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cottagethings · 5 years ago

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self-quarantine activities

1. Complete a puzzle: The more pieces the better! Feeling extra saucy? Take on a Rubik's Cube. More of a word person? Crossword puzzle!

2. Start a journal or blog. Sure, it can be about the coronavirus, but it could also be about a specific interest from chess to cheese.

3. If it won't bother your neighbors: Dust off that old instrument and practice.

4. Text all your exes just in case you have one more thing you wanted to get off your chest.

5. Write poetry. Perhaps you can craft a haiku for Mother's Day, or something without a specific structure. Just try it!

6. Watch all the really long movies you’ve avoided until now.

7. Download Duolingo, or a similar app, and teach yourself a foreign language.

8. Finally read “Infinite Jest,” “Les Miserables” or even “The Stand.” Go all in and read “Ulysses.” You got this.

9. Meditate. Try lying down with your eyes closed, palms up and while focusing on your breath. Or spend 20 minutes sitting crosslegged and repeat a soothing word to yourself in your head. (The latter is more like transcendental meditation.)

10. Face masks, moisturizer, oh my! Treat yourself to a 10-step skin care routine you don’t have time for during a normal work week.

11. Look at pictures of puppies.

12. Put together the most attractive charcuterie board possible, but you can only use foods you already have in your fridge and cupboard.

13. Take note from "Tangled" star Rapunzel, who has an entire song about how she's spent her days alone in a castle. Activities included in her ditty: Ventriloquy, candle-making, papier-mâché and adding a new painting to her gallery.

14. Write actual letters to family and friends. After that? Write thank-you notes to service people who you remember went out of their way for you.

15. Learn calligraphy. YouTube can help.

16. Finally read the rules to those long and intense board games you've never played with the family. Encourage the family to play.

17. Put on a soap opera. Mute the sound. Create your own dialogue.

18. Have a space in your home where all of the tupperware goes? Organize it and actually match lids to containers.

19. Try on all your clothes and determine whether they “spark joy” á la Marie Kondo.

20. Better yet, go through this process with your junk drawer and supply shelves.

21. Have a roommate meeting about how to be more considerate of one other, especially while you will likely be spending more time together. Bring baked goods.

22. Bake those goods.

23. Watch the films that won Oscars for best picture.

24. Watch films that won Independent Spirit Awards for best picture.

25. Watch films that critics say should have won those aforementioned awards.

26. Read all the New Yorker issues piled on your desk.

27. Will Tom Hanks into recovery from coronavirus by watching every Tom Hanks movie chronologically.

28. Knit or crochet.

29. Use Skype, FaceTime, Google Hangouts or Marco Polo to video chat with your long-distance friends.

30. Try out at-home aerobics or yoga videos. Consider downloading a fitness app with curated workout playlists.

31. Look at yourself in the mirror. Attempt a self portrait with pencil and paper.

32. Take a bubble bath (bonus: Add a glass of wine).

33. Make a classic cocktail, from negronis to Manhattans and aperol spritzes. Don't forget the garnish.

34. Coloring books: They’re not just for kids.

35. Take time to reflect: What have you accomplished in the last year? What goals are you setting for yourself in the next year?

36. Write a short story or get started on that novel.

37. Actually try to reproduce something you see on Pinterest. Probably fail. Try again.

38. Clear out the family room and camp indoors with all blankets, popcorn and scary movies.

39. Finally get around to fixing that broken door knob and loose tile or cleaning scuffed up walls.

40. Acquire a foam roller and treat yourself to some physical therapy.

41. Pretend you're 13 years old and fold a square piece of paper into a fortune teller you put your thumbs and pointer fingers into. Proceed to tell fortunes.

42. Learn how to braid (fishtail, French, etc.) via YouTube tutorial..

43. Throw out all your too-old makeup and products. (Tip: most liquid products have a small symbol on them noting expirations, usually six months to a year. This includes sunscreen!)

44. Interview your grandparents (over the phone, of course) and save the audio. Can you create an audio story or book with that file?

45. Go through your camera roll, pick your favorite pics from the past year and make a photo book or order framed versions online.

46. Go on a health kick and learn how to cook new recipes with ingredients you may not be using already, from miso to tahini.

47. Create a Google document of shows or movies you’re watching and share it among family and friends.

48. Make a list of things for which you are grateful.

49. Have your own wine tasting of whatever bottles you have at home. Make up stories about the journey of the grapes to your mouth.

50. Work on your financial planning, such as exploring whether to refinance your loan or ways to save more money.

51. Perfect grandma’s bolognese recipe.

52. Make coffee, but this time study how many beans you use, which types, how hot the water is, how long it brews and whether any of that makes a difference.

53. Buy gift cards from your favorite local businesses to help keep them in business while we quarantine.

54. Watch “Frozen 2,’ which went up early on Disney Plus. Another new movie on the streaming service: "Stargirl."

55. Write a book with your family. Pick a character and each member writes a chapter about their adventures. Read aloud to each other.

56. No March Madness? Have a Scrabble tournament. Or Bananagrams. Pictionary, anyone?

57. Get into baking with "The Great British Baking Show," but your technical challenge is baking something with the ingredients you have on hand (that you didn't already use in the charcuterie board).

58. Indoor scavenger hunt.

59. Alternate reading the Harry Potter series with your kids and cap each one off with the movie.

60. Dye your hair a new color. No one else needs to see it if you don't like it.

61. Read Robert Jordan’s 14-book “Wheel of Time” series before it streams on Amazon starring Rosamund Pike.

62. Write a play starring your loved ones. Perform it via a video call app.

63. Go viral in the good way by making a quarantine-themed TikTok.

64. Rearrange your sock drawer. Really.

65. Stop procrastinating and do your income taxes.

66. Make lists of all the museums, sporting events and concerts you want to visit when they finally reopen.

67. Get into comics with digital subscriptions on your tablet, like Marvel Unlimited.

68. Rearrange your furniture to make it seem like your home is a totally different space.

69. Practice shuffling playing cards like a Poker dealer. Be ready for employment opportunities once all casinos open back up.

70. Organize your spice rack alphabetically or get crazy and do it by cuisine.

71. Teach your dog to shake. Hand sanitizer optional.

72. Memorize the periodic table. You never know when that will come in handy.

73. Order and put together some IKEA furniture. Time yourself.

74. Get a free trial of a streaming service and binge-watch as much as you can before it expires.

75. Apply for a new job. You have remote work experience now.

76. Learn a new style of dance via YouTube, from bellydancing to breaking.

77. Update or write your will and organize your affairs. Yes, it sounds melodramatic and morbid but let’s face it: This is a task many of us avoid because we never have the time. Now we do.

78.The parades have been canceled but you can still make corned beef and cabbage for St. Patrick’s Day.

79. Bring out the Legos. Build your house inside of your house.

80. Watch the "Star Wars" movies in this and only this order: Rogue One-IV-V-II-III-Solo-VI-VII-VIII-IX.

81. Two words: Coronavirus beard! Grow it, moisturize it, comb it, love it.

82. Learn the words to "Tung Twista." Get them so ingrained in your brain that you can rap them as fast as Twista can. Impress everyone.

83. Been meaning to get some new glasses? Try on new frames virtually on sites like GlassesUSA.com.

84. Attempt things with your non-dominant hand, from writing to brushing your teeth. Prepare to be frustrated.

85. How many words per minute can you type? See if you can get speedier by taking a typing course.

86. Prepare to verbally duel a bully who wants to discuss the evolution of the market economy in the Southern colonies, by memorizing Matt Damon's "Good Will Hunting" speech.

87. Learn origami. Make cranes for your loved ones.

88. Stretch. Work on your flexibility. It's possible to get the splits back, right?

89. Try to speak in pig Latin. Or, "ig-pay, atin-Lay."

90. Talk to your plants. How are they doing? Make sure they are getting the amount of sunlight they should be. Check their soil. Water if necessary.

91. Deep condition your hair and put paraffin wax on your hands. Enjoy your soft hair and nails.

92. Consider donating money to food banks to help families struggling to get meals.

93. Write a song. If you want to make it about your time inside and put it to the tune of "My Sharona" and replace "Sharona" with "Corona," do what you have to do.

94. Study the art of beatboxing.

95. Try moving in super-slow motion. It's OK to laugh at regular speed.

96. You know how there are dozens of ways to wear a scarf, but you only wear it the one way? Learn the other ways.

97. Learn Old English words. Pepper them into your conversation. Wherefore not?

98. Try on a new shade of lipstick. See how long it takes your partner to notice it.

99. Take deep breaths, in through your nose and out through your mouth.

100. Sleep. Get lots of it.

#corona #coronavirus #quarantine #self care #activity #freetime #dosomethingforyourself

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mnhynq · 7 years ago

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You Can Be King Again | Kim Doyoung

Pairing: Doyoung x Reader

Warnings: Minor crusing

Word count: 3333

Summary: After an unfortunate event Doyoung finds himself reluctantly accepting the help of a stranger.

Song: Lauren Aquilina - King

Growing up as a member of the royal family Doyoung always received everything he could have ever wanted. As a child he was gifted the finest toys in the kingdom without having to worry about getting in trouble if they were broken prematurely. Clothing made from the finest fabric, manufactured by the best tailors in the land. Doyoung must receive the most durable swords crafted by the most talented blacksmith there is, and any horse which was not the best, did not suffice. He excelled at many things. He was excellent at wielding a sword and rarely ever lost a match, he rode his horse with such elegance and carried such a persuasive tone in his voice.

Doyoung was also a sterling scholar, his father, the king, would easily dub him the most astute of his children. Spending most of his time in the castle library from a very young age, Doyoung developed a quite eloquent way of speaking. Once she noticed that her son had a silver-tongue the queen made sure he never ran out of books to read.

Doyoung constantly received invitations to balls from royal families residing in lands far and wide after hearing stories of his great accomplishments, some of which were greatly exaggerated possibly being altered on their journey before reaching curious ears. Doyoung never could refuse an invite, as his father claimed attending the ball would benefit their kingdom greatly. When put that way Doyoung felt inclined to travel the great distance, for the sake of his kingdom. Though princesses often grew interested in Doyoung through the tales they heard, it was his image that had them smitten. His tall, slender figure called much attention, his facial features mesmerising and his smile was deathly poisonous; and yet, a lot of young women claimed that if they had to leave so soon, they wouldn’t want to go any other way. He was both admired and hated by the princes of his neighbouring kingdoms who saw him as tough competition, though his attitude towards them would describe it more as a friendly rivalry. You could say that Doyoung was the apple of his father’s eye which would be the case, if he wasn’t so outspoken. It was never a problem, but when Doyoung was of age and started to attend hearings alongside his father he started to speak against him.

“If you have no evidence that this man has committed the crime you’re accusing him of, then you have no right to pass judgement!” He said one day, after he’d had enough of his father’s unjust actions. Doyoung’s words displeased his father, who dismissed him and notified him that he was not to be seen at the hearings until he had calmed himself down.

That night Doyoung couldn’t get a wink of sleep, too haunted by the harrowing thoughts of the innocent civilians who have been incarcerated or executed simply because his father did not care enough to discover more to the story before taking action. The king received the cold shoulder from his son for quite some time, but with Doyoung’s position in the hierarchy being lower than his father’s, he knew there was no way he could win. Instead of partaking in childish antics, he decided that he would reform the kingdom once he took the throne. He hadn’t any rush, “Haste leads to waste” is what he told himself. He would take this time to carefully plan everything out and kept it all a secret as he didn’t want anyone to meddle in his business. Doyoung had no intention of dethroning his father. Doing this might cause a civil war if any of his father’s loyal followers were to disagree with his beliefs, thus giving other kingdoms a chance to either attack or watch as they wipe themselves out. And despite the fact that Doyoung did not agree with how his father handled certain things, he had to admit that he was excellent at running his kingdom.

Doyoung continued with his daily life, nothing was unusual. He decided to go out for fresh air and insisted he be accompanied by no one. If he had known that on that day the universe would be plotting against him, he would have brought one of his royal guards along. Unaware of the danger hidden far in the woods Doyoung continued his path towards the forest in the outskirts of the kingdom, he always made sure not to stray away from the path. He followed the same routine each time. The path he took was decorated with beautifully colored flowers and large trees towering above him, he took his time to smell the flowers - quite literally - walking down the road slowly with a firm grip on the lead rope he used to lead his horse. Once he came across the river he would stop to make his horse drink whilst he sat on the grass admiring the sky. But today was different, his horse was uneasy and Doyoung had very little control over her. His attempts to calm her did little to nothing and he decided it would be best to return home. However, Doyoung did not feel comfortable taking a different route, out of fear of losing his way. Instead he followed his usual path, except this time a bit faster. Right as his worries had begun to diminish, a shadow like figure appeared in front of him. It all happened so fast that Doyoung wasn’t even sure if the shadow was a person or a wild animal. He had no way to find out as his horse was too startled to obey any of his instructions. With his horse moving at such great speed not taking nearby rocks and branches into consideration, it was no surprise Doyoung catapulted off of the horse’s back, landing on the earth with a loud thud. Much like his horse, his body was no longer listening to him. All he could do was lay there, with an immense throbbing in his head, as he watched the horse gallop away. And just moments later everything faded to black.

Doyoung’s eyes fluttered open as he took in the unfamiliar surroundings. It seemed as though he was lying on a cot - which he would describe as uncomfortable for lack of better words - in a small house filled with junk that made it seem even smaller. Doyoung wanted to investigate further, he had no idea where he was, but he couldn’t waste any time and must return to the castle immediately. His attempts to sit up were quickly put on halt as he heard a voice from inside the house. “Don’t try to get up, you’re still hurt.” Turning to the direction of the voice Doyoung saw you approaching with a tray carrying a bowl and a mug. You said nothing as you placed said tray in front of him and walked away. Upon closer inspection he discovered that you had provided him with a bowl of soup and a cup of tea. Every bone in his body told him not to even breathe in the direction of the food you had made, there was no way to be sure you weren’t trying to poison him. When you returned you were a bit shocked to find the tray placed on the floor, both the soup and tea untouched.

“You need to eat if you want to get better” you said with your back towards him. Doyoung saw you reach into a cabinet and grab a bandage before walking in his direction. It wasn’t until then that the painful pounding in his head became obvious and he felt a thin fabric wrapped around the circumference of his skull. Doyoung was suddenly filled with fear and panic, but put on a fake facade, thinking it would be best for you not to know how he felt as you might use it to your advantage and his disadvantage. Doyoung noticed that you intended to change the bandage on his head but did not trust you enough to let you do so. He put up a childish act, not sitting still for you to do your job. Once you grew tired and questioned why he was acting that way, he replied that it was because he didn’t trust you. And you couldn’t blame him as you hadn’t explained anything to him, mainly because you weren’t exactly sure what had happened either. Of course, you didn’t have anything to hide and figured that telling him what you knew wouldn’t do any harm.

“I found you unconscious in the woods, so I brought you back to my home to tend to your wounds” is all you said. You had hoped that would suffice, but soon after he was showering you with questions.

“Do you live alone?”

“I do”

“Are there others nearby”

“No”

“How long have I been here”

“About three days, you must have hit your head pretty hard”

That’s where the panic set in. He had been away from the kingdom for three days. Were they looking for him? Were they worried? Did they think he ran away? All of this would ruin his chances of taking the throne. If his father got the impression that Doyoung no longer wanted to rule the kingdom, the throne would be handed over to his naive younger brother. Doyoung had no time to waste and he immediately leaped off the cot only to come into contact with the floor seconds later. His head was spinning, and he could barely stand up on his own let alone reach the castle. You helped him lay back down, all while nagging him that he fell because he was too proud to eat what you had prepared for him. Understanding the gravity of the situation Doyoung complied and ate his meal silently while you explained where your house was located as best as you could.

When Doyoung no longer had any more questions, it was your turn to ask. When questioned about how he got hurt, Doyoung explained that he was unsure what had happened and that the only thing he knew was that he fell off his horse. You also asked why he so desperately wanted to return to the kingdom and if that wasn’t enough to insult him, your follow up sentence was.

“All those who live there are ignorant fools mindlessly abiding the unfair rules of the royal family”

Never in his life had Doyoung been so offended. For you to slander not only his family but also his people was unforgivable.

“How dare you!” he proclaimed, outraged at your behavior. “I could have you incarcerated for this”

You blankly stared at him for a moment before bursting out laughing, only adding fuel to the fire which was igniting within Doyoung’s irises.

“You’re gonna arrest me?” you said in disbelief

This entire time Doyoung didn’t bother introducing himself as he assumed you were already aware that he was the prince but didn’t treat him as such because you weren’t taught proper manners. Now he had reason to believe you really did not know who he was. In an attempt to assert his dominance in the situation Doyoung announced to you that he was the prince, raising his hand to present you with the ring that sat on his finger, confirming that he indeed was part of the royal family. Unfortunately for Doyoung he was no longer within his kingdom and you made sure he was aware of that. You approached him slowly, hands behind your back and leaned forward, whispering “You’re no prince of mine” before walking away.

You were not obligated to help Doyoung with anything, but you still did so because you saw him as an equal and treated him the same way you would anyone else. You, of course, couldn’t care less what happened within the confines of the walls that separated the kingdom from the remaining land. Yet you couldn’t help but sympathise with the young man who so frantically wanted to return home. It had been three weeks since Doyoung discovered himself at your house and while he was in better condition, his self-assurance was at an all-time low. It had already been so long, and it seemed as though no one was going to find him. Hell, he wasn’t even sure if they were looking. Doyoung’s bleak attitude was starting to take a toll on you and you weren’t having it. You rarely talked, his complaints and constant whining too much for you to handle. But you’d had enough and decided it was time you sat him down and had a conversation. You asked him if he was prepared to return home and that you were willing to provide him with your own horse. He declined, saying that you’d need it for yourself, but you explained that you would be able to obtain a horse from an acquaintance who lived a few miles away. He hesitated, unsure of whether or not he really did want to return. His mind polluted with negative thoughts. Doyoung muttered to himself that there was no point in going back if there was a chance his parents had already disowned him for abandoning their nation. Nothing you said to dismiss his intrusive thoughts seemed to get through to him. After losing patience you lashed out at him for his lack of faith in himself.

“What is the matter with you! Have you gone blind? You’re the prince and that kingdom is rightfully yours.”

“I have failed my people and do not deserve to be king. I was careless and ended up getting hurt in an irresponsible manor.”

“Why are you being so pessimistic about this, you could have died!”

Doyoung looked up at you in shock, asking himself if you really cared that much about him. He wasn’t sure if you were expecting an answer and opted to keep his mouth shut. Soon after you continued, your voice a tone higher than before as you paced up and down the small cabin.

“What is it that’s holding you back? You’re overwhelmed with ideas that you’ve put in your head. There’s- there’s so much more to running a kingdom than just being there.”

It was obvious you had no intention on stopping now.

“You’re in control of who you are and what you do, you just have to get rid of all the negative thoughts that live inside your head. You’re so overcome with self-doubt that you can’t even think straight anymore. You’re young, you have time to fix this!”

You stopped pacing and turned to look at him, sighing deeply before telling him.

“When you got here all you did was talk about how you had to return to your people. Even if your father doesn’t believe you deserve that crown you will reclaim it. No one else deserves to be king; it is your destiny.”

Your speech was enough to send Doyoung’s confidence flying through the roof. He stood up and announced that he would like to return home as soon as possible.

The following morning Doyoung was packed up and ready to go. You explained to him how to return to the path he was originally on and he’d know how to get back from there. Doyoung thanked you for all that you had done, despite the fact that you didn’t fancy him much. He appreciated all your help but couldn’t leave without the answer to one question.

“Why go through such lengths to get me back to the kingdom?”

“Because, there was no logic in your sadness. Your worries weren’t based off facts, they were based off assumptions. A word of advice from me to you, misery has nothing to offer.”

Doyoung thanked you once more and started his journey back home. Before he could get far he heard your voice call out “If you’re gonna be a king, you better be a damn good one!”

He quickly glanced back and smiled, continuing onward.

Once Doyoung was close enough for the royal guards to see him, they hastily made their way towards him and brought him safely inside. Word quickly spread that the prince who had been missing for almost a month had been found alive. That day they celebrated, but not a moment went by where Doyoung didn’t think of you. He then realised he never asked you why you didn’t live inside the kingdom. During dinner Doyoung’s father wanted to hear about what had happened and how Doyoung managed to survive. Doyoung explained that you saved him by treating his wounds and providing him with food and shelter. Though he hadn’t mentioned your name, his father had a general idea of who his son was referring to but decided to ask just to be certain. He grimaced when Doyoung spoke your name, confirming his speculations. He explained to Doyoung that you and your family had been exiled, never to step foot in the kingdom again. There were rumors that your father had performed treason, though it was never actually confirmed. The king could no longer trust your father as a royal guard and forced him and his family out of the kingdom in a quiet manor to avoid problems arising. Apparently, your mother had sought home in a different kingdom, but you refused to continue living under unfair laws and stayed behind. The reason your family was exiled was abstruse from Doyoung’s perspective, but there was nothing he could do. The king’s word was law.

Doyoung couldn’t live with the thought of you not being able to enter the kingdom, especially when you had done nothing wrong. There was not enough evidence against your father, and even if there was why should you pay the price. He decided to do some investigation of his own, questioning several retired guards in an attempt to discover anything that might help. It took Doyoung quite some time, but he finally managed to contact the guard who accused your father of treason. After talking to him for a moment he admitted that he unrightfully accused your father, having had him confused with someone else. He would have announced this sooner but was afraid of what might happen to him and his family. The man agreed to tell the king the truth as he felt it was the right thing to do. Doyoung explained to his father that his endeavors weren’t to put the man in jail, but to bring you back to where you belong. It didn’t take much convincing; the king was ashamed that he had taken action before he was sure of what had happened. He ordered two guards to accompany Doyoung on his way to retrieve you. To say you were surprised to see Doyoung again would be an understatement. When he was close enough for him to hear you, you asked what his business on your property was, to which he simply answered, “I’m here to take you home.”

You declined, claiming that this was your home and you had no intention of leaving. With the two guards close behind him you didn’t dare say too much. But Doyoung wasn’t leaving that easily, not without a fight at least. He explained to you that your father had been innocent and that you were no longer exiled. But after what had happened could you really trust anyone in that kingdom? It was as if Doyoung had read your mind, and he assured you that he would do everything in his power to keep you safe. He insisted you live in the castle and told you that he would always be by your side. It took a lot of courage on your part to return to the kingdom after such a long time, but you were willing. After packing all your necessities, you turned to Doyoung and told him that he’d make an exceptional king, to which he replied with “And you’d make an excellent queen.”

#kim doyoung #nctwriters #nct scenarios #kim doyoung scenarios #Doyoung Scenarios #nct 127 #nct 127 doyoung #nct 127 scenarios #nct 127 imagines #nct #nct u #nct u scenarios #nct u imagines #nct u doyoung #doyoung imagines #kpop scenarios #kpop imagines #kpop

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killianmesmalls · 7 years ago

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Raising Alice: Historical(ish) Headcanons and Meta

Now, everything here is based on speculation and, though I’d love to spend weeks researching this because I love history, especially the time periods this lends itself to, I’m going open this up to discourse because there’s a lot of conjecture at a certain point with fictional people, fictional realms, and timeline discrepancies.

However, I do headcanon Killian raised Alice within both the societal ideals of Victorian to Edwardian views of child rearing and what was accessible to him, but was also highly progressive. Part of this is based on when he grew up (clearly late 18th to early 19th century-ish regardless of realm in terms of style and etiquette) and how he adapted over the years, with a key factor being the fashions and beliefs of when he took in Bae for what one can speculate to be a few months as well as how his years of piracy which allowed a high level of democracy, tolerance of different lifestyles, and distaste for stringent authority. Part of this is also based on when their books were published, so 1865-1911.

I am going to separate my personal headcanons into different categories: toys, lessons, nutrition, and other, the last of which is a catch-all for anything I either forgot to assess or doesn’t fit within the context of the previous categories nor does it merit its own (clothing, schedules, discipline, etc). All under the cut because I feel I may ramble.

Here is what I cannot help but headcanon about Alice: It is no coincidence her aesthetic is from the time period that first started to truly understand late childhood and adolescence were stepping stones to a human’s development. Killian Jones never got that. We can only infer what his life was like, but I highly doubt a ~10-year-old indentured servant on a late 18th century ship would have lived the sort of life today’s child is gifted with. We can only speculate the abuses he went through, but we can (I hope) all acknowledge it wasn’t a privileged life.

Then we have Alice. Now, we know she has a lot working against her: trapped in a very tight space, no doors, no indoor plumbing, only one other voice to listen to outside of her own (until she’s almost 11, which we won’t go there...), etc. Though there were some obvious struggles, there is no doubt to me she was raised with an abundance of love. The below, to me, will detail either what we’ve been already told, what I headcanon based on history, or what I headcanon based on what I believe about Killian.

Toys

I’m not going to lie, I’m in love with some of the toys that started to develop around the late 19th century to the beginning of the 20th. It was such an enthusiastic time of development with all sorts of new technologies, cultures intermingling thanks to trains, automobiles, steam ships, the telegraph, music, moving pictures, etc. This also gave rise to what humans are wont to do, which is protect their traditions or “their own” in the face of progression, but this was such a beautiful time of progress in some aspects. Yes, the advancements can arguably be attributed to a causing factor of WWI and, as such, WWII, but let’s stick to the positive in this case? I can discuss WWI for days, but I’d like to focus on the happy and I’ve already detracted enough from Alice and Killian, my true purpose for this.

Let’s take a couple looks at what she has.

I’ve discussed this before, but I feel the desire to bring it up again. I cannot begin to count her dolls, she has a parasol, a wooden ship, a baby carriage, obviously the chess set, and so on. These toys do not come cheap, nor do her dresses or nightgown. She is, as far as we can infer, financially spoiled. We can only imagine why this may be, but it’s hard (for me) to not believe Killian kept her well-stocked in toys thanks to her inability to leave her home/prison. These toys all, also, keep with the style of late Victorian pieces. All of her dolls are dressed in late 19th century fashion, circa 1880-1910 if one were to take a guess, and well-crafted. In addition, Noah’s ark toys were highly popular in late Victorian years, as were parasols, and the shape of the baby carriage she is shown pushing is also in the style of this time period.

If, based on her clothing and other toys (more on the former later....) we’re assuming other objects of a similar time period are around, here are some of toys the I don’t doubt he’d either like to gift her with or already has and they’re stashed away somewhere: skipping ropes, marbles, spinning tops, toy soldiers (because, let’s face it, he didn’t raise her strictly according to gender roles of the time), and my current headcanon favorite, a kaleidoscope.

Why a kaleidoscope I hear you asking silently? Because now I’m just imagining her beside him, pretending it’s a spyglass of her own, playing pirate and seeing all sorts of treasure in the distance.

Lessons

We know she understands sword fighting enough to defeat a jabberwocky with being the sole survivor in addition to us seeing her having a lesson with her father. She knows stars well enough to know the date based on their location. She’s spent years on her own, traveling realms completely by herself, and surviving based on everything we can believe she’s been taught. Basically, that girl spent almost 11 years with her father’s studious voice speaking to her, and his voice in her head urging her to read and learn different subjects since then.

Even in her cursed persona, Alice craves the knowledge of a bookstore. She focuses thanks to chess. Everything that makes Alice happy revolves around either her most loving relationships or in academic pursuits. When Henry brings up the idea that he thinks they may actually be cursed characters from his book, she immediately starts perusing through it.

It’s canon she studied art, there were knitting materials in her cottage when she’s older, we can infer she’s able to bake based on her having the cupcake on her birthday (unless others have the headcanon that the tower magicked it there for her, but I don’t think the tower is that nice). While many young girls stopped learning more “masculine” subjects, such as mathematics and science, as they were expected to marry and align themselves to a more homemaker role, I have many doubts that Alice was raised with this mentality, at the very least due to what was mentioned above.

While she does see the world in a “special” way, no one can claim that Alice is in any way stupid, and I don’t doubt her curiosity would prevent her from ever being considered truly ignorant. Like her father, if there is something worth knowing, she absolutely will learn it. Again, this is mostly based on some evidence but mostly headcanon, but I have a hard time believing otherwise.

Based on time period and on what I believe about Killian, I think she’s aware of the etiquette in different realms, knows at least one other language and maybe more, knows some military history, and knows the basics of sailing even if she’s never been. I think he also taught her about the customs and beliefs of different people, though how much this included religion considering all the mixing of religions in the show is a mystery.

Nutrition

Food at this time period, with a primary focus in this case for Irish and English foods, was heavy in beef, potatoes, pork, eggs, bread, cheese, and, as we know of Alice, various jams. Obviously, we know a bit about Killian’s diet and his aversion to sugar/“junk food” and we know how much Alice craves orange marmalade. In addition, we know they were close enough to a port for her to consider a 48-hour trip using Enchanted Forest methods of transportation to be cause for worry, and he was able to get her various vials of sand for her birthday. So I assume they were able to get seafood easily enough without worry of it spoiling before he could either cook it or get it on ice.

Food-borne illnesses, gout, and afflictions easily handled these days with a dose of stomach medication was still a concern during this time, so I feel like Killian would have avoided any foods that were at risk of easily going bad unless they had a way of storing it. Though they were not poor, as evidenced by how well-stocked Alice was kept in pristine clothing and toys, there were still a lot of concerns, and I feel like he would have been extremely cautious considering she was unable to go see a doctor.

Killian likely raised her on a healthy balanced diet with marmalade as a comfort food that was both a treat but also something healthy (guarding against scurvy) and could store well (up to six months). I also love the idea that “I had no idea you could put candy on fruit” is also a carryover from Alice’s time with fruit being the primary dessert and anything high in sugar being a very rare treat, perhaps mostly in the form of sea salt toffee or, on special occasions, cupcakes.

The trick here is we don’t know how the tower kept stocked with food, let alone how generous it may have been or how well it kept any of it, so we can only speculate how much/how often they had anything that spoiled easily. It’s still worth knowing what may have been a typical spread in the Jones home for those of us that are insane nerds about them and this time period.

Other

Speaking of Alice’s pristine clothing, we saw at least three different outfits compared to Killian’s one. Her puffy sleeves, embroidery, the fabrics used, and colors used indicate she was dressed relatively upperclass. Her clothing, like her toys, again shows how absolutely well-cared for she was.

However, as spoiled as she was financially, there is no way in my mind she was spoiled in terms of a schedule. At the very least, for her to know the date by the stars, I feel like she could also look at the sun to know the time, and keeps to it. That, mixed with the fact that she needs help to focus, plus the fact that Killian was shown at times to be stringent on routine, she likely veered very little from the schedule they both adapted for years. Rise at this time, breakfast by this time, lessons by this time, lunch by this time, etc. You get the point. It’s also what, by the time she’s left alone, helps her keep some level of sanity. I also, as I’m writing this, somewhat headcanon part of her mind to be the White Rabbit, fretting about being late and later selling “time pieces”, strictly telling Rogers a time to meet her and only showing late when she had news she didn’t want to give him.

Even with all this strictness when it came to making sure a schedule was in order, Victorian and Edwardian times could still be pretty tough on some children. They were still expected to be seen and not heard, often not listened to or respected as individuals, had others’ ideals impressed upon them, and were pretty severely dealt with from time to time. With everything Killian dealt with as a child, and how much Alice grew to be an inquisitive person with little shame in how she felt or how she appeared to others, I think he was most progressive in this regard. I am not going to go into too controversial of topics, but I do believe if he were ever firm it was very few and far between. We have to remember, beyond his past abuses, that Killian is aware that he is the only person she is exposed to. While he will make mistakes as he’s only human, and he is still a product of his time period, his hands are the only hands she’s going to hold or be near for a while. I don’t believe that he’d ever risk her fearing them. She was mostly respected in terms of her autonomy and her beliefs, and we know he is shown multiple times in supporting her, building up her self-esteem, and treating her like a smart, capable individual. There may have been slips and slides, but I truly believe with the way they came out of this and how she grew into the person she is, she felt mostly pure love and respect from her father.

In Conclusion

FFS, did you guys stay through all of this? Wow. Props, guys.

#knightrook meta #ouat meta #alice jones #killian jones #knightrook

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jorjathomas · 4 years ago

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FAS3002- Lifestyle

As we are coming towards the end of this course, this being the third project launch, I am determined to keep my standard of work high aswell as being open to new skills. I believe this course isn't independent this time around enabling me to share ideas with other students. The aim of this course is to create a brand based of trend research and present this brand to the class. It is important when creating this that we convey how the shifts in the world currently has impacted the fashion industry. This will be very interesting to cover given the global pause on normality. I think I would love to include something like this in the work I produce within this module.

Before starting the week again, we were set with an activity to complete prior to the module launch. We have been asked to research two or three brands which we find inspirational and to analyse the brand and its intentions with a customer. It took me some time to find brands that not only interested me but also reached a different target audience so I could differentiate the brands. I decided to look at the brands The Ordinary, Tesla and Etsy as these all have different messages and identities to the shopping world. Below I have discussed the different answers which we were asked on Moodle.

1. The Ordinary Skincare

quote: “Everyone ages, everyone gets their fine lines and wrinkles, and at the end of it all, we own it! We want you to own your skin and feel confident no matter what stage in life you're in. You're never too young or too old to be bold.”

What is the Brand’s Identity? -Their main focus is to deliver the best products for a persons skin. They don't spend too much money on their aesthetics and product designs as their honesty and integrity is was draws a customer in. they cut straight to the point with their products explaining what ingredients are in the bottle and why they are beneficial. I like this brand as they don't add any fragrances or other sort of junk which you could find in other products, as a customer myself they are perceived as genuine towards looking after their audiences skin. Below is a description of their narrative which I found off their website.

“The brand was created to celebrate integrity in its most humble and true form. Its offering is pioneering, not in the familiar technologies it uses, but in its honesty and integrity. The Ordinary is born to disallow commodity to be disguised as ingenuity. The Ordinary is "Clinical formulations with integrity"”.

Product - The ordinary sell a range of different skincare products and makeup such as cleansers, direct acid serums, hair care products, oils and sun care. This brand interests me as their intentions are so pure which I wish could occur with every brand. The general pricing of these products differ from £3- £30 maximum. this widens their target audience as this is quite affordable for skincare. I discovered this brand when a skin care influencer called SkincarebyHyram on YouTube rated these products and recommended some of their products. There wasn't any ad agreements which happens often with influencers, but these intentions were pure which caused a lot of these products being difficult to by as they were so popular. The iconic items would be the Niacinamide and Zinc serum and the AHA blood face mask. These products received many good reviews and I think represents this business.

Price - As their items are cheaper than the standard range of skincare which could be £30+, I was doubtful with were they sit in the market. However coming across multiple articles explaining the most popular brands, The Ordinary was always in the top 5 answers. As every other brand they have competitors which are specific to their business. As this brand is organic, it reduces the amount of other brands they have to compete with. Their competitors are brands such as Revolution skincare and The Inkey list which advertise their products in the same way as this brand.

Place - This brand sells in a range of different places. They have their own website which you can buy online but they also have a small amount of stores across the country. Majority of their products are placed in department stores which is where I found the brand. This is probably the most common place for their products to receive sales.

Promotion - As discussed earlier, they don't advertise their products as much as other brand would. Keeping things as minimal as possible with the standard white and black designs so customers can gain knowledge of the products rather than liking the smell or colour of the product. I think they are very smart with this as most brands have developed a new way of promoting their products with bright colours and other forms of marketing which could interest a customer however The ordinary strips back all of these techniques and uses its products ingredients and intentions as a way of promotion. Below is an example of their honesty which I believe is a good way of promoting their brand.

“The Ordinary, are free of parabens, sulphates, mineral oil, methylchloroisothiazolinone, methylisothiazolinone, animal oils, coal tar dyes, formaldehyde, mercury, oxybenzone. If you have questions about any ingredient that we use, please reach out to us and our lab will provide a response. DECIEM does not test on animals and does not pay others to do so. For this reason, none of our brands are sold in mainland China since such sales require animal testing for registration purposes.”

Customer - I think that their target market is widely diverse due to the range of different products. Each customer has a clear intention when buying these products whether that's heathier hair or to healthier skin. I have noticed a lot of young adults use this brand as they are good products to reduce certain skin conditions which are common for this age range such as acne. I would say their audience is mainly 16-30 year olds however it wouldn't surprise me if their audience was wider than this market.

2- House of Sunny

What is the Brand’s Identity? - House of Sunny is a fashion organization producing womenswear. Majority of their clothing range are bright colours I barely see many dark pieces making this aesthetic very uplifting and ideal for the summer. despite this they state that their pieces are “Designed for an easy everyday, each product is carefully crafted to become the perfect addition to elevate any wardrobe which can transition through the seasons.”

Product - Majority of their key stock is their patterned knitwear and dresses but they also sell tops and other womenswear. Their key pieces would most defiantly their patterned knits both being cardigans and jumpers, I gained a personal interest in these pieces as they require so much more attention than a standard block knit. Their iconic item would be the Hockney dress which was grew popular when worn by the supermodel Kendal Jenner.

Price - As their brand doesn't aim to be fast fashion and doesn't create a mass amount of products, their products are much more sustainable and are on the higher end of the market. I don't know if this price range is expensive or we have just been accustomed to unreasonable and cheaper products. I think these pieces value the price they set when I read their intentions on their website. Their knitwear range from £80+ and similar with other products. I haven't seen any of their stock go over £100 despite this. Majority of their pieces are set at the same price.

Place -When researching, I didn't realise they sold their products in online department stores like ASOS and Urban Outfitters. They don't have any physical stores and all of their brand is based online which is a much more achievable way or selling clothes due to the current up rise in online shopping.

Promotion - Like majority of their womenswear competitors, they use social media as a main contribution to reaching their customers. As this is online it is important they do this successfully to achieve a good amount of their target market. With the help of ambassadors, influencers tagging the brand when wearing the clothing and other marketing techniques, they reach new customers, like me, often. I also believe they pay for social media adds based on demographics and the activity of a persons social media data.

Customer - Being a womenswear shop I should assume their audience consist of women however with new society norms, I would say this brand can be unisex also. I also think the demographics might be of a younger audience being they are online. Also because they aren't a fast fashion company they aren't as well known as easier to find if someone was browsing on the web. I think a younger audience are more likely to come across this brand as they spend a longer amount of time shopping online than an elder may be. Despite this I think House of Sunny don't cancel out any specific characteristics or data of a customer making this brand diverse and suitable for anyone who likes their items. This approach to fashion and their overall message is what I find inspirational about this brand which is why I wanted to research about it.

3- Etsy

What is the Brand’s Identity? - Etsy is a online marketplace website and app focused on handmade or vintage items and craft pieces sold by small business. These items fall under a wide range of categories, including jewelry, bags, clothing, home décor and furniture, toys, art, as well as craft supplies. This is a great place for starting business to sell products which may not be as reached if it was elsewhere.

Product - As this is like an amazon, selling many brands, there isn't any key prices as it depends on the sellers price range. However based of what majority of my history of the site I would say the price range is reasonable being £10+ with the products I buy. This could be things like personalised gifts or handmade accessories. I would agree in saying a lot of the key items would consist of personalised items and illustration designs.

Price - As said before their price range is quite diverse, I would consider this as an advantage as they are able to attract a different class of people which more department brands might not be able to achieve. Despite this the website receives a certain percentage of the fee a business would make on their site as they are advertising it to an extent, which could cause a brand to increase their product prices so they can receive more profitable income. I would say their competitors would be Depop, Ebay and Amazon as they all allow the public to sell particular items for customers.

Place - This shop is completely online and is also accessible through the app for an audience who use the site much more frequently.

Promotion - Personally I don't think Etsy itself uses many promotional techniques as they aren't selling anything however they may have some marketing techniques which could reach a small business owner and interest them in wanted to sell their brand on the site. I think the relationship between Esty and their own customers being the business owners need to balance each other well to achieve successful promotional techniques. For example a business owner would promote their products well in which they say where to find their products, being Esty. this not only engages the customer too look at the brands products but they are now on the Etsy site so they are most likely to look at other items on the site aswell or even interested in selling their own range of stock aswell. I think this is smart way of advertising their brand and what makes Etsy so successful.

Customer - As their price range consists of both expensive and cheap items the brand reaches a wider audience. The businesses which use this website differentiate from one another creating a wider audience. for example one business may sell building tools and another may sell personalised jewelry which brings a range of different customers to the site. Overall I think this organisation is a very good space to enable businesses to grown their own platform and enable them to create their own brand aswell as profiting from their income from the purchase of their products.

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two-creepy-nerds · 7 years ago

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Sacrifices

Author: Luna

Content Warning: Violence, Body Horror

Length: Short

I don’t really know how this started. I had always been interested in the occult and growing up in the buckle of the bible belt, so it was customary for my friends and I to rebel. Piercings, tattoos, all black in the blistering, summer heat.

We considered ourselves to be the outcasts. The kids that were shoved into lockers and trash cans by the football teams. My friend Finnie and I would spend most of our time in the art room or other corners of our rundown school hiding from the harsh words and beatings others would get.

It was before graduation we had found a cool looking old leather bound book filled with spells and rituals in our local library. It too was a run down old building that was rumored to be haunted by ghosts from the civil war and other horrors.

We snatched it up of course, loving to believe that's what it truly was, but knowing those were just old urban legends to scare children into eating their broccoli or saying their prayers before bed. Each boogeyman having a specific prayer to keep him at bay.

I shot the idea, “How cool would it be if we made our own coven?”

“Like witches?” my friend Finnie asked.

“Yeah dude. Let's be witches!”

So, we embarked on this new journey, trying to find anything we could on witchcraft. Our noses were glued to the screens of our phones, browsing web forums, tumblr, and anything else we could think would help us learn.

We had even met a few more local witches who had been in the craft for a couple years. Sometimes we would all visit each other at night in the graveyard just taking in the silence and serenity that settled over that place like a blanket.

By the time graduation rolled around, Finnie and I had moved in together, setting up our altars, and began doing daily rituals to our deities. Finnie focused more on home remedies with herbs and essential oils and daily blessings over our home.

I learned divination, doing daily spreads for myself and sometimes for Finnie or other friends. A few years later after Summer once again transitioned to Autumn, Finnie and I decided to do some cleaning around our house.

“Hey! Look what I found!”

Finnie held up a picture of us from middle school, our hair dyed six different colors and with bangs swooping over our heavily lined eyes. Laughter quickly turned to cringes, then into immediately playing bands from our dark, emo past.

During our little jam session, we decided to organize the bookshelf.

“Hey, do you know where this came from?” I say as I hold up a leather bound book.

“You stole that from the Library before we graduated, I can’t believe you of all people wouldn’t remember that.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Oh shut it, ‘Miss Pickpocket’,” Finnie grinned deviously, her eyebrows raising with snide in her voice.

“One does not simply remember the multitudes of things they’ve stolen over the years,” I winked back.

But it seems like the memories had come flooding back. I flip through the stained pages of the book, taking in the lovely smell that vintage books all seem to carry. I had noticed on a couple pages towards the end that the text was in Theban, an old language that seemed to have died, but can sometimes be found in a witch’s book of shadows.

“Hey Finn, have you ever actually looked through this thing? Some parts are in Theban.”

“Yeah I had tried translating it, but it’s pretty difficult. I think there's a part talking about a blood sacrifice or something. Lots of torn and ripped out pages too. Pretty sure the Librarians don’t even miss a piece of junk like that.”

I shrug it off and put the book away, it’s dark spine standing out from the rest of the collection like a sore thumb. Might get rid of it soon.

Later that night, a couple of our friends come over for dinner. We chat about various things including the emo phase we all inevitably went through. Finnie mentions the book and our friend Sarah lights up like a Christmas tree.

“You have to show me this! It sounds so cool!” she exclaimed.

Sarah’s new to our little coven. She also isn’t the smartest person, but she has a wonderful personality and is gifted in many ways. One being she could make us bust a gut laughing. Finnie gets up and grabs the book off the shelf and lets Sarah flip through it.

“We should do one of these rituals as my initiation into the coven.”

“I don’t know Sarah. This book is pretty old and parts are in Theban, so it’s hard to read. Methinks we should do something easier for something like that.” The other girls agree, this book is no walk in the park when it comes to spells.

“But a ritual like this would would be perfect.” Sarah points to a ritual that's all in Theban, obviously grasping at straws.

“Well... I guess I can try to translate it.” Finnie proclaims.

I know she's trying to keep the peace and hear Sarah out but I’m worried this might end badly.

So Finnie did her best to translate the text that night.

“Hey this is a blood sacrifice,” I hear Finnie shout from her room

“Leave it to Sarah to pick blood magick am I right?” Finnie and I chuckle but I feel anxious, blood magick isn’t something I’m comfortable with.

---

Over the next few days, we had to gather the few materials that we didn’t have: A black goat A copper bowl And wood for a bonfire.

We also had to make sure the location where we normally preformed our rituals was clear of any squatters.

We had gathered up everything we needed, and got everything set up and ready. I never really enjoyed performing blood magick, but it was a majority vote. One of our local farmer friends had sold us the goat.

Something didn’t feel right about this, I usually preformed white magick but this felt wrong. It was chilling. It felt dark. Once the sun had set and the moon was above us, the fire was lit. We each stripped down and began to dance around the fire, the smoke rising above us to the heavens.

I felt more and more uneasy as the time grew closer and closer. Something about this definitely didn’t feel right. The goat was humanely put down recently and was hung upside down from one of the trees. His neck was slit and blood collected in the copper bowl.

Sarah then marked her body with symbols and sigils up and down her arms, legs, and abdomen. She then drank some ceremonial mead that Finnie had made.

Then Sarah began to mark a sigil on all of our abdomens with the goat’s blood. Each of us took a sip of the honey wine and held hands as we chanted in an ancient and dead tongue.

Then everything had gone black. The last thing I remember was seeing the goat back on the ground and walking around as if it were alive.

I woke up that morning, sore from falling asleep on the ground.

We were all covered with soot, dried goats blood, and bug bites from the night before. I was the first to find my clothes. I couldn’t wait till I could go back home and take a much needed shower.

The rest of the group slowly woke up and began putting their clothes back on and cleaning up the mess we had made that night. We then said our goodbyes and went our separate ways.

“Hey Fin? Did any of that feel really weird to you last night?” Her eyes were glazed over as she sat quietly in the passenger seat, the only noise she made was a slight cough.

“Fin, you okay?”

She snapped out of her dissociative state, “Huh? What? Um never better. I feel like a million bucks.”

She was sweating profusely. I could always tell when she was lying, but I didn't press any further. I was suddenly hit with a sharp pain in my stomach and had to pull the car over. I removed my seat belt and pulled up my shirt to see that the sigil that Sarah painted on me was burned into my skin.

Finnie pulled out of her vegetable like state again and was screaming, her voice filled with misery and pain. She couldn’t pull her seat belt off fast enough and practically ripped off her shirt. It looked like someone had taken a branding tool and pressed it right under our belly button.

I try to swallow any scream of agony that might escape through my lips and put on a brave face for Finnie. I drive us to the nearest hospital and try to get Finnie through the doors without collapsing.

I yell, “We need to see a doctor immediately! We’ve been burned!”

The nurse at the counter takes us in the back where a Doctor comes in and looks at our abdomens. He sighs and whispers something to the nurse.

He leaves after handing me a prescription for burn cream, and we are told to leave with Finnie having to be wheeled out. I call the local pharmacy and place in the prescription, which will be ready in a few hours.

I take a long sigh and try my best to drive us home. We finally make it back where I have to help Finnie walk in and lay down. She had stopped screaming on the ride home after her voice gave out, now only letting out hoarse grunts and silent sobs.

I run a bath of cold water and sink into it, almost feeling relief. The rest of my body goes numb and I can’t feel the burning anymore. I try to scrub the dirt off my body, but I have to get out.

I do my best to try and bandage the burn and keep it clean and covered, then drain the water and run another cold bath for Finnie. I lift up her shirt and put a cold wash rag over her burns. She starts to weep.

“Fin, if you want, sitting in cold water seemed to help a lot.”

She nods, moping with tears in her eyes and pulls off her clothes to the best of her strength, but only manages to do it halfway.

Finnie walks into the bathroom and almost throws herself in the tub, letting the freezing water engulf her. She seems to return back to herself. I help her out and dress her burns.

Feeling as normal as I could, I head back out to town to pick up the ointment. I can’t help but wonder if this happened to the other girls. I sort of forget that thought for about a week, trying to get the burns to heal and eventually scar over.

I had finally called all of the other girls from the coven which they seem to be fine and had no idea what we were talking about. We had met each other for dinner again and no one had scars.

I had also been losing weight. At first a few pounds now turned into something concerning. My face became hollow and gaunt, the same happening to Finnie. It’s like something was sucking the life right out of us. We searched through the book and the internet to see what was happening to us but nothing added up. I grew weaker and weaker. I knew this was killing me, but tried to push forward. For Finn. For the pain to just stop. Oh, God. Just stop. My fingers are even getting weak. Just flipping through the pages of the book feels like work and I have to keep it set down on a table to read. A heavy and dark energy soaks up the air around it. We look online to see if there's anyone who could help translate the spell we did more accurately.

Finnie comes across a little shop in a city just a hop skip and a jump from where we are. I’m in too much pain to even drive, so I decided to call the shop and see what we can do from there. Finnie hands me the phone and I call the number on the website.

“Hello and thank you for calling Our Little Shop of Horror! How may I help you?”

“Hi, I’m calling to ask about curse removal?” The person on the other line hangs up immediately. “Well so much for that.”

I look over to Finnie and she’s curled up on the floor, vomiting.

“Oh my God! Finnie, are you okay?” she’s throwing up so much she cant speak. It looks like it has coffee grounds in it, a sign of internal bleeding.

I call an ambulance which arrived five minutes later to take Finnie. The EMT’s ask me if she's on anything and I tell them we’ve been experiencing weight loss and severe burns on our abdomens. Then I begin to vomit. It feels like fire coming up and I’m carried into the back of the ambulance to be rushed to the hospital.

Doctors and nurses ask us question after question. They are unable to diagnose what’s wrong with us. We lay in the hospital beds with tubes and wires hooked up to us as Finnie is still unable to keep anything down. She now has to have a feeding tube put in. I’m barely able to stay awake longer than a few minutes, coming in and out of consciousness.

---

The sky's dark, the air is still and hot. The only sound for miles are the cicadas. I don’t know where I am, and there's no one else here. I to walk forward and my eyes adjust to the darkness a little more. Making sure I don’t fall, I take little steps leading me into a thicket of bushes and trees. There seems to be a faint light growing in the distance. The closer I get the more I can make out what it is.

I’m dreaming, at least I hope I am. Everything seems so real. I can see the bonfire and even smell the rich scent of the smoke filling the sky. I see all my friends dancing around it. Finnie is there and she looks like nothing even happened. They begin a ritual just like last time. I can hear the blood dripping in the bowl and I watch as one girl coats the others in it. They chant around the fire and then begin dancing again slow at first but growing ever faster. Their movements are almost animalistic as their spines contort unnaturally.

One girl cuts down the goat from the tree and draws a sigil on him using some leftover blood and dirt. The goat's eyes open and he rises to his hooves. Two girls fall to the ground. I wake up covered in sweat. I- I’m back at the hospital.

I don’t know if I’m hallucinating or not. I pinch myself but I can’t feel it. Then the smell hits me. Sickeningly sweet, it makes me want to vomit. I get up to find the source.

I go into Finnie’s room and there she is laying in a puddle of now dried bodily fluids, her gaped mouth infested with flies and their maggots. How long had she been like this? How long was I out? Her body is bloated from the gases building up inside her. I’m too shocked to scream or cry, I just drop to my knees and cradle her.

Then I notice something strange. Lifting up my shirt shows the burn scar had turned completely black. I touch it just a bit with my finger and a stabbing pain causes me to cry bloody murder! I wake up screaming this time once again hooked up to wires and tubes! Nurses try to hold me down while attempting to inject something into my I.V. fluid.

Drip

It flows into my bloodstream and everything is calm now. There's a fluidity to everyone's movements. I can’t see Finnie, I can’t see anything.

Someone is standing at the foot of my bed. I can’t make out their features but I can hear them clearly. A shadowy silhouette, much less visible than anyone else in the room. It starts to pace back and forth, passing by nurses like he’s disappearing and reappearing in some kind of ominous peek-a-boo game.

When the nurses are satisfied with our calmer demeanor, they leave the room. Only the shadow remains.

Then a voice burrows itself into my head. Something deep. Something unnatural, emotionless, almost robotic.

“It’s time to go.”

The voice is loud and starts to make my head throb! I feel like my brain is going to burst out of my skull!

“It’s here! We no longer need such fragile shells!” I feel the worst stomach ache in my entire life! It’s like a knife is cutting through it! Soon I just give up from the sheer amount of pain. My body goes limp. My head rolls to see Finnie staring back at me.

Her mouth is wide open. And I mean wide. Multiple, sharp objects like blades are coming out of it, splitting her lips, tearing her entire jaw apart.

The last thing I see in the abyss between her sweet lips are two lights, like cigarette butts, burrowing their malice into my fading eyes.

I’m swallowing knives.

#luna #creepypasta #horror #short story

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catu-munchkin · 8 years ago

Photo

Note: Well hello! I’m Yurio!! And I’m here posting my very first Imagine about GotG, with Rocket Raccoon! Well, actually I don’t know exactly how this ‘Imagine’ thing works, but to put it short, it’s a one shot.

Summary: You and Rocket are spending a day off together and found a new store in Xandar.

Rocket Raccoon x Female!Reader

Hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it! :D

Imagine a rainy day in Xandar with Rocket Raccoon...

It was a common day in Xandar, except for the fact that you and rest of the Guardians of the Galaxy were there because the Nova Corp needed to talk with Star Lord, or Star Munch for you, nothing to worry about, but they really needed him. So the rest of the team, except for Gamora, who was staying with Peter, were given a little free time, just enough time to look around and relax a bit.

You and Rocket decided to go after good deals, and his favorites, scrap metal pieces that he could use. While Drax and Groot went in a different way, looking for good food to taste. Rocket felt a bit worried about leaving baby Groot with the maniac, but you convinced him that it could be good for both of them to spend some time together, besides, lately Drax was being a little bit more responsible when it came about baby Groot. So Rocket accepted to let go his tiny baby sprout with Drax.

You two were having a stroll down the street's market. You were going from store to store looking for some good deals and maybe to buy another good blaster or riffle for your own use. Well at least buy it on the legal way.

After buying some little stuff, you saw a new store in the street’s corner. You stood there, outside the store and found out that it was an antique store filled with interesting stuff from all across de galaxy, including objects from Terra, your home planet.

"Woow..." You said as you stood up in front of the main store’s showcase.

"Ya' wanna go inside?" Rocket asked looking at you and pointing to the store.

You looked down at Rocket and nodded smiling.

So you decided to enter the shop and Rocket just followed you.

As you entered the store, a sweet bell ringed and a pinkish old man welcome you two with a smile from ear to ear.

“Welcome, welcome. Fell free to look around. But please, don’t touch anything if you are not buying it. Thank you.” The old man said and gave you a wide smile. Rocket and you waved to the old man and proceed to look around the shop. It was huge.

You walked around the whole place, it was like a museum with antiques and strange pieces and crafts. You recognized some stuff, like little old cars, a small old airplanes hanging from the ceiling, you even saw a kite. There was a big shell full of cassette types, the ones that Peter's walkman uses. Some of those artists reminded of your home, specially your mom.

Also you saw some kind of old watches, some porcelain dolls, even toys, but really old ones, and some pretty old lamps.

It wasn't a secret that the last few days, you and Peter were feeling a bit homesick. Remembering your last few days in Terra. You missed your sisters and mom, wondering how they were doing, wondering if they were okay, and tons of thought were racing your head these days. And this specific place made feel a bit better, looking at all this familiar stuff.

Rocket, on the other hand, was very surprised to see tons of things he didn't know, but he wasn't really interested on it, on what he was really interested was you. So most of the time he was looking at you, admiring the view of you smiling at those pieces of junk.

Suddenly something caught your complete attention. A red umbrella. You gasped and let out an ‘omg’, which made Rocket jumped, but relaxed when he saw you were just being noisy. You took the umbrella and opened it, then you realized that it was in perfect conditions.

"Woooow... An umbrella, I used to have one just like this one when I was a child!” You said smiling and looking at it carefully. It was ages since the last time you saw one of these.

"What is that- exactly?" Rocket asked as he was walking closer to you.

"It's an umbrella, you use it to cover from the rain." You replied as you were looking around for the shop’s owner.

"Ohh..." Rocket said looking at the umbrella. "It has a really weird design..." He said still looking at it.

You laugh slightly and replied. "I know. Things from Terra aren’t the most sophisticated in technology." You replied smiling and laughing, and kept looking for the owner.

When you finally found him, you asked for the umbrella.

"Hi! Umm...Excuse me, how much for the umbrella?" You asked using a shy and sweet voice and pointing to the umbrella.

"Oh. It is 8,000 units, miss." He replied without hesitate.

“8,000 units?! ... I thought it would be cheaper..." You said surprised at first but a little bit disappointed then.

"It was bring from a far, far away planet, miss." The old man replied and smiled

"I know... Right." You said looking at the umbrella and letting out a long sigh.

It wasn't that you haven’t enough units, but it was really expensive to be just an umbrella from Terra, but after thinking about it, the owner was right, Terra was far away.

"Well, I think it would be for the next time..." You said as you were about to put it back to its place, but you were interrupted by Rocket. "We’re taking it, old man." Rocket said without thinking it twice. You blinked and looked down at Rocket.

"What? But it is too expensive, Rocket..." You replied surprised and confused.

"It doesn’t matter… So yeah, I'm buying it for ya’... I know you’re feeling homesick lately and it looks like ya’ really liked this thing, so yeah... I want to give ya' a gift..." Rocket said looking away and scratching his whiskers. If it wasn’t for his fur, he would be madly blushed. It was the first time Rocket was actually giving you a gift. Of course he have gave you special upgrades for your riffles, but he have never used the word ‘gift’ before.

A wide smile drew on you face and you couldn’t help but blushed like crazy. You were way too happy to hide it. You were like a child who just got the most delicious ice cream.

Speechless, you shyly handed the red umbrella to the old man, who proceed to do the check out. Rocket followed him and you stood there, looking at Rocket while he was paying. Finally you walked to the cashier feeling really happy and a bit ashamed, but it was a good feeling. You couldn’t believe that actually the guy– or mammal- you were feeling attracted to was in fact giving you a gift.

Rocket was putting his wallet away, then smiled at you. “Its yours now, Y/n.” You smiled shyly and nodded as you took the red umbrella in your hands.

“Ya’ wanna keep looking around?” You blushed a bit more and Rocket laugh slightly. “Umm.. No. Let’s get back to the Milano.” You said smiling and shaking your head to hide your blush.

When you two were getting out the antique store, the sky began to look gray and you heard how it was cracking with some not so loud thunders, and without warning it started to rain.

“Oh boy. We are so lucky! Ta-ra-ra.” You said while you where taking the red umbrella out.

“What are ya' doing?” Rocket said a little bit confused. “We are using our new red umbrella!” You said as you opened the umbrella and looked down at Rocket. “Let’s go.” You said smiling at him, but he wasn’t sure it was a good idea for him to walk under an umbrella like this one, because he was sure his fur would get all wet.

“Hmm… nah. Go ahead, I'll catch ya’ later.” Rocket said waving his paw-hand at you. “Besides, I don’t want my fur to get wet.” He added.

“Ohh… that's right.” You replied, then you crouched to Rockets level. “Well, I can carry you, if you want. So we can get back to the ship together.” You said giving him a sweet smile.

“What?! No! I'm ain't no kid or whatever.” Rocket crossed his arms and felt like he was blushing like hell. But, deep inside he would love the idea of him being carried by you, but his honor wouldn’t let him do that, or at least it won’t let it be easy.

“No, of course you are not! You are more man that Star Munch, himself” You said laughing a bit, but somehow you loved the idea of having Rocket so close to you.

“Besides, I don’t want to go back to the Milano- without you, Rocket.” You added and looked at him sweetly. Rocket couldn’t help but twitch his ears and think of an stupid excuse to say no to you, but you kept trying to convince him.

“Come on, Rocket. You won’t get wet if I carry you back to the ship. Just imagine I'm Groot and you climb up on my shoulders. But I would be a small Groot, because I'm not that tall.” You said smiling and laughing, just trying to hide your blush.

Rocket couldn’t think about anything to get rid of the situation, but deep inside he always wanted to be close to you.

“Okay, okay.” You started. “I have an idea. What if just say: I am Groot??” You said trying to make the best impression of Groot you could do.

Rocket looked back at you with a small smile on his face, and let out a sigh.

“Fine. Ya' win.” Rocket said waving his hands to the air. You stood up and smiled down at Rocket. When he finally began to climb up over to your back, he accidentally dug a bit his nails on your arm, which made you say “Ouch…”

“S-sorry…” Rocket said shyly as he lifted his hand off of your arm.

“No worries.” You replied and felt how Rocket was finally on your shoulders, hanging from your belt and from your shoulders.

Neither you or Rocket said a word during the way back to the ship, both of you just enjoyed the moment. The only thing you could hear were the rain drops hitting the umbrella’s cloth, but you know you loved this sound. Since you spend a lot of time in space, it was nice to hear some natural sounds, like rainwater.

You couldn’t believe that Rocket was actually this close to you, and you really liked the heat on your neck produced by his fur and his breathe.

While you were walking down the street you saw other people running from the rain, others were covering from it and for some reason you two were the only ones walking down the rain. It was like for that single moment Xandarians forget about his high technology to deal with the rain, which made the both of you the only persons walking under the rain. You felt it was like magic, or just the universe beings gentle for a moment.

All this situation made you feel so lucky, it wasn’t a secret that you actually felt something for Rocket, and in that moment you felt like anything could go wrong. You let out a long sigh and smiled, Rocket noticed this and smiled too.

You two were finally getting close to the Milano and for an very obvious reason you started to walk slowly, Rocket noticed this but didn’t say a word neither. But suddenly he decided to break the silence. “So, this is an umbrella…?” He asked casually.

“Yeah, it is. An umbrella from Terra. When I was a child I used to play in the rain with one just like this one.” You couldn’t help but feel a bit sad, because sometimes you really missed your home. “Well, if ya' want- Y/n-“ Rocket brought you out of your thoughts. “We can play in the rain someday. But- just if ya' want. Even Groot can join, I bet he would love it.” Rocket said smiling and scratching his furry ear, just to hide the embarrassment on his voice. You giggled a bit and replied. “Sure! It would be fun!”

You laugh slightly and smiled again.

You two finally arrived to the Milano, and for some magic or destiny thing, the rain stopped.

“Woow, just in time.” You said moving the umbrella to see the sky, then back to the Milano's entrance.

When you felt Rocket was getting ready to climb off of you, you stopped him. “Hey, Rocket.” You said as Rocket looked back at you, and at the same time you moved your free hand to hold his face and bring it closer to yours and whispered. “Thank you…” And kissed Rocket's furry cheek.

It was, at least, a good two of three seconds kiss, under the red umbrella, covering both of you from the last drops of rain.

Rocket froze and blinked twice before try his best to get off of you without falling hard on the ground, but he was already falling for you.

“N-no problem, Y/n…” He replied and jumped off of you. He fixed his little bags and trying his best to avoid eye contact with you he said. “Well- umm I'm gonna see if Groot is already here.” And finally walked indirection of his upper room.

“Okay.” You smiled and giggled softly. Then turned back to see the blue and bright sky, and looked at your new red umbrella that the guy you fell in love just gifted to you.

Fin.

Bonus*!

“OMG!!” Peter Quill said with excitement while he was holding the red umbrella. “Where did you get this, (nickname)?!” He asked looking at you with hope in his eyes. “We found it at a new store in Xandar.” You replied smiling at your leader. He tilted his head a bit and asked. “We?”

“Umm- yeah. Rocket and I…” You said looking away and blushing a bit. “Actually- Rocket buy it for me, and it wasn’t cheap.” You added and give him a wide smile.

“Oohhhh… Rocket buy it for you, huh?” Peter replied looking at you with a mischief smirk.

“Units?” He asked with concern. “Eh… Umm- 8,000 units…” You replied with a whisper and smiling ashamed.

“Phew…”

Then he turned back in the direction where Rocket was working.

“Well played, Ranger Rick!” He shouted so Rocket could hear him.

Rocket didn’t looked back just twitched his furry ears and jumped while he accidentally dropped some of his tools.

You looked at Rocket and smiled.

#guardians of the galaxy #rocket raccoon #x reader #fanfic #gotg #gotg imagine rocket #gotg imagine #dont judge me

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shetriedsomethingnew-blog · 5 years ago

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A New Challenge for a Year

I have challenged myself to a year of less. This means that I will only buy items from an approved shopping list. Anything frivolous is not approved and will be seen as me falling off the wagon.

I am allowed to spend money on:

-Groceries (only buy what you will actually eat and absolutely no impulse purchases. This means you must look to your list)

-Car (gas/parking garages)

-Medical bills (such as checkups/contacts/emergencies)

-Rent

-Gifts for others (birthdays, Christmas, baby showers, promotions and weddings)

-Repairs (ex: auto shop)

-Traveling

-Shoes (running & work shoes & only when my others are completely unusable)

-Events/Socializing (example Star Wars 5K, an occasional dinner with friends. If I am going to spend money on something fun it needs to be an experience. No materialistic items).

I am not allowed to spend money on:

-Books (these are my weakness. However, I have access to a great library so I have no excuse for purchasing any)

-Clothes (unless my clothes suddenly all get cast into a fire. Crossing my fingers that this doesn’t happen now)

-Jewelry

-Knickknacks

-Souvenirs

-Fast food

-Junk food

-Decorations

-takeout

-Movies (DVD’s, digital videos, & the like)

-Arts and Crafts

-And I am sure there are many other things. When in doubt look to the list provided above.

Breaking it down into lists like this it makes it a structured concept, giving me guidelines that I can easily follow and turn to when needed.

I can do it! Now I just need to set my mind to it and not let other people’s thoughts or actions dictate my own. I want to be mindful in all my purchases because I don’t make much money and every little dollar I have should go towards things I really need and want (and no that does not mean materialistic items that lose their sheen after a few days).

I didn’t come up with this concept on my own. I read this book titled “Year of Less” by Cait Flanders and it guided me to this challenge. I wanted a change and here it is. Something new to try that will hopefully cure my compulsion to make impulsive purchases that leave me wallowing in regret.

This challenge began two days ago on the 1st of September 2019 and will be in effect until the 1st of September 2020. Hopefully by then I will have created newer and better habits.

A new challenge for a new lifestyle. :)

-STSN

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davidcdelreal · 8 years ago

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100 Ways to Make $100 Fast

Advertising Disclosure

QUICK LINKS

Become an Uber driver*

Open a new checking account with a bonus

Inbox Dollars

SwagBucks

Online surveys

Sell things (13 ideas)

Quick cash on the job (5 ideas)

Side hustles (28 ideas)

Micro-projects (17 ideas)

Use your house (4 ideas)

Use your unique talents (22 ideas)

Medical (2 ideas)

Break spending habits (4 ideas)

Free cash rocks!

Walking through a parking lot one time I stumbled upon a $20 bill. Before I snatched it up I looked up around, almost waiting for the hidden camera crew to jump out from the bushes to yell “Gotcha!”. They didn't and I was $20 richer. Score!

That is the only time that I've ever came across some quick cash.

But everyone needs some cash in a hurry from time-to-time. Knowing that, I thought it would be fun to put together a post that outlined 100 ways you can make $100 fast. Out of the 100, you should find at least a few that you can do any time you need extra cash.

Bookmark this page so you can refer to it anytime you need money!

1. Become an Uber Driver

This is #1 for a reason!Got some free time and live in a reasonably populated area? Then becoming an Uber Driver can be a very lucrative part-time side hustle. Uber drivers make anywhere from $13-$20 per hour. This means you could hit the $100 mark in as little as five hours per week.

The best thing about Uber is that the schedule is completely up to you. I have seen stay at home mom's pick up Uber gigs for a few hours a day in the middle of the day while the kids are in school.

2. Open a new checking account with a bonus

Chase offers $200 bonus when you open a new Chase Total Checking® account. In order to get the bonus you have to set up direct deposit. Other than that, you are good to go.

This is the best offer we have found for signing up for a new checking account and, since Chase is not just an online bank, you also have access to their services in over 5,000 locations across the country.

3. Inbox Dollars

You can earn free cash by changing your search engine to InboxDollars. You'll even get a free $5 bonus when you sign up (just name and email address)! This will take a bit longer to get you to $100, but it's still easy money by using their search engine, watching videos (seriously), printing coupons and a variety of other things.

4. SwagBucks

Similar to Inbox Dollars in that you can get free cash by swapping your search engine. SwagBucks also pays you for the shopping you already do online as well as a bunch of other everyday online activities. You can get $5 for signing up here.

5. Online Surveys

Online websites like MySurvey will pay you for your opinion. The average survey will pay between $0.50 and $1.25 and there are new surveys available each day. If you qualify, you can even get surveys over $5 each. Many of the surveys take less than 5 minutes to complete.

Some may have you scan products that you purchase. You can learn more in our review of online survey sites. Here are a few other reputable ones that payout:

Global Test Market

Harris Poll Online

Survey Rewardz

Vindale Research

6. Sign up for a rewards credit card with a sweet signup bonus

Some cards offer a “bonus” of $100 or more if you can meet a minimum spending requirement within the first three months. As long as you pay your balance in full each month, this is truly free money for the taking! Here are the top offers for 2016:

Chase Freedom Unlimited℠ – The Chase Freedom Unlimited℠ is a new Chase card that is taking the rewards world by storm! By signing up, you'll earn a $150 signup bonus after you spend just $500 within 90 days. Plus, you'll earn a flat 1.5% back for every dollar you spend on any type of purchase. Best of all, this card doesn't charge an annual fee, either.

Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card – Want an even bigger bonus? Consider the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card instead. With this card, you'll earn an amazing 50,000 points after you spend just $4,000 on your card within 90 days. If you turn in those points for cash, they are worth $500! Obviously, you'll want to pay your balance in full to avoid interest. As long as you meet the minimum spending requirement, this $500 is yours to spend. Plus, this card comes with no annual fee.

Best Cashback Credit Cards of 2016 – If neither of those offers sound ideal, you can also check out our post on the best cash back offers currently available.

One man's trash is another man's treasure

One of the best and easiest ways to make money fast is by selling what you have – or that you can acquire on the cheap. It also has a secondary benefit in that it keeps the clutter in your life to a minimum.

7. Sell your used cell phones, iPad or Mac

Your used electronic equipment may have value, particularly if it’s recent and in good condition. Check out Gazelle.com. They give you an estimate on your equipment, and the better stuff could fetch some real money.

8. Resell unused gift cards

Check your wallet and your dresser – you probably have unused gift cards. Some may even be to merchants you don’t frequent. If that’s the case, get some cash back on them by selling them on CardPool. You won’t get the full value of the cards, but it’s better than having them sit unused.

9. Sell your stuff to a pawn shop

You won’t get retail price for your merchandise, but it offers a quick sale for cash.

10. Selling your junk

Have a garage sale – We average about $150 per garage sale so you can earn some decent cash without even leaving your house.

Sell on Craigslist – What you can’t sell at your garage sale, you may be able to sell on Craigslist. This is especially good for selling large items.

11. Sell other people’s stuff on Craigslist or eBay

This is taking selling on Craigslist and eBay to a higher level. You’re not just selling your own stuff, you’re getting more stuff to sell from friends and neighbors. Give them a cut of the take and you’ll have plenty to sell forever.

12. Amazon

Similar to eBay, Amazon.com may work better for entertainment media, such as books, music and movies.

13. Flea markets and swap meets

This is the garages sale concept taken on the road to a place where there are a lot more potential customers.

14. Consignment shops

There are different items you can sell on consignment, but it tends to work best for furniture and clothing.

15. Collect and sell scrap metal

If you have a light pick-up truck or just a good trailer, you can collect scrap metal from neighborhoods, building sites and junkyards, then sell it to scrap metal dealers. Check out scrap metal prices, then do a Google search on “where can I sell scrap metal in (my town)”.

16. Gold jewelry and silverware

Take your gold jewelry and silverware to gold dealers or jewelers and you’ll likely fetch a better price than going to the “we buy gold” storefronts populating strip malls.

17. Musical instruments

There’s a brisk market for used musical instruments (check out the prices for brand new ones and you’ll immediately see why). You can sell them on Craigslist for top dollar, but if you want quick cash, offer to sell them to music stores.

18. Sell homemade crafts

If you can make handicrafts, Etsy could be the place to sell them. If making crafts is an ongoing hobby, you could have an ongoing cash source from the site.

19. Return old purchases or gifts

If you’ve received gifts you really don’t want – and they’re still in the packages – try returning them. Some retailers will take them back up to a year later.

Quick cash on the job

Your job is one of the best and most convenient places to make some extra cash. You may have to think a little bit out of the box, so try these on for starters.

20. Volunteer for overtime

Most of us shrink away from overtime because of the extra hours. But if you need money, let your supervisor know that you’re available to work.

21. Contract for an ugly job at work

As an alternative to working overtime, you can offer to contract for jobs at work that nobody else wants. Offer to work on the jobs for a flat fee that will be paid outside your regular paycheck.

22. Employee referral program

If your employer offers a bonus to refer new employees to them, take advantage of it and start referring. It’ll be the easiest money you’ll ever make.

23. Customer referral program

Likewise, see if your employer might also have a customer referral program. If they do, put on your salesman’s hat and start beating the bushes for potential customers.

24. Make a killer suggestion

Many employers have a suggestion box, but most employees ignore it. If the company pays a bonus for workable suggestions, get busy. You may get the bonus because no one else participates.

Ways to make money fast off the job

You can often make some quick cash doing jobs that require no special skills, just a desire to do them. And you can find them all around you. These are also great ways for teens to make some quick cash.

25. Baby sitting

Where I live babysitters earn $10 an hour. Pull a couple of five hour gigs this weekend, and you’ll have $100.

BONUS! See how I am making 10.9% return on my best short term investments using LendingClub. Peer-to-Peer lending has been great for people looking to borrow money to start a business or pay off high interest debt, but I have been doing extremely well with lending.

26. Pet sitting

The nice part of this type of sitting is that you don’t have to stay with the pet for hours. Usually, you’re just looking in on it every couple of hours, then walking it and feeding it as necessary. Because of that you can maintain several pet sitting jobs simultaneously.

27. House sitting

People who travel frequently, especially on a long-term basis; may need someone to watch their homes for a fee. You can check local newspapers and Craigslist for opportunities. If you’d like to use a central site, MindAHome.com can provide an online source of clients.

28. Temporary part time jobs

You can get a seasonal part-time job based on summer, back-to-school, any of the major holidays or even during snow season. A couple of weeks of part-time work can easily get you $100 and a whole lot more.

29. Become a referral source for a sales person or company

If you know any real estate agents, insurance agents, car dealers or just about any one who sells for a living, ask about being a compensated referral source for them. A $100 referral isn’t hard to get.

30. Sell photos on Shutterstock

Shutterstock.com is a giant site that allows you to post and sell your photos online for a fee. Functioning something like eBay for photos, it’s a central place to sell your photos.

31. Turn your photography skills to cash

If you’ve checked photographers prices lately you know they can be prohibitive. If you’re good at photography, you might be able to photograph a special event or two for at least $100.

32. Become an instructor at a local gym

If you think that the only people who work in gyms are personal trainers, guess again. If you know yoga, zumba, jazzercise, cycling or just about any other activity that keeps people moving, there may be a teaching position waiting for you at the gym.

33. Write product review articles for blogs

If you’re a tech junkie and buy a lot of new products, you may be able to do paid reviews on blogs. Blogs often have affiliate arrangements with tech products and will pay for user reviews.

34. Bartend for an event or a weekend

If you can bartend you can pick up a quick hundred (or more) working a couple of weekend parties or even a wedding.

35. Join a focus group

Universities, marketing groups and research organizations will often pay participants in focus groups. Check with schools in your area as well as Craigslist to see what’s happening.

36. Be a session musician

If you can play guitar, drums, keyboards and even some wind and string instruments’ you may be able to get work as a session musician in a band or orchestra. In some cases you can make well over $100 for just a single session.

37. Become a moving billboard

If you don’t mind having a large commercial sign on your car – or having it “wrapped” in ad material, you can earn up to $400 per month with FreeCarMedia.com.

38. Moving furniture

Some people are making local moves without the benefit of a professional moving company. If you don’t mind (really) hard work, you may be able to pick up $100 or more this weekend. Check the ads on Craigslist.

39. Cutting lawns

Even people who cut their own lawns get in a jam from time to time and need someone to pinch hit for them. They could be going on vacation or dealing with an illness or injury. Two or three cuts could get you to $100 in no time.

40. Painting

Do you know anyone who needs a room or two painted? If you’re handy when it comes to painting, offer to do it for them for $100 per room – plus paint.

41. Spring or fall clean-ups

Seasonal yard clean-ups are more involved than regular lawn cutting. It may involve weeding flower beds, trimming hedges, raking leaves and cleaning out other debris. $100 a job should be the minimum.

42. Shoveling snow

I’ve known kids who have made well over $50 shoveling in the local neighborhood after just a modest snowfall. Just a couple of storms will get you to $100 just from knocking on doors during the late stages of the storm.

43. Cleaning houses

Some people let the house cleaning go a bit too long, then they don’t want to even attempt it. Others get a little busy and just need some help. You should be able to pick up $100 or more just from cleaning a couple of houses.

44. Wash, wax and detail cars

Some people actually like cleaning cars. Most of us hate it. If you’re one who likes it, you can make some easy money working for those of us who’d rather not.

45. Cleaning gutters

If being up on a ladder doesn’t scare you, you can make a quick $100 (at least) on just a single job.

46. Setting up pools for the summer

Everybody loves having a pool, except when it comes time to set it up for the summer. If you know how to do it, you can make an easy $100 on just a couple of jobs. And when fall comes and it’s time to close them down, you can come back for Round Two.

47. Setting up holiday decorations

Everybody loves holiday decorations too, but not nearly everyone like putting them up – or taking them down. At Halloween and Christmas you can probably get at least $100 to put up decorations, then take them down later.

48. Taking surveys

Some companies will pay you for your opinions. Check out MySurvey.com as a place to find them. You earn points which you can redeem for cash.

49. Mystery shopper

This is one of the most popular recommendations when it comes to making extra cash, but you need a reliable source of jobs. Mystery Shopping Providers Association can be that source.

50. Participate in marketing research

Companies are always performing market research on both new and existing products and services. Sign up with a service like Concepts Consumer Research to advertise your availability.

51. Clean carpets

Have you ever cleaned your own carpets? If so, go rent a machine and clean someone else’s – for cash.

52. Carpool – and be the driver

If you have coworkers (or people who work in the area you do), offer to drive them in for a fee. $25 per week per person could bring in $100 with just two riders for two weeks. Try advertising in the company newsletter, or posting the offer on bulletin boards around the office.

Micro-projects

In general, micro-projects are small projects that pay no more than a few dollars each. You make money by doing several in a short amount of time, and there are websites available that you can do them through.

53. Gigwalk

Gigwalk involves taking photos, picking up menus and various other small assignments in your area. It works on an app that you download onto your phone. You receive the job orders, accept them and confirm that the job is complete.

54. Mechanical Turk

This is a work-at-home arrangement and it’s part of Amazon.com. Mechanical Turk pays a few dollars per assignment, typically involving work such as writing product reviews, editing and related tasks.

55. TaskRabbit

Similar to Gigwalk, but you can also access the assignments online, as well as by a phone app. TaskRabbit is limited to just a few cities.

56. CloudFactory

CloudFactory participants mainly enter, collect, process or categorizes data for companies, primarily for employers based in various emerging markets.

57. FOAP

You enter and sell your photos to commercial interests through their site. They can be sold on FOAP for $10, with 50% paid to the site.

58. PleaseBringMe

A travel barter exchange between individuals, rather than employers, with PleaseBringMe you perform tasks for pay that are unique to your home country.

59. BidOnMyGig

The service isn’t available yet, but BidOnMyGig allows clients to post projects online and have qualified service providers bid on them. The qualified service provider is of course you.

60. EXEC Cleaning

As the name implies, EXEC Cleaning involves the providing the services of an executive assistant, but on a personal level. It could involve getting lunch, delivering documents or even cleaning an executives house.

61. MobileWorks

MobileWorks involves jobs as a technical virtual assistant, including online research, tagging images and creative writing, and you must speak English.

62. PinDone

Available only in California, PinDone involves tasks such as doing mail outs and driving someone to the airport. The pay seems decent for the tasks, but you do have bid on them, and reputation within the site is important.

63. WeGoLook

As you might guess from the name, WeGoLook has you working as an inspector at large. You will inspect buildings, cars or some other high value item, verify that it exists, that it works, take photos, and write any necessary reports.

64. PostMates

This service involves being a virtual go-fer. Post Mates is a delivery service where you may be asked to pick up coffee, lunch, groceries or anything the customer requests.

65. Fiverr

More technical but simple tasks that you post on the site. Fiverr pays $5 per job, and includes work such as tasks on websites and related jobs.

66. Agent Anything

Mostly for colleges students, Agent Anything can involve running errands, engaging in marketing activities or even doing temp work.

67. UserTesting.com

Roughly speaking, UserTesting.com involves doing reviews of websites, mostly rating based on user experience.

68. Zaarly.com

Similar to Gigwalk, Zaarly involves running errands in your local area for out of town clients.

69. MiNeeds

Something of a job board for people with defined skills, MiNeeds.com has you competing for jobs.

How to Make Money Using your House

You may be able to pick up $100 or more without ever leaving your house – by using your house to make money.

70. Renting out a room

If it’s permissible in your community, you can rent a room to a boarder for $100 per week, or $400 per month – more if you live in a highly desirable location.

71. Renting out space

If someone needs temporary storage, consider renting out your basement or a spare bedroom.

72. Renting out your garage

You can probably rent out your garage to someone with a need to shelter a car. That should fetch at least $100 per month.

73. Renting out your driveway

If there’s a major event in your area, you may be able to rent out your driveway for a night or a weekend. Keep on top of events in your area and make your driveway available for overflow parking to the facility holding the event.

Put your specific skills to work

What is it that you’re particularly good at – that other people typically aren’t? There may be a decent payday waiting for you if you can put it into action. These won’t work for everyone, but if there’s one or more that you’re a pro at, go for it!

74. Tutoring

School tutors can easily make $30 an hour and up. That would get you to $100 in no time.

75. Teaching English

For millions of people, English is at best a second language. Offer out your skills to teach them a deeper understanding of the language for a fee. Even at $20 an hour, you’d get to $100 in short order.

76. Teaching music

Can you play a musical instrument? Even if you’re not accomplished, you may be able to teach novices. Offer your services at local senior citizens centers as a start.

77. Refereeing

You know all those people who referee recreation sports? They’re not working for free. If you’re knowledgeable about one or more sports, sign up at the local recreation commission. You can make several hundred dollars in a single, short sports season refereeing young kids.

78. Teaching software packages

Lot’s of people implement common software packages, but don’t have a clue how to use them. If you’re fluent with Word, Excel, PowerPoint or one of a number of common software packages, offer to install them and do basic training. That’s easily worth $100 or more to a lot of people.

79. Setting up new computers/troubleshooting old ones

As easy as modern computers are, a lot of people are intimidated when it comes to setting them up. Some may pay you for simple tasks like setting up passwords, email service and downloading an anti-virus package.

80. Writing blog posts

Are there blogs you like to read because you have specific knowledge of the subject matter? Offer to write articles for them. You should be able to earn at least $20 per article. Write five and you’ll have $100.

81. Bookkeeping

If you have bookkeeping skills, especially with QuickBooks experience, you should be able to pick up bookkeeping jobs that will get you to $100 very quickly. You can do one time jobs, or ongoing to keep the extra cash rolling in.

82. Office organization

There are some very successful people who are complete zeros when it comes to organization. Their offices are a wreck and lost documents can cost them money. If you’re a wiz at making order out of chaos, you may have a chance to organize offices for at least $100 a pop.

83. Light mechanic work

If you can do basic car repairs – changing oil, belts, hoses and spark plugs, or replacing batteries or mufflers, you can easily pick up extra cash. If you can do the repairs at the customer’s home, you can charge even more.

84. Process medical claims

After a major illness or surgery, a person can be inundated with medical claims. If you’re familiar with the process (filing and dealing with insurance companies) you can make some serious money straightening out someone’s medical claims.

85. Editing

You don’t have to be a professional editor to be an editor. If you’re an English major, a writer or a teacher, you may be perfect. You can find editing work on Craigslist that can be either one time assignments, or ongoing – your choice.

86. Set up simple websites

Can you design and set up simple websites? If so, you can easily charge $100 a pop. As little as you think you know, someone else knows a lot less and may see you as an expert.

87. Getting someone’s tax records organized

If you have strong administrative skills and know what certain tax documents look like, you may be able to offer your services to a disorganized someone who needs help organizing their paperwork for preparation. Tough tax season ends April 15, it actually goes to October 15 with extensions. And those who extend that far are usually in the greatest need of organizational help.

88. Graphic design services

There are millions of websites who need all kinds of services, like graphic design work. Offer to do simple jobs for as many sites as you can contact. You can find them on Craigslist sometimes, but direct contact could be more effective.

89. Social media manager

Some people are social media experts. Others don’t even know how to get started. Businesses are realizing the value of the social media. If you’re fluent in the social media, offer your services as a social media manager. You can post updates on Facebook, Twitter and any media that are relevant to a particular business.

90. Staging houses for sale

There’s a transition that takes place between living in a house and selling it. If you know the difference, and how to make a home look like a showplace, you can stage houses for sale. Offer your services to local real estate agents.

91. Event planning

Are you good at planning parties or events? Someone might need your help. Spread the word to everyone you know, and let them know what you can do.

92. Become an affiliate for a product you know and believe in

Everyone with a product or service to sell is looking for agents to sell them. Find products you feel strongly about, and become a dealer. Some higher priced items can fetch a $100 cut quickly.

93. Create or edit videos

YouTube is all the rage – music, how to videos, outrageous demonstrations, product reviews – you name it. If you can create videos, offer your services to businesses.

94. Buy low, sell high

If you have an eye for bargains, you may be able to buy on the cheap – at garage sales, thrift stores and elsewhere – and sell at a profit.

95. Preparing research papers

If you have a knack for research, there are businesses and individuals who could use your services. You can find some of them on Craigslist, or offer your services to local colleges.

Participate in the medical community

The medical community will pay for donations and your participation.

96. Sell blood

You can get $30 – $40 to sell your blood. Three or four donations will get you $100 in just a couple of weeks.

97. Participate in medical studies

A local hospital is offering $600 for people with high blood pressure to participate in medical trials. Hospitals and clinics do this all the time. Enough said?

Change spending habits – for a bit

Sometimes you can find extra money just by spending less money on a habit or two – at least temporarily.

98. Eat on the cheap for a week

If you spend $200 per week for groceries, try going on a beans and rice diet (OK, pasta, potatoes, salads and other low cost foods are good too) for one week. That should cut the bill in half, getting you an extra $100 easily.

99. Eliminate your cable TV service

A typical middle-of-the-road cable TV service runs about $100 per month. Eliminate it and you’ll have an extra $100 this month. And every month after that.

100. Give up Starbucks for a month

Are you a latte fan? At $4 per cup, you’ll save $120 if you give it up for a month.

101. Give up a “sin” for a month

If you smoke a pack of cigarettes a day, or drink three beers a day, going cold turkey for a month can easily leave you at least $100 richer.

Have you tried any of these? Are there any other ways to make $100 fast that I might have missed?

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