying to control your breathing. The burning sensation begins in the back of your throat before you let out a sob, “God I’m pathetic” you choked out.

Before you can break down completely your phone lights up with Jaemin’s caller ID, Beautiful Time plays softly accompanied by the annoying buzz of the device. Taking a deep breath, wiping your eyes and clearing your throat you pick up the phone.

Putting the phone to your ear with a quiet “hey”, you get up and flop onto your bed.

“Hellooooo! How was school?” His excited voice rang out through your speakers.

“It was...it was school. Ya know.”

There was a pause before you heard him gasp lightly. “Are you crying?”

“What? No, I’m fine.”

“Lies. I can sense these things...now I was going to surprise you but your door is locked so that makes it kind of difficult. So if you could kindly unlock your door, and then pretend to act surprised?”

“You’re here? Why?!” You shot up quickly. Realizing that probably sounded suspicious you try to pass it off as concern, but you knew he’d know better. “Practice was till 9 today. Go home and eat, you’re probably starving.”

“Nope! I brought food here to enjoy together. And to be together you have to open the door and let me in. Now please open the door. Unless you have something to hide?”

You don’t bother responding and grab a pillow, cuddling it close. The pause lasted a few moments before it was broken by a very drawn out “helllllooooooo?”

“I don’t want you to see me like this Jae.” You start with a shaky voice. “My face is all red and swollen, I’m wearing comfy clothes....and-and there’s books everywhere...oh god I haven’t brushed my hair since this morning-“

“And I don’t care about that. Would you care if I was like that?”

You sigh, hugging the pillow tighter. “No.”

“Then please let me in. It’s really cold out here, and I’m hungry.” He laughed lightly hanging up the phone before you could refuse.

You stumble to your front door, and swing it open to reveal a smiling Jaemin.

“Ta da! It’s Na Na!” He enters the house taking his shoes off, setting the food bag down and closing the door behind him. “My, don’t you look lovely this evening.” He eyes you up and down, from your leggings up to your old oversized sweatshirt.

“Oh shut up I warned you.”

He lets out a loud laugh before looking at your with adoration “I wasn’t playing around. You really do look lovely.”

You let out a bitter chuckle “yeah. Lovely. A lovely idiot is what I am.”

“Excuse me, how dare you say such things about yourself. Especially in my presence.” He grabs your hands and brings them to his lips his tone softening “Is this about your finals? I heard about them from Nctzens, they are all talking about finals and I assumed you had them as well.”

You try to say something in agreement, but at the mention of your damned finals you began to tear up again.

“H-Hey!” He pulls you close, cupping your face in his hands, “What’s wrong?”

You don’t respond. You bury your face into his hoodie, breathing him in while slowly wrapping your arms around him.

“Baby?” His hands stroke calming circles onto your back as it begins to shake from your quiet sobs.

“I can’t do it Jae. I-I’m too stupid.” You hiccuped. “I can’t remember anything, and-and I’m going to fail my finals. I still have math and history to study after this and it’s already getting late” You sniffle before continuing “and after we eat it will be even later. I’ll have no time, there is no time. Ughhh I can’t do this.”

He listened quietly till you finished, swaying you both back and forth gently. “Look at me Y/N.” You refuse and bury your face deeper into his hoodie and grip the fabric tightly in your hands. “Come on, look at me.” He pulls away far enough to just see your face. “ You are not stupid. You are not going to fail. Finals are hard yes, and they are important, but you do so well in your classes already I doubt you’ll fail. You’re just thinking too much about it, think of it as just a run of the mill weekly quiz. And if you don’t get a 100%? Who cares. As long as you pass that’s all that really matters, even if it is just barely passing. So breathe okay? Because you definitely aren’t going to pass if you aren’t taking care of yourself. So please, calm down and appreciate yourself. You’ve been working so hard lately, you deserve to relax.”

“I guess...” you squeak out, bring your hands up to wipe your cheeks.

“Good!” He smiles. “Now let’s go eat I’m starving.”

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

Bonus:

Jaemin nods his head along to some music while he waits in the parking lot for you to get out of your finals. He sees you running over and quickly turns down the music as you open the car door.

“Sooooo? How’d it go?”

“Well, it’s not exactly what I wanted...but I passed! I got an 81, so I’m trying to convince myself it’s okay.” You shrug buckling your seatbelt in.

“An 81? Babe, that’s great!”

“I mean yeah I guess.” You brush it off. “But guess what?” You lean closer to him, bouncing in excitement.

“What?” He leans in as well brushing your noses together causing you to giggle and his smile to grow.

“I got a 96 on my science final.” You squeal, pulling back to do a little happy dance.

“That’s my girl/boy.” He laughs before turning up the music and backing out of the parking spot.

#nct 2018 #nct request #nctzen #nct reactions #nct #nct 127 #nct u #nct dream #nct fluff #nct imagines #nct blurbs #nct scenarios #na jaemin #nct dream jaemin #nct jaemin #jaemin #kpop reactions #nct angst

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obannthepunished · 7 years ago

Text

uhhhhhh notes HURT WEEK im pains

"They call me eagle-eye fjord where i come from." "maybe raven. i dont know." that theory about Fjord being the Hawker is suspicious rn (Apparently theres a third i missed whoops) sam apparently similar thoughts maybe bc Nott brings it up

Jester finally teaching kiri basic phrases, like "go fuck yourself"

Beau + Fjord taking first watch

Caleb checking out the dodecahedron

(Unrelated odd point: i have a current dislike/distrust for liam, which is bullshit bc... i love liam. and caleb and vax. but apparently smt is wrong.)

Dodecahedron is Very Old, and has been shaped/polished Cay uses the haversack as a pillow

BEAU/FJORD Beau: "I think I messed up. I think I should apologise." I HURT? Oh beauregard. oh marisha. "i wanna try, I guess" F: I think he deserves that. He's been good to us. i regret not writing fic now 8(

"OOH, terrible" "YEP." "five" "five" (collective "ooh")

Nott + Jes second. they roll not great.

Tinkle tinkle "nnhnohfishnott"

Kiri is poofed up asleep aAW

trident goin for FRUMPKIN NOOO (pause whilst they look for range on dismissal)

Kiri wakes up "Go fuck yourself :("

Theyre waiting for fish head they could just reappear Frumpkin tho...

Jester is sacred flaming, Molly has a sword active + stabs, Caleb fire bolt, Nott fires an arrow, Fjord eldritch blast, Yasha stabby

Molly + Nott + Caleb miss Fjord hits, Beau hits, Yasha hits dunno bout jes

frumpkin poofs back but doesn't see anything else.

???? alarm lasts 8 hours, not until triggered yall it should still be up. they need to look up the spells smh

Nott messaging to tell yash to hide the bodies

LAst watch is Yash and Caleb i need to stop shortening names

Caleb asks Yasha for people advice :') He's writing it down... i love him Yashas advice is basically "Fucking Bathe" And cay confirms he keeps himself gross because people ignore him more that way 8( Baby

C: "Do you know what i miss? shaving." Y: "I could shave you right now with my sword. I've done it before, you know, to... not have hair on my arms-" Omg shes doing it omg theyre doing it omg I DONT HAVE TO DRAW FACIAL HAIR IN MY FANART ANY MORE FUCK <3333

cay forgets he has a dagger jesus fucking christ

i love everyone making comments + taliesins just amazed like, borderline heart eye emoji look at this whole scenario

M: (to Caleb) "Well done, she [yasha] likes you!"

Nott is Not Happy About Water N: I'LL STAY WITH KIRI everyone else: Convincing her to come N: I'll stay with kiri, and if there's any trouble... we'll see what happens

Fjord goes first, he sees, with his 60ft darkvision, architeture of room. mistly natural, some bits not.

Fjord botches his stealth roll but matt botches his perception even worse. and my thing crashed im so mad.

Fjord is Not a good swimmer. hes like. 30ft swimming speed. Things being left: Caleb's books (2) Molly's coat

travis willingham going "kiris gotta die" then dragging everyone who gasped through the dirt

beau gets fucking 37 on her stealth check Matt: "That's some vax numbers right there!"

The visual aid is... so extra. lights. smoke. what the fuck matthew. (note: when ur best friend is called matthew this is a phrase you say too much)

Surprise round for erryone but Molly and Yasha (purrsonally, i think they were too busy talking abt how beautiful cay is now ;3c)

everyone rolled shite for initiative tho

Caleb casting haste on molly O:

Fjord is very very adept at everything

everyone on crit role can do maths better than me 8(

the marrow fuck beau and fjord royally

watching call lightning forming + marishas face as she slowly realises :)

jes gets the first hdywtdt + crushes a fish with a lollipop

Caleb is taking blind potshots with the glove of blasting boyy. One even hits!

moll gets 3 attacks i love my beautiful devil child

N: Are you guys alive and do you need anything? you can reply to this message~ C: FUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCK N: oh,, alright.

Taliesin's relief when ashley actually hits is very good.

Beau goes down! D:

hi unrelated taliesin sticking his tongue out at sam fills me with indescribable joy

NEW: Horny twink gets double penetrated by feisty wet ones.

... which is to say two fish dudes stab molly.

Jes heals Beau, but we all know fine fucking well if she hadn't, Yasha would have done it on her next turn. still might since she's only on 11

Cay using dispel magic O:

Molly gets the second hdywtdt "I'm literally just a windmill at this point"

FJORD gets the third F: "I see Molly loojin' around, give him a little wink-" (murders) M: Fucking arsehole F: (witty comment) PEACE OUT (blinks out again)

"Sevens are scary" - Taliesin

Yash gets the next hdywtdt Xorhasian Neck Tie Jesus christ

I was right tho Yasha was seriously considering healing beau, it just takes her action

Two more fishfucks 8(

More call lightning

Sams flask says "lost my best friend over a bowl" and that hurtie

caleb is boutta die. Yasha is boutta die first lmao oh no. i love taliesin jaffe an inhuman amount. Yash gets pulled OVER beau and marisha makes like grabby hand motions which is VERY cute

ok NOW caleb boutta die. he Shield's, and then fragments "Caleb will remember this"

Beau looks at Yasha, looks at Caleb, and goes to CALEB (sobs) blasts a ki point and everything

Molly gets a nat 20 oh he's such a babe

Nott spending her turn justifying herself to Kiri

Fjord blinks back in and fucks up ANOTHER fishfuck

Yasha casting healing hands on HERSELF good.

"You dont have a printout of your character sheet????" "Oh yeah I do after you asked me nine times" liam wh

both yash and caleb are at ONE hp

B, spening her last ki point: HEYCALEBWESHOULDTALKLATER

Beau gets the HDYWTDT tho

Molly is Very Sick from losing haste

Caleb goes the fuck down Fails his first save

everytime tal says "im gonna try something weird" i heart eyes emoji shame he cant do jack fuck though

Nott Burning Bolt shoots the fishfuck for 24 damage jeeeeez doesnt die but drops lightning

Fjord: (appears, fails, disappears)

if Caleb permadeaths i WILL cry

PLEASE YASHA PLEASE GOD JESTER PLEASE THEY KILL IT IM CRYING SO HARD no like literally i am actually crying bc matt very deliberately did that so that he didnt kill Caleb

Jester uses her pearl of power to regain a slot, and use it to cast prayer of healing for SHIT rolls.

Jester goes back to Kiri <333 baby. baby bird.

Matt mercer keeps using words ive only ever seen written and im ALWAYS ???? about their pronunciation

Fjord finds some L00t Like boxes and longswords and a pool of water with dozens of metallic objects mostly outlawed diety symols. changebringer moonweaver. others i forgot. stormlord. everlight. asmodeus ooh, bane strife emperor. and tiamat.

"a little black bird that's fluttering to try and get dry" fuck thats so damn cute. Marisha has the :D face

Calebs books are dry

wooden box + pool are magic. like. WITHIN.

Enchantment in the box. Molly collecting the moonweaver pieces

JESTER FINDS TWO SYMBOLS FOR THE TRAVELLER? HOLY SHIT Different make, pure silver one, burnished bronze another door arch with the road

Molly gets 12-13 symbols

Nott mage hands just so good even drunk

in the box is a blade, gold, jewel encrusted Molly shoves Nott aside to get it cause its a scimitar style

Caleb finds the arch-heart symbol? Takes one

Yasha takes 4 symbols for the storm god.

Bane/strife emperor symbol Fjord is curious about chained coffin he throws it into the pool. nothing happens.

JEster goes to pll it out and gets a big catseye yellow gem, magical, but not a school of arcane magic. it has a line groove in it, very deliberate, an oval.

"something about that [orb] is very familiar"??? (Matt to Travis)

i was right about the orb being familiar

C: (abt the gold sword) This blade is called Summer's Dance C: "Mr. Mollymauk," M: "Mr. Caleb."

Blade allows user to cast Blink basically, and is stronk

official-europa replied to your post: uhhhhhh notes HURT WEEK im pains “They...

i think its probably misty step and not blink

official-europa replied to your post: uhhhhhh notes HURT WEEK im pains “They...

on the sword i mean

caleb tries to ID the orb

fjord touches it "sky is moonlit + cloudless, clothes not your own, nor body, overcoat + human skin. thick calloused skin. left hand stone. look down, see body of previous owner, dead in blood. natural landmass seawater night. flash. right hand grasps falchion. voice booms. potential. jams the stone into gut, cCONSUME. vanishes into belly. looks into water. REWARD." "Vandrin."

i dont kn ow what the fuck is going on.??? everyone else sees this o shit

oh shit is the eye the symbol of Fjord's patron?

"he was my mentor, a captain of mine. a man named Vandrin." Y: What happened to Vandrin? F: I'm not sure. he captained the ship i worked on for many years, and their was an incident. an explosion, terrible weather, waves, "i was knocked overboard" when f woke up he was back on shore

"how did you survive" "I'm not entirely sure."

explosion was sabotage.

the pool is saltwater.

Molly shoves Fjord's head into the water

comes up "You okay???" "Do it again" "Tap three times when you're done!" Fjord drowns

they take as much as possible up and out and decide to dynamite everything in. dramatic exit..

They take the bodies down and lay them in the swamp to rest and decompose.

Beau tries to pull Caleb aside and he just stonewalls her until she actually apologises.

Caleb "I give beauregard a hug and say 'idont know what im doing. just. go with it." BEau very AWKWARDLY hugs him back Beau consulting Fjord, Caleb consulting Yasha The entire other side of the table clapping.

Beau: UH. GOOD TALK. FRIEND. (awkward silence) Beau: Seriously though. Friend? (pause) Caleb: Uh. Ja. (brb dying)

there is a single yellow eye on the hilt of the falchion.

episode END

#Critical Role #Critical Role Notes

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angeltriestoblog · 7 years ago

Text

Your Comprehensive Guide to Passing the College Entrance Tests

College entrance tests season is a time in my life that I look back on with equal parts pain and fondness, which somewhat serves as a justification as to why I’ve been putting off this post for so long. Although I spent many sleepless nights re-absorbing lessons I never even got in the first place—all while having to deal with agonizing self-doubt and anxiety—I guess it’s safe to say that it was all worth it. After all, ya girl passed three out of the four universities she applied for: I have yet to find out if UP is willing to take me under their wing, but whether or not they want me, I can say that I am very much contented with my results.

Since I feel I’m in a position to speak on a topic like this, I’m back at it again and ready to help anyone about to tackle the beasts that are the CETs this year. I’m dividing this post into three parts, which will contain tips on how to go about everything before, during and after taking what most consider to be the most important tests of your life.

Obligatory disclaimer: This is ridiculously long and not everything that I’ve written here will apply to you, but hey, if I were you, I’d start taking down notes.

BEFORE THE TEST

One thing most people fail to stress when giving advice on this topic is the importance of adopting the best mindset. Understand that the CETs are a very serious and urgent matter, for you are tasked with preparing for the succeeding chapters of your life all within a short time frame, but at the same time, don’t allow the pressure that comes with it to lead to overthinking and comparison that will ultimately distract you from achieving your goal: passing. Stay driven and positive, and focus on yourself.

Now, on to the actual studying part. I’d hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the best way to breeze through these exams without breaking a sweat is by being a good student all throughout high school. Be the type to maintain a stellar general weighted average, keep all notes taken down during the past four years in an expanding file folder instead of using them to wrap dried fish and join as many extracurricular activities as possible. If you’ve already failed at this, it’s time to proceed to Plan B: review school.

I personally didn’t enroll in any classes over the summer, because I thought they only took place during the month of April, which was when my parents had scheduled our overseas trip for the year. Well, apparently, I couldn’t have been any less well researched and by the time I found out, it was already far too late. So, I had made the decision to opt for self-study. For some reason, I was the only one in the household who was worried out of my mind: my parents were very much convinced that I would be able to handle reviewing on my own, and prove that review school was not a requirement for acceptance into prestigious universities. I was touched by their unwavering confidence in me, but every word felt like an additional kilogram I had to carry on my back.

I got by through borrowing old review modules from my dentist (Tita Meng, I have no idea how you’re ever going to read this, but thank you so much for saving my life… and also straightening my teeth) and downloading sample tests from the Internet for me to test my knowledge later on. My efforts never felt like they were enough for me though: I remember looking up the curriculum for each subject I needed to tackle on the website of the Department of Education, researching each sub-topic that was vague to me and Khan Academy-ing my way to proficiency. Definitely an unnecessarily extra way to tackle the reviewing process, but hey, my mind was very much laden with doubt and I was willing to do the most. I also put up cartolinas on my bedroom walls with formulas for different Math and Science subjects, which proved itself useful since I actually spend a decent amount of my time staring off into space.

If the thought of doing all of this alone is stressing you out, then maybe it’s time to go down what is considered by most to be the safe route: enrolling in a review school. Doing so will provide you with all the lessons covered during high school in the form of actual lectures with qualified teachers, and hardbound notes that often come with sample tests that resemble the real thing. It guides you through the application process as well as gives updates on the schedules of most universities, and helps in parts of the test that cannot be achieved by poring over textbooks such as essay writing and even techniques for plain old guessing. All these benefits seem to provide their students with the confidence boost to top everything off, and I admit that I did feel inferior to most of my peers at some point for this reason. They all just seemed so put together, so at ease with their binders and pastel highlighters that it made me go through a period of regret and resentment. Do not let the perceived advantage they have blind you, though: do note that even if attending a review school helps you ace the entrance test, it does not measure your aptitude nor your ability to handle the workload that you will have to face as you make your way in the university of your choice.

Because I had to do everything alone, I had firsthand experience when it comes to waging a war with time: it was truly my biggest enemy during this point in my life. It’s obviously crucial to create a schedule and follow it regularly. If you’re anything like me, you’ve read this in several self-help books or heard this over and over again on productivity podcasts but planning truly is key. First, list down all the topics that you want to cover, complete with the estimated time it’ll take you to master them. Then, distribute them per day evenly so you don’t end up overwhelming yourself and cramming so much information in your head that you barely get to retain anything. It’s important to have a contingency plan ready as well, in case you needed more time digesting a particular topic.

Eliminate all distractions while reviewing. This is a cardinal rule for studying in general, so it will definitely increase in importance during a time like this. One thing I found important is to tell yourself why you have to do it, so it’s easier for you to follow through. For example, I’m pretty addicted to watching YouTube videos, so having to cut down my marathons and look at the number of videos on my Watch Later pile up was a bit painful at first. But upon conditioning my mind into thinking that I’d rather spend my five month summer vacation before college binge watching all the videos I had missed out on instead of looking for a university that was still ready to accept me, it was much easier for me to cut down on it.

Remember to prioritize breadth over depth. Cover as many topics as you possibly can, going over the basic concepts and important formulas. Then, knock yourself out with practice tests so that you’re fully familiarized with them by the time CETs roll in, because you never know how even the simplest questions can be twisted around to baffle you. A common mistake most incoming seniors make (myself included) is overthinking what could possibly be asked and going too into detail when reviewing. In my defense, it seemed like the natural thing to do during a situation of panic but if I had only known, I would have been able to save so much of my time and devote it to mastering everything I had learned.

Don’t be afraid to ask for help if ever the need arises, whether it be from teachers, friends or upperclassmen. It might come off as a surprise to some of you, but there are many people who will be more than willing to help you, whether out of pity or genuine human decency. I asked tons of my classmates if I could borrow the notes they received from their review center, so I could learn more than I could have on my own (and maybe even compare their progress with mine). Sometimes, I’d disturb them at ungodly hours and call them up on Messenger to plead them to teach me the shortcuts in problem solving, mnemonics or acronyms. I was never the type of person to do that: honestly speaking, it felt like a direct blow to my pride to have to beg for something. But, it was my future at stake and upon remembering that, I no longer felt any shame [shrugs]

On another (but equally important) note: stay on top of your requirements for the different universities you’ll be applying to. Although they don’t normally start until July or August, it’s much better to get these out of the way as early as possible. Take it from me, who ran around Megamall looking for a photo studio a week before ACET apps needed to be passed. Stock up on ID pictures of different sizes, preferably 1x1, passport size and 2x2. Photocopy important documents like your birth certificate and grades forms, as well as your ID from the current or previous school year. Start thinking of who to ask recommendation letters from, brush up on your essay writing and interview skills and work on your CV if needed. Also, have a scanner ready if you plan on trying out for La Salle, since their application process is purely online. Be sure to keep track of your deadlines: don’t wait around for people to remind you, and please please please For The Love Of God do not cram everything until the very last second.

Strive to finish reviewing over summer break so you don’t have to worry about balancing CETs and academics, which is an entirely different playing field. I’ll come clean and say that I failed to do this, because there were still so many topics I couldn’t understand and questions I couldn’t find the answers to, even with the guidance of the Internet. Let me tell you, it was absolute hell as I didn’t have the time or brain capacity to digest lessons both for school and entrance tests. Please have mercy on yourself and focus on the classes you are to take during the school year, flipping through notes and flash cards sparingly when you have free time.

Now for the part that will probably be most useful to you all: the actual subject matter to study, focused specifically on the entrance tests for the Big 4 universities. Don’t use this as the sole basis of your review, since it’s not a guarantee that the topics covered this year will be the same as the succeeding ones. I remember looking up this one CET tips thread which said that the ACET was going to have mostly geometry-related questions. Since Ateneo is my dream school, I spent a ridiculous amount of time cramming everything from theorems to tangents in my head. So, you could just imagine my surprise when I actually took my test and was greeted by a maximum of four geom questions and a predominantly Algebra II and Trigonometry-centered Math portion.

ACET

Language proficiency

This test will assess your knowledge on basic grammar: correct usage of verb tenses, S-V agreement, analogy-type and a cloze test, where you are required to fill in the blanks with the appropriate word for the sentence. It also included an essay question about a particular word that differed from session to session. I had to make one on the word “superstition”, so I had written something on how I didn’t believe in them because I was raised by my family with a very strong faith in God. One tip people give out a lot is to try and relate your answer to either love for God or being a man for others, but do it only if it doesn’t come out forced. From what I remember, we were given 50 minutes to answer all of this, and I don’t mean to come off as boastful but English is and has always been my first language, so it didn’t serve as a problem on my part.

Mathematical ability

This test is feared most by previous test takers, and it was only when I crawled my way through it that I realized why it has that reputation. It’s composed primarily of basic algebra, algebra II and trigonometry questions, all of which are quite lengthy and require a decent amount of time to think through, especially if you’re not really the best in this subject.

Abstract reasoning

This test… Boy, what do I even say? It requires you to pick out the figure or shape that completes the pattern. There were 30 items all in all that needed to be accomplished within 10 minutes, and I couldn’t tell anything apart from each other. I feel anyone who tells you they took this test seriously and finished it without breaking a sweat is just messing with you. I don’t think there’s any way to answer this test without turning to our old friend (the shotgun method).

Logical reasoning

This test includes questions with a set of premises that you are supposed to analyze, and a list of choices containing possible conclusions that can be drawn from them. Your task is to pick the most logical one, which sounds like common sense at first. Apparently, this was a topic discussed in General Math, so there is a certain set of rules to follow. Not only did I not remember ever taking this up in my life, but I also skipped it during review so I had to borrow my classmate’s book and cram everything I could during ACET week (DEFINITELY NOT ADVISABLE). There was one part of the test that involved a lot of technical terms, which I did not read about or study but thank God ya girl was desperate enough and ended up finding hints in the instructions!

Vocabulary

Pretty self-explanatory type of test, with 25 words in five minutes. It seems overwhelming, but contrary to popular belief, it’ll be easy even for those who aren’t voracious readers.

Reading comprehension

This test will require you to fully understand the message of the text, and apply it practically or draw sensible conclusions from it. I breezed through this one as well, because I’ve been reading since I was in the womb, but this can prove to be difficult for those who aren’t used to it. I’ve been seeing this tip circulating that goes “Look at the questions first before the passage itself, so you know what to find” and although it can fool just about any lazy reader out there, I tried it for myself during the ACET because I was in the mood and it didn’t help me at all. If anything, it just slowed me down because I was doing twice the work: looking at the question then going over the whole thing to find the answer, then repeating the process instead of just reading the text once.

Numerical ability

This test was all word problems—age, work, mixture, speed—with a dash of ratio, proportion and variation. This was the last portion of the ACET, and not only was my brain fried to a crisp but I was also very eager to leave so this definitely made me want to scream as I was taking it. It could have been much easier if I had memorized the exact formulas, and practiced lots so I could work rapidly without sacrificing accuracy.

DCAT

Mema test

I don’t know the actual name of this test, but I called it as such because it was so all over the place it felt like the ones in charge of making the DCAT looked at the final draft, saw they were an entire subtest short and crammed these questions two hours before the deadline. It was a mix of both abstract reasoning and vocabulary, and was generally easy: the AR patterns were understandable and didn’t require a lot of analysis, while the vocab words were very few and quite common.

Math I

I read in this one CET tips post that this portion was, and I quote, “pretentiously difficult and time-consuming” and it’s absolutely true! It’s big on derivations of formulas and advanced concepts in algebra, it barely had any basics much to my dismay. My mental block during this part was at its peak: I didn’t know how to solve anything, so I simply substituted each of the missing values in the problem with a number and worked it around until both sides of the equation were equal. That obviously took a lot of effort, which stemmed from my refusal to let go of an item until I feel like I’ve tried my best in solving it. But, it doesn’t have to be the case for you, especially if you’re terribly pressed for time: don’t hesitate to skip if you can’t move forward!

Math II + logical reasoning

Undoubtedly the hardest part of the exam, because no one saw it coming and thus, no one was able to prepare for it. And to think I was already warned by my friends who took the DCAT the week before I did to review statistics: I went through my notes from Grade 9 on combination and permutation, completely unaware that it was going to focus on hypothesis testing and estimation of parameters, which we failed to cover in Grade 11. I thought I’d be able to get by, I remember even praying that there would be only a few items but the entire test revolved around it so I almost literally crawled my way through. As for logic, it was alright until they started using technical terms like I had no idea what modus ponus (hocus pocus?) is and I don’t think I’ve ever had to study that in my life, so I think it’s safe to say I didn’t perform well there.

Reading comprehension

This was pretty similar to the ACET, so the same description and tips apply. Nothing to worry about.

EAPP/Research

This test was the plot twist of the year: DLSU completely took out the traditional type of English subtest (identifying errors, vocabulary, cloze test, etc.) and replaced it with citing in APA format, the principles of academic writing and the parts of a research paper. I had no idea that this was going to be included, and thankfully, those who enrolled in review centers didn’t either so we were all pretty much on equal footing. But, I walked out of it without a scratch: I guess it’ll be easy for you if you contribute to the making of your research papers, but if you’re a freeloader, ayan diba sinabi ko sa inyo may araw rin kayong lahat O ETO NA YUN

Science

This test covers the four major areas: earth science, biology, chemistry and physics. It was so much easier than I expected, because it only centered on terms and definitions of important concepts. I was most worried about the physics portion, since I’ve always considered it to be my waterloo, so you could just imagine my relief when I saw that it was very formulas-based and could be aced by anyone who took it up in Grade 10. (Super long run-on sentence, I’m sorry) I definitely wouldn’t have been able to survive it without the help of Tyler DeWitt, the best Chemistry teacher anyone could ever ask for – I found him on YouTube during a moment of desperation and binge-watched all his videos the day before DCAT, and he is probably the sole reason behind my success.

Life skills

The easiest and best part of the DCAT, because it’s simply a test of your character. It provides you with a set of situations, and all you have to choose which one best applies to you—so, yes there are no wrong answers. It’s easy to think that the most logical way to answer would be to feign sainthood and pick which one makes you look like an Ideal Lasallian/Catholic/Person, but I advise you to stay as true to yourself as possible. Those in admissions have probably seen many people apply this strategy in the past, and will most likely appreciate your honesty and view it as a way of seeing a true glimpse of your character.

UPCAT

Language proficiency

I think I was only sure of about 75% of my answers in this test, and to think this was the easiest part of the UPCAT for me as language is supposed to be my forte. Although it revolved around the basics—identifying errors in sentences, cloze set, rearrangement of sentences to form a paragraph and vocabulary—it came in both English and Filipino, which really tired me out early on.

Science

Hardest test of them all, to the point that taking it felt like my brain was getting hit by different trucks all at once. It covered all four major areas, including earth science. There were a ton of tables, graphs and diagrams that needed to be interpreted, and experiments to be analyzed: it’s big on practical applications and understanding of concepts. Don’t memorize any formulas, acronyms and mnemonics as you definitely will not need it at all.

Math

This test ran through a little bit of everything: from basic algebra to geometry, trigonometry, word problems and even statistics, sequences and number theory. It’s important to memorize all the formulas and learn how to solve problems fast even if they’ve already been twisted around. Math has never been my strong suit, so at this point, I was very close to hyperventilating. I even remember shading the wrong circles for ten questions in a row because I skipped one item. I also took around three bathroom breaks at this point, and spent 30 seconds sat on the toilet praying.

Reading comprehension

This was the first time I ever loathed this kind of test, when it’s supposed to be my strong point. It’s just that the previous subtests were so mentally and emotionally draining, that I didn’t have the brainpower to tackle it. It didn’t help at all that the passages chosen for the UPCAT were not the usual narrative types that are actually entertaining to read, but were incredibly information and detail-heavy. (They made really good memes on Twitter, though: no one was over the patis, newsboy or Super Ferry 9 for a long while.) The best thing to do at this point would be to go for the easiest and shortest ones first, to give your brain time to repair and prepare itself.

USTET

Mental ability

This test seeks to assess your common sense through a mix of logical reasoning, analogical and basic language and arithmetic problems. I don’t think I have to give you tips about this part at all, because it’s that easy.

Science

This test also includes question on all four major areas, but the main difference is that there are close to no practical applications of concepts – surprisingly, UST only cares about the definition of terms. Thus, intensive review probably won’t be needed: you could just skim through your notes from junior high school and have a good grasp of what’s going to be included.

Math

This test had mostly basic algebra and geometry, as well as some word problems – nothing too difficult. One other fun thing was that there was so many of the same type of question, so if you have the formulas memorized and a certain technique in answering, you could get so many (if not all) correctly.

English

This test focused mainly on basic grammar, figures of speech and subject-verb agreement. There was also a tiny part about oral communication and research, which I wasn’t able to prepare for but it’s a good thing I actually bothered paying attention to my teacher in Grade 11 or else I wouldn’t have been able to answer a thing.

THE DAY BEFORE – DURING THE TEST

Now, normally people would tell you to rest the day before any big test: drop all books and notes and mentally psych yourself for the battle up ahead in the form of face masks and comfort food. Although it sounded incredibly tempting, I obviously didn’t follow it because I was running short on time and had so many things I had yet to fully understand. Contrary to popular belief, I didn’t experience any adverse effects and even retained everything I had crammed into my head. So, you’re technically still allowed to review: run through flash cards and try a bit more practice problems if you wish. The only thing you have to make sure of is that you do not stay up late: sleep is crucial for memory retention and BASTA PARA DI KA LUTANG, and you do not want to realize that you’ve taken it for granted on such an important date.

Pack all your essentials the night before in (preferably) a small backpack that you can easily lug around. Bring two #2 Mongol pencils, an eraser, your test permit, a school ID just in case and food to snack on: my personal favorites of the season were seaweed crisps that I got for a buy one, take one deal in Robinsons Supermarket, raisins and trail mix. Scientific studies in the past have claimed that chewing motions can help stimulate your brain, but I just believe it just doesn’t feel right to engage in battle on an empty stomach. Coordinate with friends who’ll be in the same testing center as you, in case you won’t be able to survive in such an environment without someone to sympathize with you. Personally, I didn’t bother meeting up with friends for three out of my four tests because I wanted to feel independent and possibly run into new people.

If you’re anything like me and you hold on to God for dear life in almost every situation that brings you difficulty, don’t forget to pray for enlightenment and the capacity to accept His will, whatever it may be. As much as possible, try to hear Mass the day before your entrance test. Funny story, I was supposed to do this on ACET Eve, but we got stuck in traffic and missed the opportunity to. I ended up running to my parish while the staff were closing it (I didn’t even know that was a thing – what about the troubled souls who need guidance in the wee hours of the morning!) and muttering the most desperate prayer under my breath in a minute. I even lit a candle outside because I wanted to pass Ateneo that badly. Looking back, I found that it helped me lots because I was able to lift up all my worries to Him so I wouldn’t have to bring them along with me the next day.

On the test day itself, the best weapon to have in your arsenal is a good mindset. Walk into the testing center like you already passed, stroll along the corridors like it’s your first day in that university and look at every question as another step closer to freedom. Do not overthink or panic: I know it is much easier said than done, but it won’t hurt to fake it till you make it (sometimes, in situations like this, it’s the best option available).

Keep track of time limits: don’t be afraid to glance at the wall clock or your wristwatch from time to time so you can pace yourself properly. Don’t take too long on one item: if you don’t know what to do with it in 20 seconds, just come back to it when you have extra minutes to spare. If you’re not sure about the answer to an item, make the most intelligent guess you can by racking your brain for the very limited stock knowledge you have on that topic. Choose one letter to be your go-to choice if you really don’t know the answer: mine was C (for Christ, truly) although I don’t know if that’s still a wise decision because universities might start picking up on this strategy.

Look back on all your answers: if you have the luxury of time, re-read everything from the instructions to the passages to the choices provided, because sometimes, even if you were 110% sure of what you were answering during that moment, you may have missed something important. If you happen to be one of those beasts who come prepared enough and you’re completely sure of everything already, catch a quick nap to recharge those batteries instead of scouting for attractive fellow test-takers. I swear, there will be many more of them in college: at present, it’s best to exhaust all efforts into actually getting a university.

AFTER THE TEST

The minute the proctor makes you put your pencil down one last time and submit the questionnaire forward, let it go. Completely forget that it happened: don’t spend the succeeding days discussing answers with peers, as it will almost always end with you regretting things you can no longer change. Do not keep a countdown until judgment day ticking in your head either: choose to take this time to let your life return to its normal state. Shift your focus back to your academics for the school year, and be preoccupied with your interests once again during your free time. Remember to treat yourself as well, because we all know it’s not easy to study while simultaneously worrying about your future. After all my CETs, I made sure to eat out with my family and spoil myself with chick flick marathons and skin care products. Most importantly, be sure to keep praying as it is the key to accepting what happens in the future and regaining peace of mind. As cheesy as it sounds, trust in God’s plan for You and know that He has a reason for everything that is about to happen.

Now, on to the final stretch: the release of results. (This is a pretty timely thing to be talking about right now, since as of this writing, I’m waiting for UP to make a move within the week) If you pass your dream school—or any university for that matter—congratulations! Your hard work has finally paid off, and the promising future you’ve built up in your head is slowly turning into a reality. Don’t forget to thank all those who made this possible for you: God, your family, friends and teachers who believed in you through every sleepless night and mid-morning breakdown. Remain humble though, and be careful not to gloat in front of those who didn’t pass. I know you’re not really obliged to act a certain way to please them, especially during a time as joyous as this, but it’s all a matter of empathy: I’m sure you’d feel the same way if the roles were reversed. One thing you’re left to decide with if you’re lucky enough to pass more than one college is where you’re headed off to. Personally, it’s course over school: go for the program that suits you best and will help you pursue the career path you wish, since that will do you more good in the future than the reputation of any institution. If you are not entirely convinced by that spiel, do not hesitate to ask help from those you trust most: preferably family members, teachers and counselors. I left out friends, because I don’t think it’s a wise decision to choose a specific school just because that’s where they’re headed.

If you fail to make the cut, however, indulge in your right to cry right now. I’m sure that it must be disheartening, planning out a future in a school that ended up “rejecting” you in the end, but news flash: the race does not finish here! Pick yourself up, dust yourself off and get ready for the results of the other schools you have applied for. Be sure to surround yourself with only people who are capable of uplifting your spirits and helping you believe in yourself during such a trying time. If the worst case scenario happens and you are left with no college at the end of the day, it’s time to get hustling: look for universities that are still accepting applications (some schools out there have entrance tests every month, and results come out instantly), or send in letters of appeal if ever you truly have your eyes set on a specific campus. That’s not something I have much expertise on though, but almost everything you will need to know is on the school’s official website.

And, there you have it! Everything I could tell you about the college entrance tests! I spent approximately three days trying to kick my writing slump in the ass: my eyes hurt and I may be suffering from carpal tunnel but all of that means nothing as long as I’ve been able to guide one hopeless soul out of the dark. (Yes, I patterned that after my comprehensive guide to surviving Grade 11 – my brain is dying, and I have no time to think of an ending catchier than that.) I’m on summer break now and I’ll be going to Korea next week, so expect a lot of lighter and more amusing content!

Stay in school, kids!

Angel

#angeltriestoblog #cets #college entrance tests #philippines #upcat #acet #dcat #ustet #cet tips #life dump #recs

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techfanged · 7 years ago

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gettcgged replied to your post: aLSO I HAD A SUPER WEIRD DREAM WHO WANTS TO HEAR...

[meeeee]

Putting under the cut because i’m convinced people would think I’m taking acid or something after hearing this dream I had.

so basically it started off weird but normal; a new CIV game was released and this one was in both 3d AND virtual reality, so for example, you can spawn on a huge floating island above a chunk of land and you can have a civ there and someone else can have a civ right below you. I thought i won the game early on but because of the fact someone could be below me, I didn’t and I got really mad, so I tried to find a way down and discovered this weird temple but I thought nothing of it. Then I proceeded to kick more ass in the game but still didn’t win because like an idiot I said that there should be 8 civs and not 4 like I had thought I did and one was still reamining, so I set out to try and find them and stumbled upon the temple again.

However, this time, it was populated by the diamonds from SU! Turns out tiw as their temple! Seeing a human go them really really mad and they started screaming at me and white Diamond’s face also melted for some reason??? Suddenly the main SU cast was there (i forget who all is the main cast now I haven’t watched the show in five decades) and for some reason Lapis was fused with a lobster? White Diamond’s face kept melting and she stormed off into the head of the statue because no one in the group was tall enough to join her in her chambers, so blue diamond came and collected us all... except for Lapis because Lapis was half fused with a lobster and she didn’t want to see her, so I got really pissed at the diamonds and told them off and said that I was better than them because I wanted Lapis around bc let’s be real a half water manipulator half lobster fusion sounds pretty slick. So I laughed and left with the group and the diamonds were so furious that later that night, they all turned super saiyan and soared high into the sky after killing all the birds for some reason???? And then they unleashed Binding Of Isaac Bullet Hell Poison bombs and killed everyone from the Civ game while I was hiding under a giant mushroom and then White DIamond’s face melted again before she threw a giant bomb and killed me

TURNS OUT, though, that that was the bad ending of the game and that I got a chance to rework it by not accepting Lapis. Blue Diamond turned everyone into these really weird creatures idk how to describe them but we were attached to red strings and lifted up and down like puppets until I suddenly found myself turned back into a human at my old high school.

I walked through the doors but the layout was super different and ran into a few of my old teachers who thought I was still a student and were mad at me for not being in class, so I told them I was on the middle school side helping out another teacher bc that was my go-to-excuse when I wasn’t in class and they got even more mad like ‘Well you should have told us all >:I’ which like fair but at the same time I was salutatorian (that is true and not something dream me concocted btw I actually was salutatorian) and they needed to chill so I just. went to class. However I think I was drunk in the dream because I nearly fell down two flights of stair seven after grabbing a rail? I somehow managed to get to my college’s book store of all things and began to look for a math text book because I was starting up the semester again and I was forced into a trigonometry class because I had nothing else to take, and I ended up stealing this girl’s chair and told her I’d let her star in my movie (still don’t know why dream me said that; filmography is your field rok not mine) if she’d accept my apology and he was like ‘ok C:’ and left.

I couldn’t find my book so I walked out and ended up in a weird version of my uni’s humanities department and ran into a really cute guy that was for some reason drawing Sonic the Hedgehog with a metal pen (even in the ink it made was metal ngl it was kinda neat) and it was such a neat drawing, so I tried to join him but I can’t draw Sanic worth a damn so I failed horrible and he felt bad that he let me have the pen. I walked into the hallway and ran into a guy telling me hte story about a room that I interpreted as he meant it was haunted when he actually meant ‘hey if you do this weird movement against the wall it makes a weird sound’ and I felt so embarrassed that I ran away and suddenly found myself falling into trigonometry class!

My professor didn’t realize I missed half the class and he started lecturing when the most shocking of things happened; White Diamond was back and she was fucking pissed! She was mad at me for escaping her in game so she was planning on punishing everyone in the class if I couldn’t find 10 surveillance cameras she hid in the room! I found 9 of them without anyone’s help but the 10th one was attached to this weird circuit thing that she made that no one could get to without electrocuting oneself/ The girl from the bookstore was there and she tried to use a chisel but she got electrocuted and fell backwards into someone’s arms. Then my professor tried to do it with jumper cables and although he got really electrocuted, he managed to short circuit the thing somehow and snagged the last camera for me. White Diamond screamed “Nooooooo” and exploded and everyone in the class clapped and cheered. My professor started twerking for. some reason. and excitedly told us we had an exam the next class period. We took our seats as he began to lecture us and the girl from the bookstore let me see her notes. For some reason though she also took my hand and started rubbing it and when I said ‘um I’m gay’ she said ‘I Know’ which apparently made me feel so weird and confused that I woke up.

TL;DR I had a super weird dream and id be surprised if no one thought I was taking acid last night to have such a weird dream.

#gettcgged #| ✖. OOC 🐻 ❝ нey мr. dj leт тнe мυѕeѕ тaĸe мe υndergroυnd. ❞ |#;;tbd #drug mention //#// wHAT THE FUCK KIND OF DREAM DID I HAVE LAST NIGHT #// WHAT IS ANY OF THIS SUPPOSED TO MEAN #// also please read this you might get a good laugh out of this

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punkrockpolitix · 4 years ago

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Trumpism and the Tyranny of the Minority

by Mitch Maley — I'm often asked why self-described patriots seem to be okay with fascism or how those who scream in defense of concepts such as liberty and freedom can fail to be troubled by our slide toward totalitarianism, but such questions seem to miss the larger point.

Trumpism isn't a new phenomenon or even unique to the man at its helm. It is simply the logical end point for the so-called Tea Party movement that has completely taken over traditional conservatism in the past decade, a movement that aims to fully impose the will of a minority, even if their views are grossly out of step with most Americans.

In that sense, 2010 was the official end of bipartisan government, the moment the opposition became the enemy. It became more dangerous to reach across the aisle than to sit on your hands and do nothing, unless you could do everything your constituents wanted. It became a zero sum game in which half a loaf of bread was worse than none at all.

Make no mistake, extremism—whether it comes from the right or the left—is always about minority rule. Otherwise, the beliefs would be mainstream. Donald Trump was only the fourth president in U.S. history to lose the popular vote and win the electoral college, and he did it with less of a share of the total vote (46.9) than any of the others. Not once during his presidency has his approval rate hit 50 percent, and it's recently been as low as 35.

I point this out because to hear his supporters tell it, they are part of a silent majority, despite what the math tells us. However, minority rule has been at the core of this movement from the beginning—at least for its architects. From restrictive voting laws clearly meant to suppress opposition turnout (including the current misinformation campaign on vote by mail) to packing the courts with judges that hold views grossly out of step with the majority of Americans and seeking to subvert the Supreme Court decision on a woman's right to choose with laws meant to curtail the ability of women to access abortion under bogus pretenses, the right-wing platform has increasingly become about a minority of people imposing their beliefs on a majority who find them objectionable.

Sure, there are memes, slogans and talking points that attempt to rationalize things like voter ID laws, limitations on early voting, requiring OBGYNs to have admitting privileges near their clinics or that the clinics to be expensively retrofitted to meet arbitrary codes, and on and on across a broad spectrum of issues, but when you read the literature of the think tanks and policy groups that craft such legislation, their objective is clear: How do we get what we want, without the power of the majority behind us?

One way is to argue that the rules favor the minority view, which is why there are always so many lay constitutional scholars ready to tell us how things like universal health care, mask mandates during a pandemic, sensible environmental regulation and other policies favored by a majority of Americans run afoul of the founder's intent, even if those same experts fail to find their voice each time this president tramples on the Constitution on behalf of something they agree with.

But gerrymandering districts so that you can keep at least part of Congress under your control despite getting less total Congressional votes cycle after cycle, or packing courts with sympathetic judges who might uphold the unconstitutional laws you are able to get passed is part of the kind of long game most people don't have patience for. In the end, if you want to see your country look exactly the way you want—and most of your fellow Americans do not share your vision—there is only one route: ceding power to a totalitarian dictator who has been able to turn minority support into presidential power and is willing to dance to any song his supporters play, so long as they provide the means for him to remain in power—legitimately or otherwise.

It is in this effort that fascism becomes quite useful, for it allows the minority to actually claim defense of our freedoms against an enemy that can now be identified as the other, an outsider group who they don't need to count among their numbers, as those people are now the enemy, making for a false reality in which they are no longer a minority but rather a majority of real Americans who love their country and are therefore intent on stopping the evil others at all costs.

Fascism is, at its core, not an ideology. Most simply put, it is an attack from the right on the left, on the basis that the central tenets of liberalism represent a constant threat of socialist takeover that is always close to being upon us. Draped in nationalism and an appeal to a brand of inherent righteousness most commonly found in religious movements, it should be no surprise that its adherents often espouse rhetoric that is just as dogmatic and evangelical.

Conversely, socialism is, in many ways, a similar attack on the perceived inherent evils of capitalism. Like fascist revolutions, socialist ones routinely justify violent insurrection, theft and even the execution of those who do not bend their knee, as necessary nearly to the point of being benevolent—regardless of the majority's will. One need not look further than the recent upheaval in Seattle, where a group of left-wing radicals vandalized private property while occupying six city blocks and making ridiculous demands until eventually devolving into the deadly chaos of a miniature failed state. The means to take power already exist through democratic channels, but because a majority is needed to seize it, the malcontent convince themselves that such a system is inherently corrupt to the degree that such criminal reappropriations are not only justified but completely necessary in order to force their minority view on the rest of the community who so desperately needs to live by it, even if they don’t realize it yet.

What the extreme left and extreme right have in common is an unwavering belief that there is but one way to do things—theirs. The big difference, however, is that while the extreme left doesn't even like the Democratic Party, even the progressive left is but a fringe force in a party almost wholly controlled by right of center NeoLiberals who drape themselves in progressive slogans, while remaining contemptuous of progressive politics.

Meanwhile, the Tea Party movement has, in just 10 years, completely vanquished the NeoConservative forces that preceded it as the power center of the Republican Party. Trump's election in 2016 signaled the passing of the torch, or rather it being pried from the cold, dead hands of the House of Bush. The extreme right, very much unlike the extreme left, is in control, with both the White House and the Senate under its wing. Those who haven't bent their knee in fealty to Trump and his tribe like former NeoCon stalwarts Lindsey Graham, Nikki Haley and Mitch McConnell have, have either been marooned in a political no man’s land (Mitt Romney) or have gotten out.

What's left of the NeoConservative Republicans is now part of team Biden, seeing far more commonality with the NeoLiberals than Trump's crowd. That should be no surprise. The majority of Democrats and Republicans of 2000-2010 disagreed on little when it came down to brass tacks. Sure, they dangled identity politics, social issues and class warfare as red meat for the crowd, but when it came to Wall Street, globalization, bad trade deals and forever wars, they had much in common and were happy to divy the loot.

Of course, if you're a Trump supporter, you might be inclined to think something totally different. To hear his campaign frame the 2020 election, he's not running against the guy who wrote the crime bill, voted for every war and military spending bill ever put before him and routinely worked across the aisle to make deals. No, they're running against Antifa, AOC, looters in Portland and the impending socialist revolution that will always be on the verge of taking over, lest Donald J. Trump protects us.

Why? Because there's not a very sound argument for minority rule or trading democracy for autocracy to get it, unless the wolves are at the door and your only choices are giving up your freedoms or being eaten alive. For many Trump supporters, the constant rhetoric and propaganda has led them to a place where they truly believe there's that much at stake in November. It doesn't matter that the streets were peaceful when he took office or that Americans have never been as divided as they have become under his rule, at least since the Civil War. That's not because of his actions. In their minds, it's in spite of them. If Biden were to win, every American city would be overtaken by violent leftists, AOC and the Squad would be pulling his strings, and their country would become unrecognizable. Of course they would hand over any power needed to the one man who could save them from such horrors.

For the rest of us, the country has already become unrecognizable since 2016, and in the worst way possible. We're living their nightmare and the notion that four more years of Trump (or perhaps more, given his regular references to deserving a third term) might indeed see the United States slide into a totalitarian autocracy in which dissenters or even those deemed insufficiently enthusiastic about Dear Leader could be sent off to the gulags seems all too possible. The only thing that remains certain is that it won't be over on November 3, no matter who wins. America is at the crossroads of a cultural reckoning, and it will take more than just a presidential election for it to fully play out.

Dennis “Mitch” Maley has been a journalist for more than two decades. A former Army Captain, he has a degree in government from Shippensburg University and is the author of several books, which can be found here.

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musicprincess655 · 7 years ago

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Haruichi sat outside the library, feeling a little out of place. Sure, no one was staring at him, but it still felt strange to be in such a wide open area when he was so used to the opposite. He didn’t even have the cats with him – they weren’t allowed in the building, no matter how much he tried to convince the security guard otherwise, so they were skulking outside, Nyarlathotep looking nothing short of affronted and Yggy just looking sad.

It was strange to think that he could be this exposed and yet, pretty safe. Now that he thought about it, though, he’d been even more exposed at coven battle practice earlier, and he’d barely noticed. He’d just planned on observing from a safe distance, unwilling to be parted from his brother now that he’d found him, but the coach had pulled him in, saying something about strikers and partners. He’d almost panicked for a moment, before he saw Ryou nodding at him.

The game wasn’t hard. Ryou had taught him how to use magic, after all, and while he’d never used it in tandem with someone else before, he could follow the rules of trying to get past two boys without getting hit. He was faster than his brother on his own, but he couldn’t partner with the boy who had bound his brother – Kuramochi, his name was Kuramochi – as well.

Still, the coach had been pleased, offering him a spot on the team that Haruichi had accepted with a stutter and a pleased blush. He’d had a uniform thrust into his hands, a few hands slapped to his back, and Eijun grinning like a maniac, thrilled to have him on the second string.

It was a new feeling, being wanted like that. But a good feeling.

And it was fun. He’d had more fun than he could remember having in years. Not that he didn’t like spending time with his brother, but it was even more fun with more people. There was no way he was giving that up anytime soon, even if he’d realized he and his brother were playing the same position and would be competing for playing time.

Haruichi nervously glanced at the clock on the wall. Eijun had said he’d be out of class by one and meeting him here by one fifteen, and it was already one thirty. He was fidgeting, not sure if he should get up and go look or if he was being stood up, when Eijun came sprinting through the front door. Ignoring the glare the security guard sent his way, Eijun came skidding to a stop in front of where Haruichi was sitting, panting for breath, cheeks flushed, hair falling into his eyes.

“Sorry Harucchi!” he gasped. “My professor held us over, just wouldn’t stop talking. I got here as fast as I could!”

The reference librarian across from them outright shushed him. Eijun shot a look at her over his shoulder before reaching for Haruichi’s wrist, pulling him along.

“Come on,” he said in a whisper that was still a little too loud. “We should check the catalogue and see what they have.”

He parked them in front of a computer, sitting down while Haruichi looked over his shoulder at the screen. He started typing in the search box, adding a few search terms as he went. A list of books popped up, and he clicked on a few, writing a string of numbers down on a slip of paper. He stood, turning to Haruichi.

“It looks like a bunch of these are in the same area, so we’ll just go up and see if there’s anything promising around them,” Eijun said. The reference librarian shushed him again. Eijun turned to glare at her this time.

“This is a group study floor, I am allowed to talk,” he snapped, although he’d finally managed to modulate his voice down to something resembling appropriate. She rolled her eyes, turning back to her computer screen. Eijun stalked off, clearly expecting Haruichi to follow him, grumbling something like only the top floors are quiet areas under his breath.

They both got in the elevator, Eijun consulting a poster on the wall and then his slip of paper before pressing the button. Haruichi realized that he was using the poster to navigate them to the right floor, seeing letters that corresponded to the ones Eijun had written down.

They got off the elevator, and Haruichi was surprised to see how fitting Eijun looked as he led them down quiet stacks. He stopped them about halfway down the row, pointing at a shelf at about Haruichi’s eye level.

“This is where the things I looked up are,” he said, voice truly lowered now. “They’re grouped by category, so just see if anything in this area looks helpful. Make sure you keep the books you don’t want as well, don’t just put them back.”

“Even if I remember where they were?” Haruichi asked, voice a whisper. Eijun shook his head.

“They need to know how useful they’re being to keep their funding, so just leave the books you don’t want at the book return cart by the elevators so they can count them and restack them,” he explained. “I’m going to go this way, you go back that way, and see if you see anything that could help. Anything about past experiences will probably be for the best.”

Haruichi nodded, turning to the shelf as Eijun moved to the one next to him. He scanned the books in front of him. They all seemed to have to do with binding spells, but Haruichi couldn’t tell much more from just looking at them. He slid out one with gold lettering on the spine that caught his eye, opening it to see a table of contents. He scanned down it, but it seemed to just be a history of the development of binding spells, nothing to do with how they were cast. Probably not very helpful.

He fell into a rhythm, pulling out books, scanning through their tables of contents, occasionally jumping to a chapter if he thought it looked promising. Every so often, he’d take the ones he didn’t want to the cart Eijun had told him to, stacking the ones he wanted to keep on a stool he and Eijun had put between themselves.

Haruichi pulled down a book that he had to reach on his toes to get to. He could appear however he wanted, but it was easier to stay like this, and besides, he liked how he looked. He flipped through the book, seeing a few chapters that looked good, when he stopped on one.

“Eijun-kun?”

“Yeah?”

“Would this help?” He turned the book so Eijun could see the chapter titled Bindings to Selves and Forms. Eijun’s eyes widened as he scanned down the page, flipping through. A grin spread across his face, making his eyes almost glow gold.

“Harucchi, this is perfect!” he gasped, voice rising, but not enough to break the moment. He was right in Haruichi’s face, grinning, and Haruichi…

Was blushing, and once again grateful that he’d chosen to have bangs that covered his eyes, because he had no clue what they were doing right now. He felt his heart thump heavily against his chest.

“We should go check these out,” Eijun said, not noticing that anything was amiss. “We can only check out ten books each. You have your student ID, right?”

Haruichi nodded, not trusting himself to speak. He’d picked up his student ID and class schedule earlier today, and would start going to class tomorrow. He hadn’t asked yet, but he was probably on the same course as Eijun, so they would probably have most of their classes together.

They walked to the elevator, Eijun carrying most of their books, leaving a few for Haruichi to stack under his chin, and pressing the button for the ground floor. Haruichi looked over to see Eijun staring at the floor, looking quietly pleased.

“I’m surprised,” Haruichi spoke up, not entirely sure where he was going with this. “You don’t seem like this would be your kind of thing.”

“How do you mean?”

Carefully. If his brother had taught him nothing else, he had taught him to be careful with how he chose his words.

“You just seem to like running around, and shouting, and playing,” Haruichi said. “You can’t do any of those things here.”

Eijun didn’t look offended. If anything, he looked nostalgic.

“I wasn’t a very good student,” he admitted. “I wouldn’t have gotten in here if I’d taken the entrance exam. I was lucky Takashima-san made me an offer, or I’d still be back in Nagano. I never had the best grades, even if I wasn’t failing, but…” he chuckled to himself. “I always liked reading. We didn’t have a lot of bookstores in town, and they weren’t stocked that well, and it wasn’t like my family had a lot of money to spend on books anyway, but the school library was fantastic. I used to run in most days before class to switch out the book I’d checked out for a new one, and I’d read during lunch when my friends were busy. I remember once, I was reading a series that was ten books long, and I liked it so much that I was going through a book a day, and Sunday was torture because I couldn’t get the next book in the series and I couldn’t wait to find out what happened.”

He was grinning in earnest now, but it was controlled, not the blazing look that he’d shown Haruichi earlier. Somehow it was even more intense, and even harder not to squirm under.

“I eventually got good at literature,” he went on. “You’ll get good at anything if you do it long enough. It was the only class I was really good at, although history wasn’t bad either, I guess. Math was the worst, though.”

Maybe Haruichi was supposed to laugh at that, but he couldn’t move.

“I know I still have a lot to learn,” Eijun said. “I know I’m not very good at magic yet, even if I’m aiming to be the ace. But I’ve always known about reading, and I know about libraries, so even if there’s not much I can do to help your brother and Kuramochi-senpai, I can do this much.”

Haruichi could feel his heart pounding hard in his chest. He’d been used to Eijun as a loudmouth, and as a bit of a moron, but now his view had shifted, and he could see that there was more to be seen under that.

He wasn’t an idiot. Just because he’d never experienced this feeling before didn’t mean he didn’t know what it was. He just wasn’t sure what he was supposed to do now.

When Eijun got off the elevator, Haruichi hung back for just a moment, pressing a hand to his chest and begging his heart to calm down. It wasn’t that weird, he decided. Eijun had this magnetism to him, Haruichi could see that already in how the team gathered around him, sometimes shouting, but cheerful all the same. And Eijun was his first friend other than his brother.

Maybe it was inconvenient to have a crush on him, but not completely unforgiveable. Haruichi just hoped it went away soon.

Eijun led him to the self-checkout, showing him how to swipe his ID card and scan the books to check them out. They walked out of the library, Eijun loading the books into his bag, shouldering them with a grunt.

“You’re coming to class starting tomorrow, right?” Eijun asked. Haruichi nodded. “Do you have that ten am with Ochiai on magic history?”

“Yeah.”

“Great!” Eijun laughed. “I’ll see you at practice tomorrow!”

Haruichi waved to him as he left. Nyarlathotep and Yggy came up now that he was outside, winding around his legs and mewing. He pressed a fist to his chest again, feeling how his heart had calmed down.

It was different from Hell, but Haruichi was starting to think he liked different.

#fydna #dailydaiya #daiya no a #ace of diamond #dna #my writing #magic au #elt

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marsymallows · 5 years ago

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Yes, you read it right! I finally did it! I went on a solo trip for the first time and it’s for my 30th birthday!!

I’ve been thinking of doing this for the longest time as I love TRAVELING, and lately, I love being ON MY OWN. Put those together, and what do you get? Labo! Seriously, you can just do the math! Haha!

I booked this trip probably around April (when we got our bonus) and when PAL had one of their seat sales, which was very timely. I did not book any baggage allowance yet as I wanted to backpack around the island and I wanted to teach myself how to pack light this time. So total cost was around Php 1,100 round freaking trip!!!!!!

Weeks prior to the trip, I wasn’t sure if I was gonna push through as the weather didn’t look so good, plus I was a bit short on moolah as I am not doing well at my sales job, but since I was turning 30 naman na and I saved up pa rin naman, plus, I, really, really wanted to do something new, I did it!!! My adventurous self was poking me constantly that I got annoyed so sige na, push na this!

The week prior to the trip, I was still sooooo busy implementing activities. I even traveled to one of my remote territories the day before, so you can just imagine how tired I was from the long drive, but that didn’t stop me! In fact, I was sooooo excited, I packed my bag a few days prior. Usually, I’d pack my luggage the night before a trip, which brings me to ehem, the things I learned on my first ever solo trip!

PACK YOUR BAG EARLY! – Ok so you guys probably already know this, but did I say that this post was about you? Charot! Nang-away? Anyhooooo, I normally pack my bags the night before, coz that’s the time that I don’t have to worry about my deodorant getting lost in my luggage when I haven’t put on any yet. Same with my slippers, undies etc. This time, I started packing my stuff at least 2 days prior, so I had time to sort through my beach OOTD’s, my swimwear, my scarves (always!). I had time to check my travel toiletries so I could buy whatever’s lacking. I was also able to organize my stuff in separate travel pouches especially my cords, chargers, batteries!

RESULT:I was able to eliminate excess stuff as I had time to really think about what I am going to wear based on my itinerary. Unfortunately, I still had to buy prepaid baggage allowance. I guess I really am no expert at PACKING SHYET, I mean, PACKING LIGHT. I guess this was still a FAIL, nevertheless, I still tried (so it’s a WIN too!) and that’s what matters. For my next beach trip though, I would really want to pack less than 7kg! Challenge accepted!

my backpack weighed 10kg at 50L! My shoulder bag weighed 6.5kg! LIGHT PACKER BA KAMO? Haha!

DO A LOT OF RESEARCH! NO ONE’S GONNA DO IT FOR YOU THIS TIME! Normally, my brother and sister would do all the research for our family trips, from the itinerary, to hotels and transport to restaurants to try and shopping districts to visit. Same with trips with my friends. I have a friend in Cebu who does all the financial stuff, so we would all just depend on her on how much we would all have to pay individually when the bills come. The only time I did really heavy research was for our first Japan trip coz I had all the time in the world (I was unemployed at the time haha). So It’s not like I am useless when traveling. See, I could do it if I want to, and this time, I HAD TO. Thanks to all the bloggers, vloggers, influencers, Biyahe ni Drew, and my bro for all the tips, the tricks and all the things they learned from their trips to Camiguin.

RESULT: I was able to browse through different options and finally book my accommodations the best way possible (Thanks Agoda and Booking.com). I was able to put together my own itinerary (without having to consider the preferences of another–yay for solo trips). Although 70% of my research was literally just spoon fed by my brother who went to Camiguin a few months earlier, I still am proud of myself for being able to juggle these last minute reservations with TONS of WORK!!

IF THERE’S AN OPTION TO PAY CHEAPER, GO FOR IT! – This is probably a result of doing number 2 too. No, it’s not the #2 you’re thinking about! I was referring to DOING YOUR RESEARCH.

If you happen to find out how much things really cost ahead of time, say for example, renting a scooter to go around the island on, you wouldn’t pay Php 500 for a 24 hour use!!!! And yes, I am speaking from experience. Sadly, I forgot how much my brother paid for his when he rented one. I didn’t have time to scroll through our looooooooooong IG conversation, so I paid Php 500 instead of just Php 250-300!

When commuting, try to find out how to go around like the locals do (thanks bro and our hotel receptionists for the tips!)! It would help you save big time! On my 3rd day, I commuted on Camiguin’s public transport, aka their relas/motorelas and paid around Php 11 the most!

Camiguin motorela and the Samuel by Vjandep restaurant in the background!

Also, when you’re alone in say some sort of public pool with tables for rent, you don’t have to rent a whole table for your stuff and pay Php 75. Sadly, I also did, when I could just have left my bag and slippers beside the pool itself.

For food, try walking around your hotel, look for restaurants where the locals eat, or again, do your research and check reviews of previews visitors to get the “bung for your buck!”. You don’t really have to go cheap for food, but it would be soooooo nice to have a sumptuous for an incredibly affordable seafood lunch or dinner!

Hayahay Cafe’s famous smoothie bowl!

For your accommodation: Since this was my birthday trip, I booked a night at a pricier place, Ysla Beach Camp and Eco Resort for the glamping experience and I must say that it was worth every penny! Then I transferred to a budget hotel, GV hotel which was equally worth my hard earned money coz it was in the middle of everything and I was really comfortable as well! My room was just Php 500 a night! I just added P25/night to transfer to an air-conditioned room. I will be making a separate post for my trip itinerary so I will be writing a more extensive review of the land arrangements!

Another tip for budget travelers going to Camiguin, I paid friggin Php 200 for my boat ride to White Island instead of Php 450-500, though the guilt trip afterwards still kills me to this day! LOL! Instead of finding and convincing a group of 3 or perhaps a couple to take you along with them on their boat (boat can only accommodate 4 tourists and 2-3 boatmen) before you go to the cashier, try going directly to the cashier at the port and wait for a group to approach her and pay her, before you tell them that you are on your own and you’re looking for a group to join. This way, they would have paid their 550 each and you’re just gonna have to pay a joiner fee of Php 200. You can talk to the group if they wish to split the payment equally and pay them after. That’s what I did, but the couple didn’t want my money! So I saved 300-350 bucks! Again, I don’t recommend this, but you can most definitely try!

RESULT: Need I say more?

MAKE SURE TO LET PEOPLE KNOW YOUR ITINERARY! – I was in constant communication with my brother and my family, just in case I get in any accident or into any serious situation. And you can also get in touch with friends through video call if you can! It will be less lonely! LOL!

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RENT A SCOOTER OR MOTORCYCLE! – I need not emphasize this!! This is the best way for you to go around the island, on your own time and terms. Of course, there are risks of you being flagged down by NPA’s (JK! there are NONE!), or crashing with no one to rescue you (there’s no cell service in some parts of the island) or getting robbed (not that I heard any) but it’s part of the adventure! TBH, it was my first time riding one and I was manhandled by it. JK! The first time I was ever on a scooter (which was manual transmission pa) was back in high school/college (about 10-15 years ago) and my tito was just letting us have a feel of it around an almost carless cemetery. So I have no experience of riding one on public roads ever, but like what they always say, long as you know how to ride a bike, you’re good to go! Funny coz when the owner was handing it to me, I asked him 3x how to lock the bike when getting off (to avoid it getting robbed), how to start the ignition etc that he started to worry too. He even offered to drive me around instead, but I was firm to say “hindi kuya, gusto ko ako lang!” Tapang-tapangan eh! Solo travel nga diba? Nagtataray na naman? Char! Kidding aside, I told him firmly but in a nice way that I wanted to go around on my own. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be able to write about it here as part of my personal milestones! Yun lang pala!

LESSONS LEARNED: Always bring your driver’s license with you when you travel. I left mine at home, in Cebu, so I drove to the airport and back without one too! So, on my 3rd day in Camiguin, I commuted on motorelas, which was equally fun as it got me to talk to the locals and foreign tourists alike!

BE SURE TO KNOW YOUR WAY AROUND THE ISLAND! – Download the map so you could still navigate offline! Know where the tourist spots are! Ask around! I relied on Google Maps the whole time and it’s a good thing that you can literally go around the island via their circumferential road!

SUPPORT LOCAL! – This one I’m proud to say I do in all my travels! Who doesn’t? Try the local cuisine all you want coz you are gonna miss them for sure! I always make it a point to buy cute artisan products coz I love ANYTHING HANDMADE and HANDCRAFTED and ANKLETS! The one I wore on this trip was from El Nido! Talk to the artists or restaurant owners and ask them about their passion, for inspiration in your own life! LESSON LEARNED: Talking to owners and artists is what I got to learn how to do in future solo travels! I need to be less awkward and less shy! LOL!

BUY A TRIPOD WITH BLUETOOTH REMOTE CONTROLLER! – This was probably the first on my list of things to buy before I went on this trip! My friend, Dee recommended the Xiaomi selfie stick and tripod in one! It doesn’t extend that long, but it is sturdy and reliable as hell! Dayum these Mi products really are worth your money! You can easily slip it inside your beach bag as it isn’t bulky at all! You can also attached the bluetooth controller into the stick so you don’t have to worry about it getting lost! Got it for P799!

MAKE FRIENDS! – I traveled solo to have peace of mind and to not worry about wasting other people’s time, but it wouldn’t hurt to talk to a few strangers along the way. I may be an introvert, but that definitely doesn’t mean that I’m antisocial. There’s a thick line between those two coz I love talking to people. Ang defensive? I like getting to know people and hearing their stories, but in an intimate way. I don’t like big groups unless I’m comfortable with everyone. I get energy from having time for myself, but also from talking to people who inspire me, have a laugh with me and all that shizz.

In this particular trip, I got to know 2 other guests at Ysla Beach Camp. We only got to talk at breakfast before we all checked out and like everyone I met on this trip, they were surprised that I was on my own! I found out that one of them was from Cebu too, and they gladly shared tips on where to spend the sunset at.

The night before, it was one of the senior staff, ate Bing whom I talked to while waiting for my food. She shared stories about the whole Biyahe Ni Drew Crew including the main man himself **coughs so gwapo! **coughs and compared him to Atom Araullo who also visited their resort in the past.

At the Church ruins, I met this little boy named Christian, who took all of my amazing IG-worthy photos. He directed me and shot my photos in less than 5 minutes! Fastest photoshoot ever and I was surprised by how beautiful everything turned out. Walang tapon!

Lastly, on my motorela ride back to the airport (which took less than 10 mins), I met this hilarious couple who pep-talked me about career women marrying late in life. Buti na lang kasabut na ko ug Bisaya (ngek mali pa rin pala!) and was laughing the whole time, I almost missed my stop! LESSON LEARNED: Travel solo and talk to strangers, one thing you won’t be able to do much when you’re traveling with someone! And one more thing, be courteous and grateful and give the locals your best smile always!

BE GENEROUS WITH YOUR TIPS! – I know that it sometimes feel unnecessary to do so, but find it in your heart to give back because people working in tourism even those kids who offered to take such good photos of you deserve it! I know most of you are probably so generous when traveling, so good for you!

BRING A BOOK OR TWO! – This may be the right time for you to finally start the book you’ve been wanting to read for the longest time, so make the most of it! It will be perfect especially if your room has no TV and no WIFI!

BE ONE WITH NATURE and ENJOY THE LITTLE THINGS! – Go camping! Wake up early and catch the sunrise by the beach! I never miss sunrises on vacation! It’s my most favorite thing to do! Usually while walking along the shore, I’d be accompanied by dogs and I would meet a couple of fishermen prepping their boat and nets! Go out and enjoy the view and the fresh air! Go for a swim! Take lots of photos and videos to reminisce memories with! Then get rid of your phones for a while or maybe just go offline for a bit and turn off your playlists and listen to the sound of nature instead! Reflect and contemplate. Paint!Pray! Walk around the city early in the morning before everyone wakes up! Walk around at night too especially if the area looks safe! Enjoy these little, big things! LESSON LEARNED: BEING ONE WITH NATURE IS ONE OF THE BEST FEELINGS IN THE WORLD!

BE GRATEFUL! – Life is beautiful so be grateful for opportunities to travel, to try something new, to meet new people, learn about their culture, for the chance to unwind and rest from all the chaos, for the time and space to reflect on your life. Good things are always present in our lives and we just fail to recognize them! For this trip, I thank the Lord over and over again. I was anticipating some travel mishaps, but I almost had none! I’m grateful that I did not crash my scooter, nor did I encounter a police checkpoint. I’m grateful for all the people who assisted me.

awra awra thanks to my selfie stick/tripod!

I’m grateful for the people who shared their stories with me! I’m grateful for the beauty that is Camiguin! It is now my favorite trip by far because I did it NOT ON MY OWN, but with GOD and with EVERYONE who helped me out!

Things I Learned from my First Ever Solo Trip / Camiguin Yes, you read it right! I finally did it! I went on a solo trip for the first time and it's for my 30th birthday!!

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