#its been like 8 years since i added things to my savings goals list

[lyricsandpapers]

I paid off two of my three loans today.

[alittlewhump]

Unbidden - Act 2, chapter 8

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Content warnings: None

Morgan followed the sound of voices through the archives. He'd taken a more familiar route this time, one that skirted closer to the markets than he'd liked. Blaise and Cain were discussing something, but Cain stopped mid-sentence when he spied Morgan.

"Morgan! It's good to see you again, friend, though I had not expected you so soon." Morgan allowed himself a small smile. He'd missed Cain and his stories, his easy friendliness.

Blaise spun around to face him. "What are you doing here? You-" She seemed to lose her train of thought briefly as her eyes lingered at the collar of his shirt. "You should be resting."

"I want to make up for the time I've lost," Morgan said, growing serious again. He didn't feel tired, exactly, and anyway there was no respite to be found in his shared room. "There are demons seeking the tomb of Tal Rasha as well. Time is of the essence. What is it you've found?"

He couldn't read Blaise's expression as he came around the table to look at the books laid out across it. It turned out that finding the tomb would only be half the problem. There was a specific artifact needed to open it, and it had been split into pieces. A staff, which Morgan recognized from a tour of the local museum, and an amulet, which Blaise had already managed to recover from the demons who had held it. But it was not as simple as just having the pieces; there was a strange device required to bind them together, and that was guarded in yet another tomb by magical traps set by an ancient order of mages known as the Horadrim. Cain was familiar with this order, luckily enough, and was certain that he would be able to use the device once they'd located it, and it looked like Blaise had already eliminated several options from a long list of possible locations for that tomb.

It was growing late in the day, though, and Blaise flatly refused to start a new expedition before the morning. "You might be fine," she groused, not sounding as though she believed that to be the case at all, "but I'm hungry and tired. I'm going back to the palace. You can come with me, if you want. You could probably use the rest."

Morgan didn't want to go back, not yet. He looked down at the map on the table in front of him. Most of the marked locations were far enough from the city to be troublesome, but within a reasonable distance of a waypoint. Potentially good ways to keep himself occupied, to make sure his skills hadn't suffered too badly from disuse. Unfortunately, he'd never accessed most of the waypoints. He would need help with that.

"I'll stay here for the night. I can catch up on research." He paused. Perhaps someone else could act as a guide, someone he wasn't already deeply indebted to. "Is there someone who could show me to these waypoints?"

"Yeah. Me. Tomorrow." No luck there, then. Blaise put one hand on her hip. "Are you really sure you want to stay here?"

"Yes." He'd fled his room for a reason. If he didn't have something useful to focus his attention on now, he was going to come apart at the seams. He just needed to occupy himself, and that was going to be much easier here.

"All right, fine. But I'm not going to take you anywhere tomorrow if you haven't gotten any rest."

Anger flared suddenly hot in Morgan's chest. She kept insisting he rest, as though he hadn't just lost - how much time exactly wasn't clear, but it was certainly at least a few days of precious time, while she apparently picked up the slack. Did she still think of him as a child, someone who needed to be taken care of? Just another responsibility to shoulder? He slammed his open hand down on the table, growling "I don't want-"

He caught himself there, squeezed his eyes shut. Took a deep breath. Control. She had every reason to see him as an inconvenience, and that wasn't important. How others perceived him was inconsequential, he reminded himself. The only thing that really mattered was the Balance. His most important task was to find and stop the demons intent on upsetting it, and he wasn't going to get any closer to that goal by antagonizing a person who could help him. What he needed was her cooperation, not her respect.

"I apologize for that outburst," he said, opening his eyes but keeping them deferentially cast down. "It was not called for. I have had my fill of sitting idle, but I will rest when I need to."

Blaise was silent for a moment. "That's... whatever. Fine. See you tomorrow." She left without further comment. Morgan smoothed down the paper he'd rumpled in his childish show of temper. Not counting the claw vipers, it had been a long while since the last time he'd let himself get agitated to the point of lashing out. He was still on edge, not feeling quite settled in his skin after all that had happened. How long was it going to take him to get back to normal? He would have to focus his meditation on regaining emotional control for a while. This type of behaviour was totally unacceptable.

Cain cleared his throat. "Shall we continue? I believe I have at least another half hour in me today." He smiled warmly and Morgan relaxed a little. He could count on the scholar to leave well enough alone, to focus on the task at hand as he so badly needed to do.

"Yes, please."

Cain dedicated the better part of the next hour to filling in details about the Horadrim and their role in imprisoning Baal. He had managed to put together a diagram of the runes he suspected would be holding the demon lord in place, which Morgan set aside carefully to memorize later. He also had a general idea of the area where the Horadric cube, the device required to reunite the staff, was located, and what manner of traps would be securing it. The trouble was that the desert landscape had shifted over the intervening years, so none of the nearby landmarks were there any more. It was in this general area that Blaise had been concentrating her efforts, having gotten clearance from her superiors to pursue the lead. She had made impressive progress. Hopefully she would still be willing to work with Morgan after he'd repaid her efforts with nothing but a short temper. She didn't tend to accept apologies well, though. He'd just have to work harder at making himself useful.

After Cain retired for the evening, Morgan settled into what felt like a reasonable pattern of alternating between study and meditation. He had to ease himself into it at first; the urge to focus all of his energy on the problem of finding the cube was very strong. But the longer he studied, the more he realized he did need to rest himself properly. Once he passed the initial hurdle of forcing himself to stop and meditate, it was actually a relief to do so. It was good to meditate with peaceful intent again. The familiar, uninterrupted mental exercises were calming in a way he'd sorely missed, and it felt like a luxury to be able to sit in a comfortable chair again. Of course, everything felt like a luxury, compared to... well. It was nice to have a fresh appreciation for the small things.

By the time the sun was coming up, Morgan was satisfied that his understanding was at least adequate. Blaise and Cain found him leaning over the table comparing two maps, trying to pick out notable landmarks from the older one that might still be recognizable in some way.

"Good morning," he greeted them, looking up from his comparison a few seconds later. Both appeared to be in reasonably good spirits.

"Morning. So, do you still want to go out today, or do you want to keep studying?" Blaise lingered at the threshold while Cain made his way around the large table.

"I'd like to join the search today. I've rested," Morgan added quickly at the expression that flickered across her face. "More than I expected. I can keep up."

"Right. Get your gear and some breakfast then, we should go before it gets too much hotter."

Morgan flinched as a hand came down on his own. He'd almost forgotten Cain's tendency towards this sort of casual contact. The old man patted his hand twice, smiling encouragingly.

"Do stay safe out there. Good luck."

"Thank you," Morgan said, sliding his hand away. "I'll meet you at the waypoint," he suggested as he headed past Blaise. She didn't agree or refuse, instead following him out of the archives wordlessly. She only broke her silence once they were outside.

"You know you don't have to do this," she said, uncharacteristically quiet. Morgan searched her face, but couldn't identify the expression on it.

"No, I do. I can't just stand by and do nothing as evil gathers its forces. As a follower of-" he caught himself, remembering they were out in public. "I am obligated to do everything in my power to ensure that Darkness does not triumph over the Light," he explained instead.

"After all you - I mean, don't you think you've done enough by now?" Her unreadable expression didn't budge. At least it wasn't anger, he decided. That was a positive.

"No. There is no 'enough' until the Balance is righted. And even then, there will always be more to do." It wasn't a single task to be completed, it was a duty that extended past the definition of 'lifelong' as most people knew it. Long after his body was dust, even long after his spirit faded, there would still be more to do. It just wouldn't be his to do any more. But since there was still life in him in this world, he had to keep working toward the larger goal.

Blaise seemed unsatisfied with his response, but they had reached the waypoint. "Well, I guess I'll scout ahead while you get yourself together. If I'm not here when you get back, just wait for me."

"Very well." He turned to head towards the palace. If he was fast enough, he could get equipped and still visit the marketplace before it got too busy. There was a vendor who sold nuts and cheeses, good nutrient-dense foods that would be suitable for eating while travelling. It would save time if he could avoid larger meals altogether.

Morgan was relieved to find his room empty when he reached it. It wasn't that he didn't want to see Jemali, exactly, but he wasn't looking forward to it either. Not before he managed to get a handle on his emotions. To dismiss the lingering ache of disappointment that he'd invited in by allowing himself to believe briefly, stupidly, that the kindness he'd received had been anything other than a transaction. Of course he knew better, but it had been a moment of weakness. Nothing to do for it but try to get stronger.

His equipment was still as he'd left it. Despite not wanting to keep Blaise waiting longer than necessary, he let himself fall into an easy rhythm of tightening and checking buckles, running his fingers along the edges of the straps to find any thinning or splitting spots. It was a pleasantly tactile exercise, and the familiarity was a comfort.

The small bag of trinkets had been placed back with the others. It was tempting to go through them, to satisfy his vague curiosity about the cost of Jemali's service, but he'd already spent more time than he intended here. It was time to move on to the marketplace, then the desert. Yes, it was good to have an itinerary again.

[prosopopeya]

Fic Writer Questions

from @clarrisani !!!

1) How many works do you have on AO3?

on ao3 i have 28. tbf though i never transferred over a bunch of my stuff from lj back in the day.

2) What’s your total AO3 word count?

176,571

3) How many fandoms have you written for and what are they?

11 listed on ao3. shout out though to house, which i wrote a bunch for but it never made it to ao3, and likely never will, and also to sherlock holmes which i wrote some fic for but more significantly, spend 2 years roleplaying. also if we want to get real nostalgic, the hits from my ffn days included such fandoms as lizzie mcguire, buffy, star trek voyager, monk, and of course, labyrinth.

4) What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Inevitable Homoeroticism in Spanish Romantic Heroes: my dean is a hispanist, grad school au. written bc at the time i was reading so many college aus and going you know what. you know what this fandom needs. and also i need therapy and instead i will write this fic.

i’m so glad it was and still is well received, and until this year’s dcbb, i thought i’d never write something as personally significant as this ever again. i’m happy to be adding something else to that list shortly (and hope it’s as well liked!).

as a sidenote, this fic was requested by and heavily cheerleaded by a friend of mine who has since passed away, and i will always think of jaymee when i think of this fic.

Like Real People Do: my impulse-written, kneejerk reaction to cas’s confession in 15x18. i wanted cas to have a chance to process his feelings separate from dean and also i wanted to push back on the notion that he was happy just saying it bc maybe after all he wants dean to love him back. it’s fitting that it comes after the grad school au in this list bc it was my return to fandom. also a rare example of me writing cas pov. (soon to not be so rare.)

Flying in Circles Inside a Jar: a s5 era fic where dean and cas get together in a roundabout way. god this was written so long ago and there are parts of it i want to change, but overall i’m still proud of a lot of moments in this fic. some good dialogue in here.

Command Me to Be Well: my angstier entry into my s15 fix-its. dean decides that he will let him and cas have sex but they can’t have feelings about it. this got way more popular than i thought it would, and it took me forever to write it, but it was definitely proof to me that i could come back to writing bc i had to edit this fic a bunch, and i was always horrible at editing. but i have better meds now yay!

fourth place is technically the codas to the grad school au, which also have some good moments but also the last coda i wrote makes me cry when i think about it still. but bc it’s part of the same universe i’m going to add:

Some Boys are Sleeping Alone: another early days fic ft. dean coming to terms with his sexuality and how it was affected by his father among other things throughout his life. this has essentially become the backbone to my conception of dean’s sexuality in canon. it ends sad! plot twist for me these days.

what i love about this list, looking at it now, is that it’s a healthy mix of my old stuff and my new stuff, and overall represents well my themes of dean’s bisexual journey and several examples of cas standing up for himself, though s4/s5 cas was just like that.

5) Do you respond to comments, why or why not?

i didn’t back in the day so much bc, you know, grad school, i was busy. i’ve been trying to since i got back into writing but have been staring at my inbox of things i need to reply to for like three months. i will do it at some point!

6) What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

god i don’t know. i wrote so much angstier stuff back in the day. i don’t really want to re-peruse all the random stuff on my ao3 but here’s one that sticks out to me even still: the au that has quinn fabray from glee in a sham marriage with jason mcconnell from bare: a pop opera and no one is happy. no one asked for this fic but i had many feelings about it.

7) What’s the fic you’ve written with the happiest ending?

these days most of my fics end happy, but the one that still has me tear up at the end is the fluff entry i wrote for dean’s birthday: through autumn’s advancing. it’s jody that always gets me. jody hugging and murmuring a goodbye to dean, and then dean watching as she hugs and whispers something to cas. i don’t know what she’s saying but her embracing cas just gets me every time.

8) Do you write crossovers? If so what is the craziest one you’ve written?

oh boy. back in the day, i would write just about anything anyone asked of me, and i prided myself on selling the wildest concepts imaginable. my lj contains a multitude of shames, but on ao3 probably the wildest is supernatural/my little pony: friendship is magic. here’s another example of me writing cas as he bonds with fluttershy.

9) Have you ever received hate on a fic?

i don’t... think so?

10) Do you write smut? If so what kind?

boy do i! uh the naked kind?? idk my approach to sex scenes is to try to capture realism but in the emotional sense. usually there’s a fun amount of dialogue. some amount of significance beyond just the act itself. i think my big thing is still representing the characters as themselves, in character.

11) Have you ever had a fic stolen?

not that i’m aware of.

12) Have you ever had a fic translated?

i don’t think so?!

13) Have you ever co-written a fic before?

this dcbb is essentially being like executive produced by @marbleflan. but there may be a more explicitly co-written fic coming up. :) :) :)

14) What’s your all time favorite ship?

dean/cas, hands down. nothing will ever compare to the absolute insanity of the way they happened in this television show.

15) What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

i started a dean/benny/cas purgatory fic that i want to get back to one day... also my fic with ghost!kevin teaming up with human blood!crowley and human!cas.

16) What are your writing strengths?

i’d like to think it’s capturing the feel of the character and staying ic. that’s my #1 goal always and the best comment i could ever receive. i like my dialogue too.

17) What are your writing weaknesses?

plot. i can’t plot to save my life. also editing. also inventing any original character is an absolute blindspot of mine.

18) What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

well i mean. i have. done that. my bilingual experience involves some weaving in and out of a language in conversation, usually mid-sentence or once you hit a word you either can’t think of in one language or feels better in another. or filler words/phrases like well, or let’s go.

19) What was the first fandom you wrote for?

gosh. probably lizzie mcguire.

20) What’s your favorite fic you’ve written?

the grad school au will always hold a special place in my heart. but i also really love this one i wrote that was a love letter to the virginia state fair, which i went to like every year when i was a kid and still hold a lot of nostalgia and love for in my heart. i really want to retool that one. there are some things i want to change about it, you know, almost ten years later.

@ anyone who wants to do this thing!!!!!!!

[thetechidevice]

What should I know before buying a smartwatch?

A smartwatch is a bracelet-like wristwatch with an embedded operating system and sensors that can run applications, send or receive messages, show notifications, and more.

The first smartwatches were developed by PHTL Smartwatches. They were powered by the energy from a button cell battery. Later, in 1991, Seiko Epson Corporation created the prototypes of smartwatches. The description of this watch was filed in 1997 (see figure 1).

The concept of wearables has been gathering attention since 2007, when Apple launched its first iPhone. Nowadays, everyone is thinking about wearable devices due to their growing popularity. In 2014 Apple released its first real smartwatch: Apple Watch (see figure 2). 

Google also created a smartwatch called Android Wear (see figure 3). Samsung has released its line of Gear S3 watches (see figure 4). In the fall of 2016, Pebble Technology Corporation announced to stop making devices because it was bought by FitBit Inc.

What should I know before buying a smartwatch?

Before buying any type of device, you should know how to use it and what advantages it will bring. You can search the web for tips on choosing one or hiring an expert, but the most important thing is to check the specifications of a particular watch.

1. You don't need it

"The Apple Watch has been on the wrists of reviewers for ten days, and I haven't worn any other watch since setting it up," said Katyanna Quach from VentureBeat.  Some people are going to love this watch, but most people will probably not need it. According to a study made by Endeavour Partners, in 2015, about 58 million smartwatches were shipped. This year, Apple Watch sales are expected at $10 billion only for 2016 (see figure 5). That's why "if you want one, get it now," said Philip Elmer-DeWitt from Fortune.

2. You can use your phone instead

A smartwatch is like a smartphone companion, they are both powerful devices that offer similar benefits, but the main difference is that it's much easier to pull out your phone than take off your wrist to check what time it is. By having a smartwatch, you don't need to be so dependent on your smartphone: "On average, people touch their phones 150 times per day," said Ashley Carman from The Verge, "that's around 9,900 touches for the entire year". And not only smartphones are taking our attention: "Americans spend up to 90 minutes a day looking at their computers", according to Mary Meeker, who did this study in 2015 (see figure6).

3. It's for fitness enthusiasts more than the general public

"I think a lot of people are going to be disappointed with it as an everyday watch," said Jason Snell from Macworld. Indeed, smartwatches have initially been created for fitness enthusiasts. Tim Cook, an Apple CEO, said at the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in June 2015: "the way I see it, if you're looking at a smartphone all day long, you probably aren't doing so well." Also, Phil Schiller claimed on stage that the primary goal of the Apple Watch was "to help customers stay fit.” Android Wear also has health-tracking features, and watches can track your heart rate (see figure 7). Fitbit also has its line of smartwatches, the Surge (see figure 8).

4. Choose Apple Watch over Android Wear smartwatches

"The Apple Watch is something people will want to buy and use on their wrist every day," said Joel Santo Domingo from The New York Times. He also did a review about Android Wear at the Google I/O conference in 2015, saying that it wasn't good enough yet: "I still find it frustrating to deal with notifications when they come in on Android Wear. For one thing, there's no way to archive or delete them directly-you can only respond or clear them" he said

5. go with a Pebble Time Round you are not into fitness tracking but want an affordable smartwatch -

 It is the only watch on this list that does not have a color screen, and it costs $250, a bit more than other models ($179 for Apple Watch Sport, $499 for the steel edition). However, if you don't care about having fitness features in your watch, this model is a better value. "It's exquisite [The Pebble Time Round] and every bit as functional with just enough app support to keep most people happy," said Rich Jaroslovsky from Bloomberg.

6. If pure fitness tracking is your priority

you should probably just get a fitness tracker - "When users buy the new Fitbit Alta HR or Charge 2, they're buying something that's going to sit in their lives and do something for them every day," said Stefan Etienne from Techcrunch. In this case, maybe you don't want a smartwatch because the battery life is shorter than most fitness trackers.

7. Nobody knows how long the battery will last

This problem was one of the most criticized things about Android Wear. According to several reviews, the battery lasts two days or less (see figure 10). "In the end, Apple Watch battery life is likely to be a big sticking point for potential buyers," said Anton Shilov from Computex. Users can extend it using Power Reserve mode, but they need to know when they charge it so that they don't miss any important notifications.

8. Want to look like a cyborg? Choose another watch

An unnamed reviewer said: "it looks like the most futuristic thing on your wrist," and added that he would wear it even if it didn't come with any innovative features. The Apple Watch Edition is made of 18K yellow or rose gold (with sapphire screen) and costs from $10,000 to $17,000 depending on the band you choose (see figure 11). One could also check out other smartwatches by Samsung (whose Gear S2 costs between $300 and $350), Asus, Huawei, or LG.

9. You shouldn't buy an Apple Watch hoping for a phablet replacement

"Size matters when it comes to a smartwatch. The LG Watch Urbane 2nd Edition is huge by comparison, with a 1.3-inch face that would look more at home on your wrist if you were rock climbing or deep-sea diving," said Andrew Hayward from TrustedReviews.

10. Do I have to charge my watch every day?

It depends on the model (see figure 12). Some Android Wear watches need charging every night, but there are not many reviews about it yet.

Conclusion

The best watch for you depends on how you plan to use it, your budget, and how vital battery life is for you. If you are looking for a good smartwatch that will last more than a day, the GX Smartwatch for the first thing you try out. 

If fitness tracking is your primary goal, get a Fitbit model. If you don't care about color screens or other fancy features, you can also save money and choose the Pebble Time Round.

[llazyneiph]

its been a busy fuckin week for this mod my ladz!!! i thought i would just give an end of week run down how everything is going, everything added so far and my to do list! also discord!!! and patreon!!! but i’ll talk abt that after this!! a general run down if u dnt know what this wip mod is:

The Royalty Mod gives your sims the opportunity to being the reigning Monarch of your game. They have the chance to become a Beloved Ruler or a Despised Tyrant (and will be treated as such!) They will be completely in control of a custom tax system, will the be benevolent and keep the taxes low or be greedy and fill their coffers with their subject’s simoleans? Be careful though, your actions will affect your citizens and their views of you! Your Monarch will be the most important piece of the puzzle, as they will be able to give titles to family and friends... or even a random street vendor. Having your Monarch bestow titles such as Crown Royals, Royal Partners, Servants, Court Wizards and more, keeps you out of CAS and IN your game! No more stopping and starting your gameplay!

A general overview of everything included so far:

Monarch: - A custom Heir system: Your Monarch can choose anyone bestowed with the title of Crown Royal or Royal Partner to become the next in line to the throne! And if they decide they made a mistake, the Heir can be disowned :((( sad lyfe As soon as the Monarch passes away, the Heir will automatically claim the throne! - If your Monarch dies before they get a chance to name an heir, then any Crown Royal or Royal Partner can vie for the throne. Whoever the people choose (gets to reputation level 6 - very good) first, will become the next Monarch! - Teens and up can become the Monarch, (lookin at u edward the 6th) - Custom tax system! Raise taxes to get more money instantly and in your weekly tax collection, but incur the ire of your subjects! Lower taxes and you will lose money and earn less each week but your subjects will love you! - Your Monarch will draw a crowd wherever they go! Even with no fame points they’ll attract a mass of adoring onlookers. (But no paparazzi for my historical players) - Make world-wide decrees - Listen to your subjects pressing concerns by telling your Trusted Advisor that you will hold a hearing, get that gud gud karma!! - Make anyone a Crown Royal! - Make the land celebrate your own birthday with a new Monarch’s Birthday tradition, with custom goals to be met! - Don’t walk like the rest of these peasants, make sure to enable your royal stride to royally stand out from the crowd. Not enough? Enable your regal glow to really drive home that you’re better than everyone else! - Royal greetings! - Allow your subjects to commence Sunday trading on a lot with the Market lot trait! Townies will come and man the stalls every sunday 9-3 and the royal family can peruse and purchase to their hearts content! -probably more that im forgetting!!!

Heirs, Crown Royals & Royal Partners: - Titles are bestowed by the monarch, crown royals & heirs can be titled at birth and Royal Partners can be titled after marriage! - Both can be named as Heir, and both can vie for the throne if the Monarch dies unexpectedly! - Your Monarch can make anyone a Crown Royal, so if you gameplayed that your Monarch adopted a poor orphan kid, then they can have a shot at the throne too! - All have multiple different social and skill modifiers, so they can make new friends fast and be better at everything than them! - Also all have their own socials - ALSO all can be completely banished from the royal family - u can defo marry into the royal family if u wanted, and make ur peasant family the next gen of royals ;))) - loads more but im so tired

Trusted Advisor: - Your Monarch will choose their trusted advisor! they advice! u on stuff! so choose wisely! - everything about taxes, beginning situations, domestic affair (and planning to add LOADS more) goes thru ur advisor, just like it does in real life and by real life i mean i think i just made that up - way more 2 come bros

- brand spankin new custom animations!!!!!!!!!!

Planned to Add (p much the same as last post): - unlockable interactions based on skills such as charisma - bad monarch reputation and tyrant trait to have the possibility of triggering a revolt??? - Custom situations to trigger weekly events such as royal hearings, banquets ect. - custom situations to trigger a bunch of npc servants (big maybe) - Mass Excitement over royal babies - Mass Mourning over passed over Monarchs - Mass Excitement over new Monarch - Options for crown royals to steal the throne - Sentence to death - Way more custom socials - looking into craftables - Perhaps more of a focus on the working class - more magicky type interactions for court wizards - just like. so much more. but its 1:30am and my brain has stopped working

ok now i wrote this out it rlly doesn’t look like a lot but i have so many gatdamn plans for shit i still gotta add. plus i will probably end up making hair and a few clothes and objects too. also omg guys im totally gonna make one of those fancy fuckin trailers for youtube :))))))))))) also was i on fiverr lookin at voice actors to narrate it...? maybe bitch

anyway i said i would talk abt patreon so here it is!!!

first things first, let me just say that no, i absolutely do not think i am entitled to a single cent of anyone’s money!!! I would/will still put 110% into this mod and my future mods because I absolutely love doing this. At the moment I’m currently working on this mod about 8-10 hours a day, 5 days a week (animations bruh), which is kinda insane. but I want this to be everything everyone’s wanted from EA for years.

I made a Patreon for those who would like to support me. If you do decide to become a Patron I am endlessly thankful for that, not just the monetary value of it but the fact that you believe in me enough to do that.

Every cent of any pledge goes towards my saving fund for my course next year, which for those of who don’t know, I’m currently a first year Game Design student!!! In complete clarity, I’m looking at a $15,000 loan atm, so literally anything helps if u do decide to pledge!

Tiers start at $1 and all tiers have access to a private patrons channel in my discord! u can go read what u get with the tiers over on my page! I’ve offered as much as I can, but since im super not down with exclusives, pls let me know if u think there’s anythin more i can offer u guys!!!

Tier 2 does include a one week early access to my content. I feel like this is the most I’m comfortable offering, and I will always stick to or under EA’s rules when it comes to Patreon.

Tier 2 also offers first picks for Beta Testing, but depending on how many (if any) tier 2 patrons I get, it may work on a rotational system as I still want to include people from tumblr in the beta testing. I don’t want anyone who can’t afford patreon to feel left out, so I would still offer some beta testing spots here and it’ll be first come first served like normal! i don’t want it to feel like i’m gatekeeping my cc. i hope this is okay with you guys! For those who aren’t in a place where they can become a patron, but still want to stay included in everything related to this mod, I now have a Discord Server that anyone can join! speaking of >>>>

we have a discord ladzzzz!!!!!!!!!

If u wanna stay up to date on everything I’m doing regarding the mod, or u have a question or suggestion, or there's something wrong with one of my mods that u need fixed, or tbh if u just wanna hang out with some cool dudeeees n chill n chat n have a jolly time then com join the discord!!!!!!!!

i’m going to be posting updates and screenshots of the mod process much more frequently there (probs like a few times a day tbh lmao) and it’s much easier to get a hold of me there if u have any suggestions.

and tbh we just gonna have a chill time and i want a metric fuckton of memes and gifs. if that doesn’t sway u, we have a whole channel dedicated to only pics of guy fieri. u will be banned if u post anything else there. u were warned.

ok god im so sorry this is literally 10 years long but i just had a lOT to say but like, mods goin good lads. i just want to make something that gives the game more play ability and keeps u in game and out of CAS. its excitin stuff. thanks for listenin.

                              PATREON | DISCORD SEVER

                    see all royalty mod updates on my tumblr here

also im v sorry if u join the discord like right after this is posted bc i am most definately fuckin asleeeeeeep

[adamwatchesmovies]

The Best of 2019

What a year. By the time 2019 ended, I had seen over 130 new movies. It's actually probably closer to 150 but I lost count. There are a few titles I missed, such as The Dead Don’t Die, The Fanatic and Honeyland so obviously, this is not an all-encompassing, definitive list of 2019’s best, but it should give you a good idea of which films you need to check out if you haven’t already.

I usually like to save the #10 spot on my list for a movie that’s just for me. Normally, this would mean a giant monster movie, an off-beat creation nobody else saw, a comic book movie that spoke to my particular tastes or maybe a Canadian movie I know didn’t get the opportunity to shine like it should’ve. This year, that’s not happening. Trimming my list down to 10 was hard enough. I certainly wasn’t going to sacrifice one more to make it just 9. Let's dig in.

10. The Farewell

It’s been weeks since The Farewell and I’m still thinking about it. If I was put in the same position as Billi, I'm not sure what I'd do? Is it better to tell someone that's dying that their days are numbered, or should you spare them from that burden? Is it really them you’d be sparing, or is keeping the secret for your own selfish needs? Writer/director Lulu Wang asks serious questions about culture I had never contemplated before. There’s a lot for you here and even more if your family comes from mixed backgrounds.

9. A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

I heard some complaints about Fred Rogers (Tom Hanks) not being the main character of this film by Marielle Heller, from writers Micah Fitzerman-Blue and Noah Harpster. It was the right choice. The plot has a cyical reporter meet Rogers and through their relatively brief interaction, learn what we knew going in. It delivers a moving character arc without having to stain its subject with flaws we didn't want to see. The quasi-meta presentation is what elevates it into top-10 status. That extra touch means it does a lot more than simply re-iterate what we saw in the 2018 documentary Won't You Be My Neighbor?.

8. Knives Out

Knives Out is one of the most entertaining films all year. There are no profound moments of meditation, no earth-shattering realizations about yourself, just a mystery to be solved. All the suspects are so intriguing they could be the stars of their own movies. Put together in the same house as a dead body and you’ve got no idea who did it. Its screenplay is excellent. The twists are juicy. Everything ads up in a satisfying manner. Rian Johnson is already working on a sequel. I can’t wait.

7. Apollo 11

There are few holdovers from the list I made halfway through the year, which either says something about the strength of the second half of 2019, or the weakness of the first. Either way, you’ve got to see Apollo 11. It’s the closest thing to going back in time and being there when man landed on the moon. The tension and anticipation are overwhelming. Knowing what happened doesn't matter. The way the footage is assembled is nothing short of incredible. Why this documentary wasn't present at the Academy Awards is beyond me.

6. Uncut Gems

Adam Sandler should’ve been nominated for an Oscar. He wasn’t. I’ll bet you dollars to donuts it's because of his association with all of those brain-dead Happy Madison Production comedies. His history with cinema shouldn't matter. The movie is what matters. The fact is, this was the perfect role for him. It isn’t even that Sandler’s doing something different, it’s that he’s being used to his full potential. If you weren’t glued to the screen, eager to see what’s coming next, this movie would have you jumping out of the window screaming - anything to escape the anxiety the Safdie Brothers serve up with devilish grins.

5. The Lighthouse

Next on my list is The Lighthouse. Right away, the aspect ratio and black-and-white cinematography lets you know you’re in for something different. You have no idea. What I love so much about this film is the way it handles madness. At the end of the day, I’m not sure if I could tell you if Robert Pattinson’s character was crazy, if Willem Dafoe’s character was the nutty one, or if they both were. It shows you just enough to make you doubt your own sanity. It’s also unexpectedly funny, which makes it feel oddly genuine. In one scene, Robert Pattinson's Ephraim Winslow gets a hold of the lighthouse's logs. In it, his boss, Thomas (Willem Dafoe) recommends Ephraim be disciplined for masturbating excessively. Considering Thomas has been cavorting with some kind of tentacle creature up in the lighthouse (at least that's what I think I saw, I'm not so sure anymore), all you can do is laugh. What kind of loony bin is this turning into? One I'm looking forward to revisiting.

4. 1917

Shot in a way that makes it all look like one take, 1917 is a technical marvel. It hooks itself up to your circular system and steadily replaces your blood with pure, undistilled stress. As you're about to flatline, it stops and gives you a breather. A shot of a meadow untouched by the ravages of war; a reminder of what the soldiers are fighting for and of how utterly devastating armed combat is on humanity as a whole. Gorgeous cinematography, powerful emotions, magnificent production values.

3. Joker

Along with Godzilla: King of the Monsters (a movie they basically made for me), this was my most anticipated movie of the year. To get ready, I watched Taxi Driver and The King of Comedy, two Scorsese films Joker director Todd Phillips drew a lot of inspiration from. For some reason, it seems as though many critics took offense to the similarities. Sometimes I understand differing opinions from mine. This time, I don’t. It’s a great film that warns of the dangers of letting people like Arthur Fleck (brilliantly performed by Joaquin Phoenix) fall through the cracks. Left unchecked, he discovers that by doing terrible things, he becomes a “better” version of himself. It’s not a drama. It’s a horror movie that spins the familiar Batman archenemy in a new direction but also stays true to the character. There are several scenes in this movie that are going to be permanently imprinted in my brain. Those stairs. Need I say more?

Runner-ups

Avengers: Endgame

Even if every single Marvel movie going forward is awful, this caps off the whopping 22-chapter saga epically. A couple of aspects bugged me enough that it could only manage to make the runner-up list but it's a terrific film.

Booksmart

The funniest comedy of the year. I think back to Amy and Molly using their hairs as masks and still can't manage to hold back a few chuckles months later.

Toy Story 4

This one was hard to cut. The only flaw I could find was that it isn’t on the same level as 3… even though they’re both 5-star movies.

Midsommar

I’ve heard the extended cut is even better than the original. I wish I’d had the chance to see it in theatres.

Jojo Rabbit

Audacious and heartfelt. I loved those scenes of Scarlett Johanson being a mom. Her agent might've dropped the ball getting her cast in Ghost in the Shell but she sure knew how to pick great work in 2019.

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

Quentin Tarantino brings us back to a time when Roman Polanski was simply a good director instead of a convicted rapist, movie stars were untouchable, and the death of someone’s wife under mysterious circumstances was nothing to raise eyebrows about. It’s not a movie that screams “here and now”. If anything, it’s regressive. That said, I cannot deny the experience I had watching it. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime kinda thing and I doubt even Tarantino could pull it off again. I wonder how many people went in knowing what happened to Sharon Tate like I did.

Marriage story

It’s nothing but raw emotion and powerhouse performances in this drama about two people you love going through a divorce. I always make it my goal to watch movies all the way through without any interruptions. Several times throughout, I was tempted to hit "Pause" so I could catch my breath.

Internet lists are everywhere. You know why, don’t you? They suck you in and when you get down to it, most don’t require all that much effort to put together. Except when I make them, apparently. These bi-annual lists always turn out to be difficult to put together. 2019's proved particularly arduous. I’m fairly sure that my #3 movie belongs there. Out of all the movies on this list, it’s probably the one I’m going to go back to most often. The other two? I’d say that technically, one may be better than the other but I think the other one is “more important” so that gives it the edge. What I’m trying to say is, they’re all winners and on a different day, I might even swap them around.

2. Little Women

I have only seen three of the seven silver screen adaptations of Louisa May Alcott’s novel and I don’t expect any of the others to top this one. The secret ingredient to this one's success is Greta Gerwig. Writing and directing, she does so much more than merely translate the classic to movie form. She re-arranges the story to give the events a greater punch than they would if they were shown chronologically and puts a little more emphasis on a couple of key moments (that tear-jerking Christmas, for example) to crank up the emotion. She also makes it more modern without having to change anything about the setting or characters. Admittedly, the back-and-forth between the past and present is a little jarring at first - makes you wonder what Greta Gerwig could’ve done had she been given the de-aging budget Martin Scorsese was given - but that’s where the performances and costumes come in. It takes mere moments before you get what the movie is doing. I’ve said it already but it made me cry.

1. Parasite

To make this list, I didn’t go through all of my past reviews and check which ones were rated what. I thought back to which movies gave me the most vivid memories, which ones gave me the biggest reactions. I’m still not sure how I feel about the final final moment but there’s so much about Parasite that I admire. This would be a great one to watch with others just to see their reactions to the reveal about the bookcase.

[mysideblogofsurveys]

Survey 19

1. Do you wear accessories? Not really, just a thin hair tie on my wrist

2. Do you remember your childhood phone number? Address? Yes, my parents still have the same landline phone number and still live at the same address

3. Have you ever moved? If so, when/how many times? UGH SO MANY TIMES!  We moved the first time in Aug 2012 (from the Midwest to Seattle WA), then May 2014 (Seattle to Florida), then June 2019 (West Coast of FL to East Coast of FL) and we’ll be moving a FOURTH TIME sometime in Oct 2020 - not sure exactly when but we are for sure (back to the West Coast of FL).

4. Do you wear deodorant every day? I don’t >< I don’t trust the chemicals (aluminum) in deodorant so I just wash my pits every day and they’re fine.

5. What was the last thing you bonded with someone over? Umm, I can really only think of bonding with my husband over our shared interests

6. What are your plans for the upcoming weekend? UGH well we had the “Cat 1 Hurricane” that thankfully turned to a Tropical Storm - so we just stayed home and played video games and watched UFC.  Its actually supposed to pass through us today and so far, its just windy and rainy.  Nothing too bad.

7. What TV shows are you watching? I’m kind of between shows right now.  Just finishing Jason Mesnick’s season of the Bachelor on Netflix currently but not sure what I’ll put on after that.

8. What is your favorite music genre? I love so many - mostly Rock/Metal, Anime/Japanese songs and 80s.  I was heavily into Kpop for about 5 years but I’ve recently stopped paying so close attention. I still like it but definitely don’t follow it as closely as I did before.

9. What is something you’re super into right now? Honestly, nothing in particular. I need to find some type of hobby.  I want to start journaling or a journal of games I play (with screen shots) or something. but I never have the patience to sit a do stuff like that. However, I always want to play games like Stardew Valley (its always on my mind.  I just love that game so much).

10. Do you have a celebrity crush? Ok, I have a few haha: - Henry Cavill (Have you SEEN him build a computer? Or his role in the Witcher?? *heart eyes*) - Tom Hardy (I really liked him in Mad Max and Venom) - Do Kyungsoo and Park Chanyeol from EXO (Korean boy band) - I melt every time I hear their voices.

11. Do you have a goal you’re trying to accomplish? Yes but I can never decide what I want to spend my time on so I end up just wasting time.  Like this morning for instance - I get up at 8am, briefly scroll through social media/watched the Bachelor with WIP of a Stardew Valley fic open on my laptop but now its 10:30am and I added maybe 15 words to the fic...WHERE did the last 2 hours go?? I have all of these ideas but for some reason, I have the hardest time sitting down and typing it all out..and procrastinate and do this survey instead ><

12. What was your last dream? Did you tell anyone about it? I had a dream of a Stardew Valley one-shot (which is what I was trying to write this morning) but of course, didn’t get it written out.  I usually tell my husband about them

13. Do you like workouts where you count reps or by 30 seconds? I’ll take either.  I like working out

14. Whats your favorite thing to do on a Sunny day? What about a Rainy day? On a Sunny day, I like going for walks with my Husband and playing Pokemon Go.  On rainy days, I like sitting and studying something (like a language) or even playing games.

15. Do you have a "Rainy Day fund"? No, but I just push most of my income (whatever is left over after paying bills/buying the necessities) into my savings account.

16. Do you "RBF" (resting bitch face)? Not really?  But I get told I look “angry” sometimes?  I hate that I have that expression but I know I frown when I’m in deep thought ><

17. If your house was one fire, what is the first thing you would grab? As long as my Husband was safe, my second thought would be my computers and external hard drive.

18. What is your favorite feature about yourself? Worst feature? I like my eyes and smile, my worst feature..well I guess it’d be my social anxiety ><

19. What is your “must get” from the grocery store? (What item is always on your list?) Lately its been watermelon, a great snack. 20. Do you have a favorite show or song you put on every time you’re sad? Not particularly. I have a playlist of songs that I put on when I’m in that mood but no specific song or show 21. What is your favorite holiday? I like Thanksgiving and New Years Eve/Day 22. What is your dream occupation? UGH I wish I knew.  I’m in the financial field right now and I don’t really like it but its not too bad.  I know I don’t belong in this field but I don’t have experience in anything else to fall back on so I guess I’ll continue with it (plus I’m in my early 30s, I don’t want to have to start ALL OVER again since we’re finally close to getting a house and finally starting a family). 23. Do you like dressing up? Eh, not really.  I like casual, comfy clothes 24. Ever been on a cruise? Bungee jumping? I’ve been on several cruises (they’re a lot of fun!) but I have not bungee jumped..not sure if I’m brave enough for that. 25. Have you ever been on a date?  What has been your favorite date? I have been on quite a few dates!  My favorite one was going to a rock show for our 3 month anniversary (WAY back in May 2010) with my husband (well, he was just my boyfriend at the time :) ) 26. Have you ever been through a Hurricane?  Tornado? Earthquake? Well, Hurricane Irma in 2017 and Hurricane Dorian in 2019...lets hope we don’t have anymore this year >< I have not been through a Tornado or Earthquake. 27. Are you the adventurous type? I’d say so?  I don’t know many people who would move as much as we have 28. Do you live close to your family? No :/ all of my family (and in-laws) live in the Midwest.  Well, aside from my Mother/Father-in-law.  They are snowbirds and have a house on the West Coast of FL and we’re moving back to be closer to them in a couple months. 29. Are you creative?  Is there anything creative you’re working on right now? I WANT to be creative but I have a hard time sitting down and getting something done.  I have half-written about 20 fanfiction pieces (for several fandoms) since 2017 but I haven’t completed any of them. 30. Do you have a morning routine?  Nightly routine? - Morning routine on the week day: Get up, start coffee, take a shower, scroll through social media/watch a show before getting ready for work - Morning routine on the weekend: Get up, start coffee, wash my face, watch a show/play a video game/scroll through social media until my Husband wakes up Nightly routine on the week day: Get my lunch ready the night before, brush/floss, read at least 10-20 min then go to sleep by 11pm to get up at 6:15am Nightly routine on the weekend: Brush my teeth and go to bed lol

[marvelousbenz]

My study routine

It’s no shocker that many of you have read countless posts about HOW someone should study, I frankly did that myself, but I found out that NONE of them help. Why? well because for someone that is looking for a way to save their educational year and start studying properly, these posts didn’t do it for me; they’re too perfect, and quite hard to stick to. 

I’m not belittling them; AFTER I got myself into a study routine that I actually found suitable (the one that I will be talking about), I started trying the methods that are available everywhere here on Tumblr, or Pinterest. 

So here’s what I did;

Get into the studyblr committee; like actually partake in it. Start posting pictures of your study notes, or your desk, or a random picture of your notes with your laptop at a cafe. You can post anything you want, really, anything. You don’t have to have a MacBook, or those Muji stationary. Your picture doesn’t have to be aesthetic. Getting a studyblr is like a way of holding yourself accountable; like people are going to see you work, ones that don’t go to school with you, they don’t know who you are. They just know that you're another human wanting to keep track of their studying.

Find when you are most productive; you DON’T have to be an early riser to be classified as productive. My mind works best when it’s really dark outside, usually past midnight. I tried getting up early to study, but it didn’t work for me. However, my friend prefers waking up at 4:30 am to study rather than staying up until midnight. The time you’re most productive at has nothing to do with what people say; it’s your choice.

Set your studying time; studying for 7 hours straight on your first day of being productive WILL NOT work. You’ll most probably stare at nothing or get distracted with whatever you have around you. Start with 1 hour of proper studying on the first day, then start adding an hour every day until you reach your optimal number of studying hours. You have to take small steps to reach your ultimate goal.

Create a routine; this one requires discipline. You have to set a certain time of the day (for me it’s from 2:30 pm till 8:00) which is strictly for studying. I don’t study for the whole duration everyday, but when I want to study, that’s my timeframe. I might study more, it depends on the load that I have to cover, but that’s beside the point. If you always start studying at a specific time, studying will become a habit; so when you aren’t studying at that time, something will feel off, thus you will go and study. Plus, that’ll increase your efficiency.

Have a to-do list with the time needed for each task; that way, you will feel like you have to finish the task, no matter what. But when you’re setting the time, make sure you give the task its needed time, or else the whole to-do list will crumble down.

TAKE A BREAK; I can’t stress this enough. TAKE A BREAK. Your brain will certainly NOT function properly for 7 hours straight. Take a 10 minutes break every 50 minutes of studying. At first, limiting yourself with that time and going back to your desk will be hard. But that’s only the start. This is why discipline is important. 

It’s not motivation that you need; someone can motivate you every day for the next twenty year and you will still not achieve anything if you didn’t set your mind on doing it. Again, it’s discipline that you need.

These are my tips for anyone wanting to increase their productivity, but now I’m going to add some tips for all the medical students out there;

Screw the lectures; sure your professor gave them to you, and sure the exam questions will be from the lecture, but they’re not enough. You have to read the reference. You MUST. I know the reference is usually filled with information that your lecturer would never talk about, but knowing them will help you retain the main ideas of the topic. Also, you would want to know those extra information so that you can have a plus over your classmates; it’ll truly boost your confidence. And no that doesn’t make you a gunner or whatever you want to call it. 

The library is your home; not only it’s an amazing place to study, but they also have many references that you’ll find useful. I found a pathology reference that summarizes everything in an amazing way (it’s called Pathology Illustrated). Also that means that you don’t have to buy all those expensive books.

Get an iPad; it’s way better than a laptop. trust me on this one.

It’s never too early to start studying from FirstAid or the Kaplan lecture notes; I’ve been studying from my Kaplan lecture notes since my first year in medschool, and we have our ifom in less than 90 days, but guess who’s already 50% ready? me. While my classmates struggle with trying to catch up on the high yield material, I already have them covered.

Pharmacology flashcards are your lifesavers; seriously. 

Pathology charts are your best friends; they make the diseases way more easier to remember.

Summarize your microbiology; you really want to remember all the bacterias and viruses. You really do. So summarize them in a small handbook that you can carry around with you everywhere. You never know when you want to remember which bacteria causes Otitis Externa in swimmers (that’s pseudomonas)

Have a friend that you trust by your side for any instant pop up quizzes; I have this friend with me in class, we always ask each other questions. We would be studying some topic in physiology, the drug theophylline is mentioned as an example, and I go and ask her why we use it and what’s the side effect. Or we would mention Gastroenteritis and we have to recite as many causative bacterias as we can. It’s an amazing way to remember things. (REMEMBER; THE THREE DRUGS THAT CAUSE AN SLE-LIKE SYNDROME ARE; procainamide (class IA antiarrhythmic), hydralazine (anti hypertensive-vasodilator), and isoniazid (first line anti TB))

Get your Netter’s atlas for anatomy; you need it. it’s your key to never forgetting anatomy. You’re welcome.

You don’t have to go out every day; honestly it’s a waste of time. For me, I would rather be called lifeless or a nerd, than being referred to as the girl who failed her cardiology final.

YOU DON”T HAVE TO ALWAYS LOOK PERFECT TO UNI; this is for you ladies, you don’t have to always look on point. No one cares if you’re pretty if you fail your finals. You go to uni because you want to study, not because you want to attract anyone’s attention to your looks. 

It’s okay if you don’t have any actual friends in medschool; tell me, do you want to be friends with people that will talk shit about you behind your back when you get a better grade than them? or be friends with those that’ll try to distract you from your studies? I befriended this girl back in my first year that told me that I’m not worthy of medical school if I failed my locomotor quiz. Crazy right? Finding true friends is hard in med school, most of them are out to get you. I’m honestly grateful for those 3 or 4 people I have that don’t want to destroy me. So be careful with who you decide to hang out with.

That’s pretty much it. I hope some of you found it useful. I really tried to make them as realistic as possible. 

If anyone has any extra tips, do mention them. 

Have a great day!

[clevercatchphrase]

2019 year in review

So… The 2010’s are almost over. Huh. What a decade it’s been. Hard to comprehend how much has changed in 10 years. I can barely believe that I was in high school at the beginning of this decade, and now I’m a college graduate with 2 degrees who’s been working at the same job for the last 3 years. But trying to summarize the past 10 years in a single post is a good way to give myself an existential crisis, so let’s not do that! Instead, let’s just focus on 2019 because there has been more than enough shit that’s happened to me in this year to talk about.

PART 1 OF 2: 2019 AND 2020 GOALS AND RESOLUTIONS

Huh, looking back through my archives, I apparently didn’t make a tumblr post about my goals this year. I definitely had some, though. Lemme list ‘em off real quick, and then we’ll go through them point by point.

1)      Pay off all my student loans 2)      Finish some song comics 3)      Make art for my Redbubble account 4)      Finish the first rough draft/script of a game I wanted to make 5)      Practice ASL 6)      Sew some stuffed animals 7)      Finish some fan fictions 8)      Work on Ghost Switch 9)      AMVs 10)   Do some original writing 11)   Make illustrations for my fan fictions

Okay, first off, the student loans. I was actually SO CLOSE to successfully completing this one bUT THEN MY CAR HAD TO BE A WHINEY PISS BABY AND HAVE ITS ALTERNATOR DIE ON ME WHILE I WAS ON THE HIGHWAY AND THEN A BLOW OUT THREE WEEKS LATER.

GOD, if I had to summarize this year in two words, for me it would be “Car troubles”. I swear I spent more on auto repair in the first third of this year than I ever have just freakin’ OWNING a car. All four of my tires had to be replaced, my alternator failed and my car literally just SHUT OFF while I was driving, and I was barely able to coast into a gas station. Both my front breaks and rear breaks were worn down the metal and I only learned this when my car was barely able to stop after I had to slam the petal down full force!  I went in for an oil change, and they found some problems and then I didn’t get my car back for three days! I don’t even like owning a car! I hate driving! I hate my country’s refusal to provide universal, free public transportation! I NEVER ASKED FOR THIS!

Oh-kay… number 2. Finish some song comics. I didn’t finish any. But that doesn’t mean I didn’t work on them. I have made tiny progress, but that’s certainly better than no progress. One of these song comics I hope to be realizes is going to be a collab with one of my friends. It’ll be a long-time coming as it’s pretty low priority for the both of us, but if anyone else out there was disappointed with KH3’s ending, we’re gonna have ya’ covered… With SONG!

3. Make some redbubble art. I actually did this one! Not in the way I expected, but I added (technically) 3 new designs to my redbubble in the middle of the year. If you like butterflies and dragons, I got some product for you~!

Number 4, finish a script for a game I want to make. I… thought about this. I thought about this a lot, but I never put pen to paper, so… oops. It almost happened! I debated making this my main writing project for NaNoWriMo this year, but ended up having more inspiration for another story. Maybe next year? (god, I hope not. I don’t want to wait a full year just to write something)

Number 5, practice ASL. I just straight up didn’t do this and I only have myself to blame. Still keepin’ up that Danish Duolingo streak, though. 4 years going strong and not a day missed yet.

Number 6, sew some stuffed animals. Again, another one I just straight up didn’t do, but I have an excuse of trying to save money while my car crashed and burned in every other sense except literal this year. Hopefully 2020 will be different. I’ll definitely be able to pay off this last loan within the first half of 2020, and then I can start saving for whatever I want to buy.

Finish some fan fictions was number 7, and I did this! Well, I only finished, 1, but it was a story I’ve been working on for over 3 years, and it came out to over 200 THOUSAND words long, which is the longest thing I’ve ever written, and I’m quite proud of myself. Now that the big story is out of the way, and I’ve gotten into a good rhythm of working on Ghost Switch, maybe I can squeeze in some short writing sessions more frequently. (either that, or just wait for my car to break down again and then go on a writing spree in a pepboys. The lord and the fan fic discord know that’s solely why I finished my other fic this year)

Speaking of Ghost Switch, working on it was a goal this year too, and I did that! I kept it up all year and took a vacation in November and it was wonderful. While the major plot points have been in place since before I started drawing, I still need to script each arc beyond Snowdin, but hey, by the time we get there, it’ll be 2022 so I got time. (Note, don’t do this, kids. Script your stories and comics thoroughly before publishing. The road I’m on is paved with misery and pain and it will only end in tears unless I change lanes soon)

Number 9, amvs. Do people make AMVs anymore? Idk… the last one I made was... Jesus, 5 years ago? (it was a gravity falls/fall out boy crossover, if you were curious) I’ve been wanting to do 2 more for just as long, but in order for me to do that, I’d have to spend time re-watching the shows to find the footage, and then actually edit them together, and I just don’t…. feel like it. Maybe someday, but not any day soon.

10; do some original writing. I did this! For nanowrimo! I wrote the first draft of some original fiction I’ve been planning for a year or two now and it completely sucks! But it’s on paper now and I’m happy. Will I revise and edit it? Sure, but not for a while. I want to let it sit and forget about it and look at it with new eyes months from now so I can be sure I can make it better when time comes to rewrite.

11, make illustrations for my fan fics. Now that You Monster is done, I want to go back and add pictures to it. I didn’t do any this year, but I did keep a list of scenes I wanted to draw, so I have plenty of ideas to do as warm up sketches next year~ I kinda want to stream them~

So, that was 11 goals, and I successfully fulfilled 4 of them! That’s! Not a very good ratio… QmQ So, goals for 2020. Some I’m gonna keep from this year, some I’m gonna drop and some I’m gonna add. In short I would like to,

1)      Finish paying off that last student loan 2)      Put more stuff on my redbubble 3)      Illustrate my own fan fics 4)      Sew at least one stuffed animal 5)      Make an enamel pin 6)      Read one new book a month 7)      Write one page a day/Complete at least one new fan fic 8)      Learn Python or C# for the game I want to make 9)      Finish fully scripting Ghost Switch 10)   Boost my patreon

Most of these I think are pretty self-explanitory, but I’ll go into detail just a bit because I’m on a roll and typing my thoughts helps me feel less alone in the middle of the night when you’re super tired and you know you should probably go to sleep, but the toddler in you is throwing a tantrum and doesn’t wanna go to sleep just yet, but you can’t fight the progression of time either way.

Number 1- I should be able to reach this goal by the end of March. End of June at the absolute latest. Once that goal is met, my secret new year’s resolution will be unlocked as well!

Number 2- I want to put more art of my OCs on redbubble. These OCs are tied to the game I want to make. There’s already some art of them up there, but I want at least one piece for each character.

Number 3- Mostly for You Monster. Embrace the cardinal rule of fan fic and apply it to fan art. If you want to read about see art about certain ideas, scenarios, or what-ifs, you gotta make it yourself.

Number 4- I have 3 potential ideas to sew. One is definitely leagues easier than the other two and will probably be chosen if/when I have the time and materials.

Number 5- This year I got really, REALLY into the idea of making enamel pins. Unfortunately it’s a pretty big investment (like, $350 to make 100 pins you  might not even sell). If this happens, it’ll probably be towards the end of the year, and if I get enough interest. I’m currently torn between making an original enamel pin and one based off Undertale. We’ll just have to see where this goes.

Number 6- Back in 2018 when I paid off one of my many student loans, I rewarded myself by spending over 200 dollars in used books. All these books had a theme; they were focused on dragons because I have a problem. I have not yet read a single one of these books I have bought, and I would like to fix that. I have, like, 20 unread dragon books, and even if I only read 12 out of 20, I would consider that an amazing accomplishment and money well spent.

Number 7- I currently have about 8 different WIPs I could work on. (well, I don’t know if I can even call them wips. More like, a general idea and a title written down.) I want to build good writing habits, and if I can write just 200 words a day, hell, even 200 words a week and just one of my 8 stories done, I would consider this goal met.

Number 8- I’m torn between making my game in unity or ren’py. I know jack shit about both. Ren’py is more user friendly, but unity will allow me more customization. (Lol, can you guess what kind of game I want to make yet?)

Number  9- I really just want the full story to be done and written incase anything goes horribly terribly wrong in my life and I find myself unable to continue making ghost switch in comic form. Then at least I can finish the story by other means, you know?

Number 10- It always surprises me every month when I get that patreon email saying I got paid. Sure, I don’t even make double digits on it, but it still awes me enough to know that people out there like my work enough to throw me a tip. I can’t thank my patrons enough for supporting me and I hope to one day be in such a good place I can update my comic/song comics/writing frequently enough without need for goals or milestones. But until that magical day arrives, money is always a great incentive for anything, I suppose. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 ALRIGHT. PART 2 OF 2: SHIT THAT HAPPENED TO ME IN 2019

Cheesus crust what a year. This year started off great! Back in late January Kingdom Hearts 3 FINALLY released, and let me tell you a little story. Back in the summer of 2006 I was a 13 year old middle schooler with no way of making money other than by doing house hold chores at a rate of 25 cents a task. A few weeks ago, I had a sleep over at a friend’s house and they let me play this weird game called “Kingdom Hearts” and god, I was instantly hooked on it. That summer, I did over 800 chores, enough to earn myself 200$ and buy myself a playstation 2 (just in time for the ps3 to come out, gg me) The only games I had for the ps2 were KH1, 2, Re:CoM and Okami, and I beat them all… except Okami. Miffed that the PS3 wouldn’t allow for backwards compatibility, little 13-year-old me made a promise. I looked myself in the mirror and said “I will not buy the next playstation console until KH3 comes out, AND BOY that was probably a good choice for me to make with my level of gaming. I’m even less of a casual gamer than the average casual gamer, but I have been waiting 13 years for this piece of closure, and I even told my friends and family that “the day Kingdom Hearts 3 comes out is the day I will buy a playstation 4”. My dad apparently thought this was the funniest shit, because he literally took the day off from work that Friday to drive me on base to get the game and console (he thought it would be less crowded than a regular walmart, I suppose). I paid $400 on a ps4 pro while he bought me the game. Again, I have an impecible sense of timing seeing as the PS5 is now right on the horrizion, but just like before, I’m not buying a new console until the next KH game is released. See you in 2045, sony~. While I was at the gamestop on base, I also picked up Okami HD and The Last Guardian. For all of February and even early March, I took my time playing through KH3. And…! It was the best disappointment I’ve ever played. After a month away from gaming, I started The Last Guardian and finished it in a couple weeks. I love trico and would die for him, but trying to get 100% completion on that game is udder insanity. Okami, HD, however… again after a month break after finishing TLG, I started replaying Okami. I think I had only managed to get about halfway through the game before I just… stopped playing it on my ps2 version. I am currently SO CLOSE to getting a 100% on the ps4 version. In fact, I’ve beaten the game. I only (techinically) need 2 more trophies to be done; 1st, escape the water dragon without being eaten, 2nd, I need to beat that dumb stupid race with Kai, in order to get the last bead on my rosary, as well as the top dog trophy. I hate her so much. I hate this race so much. It’s awful and bad.

Flash forward to December! Earlier this month I was at Barnes and Noble, buying myself a planner for 2020. I exit the store and notice that there’s a gamestop across the street. For shits and giggles I go inside to look at their game selection, and I find KH 1.5 and 2.5. Now, my PS2 died a few years back (it just won’t read my discs anymore, I don’t know why) and I haven’t been able to replay any of my other kingdom hearts games since. If you had seen me the day I finished kingdom hearts 3, after the ending credits rolled, you would have heard me say “Man…. I wish I could play kingdom hearts 2 again”. AND NOW I CAN, ALONG WITH BBS which I had never even played yet, but knew the story of. I’ve restarted playing kh1, and I was so happy to hear that familiar music when I booted the game up for the first time. While at the game stop, I also picked up Rime and Tearaway, two games that had looked interesting to me. At the time of writing, I’ve finished Rime and am 25% done with tearaway. Rime was…. An interesting experience. I learned about it through Jacksepticeye’s channel a couple years back and thought the art style was enticing. For a super casual gamer like me, I found the puzzles just the right level of challenging and exploring was a blast! The music gave me VERY strong Princes Mononoke vibes, but the overall story left something to be desired. Overall I had fun, and enjoyed completing this game to 100%. Now for tearaway. Can I just say this game is super fucking adorable? I know the original was on the ps vita and the gameplay there was arguably more diverse and imaginative, but this game is just so fucking cute I don’t care?? ALSO, this game’s sound track is ABSOLUTELY incredible and I’ve only heard the first fourth of it! Listen to The Orchards, Pig Riding, and Gibbet Hill Pilgrimage for a taste of their wonderful beats and fantastic use of string and woodwinds! God, I’m so excited to get some more games in 2020. I’m proud to say I currently own more ps4 games than I ever did with my ps2 (and now the majority AREN’T Kingdom Hearts titles!), and I’m still hoping to play Journey, The Witness, and Abzu before everything becomes ps5.

What else happened to me this year. Oh, I went to a doctor for, like, the first time in seven years. I also had my blood drawn for the first time ever, and the nurse said the most disturbing thing to me while she did it. Now, whenever I get shots, I refuse to look. I did that here. So she thought it would be appropriate to say to me “Can you feel your blood leaving your body?” Lady… You can clearly see I am uncomfortable with what is happening here. Why, of all the things you could say, did you choose to say that. Unfortunately, while my doctor is nice, she keeps wanting to run tests on me, that I just cannot afford with my current salary, and my monthly insurance is about to go up to 200$ a month, so I’ve cancelled my next appointment with them, and don’t plan to go back until it’s absolutely necessary. Capitalism is fun, guys. Preventative healthcare is for wusses.

I started going to a chiropractor on a monthly basis. Story time- I don’t know when it started, but sometime late last November I began to notice that I had a headache that just... wasn’t... going away? And each day it was starting to get a little worse. It made it hard for me to find a comfortable position to sleep, it made it hard for me to be in bright areas or move fast. So I said to myself “Okay, if this headache persist through the month of december, then something is proooobably wrong and I should go see someone about it. And hoo-boy were thing wrong with me. By the time this January rolled around, I couldn’t even stay on my feet for more than a few hours without it physically hurting to just BREATHE. So I started going to this chain called The Joint (A+ name, I know). THey aksed me “How are you doing?” I said “I’m in pain” and they said “We can help fix that!”. I’ve only been to a chiropractor once before in my life a few years back after my freshmen year of college because I began to notice my hips weren’t able to support me? LIke, I would lie on my back, and I couldn’t push my hips up when my feet were flat on the floor. I also couldn’t climb anything steep, because my legs just couldn’t push me up if my knee had to bend more than 90 degrees when I lifted my leg up. (Turned out both my hips were apparently out of place). This time only one of my hips were out of place (which they fixed. they said one of my legs was an inch “longer” than the other because I had been leaning all my weight on one leg when I stand). But two of my ribs were apparently “Stuck” which was why it was hurting for me to just breathe, and one of my shoulders was missaligned too, causing one of my trap muscles to constantly be streched, which was pulling on my skull, and causing the headache. Anyway, after they popped all my bones back into place, I still felt terrible, but by god, that night was the first time in weeks I was able to sleep without a migrane. A chiropractor can’t magically heal your arthritis, or fibro, but I definately think they have merit to keeping your posture good and helping your body with things like circulation. 10 outa 10, would recomend. It’s all the fun of getting your neck snapped without the dying!

Earlier this month I got together with two of my friends and we baked Christmas cookies. It was a lot of fun, as well as a great learning experience. A member of my family has a gluten allergy, so we used rice flour for most of the cookies. We learned this is a bad idea! The cookies will just fall apart! A few member’s in one of the friend’s family have nut allergies. Other friend and I knew this and were careful to avoid cookie recipes with nuts, bUT THEN COMPLETELY FORGOT THAT ALMOND MILK AND ALMOND EXTRACT COUNT AS NUT. IN FACT, ALMOND EXTRACT IS PURE CONCENTRATED NUT JUICE AND WE FELT SO BAD FOR ALMOST ACCIDENTALLY POISONING THE FAMILY.

Earlier this year me and these same friends took a field trip to Hobby Lobby and just dicked around the store for a couple of hours. It was super fun, 11 outa 10, would recommend, a great date idea for your artsy S.O.

Back in May I went to a wedding for the first time in my life. (well, not true, but the first one I could remember) we left at 5am, drove 5 hours to get there, hung out at a zoo and spent the night in a la quinta before the wedding day. I slept on the bathroom floor because my mom was snoring too loud in the main room and keeping me awake, and the rest of the day was just spent me trying to keep myself together because I was pissed off and tired.

Other than all of that, nothing really major happened to me this year. I guess one more thing I’ve tried to do this year is started the process of breaking certain internet addictions so I can use my free time for more personal projects. Seriously, I found myself watching way too much youtube and following blogs that didn’t even make me happy. I had a personal intervention with myself where I sat down and asked myself, “why do you watch these videos and youtubers? Why do you follow these blogs? Do you really enjoy their content? Do you really care? If you stopped watching/following them, would you even notice?” After critically thinking it over, I’ve found myself unfollowing several channels and blogs and suddenly I feel so much happier. I thought I would miss it, but I realized I didn’t really care if I saw their content or not. I wasn’t missing much. And now I feel like I have more time to draw, read and write. If you think you spend too much time consuming and not enough time creating, I suggest you try and de-clutter your internet habits as well. It’s done wonders to un-fuck my headspace.

And… well, that about sums up my year. How are your holidays going? Anything fun, exciting, dramatic happen to you this year? I hope your new year is warm and safe! Good night, everybody!

[thewritewolf]

Rekindle Chapter 17: Rooftop Save

Marinette meets Emilie Agreste. 

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30  31

@marichatmay​

Enjoy!

Read on Ao3

Marinette’s mind was racing as she stood in front of a beautiful middle aged woman clearly visible through the glass of her… life support? Sarcophagus? Who knows. Her eyes lingered on the preserved rose attached to her lapel. Was Emilie Agreste just a pressed flower, preserved against the encroachment of time?

Emilie Agreste. Adrien rarely opened up about her during all the years she had known him. Rarely, she had caught sight of a few pictures, saw her briefly on the movie screen. But she had never met her, never heard her voice. To Marinette, she had just been a ghost that she had known only through Adrien’s fond words.

And yet… Emilie Agreste had been alive all this time. Locked away and hidden beneath the Agreste manor, waiting for the moment Hawkmoth succeeded in his goal to bring her back. But now Hawkmoth had been defeated for good and from what Adrien was saying, she was running out of time. It broke her heart, but she was wary. Now that Adrien was aware of what his father was doing, would he try and continue Hawkmoth’s work?

Adrien was fiddling with the controls to the machine. Despite his lack of understanding, he was moving dexterously and with a purpose. Occasionally he glanced up at his sleeping mother and his expression would become clouded - in regret or anticipation, she didn’t know.

Several minute passes with only the sounds of his tinkering filling the silence before she decided to speak. “Adrien…?” He grunted. “What are you doing?”

He stopped what he was doing to turn back at her in confusion. “I’m waking her up,” he said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

She considered not saying anything after that, but decided that getting to the point might be better. “You told me she can’t live for long outside of that thing, right?” He froze and stood there in silence for long heartbeats before going back to pushing buttons again.

In a quiet voice he replied, “I know.”

“What are you going to do when she is awake? We can’t do anything for her.”

“Well, we can, but…” He gave out a long, rattling sigh. “...But helping her would kill someone else. Right?” At her nod, he continued. “So she’ll die. It’ll be like nothing has changed.”

Marinette had been talking with Chat for long enough to know when he was trying to act detached. Despite how calmly he was talking, she could feel the roiling tension beneath the surface. She stepped behind him to wrap her arms around his waist, burying her face into his back.

“I’m so sorry, kitty.” His hands squeezed hers and they stood there unmoving for a few minutes before he began to chuckle. She let go reluctantly to stand at his side, watching him carefully.

He saw her look and coughed awkwardly. “Sorry. It’s just… lately, with the anniversary and everything coming up… I’d been thinking about her more.” He flashed her a sad smile and added, “I had been wishing that she could have met you at least once.” His smile faded and his eyes became downcast again. “I guess I got my wish after all. But at what cost?”

“All we can do now is make the most of it.” She watched him findle with the controls some more. “Do you actually know how to work that?”

“Not exactly. Nooroo told me a little, but the only one who would know for sure is Hawkmoth and… I don’t think he’d approve of this. Besides, I think I’m almost…” There was a hissing sound and flaring lights as the lid covering Emilie started to come off. Utterly entranced with the spectacle, Adrien ended with a whisper, “...Done.”

For a long moment, nothing happened and she continued to lay motionless. Marinette was just about to reach out to Adrien when Emilie’s eyes fluttered. A hand went to her forehead and a pained expression crossed her face as she began to pull herself out. In an instant, Adrien was by her side and helping her out, keeping her steady as she got to her feet.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” came the bright voice, “I seem to be… a little…” Her vibrant green eyes,went from being unfocused to wide and alert as she stared at who was helping her. Her voice was barely above a whisper, panicked and reverent in equal measure, “...Adrien?”

There were tears in eyes that were so like her own as he replied, “It’s me, mom. Its been… so long.” Despite the tears running freely down both of their faces, he smiled. “There’s a lot we need to catch up on.”

-------------------------

Emilie, Marinette was learning, is a remarkably adaptable woman. The news of her husband’s transgressions, her own impending death, and being held in stasis for ten years were all taken in stride. Adrien by way of Nooroo had estimated that they would have two hours and it had only taken maybe half an hour to get all of that out of the way.

As they sipped coffee in the dining room, Marinette listened to them talk. It felt like she shouldn’t be here, like she was an intruder on this very personal moment. This was an emotional reunion between mother and son. What right did she have to be there? Maybe she should just-

“I don’t think you’ve introduced us yet, sweetheart.” Emilie turned her full attention on Marinette, resting her chin upon her steepled fingers.

Grinning, Adrien wrapped an arm around Marinette and pulled her closer. “This is Marinette Dupain-Cheng! She is the kindest, bravest, and most talented person I’ve ever met.”

Which began a round of Adrien talking her up, listing all her accomplishments, big and small, while Marinette’s blush steadily threatened to take over her entire face. To her surprise, he even talked about the milestones that had happened while they had been out of touch. Which set to rest the idea that he had ever been avoiding her. Had they really just been idiots for all these years? Once she finally stopped staring dumbstruck at Adrien, she glanced over at Emilie and realized that she was looking right back at her. There was a pleased smile on her face and she gave a quick wink to Marinette before turning her attention back to Adrien’s rambling.

After a few more minutes, Emilie cut in to say, “Sunshine, could you get us a refill from the kitchen, please?”

“Of course!” Adrien disappeared through the large double doors leading to the kitchen.

“He’s grown up to be such a kind young man. I was worried, leaving him with just Gabriel.” She smiled ruefully.

“I think we have you to thank for that, Mrs. Agreste.”

“Heaven knows I tried, but…” She took Marinette’s hand. “...I don’t think he would have made it this far by himself. Whether you know it or not, he’s better because of you.” A few moments passed with that small contact before she pulled away and frowned at the door he disappeared through. “There isn’t anyone left. He’s alone now.”

The polite smile Marinette had been wearing evaporated. Her voice was barely above a whisper. “I know.”

“Can you… watch out for him… please?” Emilie put a hand to her temple, brows furrowed.

“Are you alright?” She leapt from her seat when Emilie collapsed off of hers. “Adrien!”

While Marinette was crouched over her, Emilie croaked out, “Please. Promise me, you’ll watch out for him.”

The door flew open as Marinette replied, “He's in good hands. I promise.”

----------------------------

It is strange, how quickly two hours can pass and yet the rest of a day can drag on forever. They’d startled the poor guard watching the Agreste manor half to death, but Adrien had wanted to be sure there was a proper burial this time. He hadn’t wanted his mother to languish in the manor any longer than she had already. They’d gone home and just found ways to avoid talking about what was really on their minds until the sun was down. Then they’d gone to bed, too drained to dream.

Marinette woke up at midnight thanks to a chill coming in from the partially open window. Even if she hadn’t felt his absence in the bed beside her, she would have know he wasn’t there. On the nightstand, the little kwami bed she’d made for the two of them was occupied solely by Tikki, who was peacefully dozing. After putting on her warmest robe, she open the window fully and climbed up the fire escape to the roof of her apartment.

Just as she suspected, he was sitting there, blonde hair gently tousled by the breeze. He was looking out over the city with a distant stare, his mind clearly somewhere else. She saw his cat ears twitch as she sat down beside him and curled up against him. A strong breeze made her shiver and Chat finally reacted, pulling her onto his lap and wrapped his arms around her. She nestled herself into the crook of his neck as he settled his chin on her head.

“You should’ve stayed inside, Mari.”

“And leave my kitty out in the cold? Never.”

“This kitty is used to the cold.”

“Doesn’t mean that you need to stay out in it.”

There was a long silence following her words before he spoke again.

“I should probably feel bitter or sad or something right now, shouldn’t I?” She didn’t reply, sensing that he needed to talk this out himself. “But the truth is, I did all my mourning already. If anything, I feel… complete now. Like, I have closure, I know what happened to her. She didn’t abandon us. When she…” He swallowed heavily and started again. “When she passed, I was there for her.”

“But…?”

“Now I’m orphan. Sure, Gabriel is alive, but he might as well not be. Hawkmoth is going to jail for a long time - which is good!” He quickly added. “He deserves it for all the people he’s hurt. But I don’t really have any other family. Excluding mom’s…” he took another deep, steadying breath, “...first funeral, I haven’t really seen any of them since I was a kid.”

“Maybe… but that’s what it was like before, right? Gabriel wasn’t exactly father of the year before his reveal.”

He chuckled. “You got me there. But I also wasn’t in the best place then either. I don’t have many friends, and with Alya and Nino out of country so often, I’m alone most of the time.”

She pulled back enough to look him in the eye and cocked an eyebrow at him. “What about me?”

He rubbed the back of his neck and she was surprised to see a blush peeking out from underneath his mask. “That’s… I wanted to talk with you about that, actually.”

Fighting down the fluttering butterflies in her stomach, she replied, “...Alright. What is there to talk about?”

“I’m so sorry.” He hunched his shoulders and looked down at the ground. “I… I was too much of a coward to keep our friendship alive after school. I just… I thought…” His cat ears flattened on his head. “...I thought you wouldn’t want to see me again after that rejection.”

“Chat… Adrien… I understand. Confessing at graduation wasn’t my best decision, but I just… it suddenly hit me that it might be the last time I would ever get to see you. I wanted you to know how I felt. How I still feel.”

“So… you forgive me?”

She laughed. “Only if you forgive me for rejecting you as Ladybug.”

“How can I refuse such a sweet deal?” He grinned at her in his usual cocky way, just like his old self again, before the nervousness crept back in. “So… where does that leave us then?”

“Where do you want it to leave us?” She looked into his eyes, watching carefully as she waited for his answer.

“I think,” he took her hand in his and gently rubbed his thumb across the back of it, “I want to stay with you.” His gaze flickered to hers. “If that’s alright with you?”

She leaned in towards his face slowly, hesitating at the last moment before he closed the remaining space between them. They shared a tender kiss in the moonlight. She whispered against his lips as they began to pull away, “Sounds perfect to me.”

[freedom-shamrock]

The Chat Righting Reflex - Chapter Three

Also on AO3 Chp 1 - Kitty’s New Home    Chp 2 - Taking Care of Business Chp 3 - Hugs and Kisses   Chp 4 - A Well-Fed Chat Chp 5 - Chat in the Night    Chp 6 - Here With You Chp 7 - The Adventures of Mr. Stainless and the Muffin Maiden Chp 8 - New Normal          Chp 9 - Caretaker Kitty Chp 10 - More Normal      Chp 11 - Everyday Miracles Chp 12 - Family by Design     Chp 13 - Contented Chat

This is also the @miraculousfluffmonth  prompt #3- Summer Love

Hugs and Kisses

"You didn't have to walk us all the way out, son," Tom said, standing before the apartment building's front door.

Adrien shrugged, smiling up at the man who still had a couple inches on him.  "I wanted to."

Sabine ran her hand from his shoulder to his elbow.  "Just remember that you get to decide what dictates proper manners now.  You're in a new place, with new rules."

Adrien nodded.  "Yes, Mama Sabine."  He leaned down to hug her.  "I also wanted to thank you.  For everything."  He'd no sooner than straightened up when he found himself wrapped in the bigger man's arms.

"We're happy to be here for the everything, son," Tom said.  "And it's important to us that you understand that we mean everything, and that you believe us when we say it."

"I do."  Adrien took a small step back.  "Even when I was still trying to be two different people to you, you were kind and supportive.  Telling you who I was, was one of the best decisions I've ever made."

Sabine reached up and patted his cheek.  "I'm glad you've been able to open up to us."

The past six weeks had been amazing.  He didn't just have his sweet girlfriend and crime fighting partner supporting him, caring for him, but he'd somehow gotten her parents as well.  He'd known them for years, but revealing his identity had changed their relationships in ways he had never imagined possible.  Tom's heart-to-heart talks while teaching him how to do laundry and dishes, showed more love than he'd gotten from his father in the last ten years combined.  Sabine's cooking lessons and life advice filled the huge mom-shaped hole in his heart.

"I can't even explain how much you two mean to me," Adrien said.  "I just don't have the words, in any language.  But I need you to understand that I appreciate all of it."  He flashed them a rueful smile.  "I used to desperately want to make Gabriel proud of me.  I don't care what he thinks now, but I know some part of that old drive has awoken recently, and it's you two I want to make proud."

"Then let me assure you," Tom said, laying a huge hand on Adrien's shoulder.  "We are very proud of you."

"And nothing would make us prouder, than to see you happy," Sabine added.

Adrien returned to his apartment, once again marveling at those words, his apartment.  He was exhausted, but wasn't sure if he'd ever been happier.  Marinette had dimmed the lighting, letting him see his place clearly, but in a cozy soothing way.

"Hey, Kitty," she said, looking up from the list she was making.  While he'd been seeing her parents out, she'd changed into an adorable pajama set.  Soft black fabric with green paw prints, obviously crafted by her into short shorts and a short-sleeve shirt with four buttons up the front.

He smiled at her.  "You're adorable, Princess."

She beamed at him, pushing aside her paper to cross the room.  "I made these because Chat Noir is my very favorite superhero.  He's sweet and sexy, and deserves all the good things."

He laughed, letting her take his hands.  "When did you even have time to make these."  He brushed her sleeve with a thumb and almost melted at the softness.  "I mean, you made curtains and a comforter, too."

Marinette shrugged.  "Stolen minutes here and there."  She popped up on her toes to kiss his cheek.  "Yours are waiting in the bathroom with your toothbrush."

Just when he was sure he couldn't possibly get any happier, Marinette nudged him a little farther.  "You made some for me?"

She giggled.  "Go change.  We need to get started on those cuddles."

He woke a little warmer than was comfortable, but everything else was perfect.  He could smell Marinette, thanks to his amped up senses, and that was always soothing.  The fan blowing morning air over his bed provided a lovely white noise.  The source of heat was his girlfriend, actually.  He was half overlapping her, his head resting on her upper chest while her fingers did magical things to his scalp.  He realized then, that he was purring.

"Hmmm," he breathed, wrapping his arms around her.  "This is nice."

"It is," she agreed, letting one hand down to make circles on his shoulders and upper back.

"Is it okay that someday, maybe not too far in the future, I want to wake up like this every day?" he asked, wondering if he was moving too fast or becoming too clingy.  Those were worries he'd discussed with his therapist once he and Marinette became official, even before he told her who he was under the mask.

Her hands kept working despite the kiss she planted on his forehead.  "That's a good life goal.  Very attainable."

He giggled.  "I love you."

"Perfect," she said.  "Because I love you, too."  She continued to pet him for a while, in the comfortable quiet of coming fully awake.  "My parents left us breakfast," she eventually said.  "They wanted to be sure we had something here since it's unlikely we'll be able to stop by their place.  But they wanted you to know that you have an open invitation to breakfast and dinner anytime."

"Your parents are amazing," he said, slowly rolling off Marinette to sit up.  He looked around his room with its bare walls and superhero curtains.  "I like my new room."

"Are you going to decorate, do you think?" she asked, shoving her pillows around to sit up as well.

He nodded.  "Yeah.  But probably slowly."  He knew he wanted pictures of his friends and the people he cared about.  "I need to figure out what my style is."

"That's a great idea," Marinette agreed.  "It's better to wait and make sure your place suits you."

He chuckled.  "Is it weird that it already does?  At least a little?"

"Nope."  Marinette leaned in and kissed his cheek.  "And trust me, I know all about weirdness."  She stretched.  "So what's on the plan for today?"

He smiled, delighted to get to pick his own schedule and plans.  "I need to get a new phone.  That's probably the most important thing.  And some basic groceries to get me, or us, through until we get my kitchen set up."

"Do you want to work on the kitchen at all today?" she asked.

He leaned into her space, brushing his nose against hers.  "Nope.  I want to save a big chunk of my day to spend with my super incredible girlfriend.  I'm hoping she'll go to lunch with me.  Maybe have a romantic walk somewhere.  Just doing things together that we haven't been able to do before."

"So you're ready to go public with your relationship status?" she asked, tilting her head to the side.

"Oh, I've been ready for ages," he admitted.  "It just wasn't a good idea until now.  I've no doubt there will be complications and drama next week when Gabriel gets back in town, and I'd like to distract myself from that inevitable mess.  I also thought it would be really nice to just embrace our freedom as recent graduates together, maybe explore some parts of Paris that have been off limits to me my whole life."

"Oooh."  She was so dang cute as she wriggled in glee.  "I love it."

"I kind of want to make sure I keep the fun stuff at the top of my list this whole week, while still getting one or two important things done a day," he explained.  "In addition to being a really positive start to my new life, it'll help me fight off the emotional suck of Gabriel Agreste when I finally have to talk to him again."

Moving with a swiftness that he'd come to expect, Marinette was suddenly in his lap, hugging him.  "That's a great idea.  You're brilliant, do you know that?"  She didn't even give him time to answer.  "And if there's anything I can do to help, things I can set up or get, or even if you need a little time to yourself, you just tell me, okay?  I want to support you, but I don't want to take over your life now that you have control of it."

Her words sparked a sudden joy in him, and he pulled her close for a kiss.  He'd planned on something tender and lingering, but her eager response and  grip on his hair made it something far more intense.  His hand strayed down her back to settle on her fabulous ass, apparently spurring her to press herself more fully against him.  He gasped, involuntarily breaking the kiss.  Marinette took that as an opportunity to relocate her lips to his neck.

After nearly two months together, he was no stranger to hot and heavy makeouts with his girlfriend.  Her physical affection reflected the passion and enthusiasm she threw into anything that she loved, and it was fantastic to be on the receiving end when she decided to take charge.  Planting a foot and a hand on his mattress, he flipped them, grinning down at her when she froze in surprise.  He caressed her cheek lightly, watching for any hint that she wasn't okay with any of this.

"Oh," she whispered, mischief glinting in her eyes.  "Is that the way it's going to be?"

"Yeah.  For right now, anyway, and if you're okay with it."  She was so pretty from this vantage point, and  he really hoped she wasn't uncomfortable.

"I think I could get used to it… some of the time anyway," she teased.

"Ugh!  Could you two get any more gross?" Plagg whined, startling Adrien up onto his knees.

"Stop it Plagg!" Tikki chastised zipping in to grab hold of the black kwami's tail.  She met Adrien's eyes as she dragged him out of the room.  "I'm so sorry. I was looking for Marinette's phone. Don't mind us. We're going to go in the living room to play Candy Crush."

"Please keep the moaning to a sensible level," Plagg added before muttering, "Stupid rutting humans."

Below him, Marinette started to giggle.  Shaking his head, Adrien flopped down next to her.   "Maybe we can revisit this later after my embarrassingly rude kwami has gorged on cheese."

"It's a plan," she agreed.

This got away from me a little bit, but it's summer, and there's love, so I'll call it a good fit.

There are a few Fluff August prompts that fit what I'd like to do in this story, so those are going to happen as I can fit them in, so Dumpster Dad won’t show up until he has to.

Tagging:  @the-wheel-comes-full-circle

[sitavnabi]

How I Saved $10000 in 10 Months

I’m not a saver by birth. I like to spend money. I view money as only one type of currency, not the most valuable one. Time comes first in the ranks, followed by energy, and then comes money. Money is not and has never been particularly valuable to me. It rarely ever brought me happiness but I was convinced while growing up that my net worth was a reflection of my self worth.

I never liked the idea of being frugal. I didn’t enjoy having to go without to prepare for a future emergency. For the last three years I have made a pretty consistent yearly amount through tutoring, babysitting, administrative tasks, and other similar odd jobs. But, I lived like I made a lot more. I wasn’t spending on luxuries and going out. I was just spending more than I had on things that I needed, or seemed to need. I became increasingly worried about not having enough money.

The fear of not having enough money, instilled into me at such a young age added to this terror churning inside me. I went to bed and woke up in frenzy of overwhelming nausea and tears.

But one day, after a particularly bad incident with a client, I decided that enough was enough. This particular client generously offered to pay my semester tuition in full in exchange for unlimited tutoring. Eternally grateful, I accepted. This client proceeded to give me the run around for four weeks and on the final day, had me drive over 30 miles from town to town chasing her for the check. After a grueling three hours, she called to let me know that she was in the hospital and her husband never agreed to give me the money.

I was embarrassed, humiliated, exhausted, spent, and so ashamed of myself for letting this person take advantage of me and exploit my needs. It was in that moment that I decided to stop letting money have any hold on me whatsoever. I was going to manage my money; it was not going to manage me.

I joined Frugal Families on Facebook and gathered several books to help me. I read Ana Newell Jones, Amy Dacyzyn, and Dave Ramsey among countless others. (I don’t necessarily recommend this but I like to read so it was a win win) You can get similar information by watching Youtube videos or short articles.

Through all my collectives, I found that managing finances and saving money comes down to a pretty simple idea: don’t spend money. But, my problem, along with many people, isn’t that I didn’t know HOW to save money, but that I couldn’t convince myself of WHY.

My thinking of money was all screwed up! I associated saving with withholding, going without, deprivation, dependence, poverty, and unhappiness. I held money in the top tier of my self esteem and felt that I needed it to prove to people that they should respect me. Putting $1000 in the bank and not touching it is infinitely easier than learning to love yourself if you don’t already. Once your self esteem has been tied into how much money you spend, its a tough knot to untangle.

So, I took these baby steps ( to all my Dave Ramsey fans out there). It took me a couple months to compile all these steps and even longer to start to truly follow all of them. I am 23 years old, I make about 24K a year, I am a part time college student, and I don’t have any kids or dependents. A lot of people may be discouraged from reading this article because maybe I don’t fit their demographic, make more or less, have fewer expenses or some other excuse. They may be right. I don’t know how well these steps may work for other people and I definitely cannot guarantee any results. It’s just a look into my own experience. But, if you want to break the ball and chain of money has around your ankle or maybe even save up $10000, grab a notebook and at least give this a try!

1.

Remove people from your life that you feel value money too much. These people are easy to identify: who in your life do you feel judges you the most? Limit contact with these people for a set period of time (maybe forever), or just until you save $10000. These people breed thoughts of inadequacy and manipulate us into spending money we don't need and becoming people we don't want to be, i.e. a woman in the Tightwad Gazette who admitted that she spent more money on her wealthy nephew’s Christmas presents than her own children.

2. 

Write down your goals, hopes and dreams (not financial goals). What kind of person are you now and what do you hope will change after you become financially stable? Where do you see yourself in ten years? What would you do if you had a million dollars? What are some things about your life that you wish you could change? Why can’t you? What are aspects of life that you are grateful for? What is your dream career? What are some of your insecurities and fears? Ask yourself all these questions and any more you can think of. This should be a private journal entry that you can look back to so, be as open as you can for yourself.

3.

Write down your financial goals. How much money do you want to save? My goal was $20,000.

4.

Analyze your spending. Print out the last few months of your bank statements. Make a list. In and out. What went into the bank account and what went out. This is on the bottom of every monthly statement.

5. 

Categorize all the items that went “out”. I use a pretty simple system for this: necessary and not necessary. Rent, car payments, gas, and doctors are needs. Mcdonald’s, make up, even buying books instead of borrowing them are not necessary. Be careful not to categorize non necessities as “wants”. This implies a careless decision was made and that we should feel bad or embarrassed about it. Our money is ours and we may choose to spend it however we wish. Remember that we want to feel more confident in our decisions through this process.

6.

Evaluate your needs list. Obviously rent and car payments can’t be negotiated down but if all your needs eat up more than half your income, see if anything can change. In my personal example, I had a car payment of $198/month. During the summer months, when babysitting jobs were scarce, I only made about $900/month. Coupled with rent, I had $100 left over every month to survive on. The solution was not easy, short term, or inexpensive. I had to buy a used car and get rid of my lease, find another side gig for the summer, or find a cheaper place to stay.

7.

Evaluate your non necessities list.Create a category for every expense (eating out, crafts, shopping, subscriptions) and then prioritize them in order of used. If you spent $300 this month on books, it goes to the top of the list. Next, think about what you could and couldnt live without. Put those in order too. Note: this does not mean cutting everything out. Think about what is important to you and what can change. Just because something isnt a basic need, does not mean it is not important. For me, going out with friends, and a small budget to grab some fast food if I was still hungry after lunch meant a lot. So those went to the top of my list.

8.

For future reference, I recommend using a debit card as cash to be able to track all your purchases. So this baby step is get a debit card at a bank that is near you with a safe and convenient ATM. Commit to putting cash onto the card in small amounts to avoid temptation, but often, like once a week. I never keep more than $50 available on my debit card at any time. I have worked my weekly amount down to just $15, just enough to eat out twice a week.

9.

PAY DAY. If you are like me and don’t have a regular deposit schedule, make one and keep to it. Be flexible about how often and how much you want to see your money grow. I tried a bi-weekly deposit schedule but learned that I prefer looking at how much I made at the end of the week. So, I deposit money into my account every Friday.

10.

You have money, now what do you do with it?? Consult your needs list and put aside the amount that you cannot change this month. Pay your bills immediately. 

11.

What is left over? Budget your non-necessities and leave that in your account. Take whatever is left and shove it into your savings account.

12.

Reconsider your budget. This is the part when you slowly trick your brain into enjoying frugality. Remember that amount that you shoved into savings? No you don’t! Next month, create your budget without that chunk of savings, so immediately after payday, shove it into your savings account after bills and before non-necessities. Don’t be discouraged if you have to touch your savings account because you went over budget. Just try to average out the same amount for 3-4 months. Also, even $5 is a hefty deposit amount if you’ve been picking away at your account for the past 6 months. Be proud of yourself for any and all progress!

This last step was very helpful to me because it helped me become more and more creative about how to live on less. I learned to prioritize my hobbies, treated myself sparingly, and invest time I had in place of money I didn’t have. Overall, I became much happier than I was.

Another tip, I’d like to include is to be kinder to yourself. In hindsight it is easy to look at my expenses and realize I could’ve put a little more away here and there but I have no regrets about the mistakes I have made. Step 4 was arguably the hardest thing I’ve had to do in my life; analyze my mistakes and have compassion for myself. Even going forward, the continued slip ups I had taught me more about myself and helped me to make better decisions the next time.

I know this article seemingly boils down to taking a portion of your income and putting it into a savings account. But quite honestly, it has nothing to do with money. I have calculated that I could have put an extra $5000 away in the last ten months if I had really stuck to my needs, but that wasn’t the point. I wanted to live a life without the fear of money: not having enough, always wanting more. I was afraid to check my bank balance and I couldn’t resist a great sale that added to my net worth. Since I started my journey to financial stability, I don’t worry as much about what I have. That isn’t because I have a lot, but because I always know exactly what I had and I am confident about my ability to work with it.  It shifted my mentality of depending on money to take care of me to realizing that only I am responsible and capable of taking care of myself and money is just one of many tools that can help me. Break the chain!

[your-dietician]

Warren Buffett's top 8 lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic

New Post has been published on https://tattlepress.com/markets/warren-buffetts-top-8-lessons-from-the-covid-19-pandemic/

Warren Buffett's top 8 lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic

Warren Buffett’s top 8 lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic

One of the ways many people become successful is by approaching every crisis as an opportunity — to learn, to invest, to grow. Take billionaire business guru Warren Buffett.

He once famously advised investors to be “fearful when others are greedy, and greedy when others are fearful.” He has come through the worst of the pandemic not only richer — his net worth passed the $100 billion mark in March, even as he donates billions to charity — but with some valuable lessons for his fellow investors.

Even if you don’t have the resources to work the market like the “Oracle of Omaha,” these eight COVID-19 tips from Buffett can help strengthen your finances.

1. New to investing? Tap into the S&P 500

Joyseulay / Shutterstock

During the annual meeting of his company Berkshire Hathaway last month, Buffett talked up his favorite investment — which has been a winner during the COVID crisis.

“I recommend the S&P 500 index fund, and have for a long, long time to people,” Buffett said, adding that, upon his death, 90% of the money he leaves his wife will go into an S&P 500 fund.

S&P 500 index funds are mutual funds or ETFs mimicking the familiar stock index that tracks 500 of the largest companies in the U.S. Despite the pandemic, the S&P 500 surged 16% in 2020, and it has been hitting new highs in 2021.

“I like Berkshire, but I think that a person who doesn’t know anything about stocks at all, and doesn’t have any special feelings about Berkshire, I think they ought to buy the S&P 500 index,” Buffett told shareholders at the meeting in Los Angeles.

Be like Buffett: Getting in on the S&P 500 through an ETF or mutual fund doesn’t require a store of cash. You can start building a diversified portfolio merely by investing your “spare change.”

2. Be practical — even when the market’s losing its mind

Ric Perin / Shutterstock

Though the stock market made millionaires out of people who clicked on the right Reddit thread during COVID lockdowns, Buffett has advised his investors to take a long-term, practical approach to the market rather than making “30 or 40 trades a day to profit from what looks like a very easy game.”

Story continues

During the meeting, Buffett displayed a pair of slides that showed the 20 largest companies in the world by stock value today and in 1989. None of the companies on the list from ’89 was on the 2021 version. The lesson: things change, and picking winners isn’t easy.

“If you just had a diversified group of equities, U.S. equities, that would be my preference, but to hold over a 30-year period,” he said.

Be like Buffett: Investors who do their homework and make informed choices have been rewarded this year as the stock market has marched to new record highs, even amid the chaos of COVID-19.

A popular stock trading app helps you reduce your risk by diversifying your investments into exchange-trade funds and even fractional shares (pieces of individual stocks) — and you never have to pay any fees or commissions.

3. Don’t count on pensions

Matej Kastelic / Shutterstock

One of the more alarming trends Buffett dove into during the Berkshire meeting was the increasingly shaky status of many state pension funds, an issue he said he’d had his eye on since 2013.

“The pension situation is terrible in a great many states,” Buffett said. “It has not gotten better. It has not gotten better at all, obviously.”

The pandemic has been murder on states’ finances and will only exacerbate a pension problem that currently has no long-term solution. Before the pandemic started, state pension plans were already $1 trillion short of the funding they’d need to meet their future obligations to retirees, according to the Pew Charitable Trusts.

Be like Buffett: If you have a traditional pension plan, you may not be able to count on it to provide for you in retirement. You’ll want to get a headstart on making up for whatever shortfalls might await you.

One solid long-term investment play is farmland. The average rate of return on farmland over the past 47 years has been better than 10%. That makes it a better performer than most stocks or other forms of real estate. With worldwide demand for food rising, farmland will only grow more attractive as an asset.

4. Investors should stay wary of some investments

Pradpriew / Shutterstock Buffett has gotten out of airline stocks because of COVID-19.

The coronavirus crisis has ravaged entire industries. Airlines survived with help from government support. Take that support away, and you’d be looking at an entirely new kind of airplane disaster. The industry has months to go before anything resembling normal business — and normal profit margins — return.

“I still wouldn’t want to buy the airline business,” Buffett told his Berkshire shareholders.

One of the carriers Berkshire dumped from its portfolio was Delta Air Lines, whose shares lost more than half their value between March 1 and May 15 last year. That stock has since recovered, along with those of other major U.S. airlines, but Buffett has little confidence in the sector’s economic fundamentals.

Be like Buffett: Choosing the right stock out of thousands of potential options can make for a confusing entrance into the market. But several investing apps are available that can make the process a lot easier.

Find out which investing app is right for you and get in the game.

5. Stick to your long-term plan

Things / Shutterstock Buffett says stay on target with your financial goals.

Buffett remains confident that the U.S. economy will bounce back from the COVID crisis, but he told his shareholders that the future is far from certain.

“You can bet on America, but you have to be careful about how you bet,” he said, later reiterating that the world can change in “very, very dramatic ways.”

Buffett has never wavered from his belief that holding on to stocks long term is the right investment play for a stable financial future. During the Berkshire meeting, he was even reminded that he once said holding on to a stock forever “was too short a time period.”

Be like Buffett: A financial planning service can help you sit tight and stay focused with your investments, and using one is much more affordable and convenient than you might think.

Today, you can connect with a certified financial planner online and inexpensively to keep you on track toward your long-term goals.

6. Take full advantage of low interest rates

1599686sv / Shutterstock With interest rates falling, Buffett says it’s a great time to borrow.

Buffett sees fantastic opportunities for borrowers in 2021, thanks to the Federal Reserve’s commitment to keeping its key interest rate near zero.

“It’s a fascinating time,” Buffett told investors, adding that the low-rate environment “is enormously pleasant.”

“The economy went off a cliff in March [2020],” Buffett said. “It was resurrected in an extraordinarily effective way by Federal Reserve actions.”

Be like Buffett: If you’re a homebuyer or homeowner and have a solid credit score, you can capitalize on today’s dirt-cheap interest rates by getting an unbelievable deal on your mortgage.

Mortgage rates have inched up this year, but they’re still low enough that you could save hundreds of dollars a month by refinancing your mortgage. Compare the best offers from several lenders to be sure you’re making an informed decision.

7. Credit card balances should be avoided

Krakenimages.com / Shutterstock Buffett says if you’re carrying credit card debt, get rid of it

The pandemic, with its business closures and layoffs, has forced millions of Americans to rely on their credit cards to cover basic financial needs. It’s a fine survival strategy, but the resulting balances and high interest can make for long-term financial stress.

During Berkshire’s 2020 shareholders meeting, which was held online, he recalled the advice he gave a friend who came into a windfall and was wondering about the wisest way to spend it. She told Buffett she also had credit card debt — at 18% interest.

“If I owed any money at 18%, the first thing I’d do with any money I had would be to pay it off,” Buffett remembered telling her. “You can’t go through life borrowing money at those rates and be better off.”

Be like Buffett: If your credit card debt is affecting your finances, experts say a good first step toward managing it is to roll it into a debt consolidation loan.

Not only will you simplify your life by reducing the number of bills you’ll be paying, but you’ll also slash your interest costs and pay off your debt faster. Instead of 18%, you might find yourself paying as little as 5.95% APR.

8. Always be ready for the worst

Sergey Nivens / Shutterstock Buffett said a ‘megacatastrophe’ was coming.

They don’t call Buffett an oracle for nothing. In 2019, he warned that the world was due for a “megacatastrophe” that would dwarf the chaos created by hurricanes Katrina and Michael. When the coronavirus first hit the U.S., the multibillionaire said during an interview, “I’ve always felt a pandemic would happen sometime.”

You’d expect that kind of foresight from someone so heavily invested in the insurance industry — Berkshire Hathaway owns Geico and several other insurers — where planning for the worst is a central part of the business model.

“We’ve seen some strange things happen in the world in the last 15 months,” he told his investors this year. “And we always recognize the fact (that) stranger things are going to happen in the future.”

Be like Buffett: Prepare your family for whatever might come by buying life insurance. COVID-19 has shown how vital it can be to secure coverage for a family breadwinner.

In less than two minutes online, you can find and compare multiple life insurance rates tailored to your family’s needs. Lining up $1 million in coverage can cost as little as $1 a day.

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[portiasnextadventure]

March 16, 2018

I received the call I had been waiting 6 months to get, I was finally approved for a home loan. When I started the process of meeting with a realtor and really discussing what I wanted, where I was with my DEBT, how much I owed in student loans after 3 private university master’s degrees and 1 private university ungraduated degree, I was shocked when I was told all the steps necessary to get a loan. Yes, there are shady people out there who will give you a home loan but its not going to be in your best interest.

Steps:

1.       Stop using credit cards- ALL OF THEM, even the gas card.

2.       Start paying credit cards off. This is easier than it sounds. At least for me since I had smaller cards I could easily pay off at $200 here and $300 there. It got trickier when it was a $600 amount that needed to be paid in full.

3.       Start using cash for every expense.

4.       Pay down some more of your credit cards. The goal is less than 49% usage, but really its closer to 30% usage per card.

5.       In paying off your debt, it then takes up to 6 weeks for the credit card companies to update the Credit Bureaus like Equifax, Transunion, and Experian. So then there is the waiting game to see how much all that cash to cards has really paid off on your CREDIT SCORE.

6.       You need at least a FICO of 680 to get a decent interest rate and to qualify for specific programs that will save you lots of money in the long run. You also need to have 30-49% Debt to Income Ratio.

7.       Student Loans- I have a lot for attending 4 private universities pursuing my dreams and literally travelling the world (3 continents down). Which changed the types of loan programs available to me since most finance companies (bank or separate entitity) look at the total student loan amount and say your payments should be 1%. Which for most people is not that bad. For me, 1% of my student loans is equal to my full monthly paycheck, making it impossible for me to pay student loans, car payments, utilities, cell phone, and get food. By working with my loan holder (Fed Loan Servicing) I was able to get on an income driven repayment plan and when that came back as double my car payment, I called back and asked what other programs they had.

a.       It turns out that there are several programs under the umbrealla of Income Driven Repament Plan and YOU have to ask which would be the best for you based on wanting your payment to be $X amount. I wanted mine closer to $500 month which is a considerable savings from the initial approval at consolidation. So I called and asked what plan I needed to switch to and how to do it. The people I spoke to were super helpful, emailed me the form, told me what box to check and how to upload it to their site.

b.       Also, if you work for a school district in any capacity (teacher, classroom assistant, administrator, janitor) and you have student loans you qualify for Public Service Forgiveness Program. So call and get the information. It’s a simple form that you fill out stating you work there and get their TAX ID (its on our W2 form) and the principal signs off confirming you work there. The upside of this program is you do not pay interest when they forgive your outstanding loan balance. On the Income Driven plan you are expected to say thank you sir for forgiving my huge debt and adding the balance as income to my tax return for which I will now have to pay taxes on imaginary income. So, if you have a balance of $50,000 when forgiveness arrives under income driven plans you will be expected to pay taxes on that imaginary money since the government considers it income. So, to cover my bottom line I have enrolled in both programs to make sure there is some forgiveness of my massive student loan debt.

8.       So now that my credit score is rising, I am steadily paying off credit cards I also had to impatiently wait to be told if all I was doing was ENOUGH. By ENOUGH, I mean enough to get me to a 680 Fico Score, a decent debt to income ratio, and proof that I do have enough money to pay a mortgage. Because it is not just how much you make, they look at how much you spend and if there really is enough left over each and every month to make that mortgage since this is a 30-year contract not a 12-month contract.

9.       From November 2017 through March 2018 I paid 7 credit cards off, stopped using all of my credit cards, and increased some of the payments on the higher balanced cards based on the 3 year plan printed on the statement. ALL of this really helped bring my score up over 40 in about 5 months.  

10.   This process also forced me to look at my spending habits and really evaluate some of the thoughtful gifts I send out throughout the year to friends and loved ones as well as clients. I had to really consider that expense as there is only so much work-related expenses a gal can write off.

11.   Having to review my statements and pay with cash for three months made me really consider my purchases and if I REALLY needed an item versus I wanted a cool gadget, bag, water bottle, etc.

On March 16 I found out I had been financed for a house. By that Sunday I was out looking for houses closer to my work and in the area of Los Angeles County that I can actually afford to purchase a home on a single income. By the following Wednesday, I had found my house and had the realtor submit an offer which was accepted the next day. Friday we had the inspector come for the walk through. Later that afternoon I was getting a request to start the wire process to open escrow with the deposit. While it was a slow and tedious process, that felt overwhelming and discouraging at times, once it happened it really happened. Somehow, I am now purchasing my first home.

 My first home is not glamorous, or in an exclusive neighborhood, but it is mine. It has many of the things I wanted in a home and there is great potential for small DIY projects to make it really homey, cozy, and reflect my style. I am really excited for this next adventure.

I was looking through a journal and found a list I made of things I wanted to accomplish during my 35th year, so far I am doing pretty damn good at checking them off.

       √ Move Out- Homeownership

       √ Weight Loss- Holding steady at 15 pounds down

       √ Create distance from someone who can be toxic- The location of my home makes that possible

       Make Candy….

       Build a Woodshop

      Make My Own Furniture

     Build a Ceramics Studio

[nicosroom]

New year, same pandemic

Hello, 2021! It’s been a while, Tumblr. 

Given 2020, it seems strange to set goals for the new year ahead. Yet, here we are...

This is a work in progress organized by categories for now; I’m not sure yet if I can muster a 21 for 2021 or a 52 list as I’ve done in years past.

Fitness:

Nine months of stay at home have forced us all to get creative, it seems. I started strong with this in March, when a friend invited a group to do Yoga with Adriene’s 30 Days of Yoga series, aptly called “Home” (having released it in January, I guess Adriene couldn’t have known). I was a bit nervous. The last time I’d done Adriene’s 30 Days of Yoga (January 2016), I injured my wrist and it took about 8 weeks to heal/recover; then, for me, about a year to get back on the yoga mat; and when I did, I would only go to professionally guided classes. So this March, I started slow with an every-other-day routine. l had some trouble forming a habit, though, especially on the weekends, so I shifted to a Monday through Friday commitment; this, I found much more compelling because soon enough, the yoga sessions marked the end of my (at home) workday and the start of my evening “me time.” This yoga habit is one of the better “silver linings” that I exit 2020 with.

Other fitness activities have been hit or miss all quarantine long. I’ve had a fairly strong habit of 20-30 minute daily walks and when I was still in Colorado, I tried to get on the hiking trails each week. Still, I had to lower my daily step goals from 10,000 of the past many years of using fitness trackers, to the far more realistic 5,000. With the gym closed, living in a studio apartment, walking was all I could really manage; and being the stress chef that I am, from March through June (like many), I saw the scale going up ever so slowly. When I got to Ohio, where I’ve tried teaching remotely while living with my parents, I had much more luck thanks to the wide open spaces of their farmland, an enthusiastic walking buddy in their 10-year-old Pomeranian, and both an elliptical (mom’s never realized New Year’s resolution in 2017) and a treadmill (perhaps from the early 1990s). Yet, living with my parents has seemed to wreck my diet, both because they’re such meat eaters, my stress eating (provoked by Zoom university and them), and all the fall/winter holiday foods I can’t resist). While I haven’t been gaining as I was earlier this year, my weight has hovered at 140, about 10 more than I want.

Now, I’m packing up once more and heading to a new state and my own apartment once again. I’m excited to take control of my own grocery shopping, food prep, and space again, but I’m nervous about saying goodbye to the cardio machines and the wide open spaces. It seems, just in time, a friend has introduced me to Cassey Ho’s Blogilates channel and monthly workout calendar, a trove of at home cardio and Pilates  videos that are apartment friendly and largely equipment-free. I started incorporating these into my routine in early December and enter the new year four weeks ahead of the curve on habit-formation. So, here are some fitness goals for 2021:

Daily, 10-min wake up & stretch video 

January 4-25, I’m tackling the Blogilates #21DayTone

After that, my workout routine will be: 

Monday thru Friday, Yoga with Adriene video

Monday thru Friday, Blogilates video(es)

By Dec. 25, 2021, I want to be able to do the splits

Buy a new yoga mat: I’ve had the same one since college (12+ years!), so it’s past due, and I feel really compelled by the product placement in Adriene and Cassey’s videos. And Target just started carrying Blogilates products. But, given how much I now am using my mat these days, it feels like an investment rather than a once-in-while accessory. And actually, I might buy two. Are there recommended folding mats for that are easy to pack when traveling? I’m traveling by car most often now, so it isn’t the worst to bring mine rolled, but when we can resume plane travel...

Work/Productivity:

My research has seriously suffered during the pandemic. There are a lot of explanations: grief and depression and a daily onslaught of bad news; my contingent status in the academy and the overall trash fire of the profession’s unpredictable financial future; and being completely unsettled in my home life while working from home. I’ll feel a lot better if I can produce some writing that I like, so after I get settled in the new place, I have some goals...

First, I’ve arranged to do a book review, which is due February 1, which I hope will be the gateway to feeling like I accomplished something.

Then, I’m aiming to draft this article I’ve been wallowing with for most of 2020. My “deadline” is June 30, which I hope is both generous and realistic, given that the new semester promises more of the same at global Zoom university.

To help me achieve these goals, I’m re-instating one of my dissertation writing techniques, which is a minimum of 40 minutes of timed writing per (non-teaching) day. Many days, those 40-minute writing intervals got repeated 4-5 times; but there are just some days where 40 minutes is all I have, whether its for scheduling reasons or for bandwidth or because it’s the weekend.

Sleeping & waking:

A constant, it seems, is to work on sleep and waking habits. Actually, my sleep habits have improved drastically over the past several years. During the pandemic, I’ve maybe even been sleeping more than ever. And as such, it’s my waking habits that have suffered, given the drastic disruption of routines and the total collapse of any separation between living space and workspace. I’m used to waking up about two hours before I need to be somewhere or do something; I take long showers and like to linger over breakfast. For months now, I find myself lingering in bed for 45 minutes to an hour after my initial alarms, not usually dozing off and repeatedly snoozing them even, but browsing social media (despite there being few updates since the previous night). Subsequently, I feel rushed as I shower, dress, and take in breakfast, hoping that I’ll hit my “home office” space by 9am.

In 2021, I’m striving to…

spend 20 minutes of non-screen activity immediately before bed, whether reading, drawing, coloring, etc.

live by a one snooze limit and get out of bed within 10 minutes of the alarm

also meaning, no social media browsing in bed in the mornings

(as noted above) start each day with a 10-minute stretch routine (even the weekends)

get back to hearty breakfasts… in my rush, I’m reaching for yogurts and various packaged breakfast biscuits or cereals. When I plan ahead and actually prep overnight oatmeal or organize some kind of breakfast bowls, where I only have to add an egg or an avocado in the mornings, I feel much better and my morning work flows more smoothly.

Spending:

Four months living with my parents rent free (down from nearly $1200 a month I was spending on rent), I expected to pad my savings accounts with quite a bit of money in the fall semester, even as I was on a part time salary. But alas, I seem to have not… Like a lot of people, retail therapy has been a favorite way to cope with the pandemic… candles, new boots, a two year supply of Korean facemasks, yet another set of Pyrex, books and more books. I purchased a few things I’ve been putting off for years, including a new laptop (mine was 10 years old) and a proper desk chair (which I’ve never had). In October, I was advised to get new tires before the winter set in ($494). And, my marketplace health insurance plan (including vision and dental), $244 per month… It added up fast.

In the new year, I’ll be on full time salary and have employer benefits, lowering my out of pocket costs on insurance. And although living on my own means my living expenses will surely rise (rent, utilities, grocery, and house supplies), I hope to calm down my discretionary spending once I get the new apartment set up––admittedly, there are some furniture purchases I want to make first (a real couch, a couple bookshelves, a baker’s rack for the kitchen).

Eating/ Recipes:

2020 was such a wreck for my eating habits, even before the pandemic as I navigated my interview schedule, travel, and stress during the tenure-track job market;  and the college’s block schedule (ironically, I was teaching food literature, yet I barely had time to cook or feed myself fresh foods). Then came the pandemic, where I had all the time to cook for myself… and cooking and eating seemed to be the only thing to do. So, I occupied myself planning complicated recipes, brainstorming how to use up any out-of-the-usual ingredients I would need for them. And I also noticed myself picking up new, not healthy habits, like buying non-dairy ice creams on my bi-weekly, masked up and high stress grocery forays. And on top of that, I felt compelled to support local businesses with huge takeout orders that might last me two or three days.

Spring faded into summer, summer into fall and I was settling in for the long haul at my parents’ house. They’re eating habits are generally pretty healthy (my mom has a degree in nutrition after all), but they are also truly midwestern “meal = meat” types. Probably as part of my grad school budgeting, I’ve long adapted to eating meat sparingly, preparing it at home just a few times a month or, more typically, getting it at restaurants while eating mainly vegetarian at home. I also found in my mom’s house that it is stocked with sweets and snacks like it never was when I was a kid––potato chips, cookies, chocolates, sugary drinks. Alone, I manage my inability to resist by simply not buying many of these things, but here they were all the time.

Moving into my apartment this January, it very much feels like I’m setting myself up for success in 2021, as I take control of my grocery trips once more, re-establish my meal prep habits, and dial down meat consumption/dial up veggies.

Here are some recipes I’m excited to try this year:

Oat and banana based breakfast muffins

Crock pot butter chicken

Various waffles (I got a mini waffle maker!), especially scallion waffles; leftover Thanksgiving stuffing waffles; hash brown waffles; and zucchini fritters (I tried to make these on the frying pan last year, but I think I’ll get a better crisp in the waffle maker)

Sweet potato biscuits (for a breakfast sandwich)

Various soups, including Chicken & Hominy Stew with Greens

Hasselback Potato with Cilantro-Peanut Dressing

Cookies: coffee (winter/Christmas), pumpkin (fall)

Read/Watch:

Finish The Bluest Eye (Morrison) - I’ve been stalled on p. 130 since July 2020. Help.

Laura Kang, Traffic in Asian Women

Charles Yu, Interior Chinatown

Tommy Orange, There There

The Lunchbox

History and Memory

Minari

Taxi Driver

90 Day Fiancée (for research)

[anctilbrayen]

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