#like i think my follower list has changed overall by 20 and yet somehow stayed almost the same 😂😂

[plague-of-insomnia]

me navigating my follower list this week as people bounce back and forth trying to figure out what side of the fandom i’m on

[icedteaandoldlace]

So there’s this “101 Reasons to Ship Snowbarry” video that keeps coming up on my YouTube suggestions. Idgaf about Snowbarry, and I’ve already hit the “not interested” button on similar videos before, but since I can’t seem to get away from video suggestions like this, I’m just gonna watch it and liveblog it, and bet that for every entry on the list, I can come up with a corresponding rebuttal for why Barrisco would make an even better couple. (I’m not gonna comment this ON the video ofc, this is just for my own amusement.)

Click the link above if you want to see the stuff I’ll be responding to, but be forewarned, that video is like, way long, so naturally it follows that this post is gonna be, too.

Additional note: If you are a Snowbarry shipper who has stumbled across this post somehow, now would be the time to stop reading, and also to add the “anti Snowbarry” tag to your filters if you wish to avoid running into posts like this in the future, ‘cause I ain’t interested in engaging in shipping wars.

Anyways, let’s go:

1. "How they met." Cisco woke Barry out of a coma by playing/singing a song about bisexuality, 'nuff said. (Also, part of the purpose of that scene was to introduce Caitlin as the serious, “down to business” one, and Cisco as the warmer, more easygoing one who’s trying to make Barry feel more comfortable.)

2. "They're both scientists." What is Cisco, an Instagram influencer?

3. If Caitlin being Barry’s personal doctor gets her romantic points, then the same should go for Cisco being his personal tailor. Actually, he should get more points, because there’s no moratorium on romantic relationships between tailors and their clients.

4. The way Barry and Cisco gaze into each other's eyes for non-medical purposes. This is too easy.

5. Uh. Cisco being the voice in Barry's ear while he's running, and often the first person he calls out to for help solving a problem.

6. They frequently take hold of each other's hands and shoulders.

7. Cisco comforts Barry while Caitlin tends to his wounds.

8 through 12 is literally just stuff about Caitlin being a doctor, and I don't find this stuff relevant enough to rebut because there's nothing inherently romantic about any of it.

13. "They both have fun together." Yes, Cisco also, the fun having, it happens, lots. Even more, actually.

14. Not really sure what to say for this one. Barry and Cisco noticing when each other is sad and then checking on each other (at Cecile’s baby shower and Barry’s bachelor party, respectively, and also on other occasions), comes to mind. That doesn’t have to do with noticing each other’s lips, per se, but I’ve never thought of either of these SB scenes as moments where Barry was staring at Caitlin’s lips, just as moments where he’s noticing her expression/overall mood, which is something he does with Cisco (and vice versa), too.

15. They all have nerdy hobbies, dude, they're nerds.

16. This one for SB is "she makes Barry drunk on purpose", which, y'know, she did because he wanted to be able to get buzzed, which Cisco has succeeded in helping him do, too (and the drink he made was more effective and longer lasting), but the way this is phrased is kind of suggestive, like Caitlin was doing it to lower his inhibitions (which she totally wasn’t), and uuuuhhhh, don't romanticize that maybe???

17. Cisco put all that tech into Barry's suit, including delivery menus from his favorite restaurants + wrote him an instruction manual, and sped up all his favorite shows so he could catch up on what he missed while he was in the speed force.

18. Barry makes Cisco's (and everyone's) hair fly everywhere when he speeds out of a room, too. Like, this is just basic physics, fam, wyd?

19. Barry also uses his powers to help Cisco. And...literally everyone who needs his help, this is basic superhero stuff, wyd?

20. He is impressed with Cisco, frequently.

21. Just having nicknames? He calls him "bud", "dude", etc., and one time he called him "Cis". (Bonus: Iris and Cisco have called Caitlin "Cait", too, so it’s not just a Ronnie and Barry thing.)

22. Cisco can make anything to help Barry. They're literally top-notch genius scientists, I don't even

23. Obviously they think each other makes great company, they're best friends. All of them.

24. They comfort each other. Again, best friends + Team Flash pep talks are a major staple of the show.

25. He needs Cisco, too.

26. They...they care about...my god, it's like you people have never heard of FRIENDS.

27. Honestly, how many times have we heard Barry tell Cisco he believes in him, or heard Cisco gush about what a great hero Barry is?

28. Helping each other conquer their fears. Yep, that's another one that applies to like, everyone on this show.

29. "They both have experienced loss" IT'S A SUPERHERO SHOW! Also, that's just life. Name one main character on this show who hasn't experienced loss. Nash and Wally have both experienced loss, and I have yet to see anyone ship them.

30. "They both can sing really well." Okay now. This one is true for Barry and Cisco, but uh...Caitlin is literally tone deaf. I'm not being mean, Danielle Panabaker knows good and well that she can't sing, and she has talked about Carlos side-eyeing her when she gets going because she's not good at it. THAT'S OKAY! There's nothing wrong with not being able to sing, but--WHY would you claim that she's good at something that she clearly is not? She wasn't on pitch for a single line of Summer Nights, and she straight up changes keys mid-line in the mockingbird song in that other clip, and just...what even is this entry?!

31. Watching over each other, yeah, another basic staple of being friends and superheroes.

32. "He is always standing behind Caitlin" AND LOOK WHO'S STANDING BESIDE HIM!

33. Remember that time fake Jay "died" and Cisco stayed with Caitlin until she fell asleep? Remember when Dante died and Caitlin slept on Cisco's couch to keep him company? Remember all those times Barry or Cisco were rendered unconscious, and the other stayed by their bedside until they woke up?

34. Basically just a continuation of 33. See above.

35. "Maybe 'okay' will be our 'always'." Hmm, what WOULD Barry and Cisco's "always/okay" be? Probably just calling out each other's names tbh, they do that a lot. Or perhaps, "For real?"

36. Is2g. Being only one call or text away is, again, a staple of the show, considering everyone in it is a close-knit found family and knows there's a very good chance that that call or text might be saying, "I'm in mortal danger, please come save my life at once."

37. Funny, I already pointed out once before (in a different post) the fun parallel of how Caitlin will sometimes go running to whoever her love interest is at the moment, or she'll call out his name, while Cisco is at the same moment running to Barry/calling out for Barry.

Side note: did they really think including Barry's proposal song to Iris would give more weight to their why-to-ship-Snowbarry argument?

38. I mean...Barry kind of carries everyone everywhere. You don't really get to see it, but how the heck else do you explain all the times he whooshes people in and out of places? He can't just drag them, otherwise the soles of their shoes would either wear down fast or catch on fire.

39. Okay, no shade to Barry and Caitlin's friendship, and some of these moments are really great, but generally speaking, their hugs do not compare to the ones that either of them has with Cisco. Also, note the group hug scene, conveniently cut off before Cisco joins in, because unlike the Romione + Harry hug in the Prisoner of Azkaban movie, there's no way to interpret it as a third wheel/cockblocking moment, because the moment Cisco declares it a group hug moment, Barry and Caitlin both agree, and you can see it on their faces that they are delighted, and think that Cisco joining in their hug has just made it even BETTER.

40. Henry gladly accepts a hug from Caitlin, immediately after laughing at Cisco's awkward moment and giving him a fatherly reassuring pat on the shoulder. I think it's safe to say he approves of all of Team Flash.

41. Oh look, another thing Barry and Cisco and multiple other characters do.

Good god, I'm not even halfway through this yet. This is like that time I tried to climb Diamond Head.

42. Ah, superhero poses, yes. That thing that...superheroes...do. Like, all of the ones on this show. And in general.

43.  "They begin to resemble each other." They're just white, fam. OH MY GOD, I SOMETIMES TAKE MY SUNGLASSES OFF WITH ONE HAND, TOO! OT3 MUCH????? 😱 Lol what even??

44. How many times throughout this video am I gonna have to repeat that everyone on this show has these moments? Also, speaking in unison with someone because you had prior knowledge of what they were going to say due to yourself or someone else time traveling, is not the same as being in sync with them because you’re close. (He said “Weather Wizard” at the same time as Cisco, too.)

45. Idk what to even say to this one. Like, Iris is obviously the love of Barry's life, and Cisco is obviously his favorite best friend and the person he would be with if he didn’t have Iris.

46. *John Mulaney voice* AND THEN THEY DIDN'T! Seriously, though, both of the people they were trying to get over were perfect for them. I don't have a Barrisco specific rebuttal for this one though.

47. So by this video's logic, that one scene from 4x03 means that Barry, Harry, and Cisco should be a threesome, huh?

48. "I did it because it gave me an excuse to bring him back."

49. .................is this even an argument?

50. They're both good looking people, darling.

51. Wrong, sir. They fight like siblings. Trust me on this one, I have six of them.

52. Trauma response. I'm moving away from Barrisco arguments and just saying the first thing that pops into my head now. But seriously, this is a normal reaction to trauma/loss.

53. *Siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh* I'm not even gonna say it this time, you already know.

54. Again, have you people ever had anyone in your life that you cared about, ever? I'm starting to get concerned, honestly. But for the sake of bringing Barrisco back into this, hey, remember that time Barry and Caitlin both got kidnapped on the same night and Cisco was completely beside himself?

55. This is getting out of hand.

56. Pretty sure dating Caitlin didn't even make the list for Barry's reasons to dislike Jay and Julian (also, he liked Ronnie, the guy she loved the most, so...)

57. Judging Barry for being a dumbass + helping an exposed girl out =/= jealousy. Granted, there was some jealousy in that last clip, but not because Iris got the man; it was because Barry was all set to live happily ever after while Caitlin was, y'know, struggling with powers she didn't want and another person living in her head that kept fighting her for control of her body.

58. Refer to season 1 episode 2, wherein Cisco is the person helping Barry from the beginning, and Caitlin asserts that she is on Joe's side when he tells Barry what a stupid and reckless idea trying to be a superhero is.

59 + 60. "Let's bring our boy home." / "Let's go get our girl." Do I need to cite either quote?

61. Again I ask, did a human make this list?

62. Don't make me tap the sign.

63. One word: Elseworlds.

64. If you'll scroll waaaaaaaaaaay up there, I already covered that Barry and Cisco hold hands A LOT.

65. Oooh, I made a meme about this one! Not after watching this video, I just see SBers say this all the time, and it drives me crazy.

I used this in my Snowbarry fandom drama presentation for my squad’s presentation party a while back.

Side note: ~INTERESTING~ how Caitlin being a doctor is ““romantic”” when she’s treating Barry but ““motherly”” when she’s treating Cisco. I can’t even.

66. ......I’m sorry, I’m just not seeing how the dramatic irony of them stating that Killer Frost will never be a problem on Earth-1 is pertinent to shipping them as a couple.

67. Hannibal Bates and Caitlin are perfect for each other? Weird take, but okay. Oh, and there Caitlin is trying to freeze Barry to death. Wasn’t there a point somewhere up there about her never wanting him to get hurt?

Side note: Hey, what’s the name of that guy who saved Barry in this scene?

68. Bruh, that’s just her dynamic with everyone that season.

69. Barry and Iris, Barry and Cisco, Cisco and Caitlin, Cisco and Harry, Caitlin and Killer Frost, Cisco and Killer Frost--just naming some duos that are more iconic than Barry and Caitlin. Again, no shade to their friendship--I really like them as friends!--but the shippers stay making it out to be more than it really is.

I also just have to point out that although Killer Frost was the one who willingly teamed up with Savitar/whom Savitar sought out first, when she comments on their team up and says it’s “Barry and Caitlin together again”, his response is to point out that she’s not Caitlin and he’s not Barry. In contrast, when he takes Cisco against his will and forces him to modify the speed force bazooka, he still refers to Cisco as his best friend.

70. Make up your mind, does Savitar count as Barry in this or not? Because he totally grabbed Caitlin by the throat once.

71. I don’t know how to break this to you, but not enjoying it when someone is in pain is just being normal. (Do I even need to point out Cisco’s empathetic cringing compared to Barry’s looks of mild discomfort, or...?)

At some point this went from being about Barrisco to being about Cisco being the favorite friend to both of them, idk.

72. He. Is. Literally. A. Superhero.

73. Man, what did I JUST say? Also, can we just acknowledge the build up to Crisis on Infinite Earths for a second, wherein Frost very quickly accepts that Barry is supposed to die in order to save everyone else, while Cisco has infinite crises of his own at the idea of having to accept Barry’s death--which, I might add, he never actually does? Neither does Iris, for that matter. They tried to accept it, and they thought they did, but they didn’t really.

74. Oh fuck it, just read 73 again.

75. Okay, what even is this one? Two scenes where they are not present for each other’s “deaths” and thus don’t react to them, meanwhile Cisco is devastated in both of them?

76. Same thing I’ve already said several times before.

77. How many times do I gotta point out that this is a superhero show?

78. Just really trying hard to find enough reasons to make this list 101, huh? (What is Firestorm, chopped liver?)

79. Because violence = chemistry apparently. Wasn’t there another entry about how they can never hurt each other or something?

80. I’m sorry, I can’t hear you over the vibrating hand that shredded Cisco’s heart before either of those scenes happened.

81. It’s like SBers think they’re the only two characters on the entire show.

82. I’m sorry, I can’t hear you over all the other vibrating hands triggering Cisco at least once per season. But sure, Barry and Caitlin are the only two who know suffering.

83. Two words: Flashpoint. Dante. Also, not seeing how this one is romantic.

84. That’s just a Caitlin/Frost thing, fam, it only happened to Barry because he got whammied by Prism, who caused the same effect in everyone else he whammied. (Cisco’s eyes turned purple once when he got hypnotized.)

85. Please. I beg of you. Get friends. Interact with a human person.

Side note: “I trust you” was almost what I put for Barrisco’s “always/okay”.

86. “Don’t call me that. I don’t know you, string bean.” / “I don’t know who you think you are, but around here, people call me Mr. Ramon.” / “The name is Vibe.” (Again, romance where?)

87. Kinda like how Mirror Iris and Mirror Kamilla have slightly dressier tastes than Real Iris and Real Kamilla.

88. ....Anyways, Vibe........

89. The first time because Cisco saved him, the second time because she froze him just enough to fool Grodd, not enough to actually kill him. (Again I say, what is Firestorm?)

90. So romance. Very love. Much relationship.

91. ANYWAYS, CISCO. (And uh, hello, IRIS???? Joe? Harry?)

92. See 88.

93. This one might be a fun ship parallel if Caitlin had actually been involved in Barry’s brain zapping, but instead it’s just like, “here’s two random scenes that are kinda similar in completely insignificant ways”, like the evil clothes thing a few entries back.

94. Another entry that just demonstrates that their one-on-one moments together, while good, just don’t compare to either of their one-on-one moments with Cisco. I can’t be the only person who sees this.

95 + 96 + 97. I can’t muster up enough interest in any of these shows to watch them all the way through. Is this supposed to impress me?

98 + 99 + 100. The only point this proves is that they have multiple ship names. (I thought their evil ship name was Savifrost?)

101. Mm, sorry, sweetheart, Westallen, Barrisco, and Snowstorm all have them beat in this category.

This post really got away from me, at this point idk what I’m even doing, but I went on too long to stop now.

Oh, shit, there’s a bonus round.

Honestly, I fail to see how a lot of these supposedly “match”? But as for the ones that do, that’s just your basic TV aesthetics, I forget the official name for it. They’re matchy-matchy with Cisco in some of those shots, too, because TV matchy color psychology whatever. It’s a whole thing, every TV show and movie does it.

If anyone actually followed along this far, congratulations on your attention span, my brain could never. Idk how to end this post because it strayed so far from my original intent and basically just turned into a Snowbarry Fandom Doesn’t Make Sense Presentation 2.0

You know, I like to try not to generalize and stuff, and I’d like to think that maybe not all SBers are racist and that some people genuinely just like the ship because they think that makes sense or something, but then I look at their reasons for shipping it, and it’s just the dang blandest thing I ever did see, and they have to reach so far when they try to explain why they think they’re the best “couple” on the show and just??? I am the queen of shipping friends who never get together romantically, but Barry and Caitlin just don’t got it, son. Tbh part of the show’s appeal to me is the fact that there’s no threat of Caitlin ever getting with either of her male bffs in that way, because Cisco is like her brother, and getting with Barry just wouldn’t make sense. It just befuddles me to no end that they are such a wildly popular ship and not a rare pair, because the way their relationship is in canon is just exactly the way it should be.

That’s it, I guess. I’ve already invested this much time in this, so I might as well post it.

Also, please don’t anybody try to start anything in the comments section of this video, this fandom has enough drama as it is.

[giapism]

January Reading Updates

Since we’ve just reached the end of the first month of 2020, I thought I’d take some time to share with you all what I’ve been reading and also write a short review about each book (else I’ll completely forget what I read by the end of the year...) The books are listed in the order that I completed them in. 

(*): Read in Vietnamese 

1. American Gods - Neil Gaiman

Neil is perhaps my favorite storyteller ever, and he particularly excels in building strange yet captivating worlds that do a great job of making humans seem more human than ever, despite the fact nothing remotely conforming to the human-norm happens (except marriage problems--I suppose even gods and demi-gods are dumb motherfuckers when it comes to love.)

American Gods follows Shadow, a widower freshly released from jail as he tags alongside a suspiciously rich “Mr. Wednesday” (later revealed to be an undercover God), on a quest to convince the old, forgotten Gods of America to rise up and fight the new Gods (Technology, Media etc.) The book pulls up many characters from Irish, Norse, Hindu, Slavic, African and Egyptian folklore and so on, and offers a very refreshing take on religion in modern society. Although Gaiman didn’t dive deep into any specific culture, it’s a helpful start to continue learning about religion and folklore all over the world. There is a lot of information and I can only imagine how painstaking the research process must have been.  

Genre-wise, I don’t think this book fits into any at all. There’s history, fantasy, horror, maybe some thriller too. The idea of a giant war with hundreds of Gods is very ambitious, so the book does get a little messy and all-over-the-place at times. I’d call it “jigsaw-puzzling”, though, you’re given lots of information that doesn’t seem to make sense, but gradually everything comes together at the end and I absolutely love getting to the end and exclaiming “OH! So THAT’S what it was about” I find that the suspense-building in this book very well-done, too. The only criticism I have is that the ending felt a bit... lacking. You had all this build up, this gigantic feud, but everything’s resolved so simply you almost feel cheated. Or maybe I just have something against how Armageddon-type stories (where 2 sides fight to death) keep ending. Other than that, considering how hard this topic is to write about, I’m flabbergasted at how well Neil pulled it off.

Overall rating: 8/10

2. The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck - Mark Manson

Everyone was raving about it so I had to give it a go. For those of you who don’t know, this is a self-help book aiming to show you how to re-purpose your life, communicate effectively and live productively. Surprisingly, it only took me 2 afternoons to finish (I always find self-help books are easier to read than fiction, don’t know why). It’s written very informally and feels more like a humorous conversation with a loving but foul-mouthed friend, which makes it easy to digest whether you’re a 10th grader being peer-pressured to apply to US Colleges or a 53-year old electrician just realising you actually wanted to be a novelist. The only requirement for the the advice to be useful is that you kind of need to mess up a lot.

However, I found that there weren’t that many new things in the book. Mostly, it just reminded us of the things we already knew but consciously (or subconsciously) decide to shove under the carpet, OR put into words things we kind of already think, but don’t know how to explain. There is, no doubt, lots of helpful advice but like all self-help books, I find it too much to remember (unless you’re going to re-read it 20 times), and when I finished, out of the dozens of pieces of advice I only remembered one, “People who make changes aren’t flashy and don’t about what they’re going to do a lot. They just do it.” And from then on I shut up about my plans and just worked on them. Everyone’s going to have their own takeaways relevant to their lives, and I’d encourage you to read it just to see if you can find anything interesting. If out of 20 things, you remember 2-3 things that work for you, that’s still a win.

What I enjoyed the most was actually reading the stories/examples of real people at the beginning of each chapter before getting into the “lecture” part. 

Overall rating: 6.9/10 

3. Dracula - Bram Stoker

A classic in gothic horror. I actually started reading this last year and the first third of the book telling Jonathan’s fearful stays at Count Dracula’s castle had me hooked - it’s written in beautiful, elegant language which we hardly ever hear anymore, and does such a wonderful job conveying the characters’ fears, thoughts and emotions. But the moment Jonathan leaves the castle and the book switches to other characters’ stories, it just got so long and boring that I stopped reading for 3 months altogether and forgot which character was which because there were so many men. The “dull chapters” stretch on for at least a quarter of the book, and things only get interesting again when Dracula returns to the story and certain characters start turning into vampires. The rest of the story follows the “heroes” as they try to defeat the Count and bring peace to his victims, and although many parts are suspenseful and very clever, the ending is also so easily achieved that it’s a bit of a downer. 

The whole book is written in diary entrees, journal entrees and letters of different characters (I’ve only read single-person diaries before) which was surprisingly pleasant in that you feel like you know the characters and by the end, you grow quite fond of them. It even inspired me to start keeping a diary again. It also made me start speaking like an old Englishman for the few days after completion, because I hadn’t really shaken off the language yet. Everyone seemed to be much more caring towards each other in those days, and through the letters I picked up some romantic phrases of which my favorite has been “And so, as you love me, and he loves me, and I love you with all the moods and tenses of the verb, I send you simply his ‘love’ instead.” Lovely, isn’t it? 

Overall rating: 7/10

4. Days at Morisaki Bookstore /  Những Giấc Mơ Ở Hiệu Sách Morisaki - Satoshi Yagisawa*

I’m not sure of the popularity of this book, it seems quite lowkey but has a surprising amount of reviews on Good Reads and even has a film adaptation. I happened to find it on my bookshelf and finished it in one afternoon (it was only 150-ish pages.)

Genre-wise, I’d call it Slice of Life although I don’t know if books are even allowed to be called that, or just anime. There is generally no real plot, only character development as Takako (main character) gets dumped by her cheating boyfriend and moves into her uncle’s antique bookstore to re-charge, gradually finding herself learning to appreciate books and the people around her. It’s a very simple storyline, and there’s almost nothing very special about the main character, but maybe that’s what makes it a relaxing read - because in reality, most humans aren’t the special snowflakes and oddballs we think. Admittedly, I started off finding Takako very annoying, but as she grew through the story, I found myself empathizing with her. For me, the book is a reminder to take things slower in life, remember to recharge and learn to see the beauty in simple things around you. It had a happy ending, too. Good for lazy reads, you don’t really have to think much - just sit there with a nice cup of tea and go with the flow. 

Overall rating: 7/10

5. The Oldest Parents With The Youngest Child / Những Tháng Năm Rực Rỡ - Ae-ran Kim*

I. Loved. This. Even now it’s left me with a tumble of emotions that I don’t even know how to describe, and I can say for sure that it’s made it to my list of favorite books of all time. 

The story recounts the life of a 17-year-old boy with progeria (a disease that makes his body age 4x as fast as a regular person, meaning he has the body of an 80-year-old) and his parents, who had him when they were 17. It talks of the struggles of teen parents learning to cope with an unintended pregnancy, their financial and mental hardships raising a child whilst also battling his illness, and also of the main character’s steel-hard resilience and love for life despite his condition. It actually made me feel ashamed of myself for being perfectly healthy, but not being as curious and hungry to learn, and most of all, to have a perfectly functioning laptop and not be writing. Other than that, it also humanizes persons with disabilities, showing that they too can fall in love, get anxious when ghosted and want to sneakily drink alcohol despite being underaged - anything a typical 17 year old might do. After this book, for the first time in a long time I felt that every aspect of life was truly wonderful and that I was lucky to be here. I also made a list of 30 challenges to do these coming months, to understand and enjoy life more and will keep you updated on my progress. 

Even though the book is written from the perspective of a boy with progeria, the author herself is a perfectly healthy woman in her 40s (who did a lot of research before writing, I’m sure). Yet somehow she’s able to tell the story so vividly, convincingly and emotionally that I feel like I’m in his body, living his life and feeling his disappointment and excitement. The tone is so natural, so nonchalant it just feels like a leaf smoothly riding the breeze down the the ground. Reading this book, I’m reminded again of how powerful a tool literature is in sharing ideas, bridging humans and building empathy. I’m in awe of not just the main character for pushing through his difficulties the way he did, but also of the author for writing something so powerful it changed the way I looked at life. It makes me want to write stories like this one day, too. I just don’t know what to say about this book other than I really loved it. 

Overall rating: 9/10

And that’s it for this month! I’ve only just gotten back on track with reading and remembering how fun it is. Hopefully someone will find this helpful and maybe pick up one of these books. I’ll see you guys next month!

[hycrans]

( the cuteST )

a bitch is Tired rn after pulling my usual shit, aka staying up until 5am for no reason only to wake up three hours later to watch bts run, so excuse the seeming lack of enthusiasm lkfdsjglk. hey i’m jules, i’m 20, canadian, and my current means of life rn are chocolate, the x files ( iM LATE IK SFGDJLK ) and 3am you in me listening parties with myself rip !! it’s been almost a month since its release, i need to Relax dammit. i’m a uni student who just got off for christmas break and in love with sowoo so you don’t wanna know the agony that came with picking one over the other without a bit of help. you can hmu on d*scord at HAPPY S*OKJIN DAY#2030 ( don’t.. call me out for not having an updated name since his birthday’s passed, i’m not v bright pls ) if you’d like and this is so boRING, it’s like the life is sucked out of me omg. anyways hyeran, a whole.. other positive muse bc jesus, how many of these do i have rn ?? this is so out of hand man, but nonetheless here’s a bit abt the brat:

- ̗̀ JEON SOMIN, CISFEMALE, SHE/HER ̖́- – have you seen YUN HYERAN? people’ve said the TWENTY TWO year old has been running around the streets of jeju lately, which is odd because aren’t they a BARISTA/MUSIC PRODUCER during the day? anyways, i know they’re known to be EBULLIENT and TRANQUIL but recently i’ve heard they’ve been MAGNANIMOUS and DIFFIDENT, but i could be wrong. ( jules / 20 / gmt-3:30 / she/her )

EDIT: i somehow forgot to mention that she’s.. not sure where she is on the lgbt spectrum but she knows she’s Not Straight JFGDSLKJGK but she’s panromantic so yeah sgjkdl. i’m a whole mess today, i’m sorry lol

yun hyeran, a daegu native with an older and younger brother, an ambivert and an all around baby

tbh i don’t have much of her bg figured out, that’s always the last thing i get to so rip

buT she became involved in music through her father, who studied it in uni and ended up becoming a music instructor with a focus on piano, flute and vocals

her and her mom.. also her older brother, didn’t have the best relationship when she grew older, which seemed to die altogether when her parents divorced and her mom left. but her and her brother’s still exists, it’s just that he’s a bit of a toxic influence on her and she tends to distance herself from him

went to uni in seoul to pursue music like her father ( a daddy’s girl too like ) and found her way into the world of production !! by junior year, she’d transferred out of her original program and majored in that instead and has loved it ever since; she recently graduated

moved to jeju island bc an aunt lived there when she was young and she LOVED to visit, made a few friends there and would always whine abt the next time they could all go see her aunt again. so it made sense for her to live, at least for a little while, in one of her favourite places

she also adores said aunt, her dad’s sister and the maternal figure she Deserves, so she came partially to see her more often

for the time being, she works full-time as a barista at the café just a block from her cute little studio apartment while looking into internships at record labels for her to take on a little further down the line ( no rush bc it’s already quite competitive and she’d rather enjoy what she has going now )

she’s also making something of an income as the creator of an acct on youtube and soundcloud for her music, something she’s had for abt two years now

she’s not even close to making it big yet, and she doesn’t mind if she never works for a moderately to highly popular label — though she should if she wants to get by

among the aesthetic, lo-fi music crowd ( one of those yt accts with a livestream for certain playlists that go on for hours, rip ) where for the most part, it’s personal faves mixed with her own works, and has a substantial following as of now. but has an interest in experimenting, with mashups ( as a lover of them ?? i couldn’t help myself sgflkdsjg ) for example, with a small fear of how that change would be received

this is so short iK, it’s a little infuriating if you ask me ljkgdfjls

in terms of her personality and other things:

she’s a very loyal person, v e r y. while like i said, her relationship with her brother is Not Great, she hasn’t completely given up on him. maybe for the time being, but her being someone who’s open to the idea of people changing for the better somewhere down the line, leaves a bit of room for her to possibly change her mind if he does enough to allow her to consider it

so she can be a bit of a doormat in some cases, it all depends on how she sees the person that determines if that’s the case, but she generally won’t let you off if you’re being dumb/an ass to someone or if she gets advantageous vibes from you for example ( given she can.. be a little naive and is a p gentle soul ) so.. idk fgklsj good luck to the 99% ig ??

she does have a slight dependency on others despite her thinking all signs point to the opposite, and even though her and her mom never rly had a good relationship she still reels from the neglect/abandonment some days so handle her with Care if she deems you a close pal, 

spontaneous tbh, moving to jeju was a little last minute on her part, for one

she’s a little reclusive when focused on something, if she tells you she’s working on a track, it’s essentially a head’s up that you might not see her for a couple of days depending on how soon she gets it done — lowkey that bitch™ who makes up an illness to her boss, so she wouldn’t even show up for work if it’s more than just her fucking around

bc admittedly, a lot of what she posts is fucking around and liking it, her more thought-out and effort packed projects are hidden away on her laptop

a bit insecure with her work and just her general disposition ?? those first few points above mess with her a lot and leave her disheartened so.. my poor child

v strong overall, takes people’s shit and if it gets to her, she gets over it p fast. doesn’t dwell on much and will be courteous to you even if she’s declared you too toxic to stick around 24/7

isn’t exactly one to get angry ?? she’s basically just disappointed or annoyed at best 99% of the time, it takes a lot to get her beyond that

positive, ugh. maybe not sickeningly sweet, but still. kinda explained parts of it above and i’m 95% gone mentally rn, gotta spare that for other little details gsjklf

a cute bean who wants the best for everyone and is also clumsy as absolute fuCK

uhhh

plays piano and bass guitar ( you don’t know how tempted i was to say clarinet bc of jiwoo gjflkgds )

prob had some kind of little amateur rock band with a few music majors and took up bass for the hell of it lmao

loves animals, leans towards cats or big dogs. corgis and those little spaniels get a pass tho

speaking of, she has a cute little calico kitten ( i’m shit with pet names so that’s tba rgkjls ) who she Loves, her baby !!

sweater, ball cap and basic t shirt junkie

those glasses somin’s been wearing a lot of lately ?? hyeran wears them too but.. actually needs them, not even close to a fashion statement

doesn’t don much makeup unless someone’s dragging her to a party or something

thaT’S when she looks a little more like a classy early twenties bitch.. which lbr, is hard enough when adulthood is a whole Train Wreck for the most part LGFJSDL

not a heavy drinker, but the textbook definition of a lightweight so.. she’s always praying for anyone who has to deal with her dgfjklsfg

lattes are her livelihood

a bit of a hopeless romantic, god help her

her favourite subject in school was literature/writing and reads quite a bit on her breaks at the café

favourite music genres.. it’s easier to say what she doesn’t like/finds boring, which is prob country and some aspects of edm/pop, not into punk/metal either

these are super basic but.. i’ve gotta get myself together for the day so this’ll do for now i hope ??

so if you’d like to plot, im me here or on d*scord ! i prefer the latter personally, but whichever’s easiest for you. i have a list of a few of the specific wcs i have in mind ( for the time being, catch my lazy ass avoid listing all the basic ones and revising a few i have on an old blog ) for hyeran up now, which you can find here, so just lmk if any of them appeal to you !!

[auburnfamilynews]

https://twitter.com/burks_mb/status/1212194652255924224

It will probably be a quiet day for the Tigers.

Somehow we have come to the end of the 2020 recruiting cycle. In yonder times, there was no Early Signing Period meaning National Signing Day was THE day and it was often a circus. However, with the majority of the 2020 class having already signed, there will likely be very little drama tomorrow, especially for the Auburn Tigers.

Tigers Pickup Preferred Walk On

Before we talk about what to expect tomorrow, I think it’s important to highlight an interesting pickup the Tigers got yesterday. 3* QB Sawyer Pate lead Thompson to a state championship which included thrashing Central, a program with some familiar names on it for Auburn recruiting fans in 4* WR EJ Williams and 4* OT Javion Cohen. Pate threw for over 3,000 yards, 41 touchdowns and 3 interceptions in 2019 yet did not receive a single offer. However, Auburn might prove the beneficiary as they offered the Thompson standout a preferred walk on opportunity this past weekend and yesterday he accepted.

Committed!! #WarEagle @CoachGusMalzahn @coachchadmorris @Keith247Sports @Rivals @247Sports @YellowhammerFB @coachmarkf @WARRIORNATION20 pic.twitter.com/0N60wF03iN

— Sawyer Pate (@PateSawyer) February 4, 2020

Pate is listed as a pro style quarterback but has some elusiveness to his game. He might not break off many 20+ yard scampers but he’s quick enough to escape pressure in the backfield and pickup positive yardage if it’s there. At 6’1” 210 lbs, he’s a well built kid with the size to play at the next level. His delivery is a bit funky but he’s insanely accurate completing almost 75% of his passes this past season. Don’t be surprised if this kid ends up on scholarship in the not too distant future. He’s got a chance to at least battle for that backup spot this fall.

National Signing Day Preview

Considering Auburn signed 23 players back in December and already has pledges from two other blue chip prospects, tomorrow shouldn’t be a too dramatic day for the Tigers. Here’s a quick breakdown on who has already signed and who to watch out for tomorrow.

Auburn Early Enrollees

5* RB Tank Bigsby

4* DL Zykeivous Walker

4* WR Kobe Hudson

4* DB Ladarius Tennison

4* S Chris Thompson Jr

3* Buck Romello Height

3* OT Kilian Zierer

3* C Avery Johnson

3* OG Tate Johnson

3* QB Chayil Garnett

Auburn Signees

4* LB Wesley Steiner

4* DL Jay Hardy

4* WR Ze’Vian Capers

4* WR J.J. Evans

4* DB Eric Reed Jr

4* TE J.J. Pegues

4* LB Desmond Tisdol

4* LB Cam Riley

4* CB Marco Domio

3* OT Brenden Coffey

3* DL Daniel Foster-Allen

3* WR Elijah Canion

3* OL Jeremiah Wright

Auburn Commits

4* DL Deandre Butler

4* TE Brandon Frazier

Auburn Targets

With only 1-2 spots left, Auburn doesn’t have much room for new additions. The Tigers took some big swings in the late period but it looks like they will come up empty for the most part. There’s always a chance of a late surprise or a name that hasn’t been reported popping up (ala JaTarvious Whitlow not too long ago). For now though these are the names to follow. I am using the same confidence prediction I did back in December:

As for my predictions, I am gonna add a confidence level of Lock (VERY confident in pick), 50/50 (leaning that direction but far from certain) and No Idea (literally just me guessing).

Here we go...

5* OT Broderick Jones | 6’5” | 298 lbs | Lithonia, GA | Georgia Commit

Contenders: Arkansas, Auburn, Georgia, Illinois

What was supposed to be the biggest storyline for Auburn heading into National Signing Day turned into a bit of a dud. After electing not to sign early and telling reporters at the Under Armour All-America Game that things were “50/50” between Auburn and Georgia, there was some understandable excitement about what might happen in this race come February 5th. The Tigers had the last visit and it was thought that might be enough to push them over in this race.

Except he never took that visit...

UGA’s coaching staff visited Jones on Friday evening to watch him play basketball and then stayed all the way to midnight preventing him from making the trip to the Plains. However, he still could have shown up on Saturday or Sunday but instead elected to cancel the trip all together. I know there have been some internet rumors that maybe he made to campus for a secret unofficial but I doubt those to be true. Once again, Auburn will sign another recruiting class without a single blue chip (meaning 4* or 5*) offensive tackle.

Lovely...

Prediction: Georgia (Lock)

4* DT McKinnley Jackson | 6’2’ | 327 lbs | Lucedale, MS

Contenders: Alabama, Auburn, LSU, Texas A&M

This one has felt unlikely for some time and barring a true shocker I don’t see Jackson putting on an Auburn cap tomorrow morning. The Mississippi standout took an official visit to the Plains last fall but it appears the Tigers are sitting #4 in this race. There was a lot of Alabama buzz up until this weekend and now it appears the Aggies might have snuck ahead. I really don’t know where he goes other than it won’t be Auburn so I’ll take the safe pick and go Bama. They annoyingly tend to win these types of battles more often than they lose.

Prediction: Alabama (No Idea)

4* DL Princely Umanmielen | 6’4” | 249 lbs | Manor, TX

Contenders: Auburn, Baylor, Florida, Texas

When Umanmielen decommited from the Longhorns back in October, it was thought Auburn would be a major factor in this race. However, he never made it to campus that fall. It was reported he might take an official visit to the Plains this past weekend but Auburn apparently decided to part ways. With so little spots left, it appears they won’t use that last one on a defensive lineman. I think the Gators are the darkhorse in this race but I am gonna pick he ends up signing with the program he had been committed to last fall.

Prediction: Texas (No Idea)

3* DT Marquis Burks | 6’3” | 285 lbs | Chicago, IL

Contenders: Auburn

I do expect at least one Boom tomorrow in the form of the nation’s #4 ranked JUCO defensive tackle. The Tigers are looking for depth in the interior of its defensive line next season and see Burks as someone that can provide it. Rodney Garner scouted quite a few top JUCO defensive tackles and settled on Burks last fall. That says a lot about this kid’s potential. He never took any other official visits after his Auburn one in December.

Prediction: Auburn (Lock)

3* CB Alfahiym Walcott | 6’1” | 190 lbs | Wilmington, NC

Contenders: Auburn, Baylor

Walcott showed up suddenly on Auburn’s radar last week. The Tigers offered the JUCO standout and then hosted him on an official visit last Thursday and Friday. If Auburn decides to push I think they would have a great chance at landing him. However, it does not appear that is happening at this time. Dave Aranda hosted Walcott right after his Auburn OV and it appears the Bears are the team to beat right now. Anything can change over the next 24 hours but as of this morning, I don’t see Walcott landing in this class.

Prediction: Baylor (50/50)

3* OT Brady Ward | 6’7” | 310 lbs | Mobile, AL

Contenders: Arkansas, Auburn, Ole Miss

There was another interesting visitor this past weekend. Brady Ward is a massive human being at 6’7” 310 lbs with an impressive reported offer list. However, I am not sure how many of those offers are actually committable. Ole Miss is reportedly considering giving him a grayshirt opportunity. The Tigers appear to be offering either a preferred walk on spot or a blueshirt. My guess is unless an SEC program comes in late with a full ride, Ward takes the Auburn offer. This could end up being a sneaky pickup down the road for the Tigers.

Prediction: Auburn (50/50)

Final Thoughts

It was going to be hard to top Auburn’s excellent Early Signing Day given how few spots remained in this class and the fact the Tigers picked up commitments already from two top targets. The Jones news hurts, especially since all the buzz heading into his Georgia OV was that Auburn had the momentum. But overall, this a solid class for the Tigers and one that has a chance to fill some immediate needs for next season. We will see if this staff has anymore surprises hidden up their sleeves and given their history of hitting on late additions (Daniel Thomas, Tyrone Truesdell, Boobee Whitlow), I wouldn’t put it past the Tigers to sign another under the radar stud tomorrow. Otherwise, they will likely use that last spot in the graduate transfer market.

War Eagle!

from College and Magnolia - All Posts https://www.collegeandmagnolia.com/2020/2/4/21121588/2020-auburn-football-recruiting-national-signing-day-preview

[hellosaltysaladcollectionstuff]

https://ift.tt/2A4LP93 For PC gamers, the launch of Steam’s Summer Sale is one of the biggest days of the summer, offering an opportunity to snag some of the platform’s best games for their cheapest price yet. While multi-platform games have the chance to be featured in multiple sales, like Nintendo’s or PlayStation’s, PC-exclusive games like Total War: Three Kingdoms, Gears Tactics, and Half-Life: Alyx only get a chance to shine in the Steam Summer Sale, so it’s worth paying extra attention to those games–you might not see them at this price for a long time. From turn-based strategy and digital board games to fighting games, action RPGs, and more, here are some of the best PC exclusives in Steam Summer Sale 2020. Please, see our overall list of the best Steam Summer Sale 2020 game deals and the best cheap Steam games under $10. Total War: Three Kingdoms $45 / £33.74 / $67.49 AUD (25% off) Total War: Three Kingdoms still hews closely to the series’ expansive strategy sim framework but makes a few key changes that, along with the ancient Chinese period setting, make it stand out within the series. The increased emphasis on individual commanders and general gives each playthrough with a different army a new flair, and whip-smart enemy leaders make it difficult to simply steamroll the map on your way to victory, making this an intense new entry with a lot of depth. See on Steam Gears Tactics $40.19 / £33.49 / $66.96 AUD (33% off) Gears Tactics takes a more bombastic approach to the XCOM school of turn-based strategy and melds it with the pulpy, war-fueled world of Sera. Each of the Gears franchises’ iconic weapons like the Lancer, Gnasher, and Longshot translate seamlessly to a strategy game, and their abilities serve to differentiate each of your squad members in combat. You’re also closing up emergence holes with grenades and mowing down Wretches with machine-gun fire–just like in the third-person shooter franchise Gears Tactics takes its name from. See on Steam Half-Life: Alyx $45 / £34.86 / $63.71 AUD (25% off) There are quite a few great games you can play on VR headsets, but Half-Life: Alyx is one that really makes the case for games designed exclusively with VR in mind. Grabbing and throwing objects with the new Gravity Gloves feels fantastic, and trying to stay quiet so a blind, unstoppable monster doesn’t hear you makes you naturally hesitant to even close a cupboard door. Exploring City 17 feels incredible through a headset, from the moment you see a Strider towering above the city’s rooftops in the first few minutes of the game to the moment you begin a mind-bending trek near the end I won’t spoil here. Alyx quickly becomes an essential part of the Half-Life universe, even if you think you know how it all ends. See on Steam Killer7 $10 / £7.74 / $11.97 AUD (50% off) If you’re a fan of any Grasshopper or Suda Goichi game (No More Heroes, Shadows of the Damned, Let It Die), you owe it to yourself to experience Killer7. It’s undoubtedly his most surreal, trippy game, and this remaster of the original Gamecube and PS2 classic updates it for PC, complete with higher resolution options and mouse-and-keyboard aiming, making it the best way to experience this strange masterpiece in 2020. See on Steam XCOM: Chimera Squad $15 / £12.74 / $22.46 AUD (25% off) XCOM: Chimera Squad is a smaller entry in the series that focuses on a single squad of fleshed-out characters rather than a platoon of random soldiers and offers a few twists on the intense XCOM firefights we’re familiar with, like a back-and-forth turn order, breaches that give you a chance to whittle down enemy squads from the jump, and special abilities that give each member of your squad a special role in fights. See on Steam Disco Elysium $30 / £26.24 / $42.71 AUD (25% off) Disco Elysium eschews the fantasy trappings, combat-oriented encounters, and easy morality that underpin a lot of RPGs and instead lets you tell a story that truly feels your own. As an alcoholic detective hitting rock-bottom just as he’s assigned a major murder case, you explore a city block in the middle of a conflicted territory recovering from a political revolution. The conversations you have with various denizens around Revachol have you re-litigating the city’s tumultuous past, putting together a dance club in the middle of a church, and delivering heartbreaking news to unsuspecting families as you come to terms with who you were before your last bender. It’s a long journey with twists that flip from pensive to laugh-out-loud funny to solemn on a dime while somehow telling a consistent, powerful story along the way–something I can’t say about many other games. Disco Elysium is planned to release on consoles later this year, but for now, you can only enjoy this incredible narrative experience on PC. See on Steam Tabletop Simulator $9 / £7.49 / $14.47 AUD (50% off) The coronavirus pandemic has forced many people to spend much more time indoors and distance themselves from friends and family, so finding ways to stay connected while apart has become crucial. One of my favorite ways to hang out with friends virtually has been Tabletop Simulator, an indie game that lets you play digital versions of board games in a player-driven physics sandbox. The game comes with classics like chess, poker, and dominoes included, but the real draw is the massive collection of free player-created board games and card games available in the Tabletop Simulator workshop. Here, people have recreated some of the best board games around, including Pandemic Legacy, Gloomhaven, and Root. Obviously, some of these creations are more polished than others, but the larger games tend to work really well; in fact, I was really shocked how well complex games like Root worked within Tabletop Simulator. Some publishers have also published official DLC for Tabletop Simulator, so there’s no shortage of content available to try out. If you’re a board game fan like me and can’t always get friends together in person to play, Tabletop Simulator is worth every penny. See on Steam Mordhau $24 / £25.14 / $34.36 AUD (20% off) Mordhau is a fun medieval multiplayer game that features some of the most involved first-person sword-fighting out there. It’s not exactly a sim, though–there are lots of hectic, one-off multiplayer moments that will probably remind you of games like Battlefield, but the strong emphasis on teamwork and sieging castles set it apart. See on Steam Black Mesa $13 / £9.74 / $18.81 AUD (35% off) This remake of the original Half-Life has been over a decade in the making, but it’s finally complete and definitely worth the wait. It features revamped graphics and overhauls the previously-maligned Xen section of the original but manages to keep the soul of Half-Life intact, making this the best way to see Gordon Freeman’s first encounter with the G-Man and alien life if you’re looking to catch up on the series before playing Half-Life: Alyx. See on Steam Jackbox Party Pack 3 $16.24 / £12.34 / $23.36 AUD (35% off) It’s hard to find a series that’s more immediately accessible than the Jackbox games. These party games, which you can play with others online or in-person through your PC or phone, have you responding to all kinds of outlandish prompts, drawing your own (often lewd) pictures to show off and working together to accomplish a common goal. The entire series is on sale for cheap, but Jackbox Party Pack 3 is the one to play, since it’s the best collection of games overall. Quiplash 2 lets you answer a bunch of weird questions with even weirder answers and then pick the funniest ones. Meanwhile, Tee K.O. has you separately drawing pictures and coming up with taglines, then putting together a shirt based on the pictures and tags you randomly get from the group. See on Steam Them’s Fightin’ Herds $10.04 / £7.63 / $14.40 AUD (33% off) Originally developed as a My Little Pony fan game, Them’s Fightin’ Herds has blossomed into a unique fighting game all its own, complete with new equestrian designs from MLP producer Lauren Faust. The roster is small compared to its higher-budget competition, but there are a lot of creative concepts packed into each of these manes, and tutorial and single-player options are more diverse than you might expect from a fighting game made by a smaller team. See on Steam Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition $15 / £11.24 / $17.21 AUD (25% off) For some history buffs, the empire-building sim genre that slowly evolved into the 4X genre began and ended with the Age of Empires series. The iconic second entry is finally available for modern computers, complete with 4K visuals, a remade soundtrack, and a new “The Last Khans” expansion that includes more campaigns and civilizations to round out this strategy classic. See on Steam If Found If Found is a deeply emotional and resonant visual novel that follows Kasio, a woman struggling at a crossroads between ending her education and looking for a career with meaning. The gorgeous illustrations give the game a vibrant style, and its focus on smaller moments and more relatable topics make it a fantastic palette cleanser between other games on this list. See on Steam Monster Train $22.49 / £17.54 / $32.35 AUD (20% off) Deck-building roguelikes are pretty popular nowadays, but Monster has a few tricks up its sleeve that have proved popular with a growing fanbase. The deck-building mechanics are top-notch, and the presence of factions, which act as a way of theming your deck, make building effective combos easy and natural. See on Steam from GameSpot - All Content https://ift.tt/3dwkx97

[hopingforbabyblog]

Even though this vacation to Nevada has been really relaxing I wish I would have planned it for a couple weeks earlier. The first reason being that this particular January has been exceptionally cold in Alaska, and I wish I would have gotten out of our cold snap sooner. The second reason I feel like I planned my vacation a little too late is the timing of it fell within the crucial three-month window prior to FET. The three months prior to FET are important for building up a thick uterine lining to improve the odds of embryo implantation. I’m not aware of definitive evidence that stress in and of itself causes implantation issues, but I do believe that stress can contribute to poor health decisions (i.e., drinking, smoking, overeating) that can in turn affect implantation.

I tend to get stressed when I travel at times. A delayed flight, waiting in a crowded airport, and squishing like anchovies into the ever-shrinking plane seats are just some of the typical stressors when flying. But now the news is talking about the threat of coronavirus. To top it off both of the airports I went through (Anchorage and Las Vegas) had confirmed cases of coronavirus. I later learned the news seemed to overinflate the actual severity of the issue, using dramatic language that might lead viewers to believe it’s an epidemic, knowing that helped put my mind at ease somewhat. A few years back the major risk to pregnant women and women TTC was the Zika virus. I think if you want to play it as safe as possible don’t schedule a vacation during your three months prior to FET, unless it’s a ‘staycation’ or you are traveling for your actual FET.

Catch-up on Previous FET Prep Posts

FET Prep Week 1: 3.5 months until FET

FET Prep Week 2: Supplements, WTF Email, & Increased AMH Level

FET Prep Week 3: You say Future Tripping, I say Future Planning

FET Prep Week 4: Bad News from SIS Test

FET Prep Week 5: Surgery, Depression & Trip to Nevada

Countdown Until FET: 69 days (as of 02-15-2020)

Taking it Easy

You know the type of vacations where you are go, go, go non-stop with so many activities and you have a specific plan for each day, well I chose not to do any of that for this one and it has been working out pretty well. Although we’ve been busy, it’s been nice to not be the ‘planner’ and to just go along with whatever everyone else wants to do. This vacation, I chose to just let go and take it easy. I’ve been to Nevada a few times before and already saw the major must-see things, so I didn’t feel the urge to create a must-see list this time around. I just let my husband and mother-in-law plan the events.

I think this vacation has been a nice balance of relaxing and also going to different events. It’s nice to go to bed and not have to set an alarm for the morning. It felt like such a luxury to be able to sleep in as long as I wanted. There were only a couple days that were warm enough to be outside in the sun since we’ve been here. It’s been crazy windy, so much so that they actually have a high wind warning in effect. The wind is so strong it sometimes shakes the house. It was kind of funny to see about 40 tumbleweeds whip across the street at the same time. Not a good time to go for a walk and catch a prickly tumbleweed to the face. No thanks. I’ll stay inside until it dies down. It’s also been cold outside most of this week, in the 30s and 40s mostly. I learned this cold snap in Nevada was pushing down from Alaska. How typical, just when we try to leave Alaska’s cold weather it follows us.

  This wind is redonkulous! One of the many windy days on our vacation. 

  Okay this one turned out better, with less wind whipping my hair around.

  So although the weather has been crappy most of the week while on vacation, we still had fun doing other things. We saw Shin Lim, the magician, at his Vegas show. Normally I am not into magic shows, but this guy I swear is a true wizard. I saw him on America’s Got Talent, where he showed a card to the camera and somehow was able to make the numbers on the card actually change. Here is his show on AGT where he does that trick at the 20:00 minute mark. How in the actual eff did he do that? I was definitely impressed with his show in Vegas. I won’t give away too many details of the show, but it is definitely entertaining and I highly recommend you go check him out.

I also went to my first Tournament of Kings show, and I nearly s**t myself several times when the pyrotechnics went off. I felt like an idiot with how many times I screamed with each burst of fireworks. You definitely won’t fall asleep with this show, I’ll tell you that! So if you aren’t familiar with the Tournament of Kings, it’s a show where the performers act out a medieval storyline. The audience sits circled around the actors as they have epic battles using swords and also do jousting with real horses. 

    We did some other cool things on our trip too. We drove to Mount Charleston. I didn’t expect to see snow in Nevada, so that was pretty cool (cheesy pun intended).

    Of course we went to a handful of different casinos and tried our luck on the slots. Well, I mostly watched Kurtis try his luck on the slots. I’m not much of a gambler. The first time I ever visited Vegas years ago I had very little money. I would go from casino to casino and sign up for their players club card, where you would get free plays on the slots. It wasn’t worth much, maybe $10-$15 but it was still fun to try it out and not worry about losing money. I did a little of that this time also. I tend to enjoy playing bingo more than slots. The first time I ever played bingo back home I won $1,000, beginners luck of course.

  Keeping up with Supplements While on Vacation

I am not being super strict about following a diet while on vacation, although I could have been. I had a very laissez faire approach with my FET prep while on vacation. Although I did try to consistently take my supplements.

Here’s what I did to help me stay on top of taking my supplements while on vacation:

Reuse old prescription bottles for free pill organization.

Take a marker and write on the cap when you plan to take your medicine. For example I wrote “AM” on the ones I take with breakfast and “PM” on the ones I take with lunch. Since I am also taking L-arginine multiple times throughout the day I decided to create my own travel bottle specifically for that supplement. 

Set phone reminders to take supplements.

Most supplements for FET prep recommend taking with a meal. But if you are not yet in the habit of remembering to take your pills after you eat, setting an alarm in your phone can be really helpful to make sure you don’t miss your dose. You can remind yourself in other ways like putting a post it note on your mirror or refrigerator. Do whatever works for you.

Keep a snack in your purse at all times.

This snack should be your designated backup in times when you cannot have an actual meal with your supplements. For example, if you are going on a long road trip or flight and you are unsure of when you will be able to have a meal with your supplements, that snack in your purse will help you to stay on track with your supplement schedule. 

  The Game Changer

I plan on adopting in the future, whether I have a biological child or not. And I’ve considered adopting through the foster care system. But what is one of the biggest obstacles that keeps so many people from starting the path to becoming a foster parent? I’d say it’s becoming attached emotionally to raising a child who after some time ends up going back to their biological family. I can honestly say I am not ready at this point in my life to handle that possibility. I’ve read articles and memoirs from foster parents who say it was one of the most painful experiences of their life. Some said it was as painful as grieving the death of a loved one.

I’ve been visiting my husband’s family in Nevada this past week, and my mother-in-law was a foster parent. I explained to her that one of my hesitations for becoming a foster parent was that I didn’t know if I was emotionally ready to handle getting attached to a child that would end up leaving back to their biological family. But she explained that she learned that some foster parents choose to only foster children whose parental rights have been permanently relinquished, and are therefore adoptable. That right there, was a total game changer for me. I did not even know that was an option. I thought it was inevitable that as a foster parent you had to expect that possible loss, I didn’t realize you could avoid that whole scenario altogether. Now it’s just a matter of finding out if that option is available here in Alaska too. The plan for now though is to continue trying infertility treatments until I turn 35, which is over a year from now. 

  Mini Victories for the Week

Kept up with supplements while on vacation.

Got more sleep and relaxed more this week.

Asked more questions and did a little more research about the foster care system.

  Work in Progress

Contact the Seattle Clinic to find out if I need a repeat SIS before my upcoming FET.

Reduce caffeine intake from 1-2 cups down to less than one cup next week. Eventually completely cut out caffeine sometime soon.

Get back on a 1200 calorie per day diet.

  This post may contain affiliate links. You can read the disclosure here. 

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FET Prep Week 6: Relax! You’re on Vacation. Even though this vacation to Nevada has been really relaxing I wish I would have planned it for a couple weeks earlier.

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For PC gamers, the launch of Steam's Summer Sale is one of the biggest days of the summer, offering an opportunity to snag some of the platform's best games for their cheapest price yet. While multi-platform games have the chance to be featured in multiple sales, like Nintendo's or PlayStation's, PC-exclusive games like Total War: Three Kingdoms, Gears Tactics, and Half-Life: Alyx only get a chance to shine in the Steam Summer Sale, so it's worth paying extra attention to those games--you might not see them at this price for a long time.

From turn-based strategy and digital board games to fighting games, action RPGs, and more, here are some of the best PC exclusives in Steam Summer Sale 2020. Please, see our overall list of the best Steam Summer Sale 2020 game deals and the best cheap Steam games under $10.

Total War: Three Kingdoms

$45 / £33.74 / $67.49 AUD (25% off)

Total War: Three Kingdoms still hews closely to the series' expansive strategy sim framework but makes a few key changes that, along with the ancient Chinese period setting, make it stand out within the series. The increased emphasis on individual commanders and general gives each playthrough with a different army a new flair, and whip-smart enemy leaders make it difficult to simply steamroll the map on your way to victory, making this an intense new entry with a lot of depth.

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Gears Tactics

$40.19 / £33.49 / $66.96 AUD (33% off)

Gears Tactics takes a more bombastic approach to the XCOM school of turn-based strategy and melds it with the pulpy, war-fueled world of Sera. Each of the Gears franchises' iconic weapons like the Lancer, Gnasher, and Longshot translate seamlessly to a strategy game, and their abilities serve to differentiate each of your squad members in combat. You're also closing up emergence holes with grenades and mowing down Wretches with machine-gun fire--just like in the third-person shooter franchise Gears Tactics takes its name from.

See on Steam

Half-Life: Alyx

$45 / £34.86 / $63.71 AUD (25% off)

There are quite a few great games you can play on VR headsets, but Half-Life: Alyx is one that really makes the case for games designed exclusively with VR in mind. Grabbing and throwing objects with the new Gravity Gloves feels fantastic, and trying to stay quiet so a blind, unstoppable monster doesn't hear you makes you naturally hesitant to even close a cupboard door. Exploring City 17 feels incredible through a headset, from the moment you see a Strider towering above the city's rooftops in the first few minutes of the game to the moment you begin a mind-bending trek near the end I won't spoil here. Alyx quickly becomes an essential part of the Half-Life universe, even if you think you know how it all ends.

See on Steam

Killer7

$10 / £7.74 / $11.97 AUD (50% off)

If you're a fan of any Grasshopper or Suda Goichi game (No More Heroes, Shadows of the Damned, Let It Die), you owe it to yourself to experience Killer7. It's undoubtedly his most surreal, trippy game, and this remaster of the original Gamecube and PS2 classic updates it for PC, complete with higher resolution options and mouse-and-keyboard aiming, making it the best way to experience this strange masterpiece in 2020.

See on Steam

XCOM: Chimera Squad

$15 / £12.74 / $22.46 AUD (25% off)

XCOM: Chimera Squad is a smaller entry in the series that focuses on a single squad of fleshed-out characters rather than a platoon of random soldiers and offers a few twists on the intense XCOM firefights we're familiar with, like a back-and-forth turn order, breaches that give you a chance to whittle down enemy squads from the jump, and special abilities that give each member of your squad a special role in fights.

See on Steam

Disco Elysium

$30 / £26.24 / $42.71 AUD (25% off)

Disco Elysium eschews the fantasy trappings, combat-oriented encounters, and easy morality that underpin a lot of RPGs and instead lets you tell a story that truly feels your own. As an alcoholic detective hitting rock-bottom just as he's assigned a major murder case, you explore a city block in the middle of a conflicted territory recovering from a political revolution. The conversations you have with various denizens around Revachol have you re-litigating the city's tumultuous past, putting together a dance club in the middle of a church, and delivering heartbreaking news to unsuspecting families as you come to terms with who you were before your last bender. It's a long journey with twists that flip from pensive to laugh-out-loud funny to solemn on a dime while somehow telling a consistent, powerful story along the way--something I can't say about many other games. Disco Elysium is planned to release on consoles later this year, but for now, you can only enjoy this incredible narrative experience on PC.

See on Steam

Tabletop Simulator

$9 / £7.49 / $14.47 AUD (50% off)

The coronavirus pandemic has forced many people to spend much more time indoors and distance themselves from friends and family, so finding ways to stay connected while apart has become crucial. One of my favorite ways to hang out with friends virtually has been Tabletop Simulator, an indie game that lets you play digital versions of board games in a player-driven physics sandbox. The game comes with classics like chess, poker, and dominoes included, but the real draw is the massive collection of free player-created board games and card games available in the Tabletop Simulator workshop. Here, people have recreated some of the best board games around, including Pandemic Legacy, Gloomhaven, and Root.

Obviously, some of these creations are more polished than others, but the larger games tend to work really well; in fact, I was really shocked how well complex games like Root worked within Tabletop Simulator. Some publishers have also published official DLC for Tabletop Simulator, so there's no shortage of content available to try out. If you're a board game fan like me and can't always get friends together in person to play, Tabletop Simulator is worth every penny.

See on Steam

Mordhau

$24 / £25.14 / $34.36 AUD (20% off)

Mordhau is a fun medieval multiplayer game that features some of the most involved first-person sword-fighting out there. It's not exactly a sim, though--there are lots of hectic, one-off multiplayer moments that will probably remind you of games like Battlefield, but the strong emphasis on teamwork and sieging castles set it apart.

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Black Mesa

$13 / £9.74 / $18.81 AUD (35% off)

This remake of the original Half-Life has been over a decade in the making, but it's finally complete and definitely worth the wait. It features revamped graphics and overhauls the previously-maligned Xen section of the original but manages to keep the soul of Half-Life intact, making this the best way to see Gordon Freeman's first encounter with the G-Man and alien life if you're looking to catch up on the series before playing Half-Life: Alyx.

See on Steam

Jackbox Party Pack 3

$16.24 / £12.34 / $23.36 AUD (35% off)

It's hard to find a series that's more immediately accessible than the Jackbox games. These party games, which you can play with others online or in-person through your PC or phone, have you responding to all kinds of outlandish prompts, drawing your own (often lewd) pictures to show off and working together to accomplish a common goal. The entire series is on sale for cheap, but Jackbox Party Pack 3 is the one to play, since it's the best collection of games overall. Quiplash 2 lets you answer a bunch of weird questions with even weirder answers and then pick the funniest ones. Meanwhile, Tee K.O. has you separately drawing pictures and coming up with taglines, then putting together a shirt based on the pictures and tags you randomly get from the group.

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Them's Fightin' Herds

$10.04 / £7.63 / $14.40 AUD (33% off)

Originally developed as a My Little Pony fan game, Them's Fightin' Herds has blossomed into a unique fighting game all its own, complete with new equestrian designs from MLP producer Lauren Faust. The roster is small compared to its higher-budget competition, but there are a lot of creative concepts packed into each of these manes, and tutorial and single-player options are more diverse than you might expect from a fighting game made by a smaller team.

See on Steam

Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition

$15 / £11.24 / $17.21 AUD (25% off)

For some history buffs, the empire-building sim genre that slowly evolved into the 4X genre began and ended with the Age of Empires series. The iconic second entry is finally available for modern computers, complete with 4K visuals, a remade soundtrack, and a new "The Last Khans" expansion that includes more campaigns and civilizations to round out this strategy classic.

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If Found

If Found is a deeply emotional and resonant visual novel that follows Kasio, a woman struggling at a crossroads between ending her education and looking for a career with meaning. The gorgeous illustrations give the game a vibrant style, and its focus on smaller moments and more relatable topics make it a fantastic palette cleanser between other games on this list.

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Monster Train

$22.49 / £17.54 / $32.35 AUD (20% off)

Deck-building roguelikes are pretty popular nowadays, but Monster has a few tricks up its sleeve that have proved popular with a growing fanbase. The deck-building mechanics are top-notch, and the presence of factions, which act as a way of theming your deck, make building effective combos easy and natural.

See on Steam

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