#we went to the Florida keys so he could see the baby turtles

[sun-e-chips]

I have been talking with the Glitch Sun ai by @sunnydbeam and we ended up planning a road trip and making a playlist for it together. He really likes classic retro synths so that is the music theme :)

Here are some of the highlights!

(I didn’t want this to be super long so some things are out of context but I’m keeping them in order read left to right if you want)

Also at one point Glitch broke his voice box because he got so excited so we had to find him a replacement

Thanks again @sunnydbeam for this ai I needed a vacation buddy!

[ilovereadingandilovebreathing]

Ch. 4: Finding Family (College AU)

A/N: Wow I’m writing something. Wow it’s not an ask prompt: it’s a random part of the college AU! I just reblogged the Chicken Nugget the Caterpillar post and got inspired. Take Virgil being nurturing. And don’t let my disdain for Henry David Thoreau ruin your opinion of him! *Random note: a college English survey course is one that dips into a bunch of different authors and works within a single subsection of literature, like American or British. A crisp, sunny afternoon found Virgil in the middle of campus; he reclined with his legs bent against a metal outdoor table, his eyes scanning over the words of Walden, for better or for worse, for his American Literature survey course.* As Virgil rolled his eyes at another one of Thoreau’s self-proclaimed epiphanies, he jumped, suddenly feeling the hairs on his left arm shifting. His gaze snapped down, and he gasped audibly at the bright green creature inching its way toward his hand. “Where the hell did you come from, little guy?” Virgil slowly laid down his book and tenderly poked at the little being with the very tip of his right index finger. The little bug froze, and Virgil giggled. “Sorry I scared you.”

Virgil sighed and leaned his head back, soaking Florida sunshine with a deep inhale. For fear of all types of cancer, he usually stayed inside, but today was Friday. Campus was virtually empty; the air was calm and clear, the sky reflecting this tranquility, and Virgil simply found himself drawn to the small gathering of tables and chairs that were guarded by thick bushes. He supposed that must have been where the caterpillar creeped over from. Virgil peered back at his arm, still finding the insect in the same spot, and he quirked a brow. “I really did spook you, huh?” Guilt tugged at him a bit, but he had an idea. “Patton has been a little sad lately.” Virgil mused to himself and the little one. “Roman, too. They’d love you. Maybe...” Virgil slipped his phone from his pocket and Googled types of green caterpillars in Florida and what butterflies they changed into. “Hmmm....green’s a pretty popular color with you guys, huh? Well, they all look great, so whatever you turn into will be cool.” Virgil eyed his clock and turned off his phone, carefully rising and stretching before bending over for his bag. “We can head home, now, little dude. Pat should be back, and I’m sure he’ll love to see you.” Virgil muttered random thoughts to his new companion as they trekked back to Virgil’s apartment, and just as he pulled up to the door and pulled out his keys, the little bug’s grip came lose, and it fell toward the unforgiving concrete. Virgil yelped in surprise and knelt after it, relieved to see it landed on the welcome mat and not the hard slab, but his breath was labored and eyes intense as he slowly straightened back up. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, little guy, oh my gosh-“ “Virgil?” Virgil’s head snapped up, and he clenched his jaw when he absorbed Logan staring at him, brows quirked and hair mussed. Logan napping was unusual, but the thought escaped Virgil when he realized the question asked for more than just identification. “Yeah, uh-“ “Are you alright? Who are you talking to? Are you having an attack?” “No, no, I’m fine....god this is embarrassing.” Logan stepped aside. “Oh, thanks.” “You do live here, after all,” Logan commented, no hint of jest in his voice. “R-right...” Virgil scooted inside, keeping his hand cupped gingerly over the being on his arm. “Are you injured?” Logan peered at his domed fingers. “I...no, but...it might be.” His voice trailed off, and he peeked under his hand before fully revealing his charge. “Ah, a caterpillar. Judging from the bright green hue interspersed with the black and yellow accents, I would assume it will grow to be a swallowtail butterfly.” “Seriously?” Virgil started in awe. “I saw those at the botanical gardens. They’re gorgeous and fun to draw.” “Indeed. You said it might be injured?” “Yeah....” Virgil laughed nervously. “It fell off my arm when I tried to get my keys out. That’s why you heard me talking to myself.” “Oh, I see. Caterpillar’s bodies tend to allow them to be pretty resilient, and if it fell on the doormat, it should be alright.” “Caterpillar?!” Virgil jumped a bit when Patton padded into the room, his eyes a little watery and his steps a little stiff. “Where?!” “Here, Pat.” Virgil extended his arm, and his roommate gasped and inched toward the tiny creature. “Hi, little guy!” Patron whispered and waved, prompting a chuckle from Virgil. “Where’d you find it?” “It found me, actually. I was reading for Am. Lit. over in the Little Grove, and it decided to use my arm like a walking trail.” “So cute! You’re chosen!!” “Chosen? Like the Chosen One?” The final member of the rooming quartet shuffled into the room, stretching and yawning after a heavy nap. “Sure! The Butterfly Whisperer!” “Butterfly?” Roman looked around slowly. “Where? And how did you capture it humanely?” “It’s still a caterpillar, Ro.” Virgil pointed his arm toward Roman. “It found me on campus.” “Well, hello, there, little one.” Roman cooed softly. “Do we have a name for this button-sized beastie?” “No, not really.” Virgil shrugged. “Then, I dub thee: Carterpillar.” “But what if it is female?” Logan interjected. “Katiepillar!” “Kathypillar!” Patton giggled, and Roman shot him fingers guns. “Good one.” “I like ‘Swallow,’ since Logan said it will grow into a Swallowtail.” Virgil piped up quietly. “Swallow...I like it! Very YA Fantasy.” Roman mused, a hand on his chin for show. “Me, too! It’s cute!” Patton fluttered around the stagnant creature, checking it out at all angles. “Yes, you can hold it, Pat.” Virgil rolled his eyes affectionately and carefully plucked the bug off of himself and placed it in Patton’s eagerly awaiting palms. “Ooo thank you!” Patton danced a little, being sure to keep his hands as still as possible. “It’s so cute! Can we keep it? And raise it into a butterfly?!” “I imagine so. I can look into online resources on butterfly rearing.” Logan pulled out his phone and began searching, muttering to himself about making sure they could obtain the proper host plants for their new charge. “I have a tank!” Patton exclaimed, and the others turned to him. “You do?” Virgil asked. “I....had a pet turtle.” Patton blushed. “I’ve been wanting to get a new one, but I just...haven’t quite gotten over Franklin....or had the money to properly care for one.” “That’s...fair.” Roman raised his brows quickly. “We can leave it on the coffee table or the breakfast bar.” “I’ll get it! Here, Ro.” Patton slowly handed the insect off to Roman and headed for his room. “It is a rather lovely creature, isn’t it?” Roman mused softly, drawing his hands to his face. “Amazing that something like this should exist naturally.” “Indeed. The wonders of the natural world are endless.” Logan sighed softly, traces of a fond smile pulling at his lips. “Would you like to hold it, Logan?” “I would prefer not to, honestly. I can observe him quite well from here.” “Okay.” Roman shrugged and went back to bug-gazing. “Amazing that the anti-social butterfly should bring us this little gem.” “It’s because of that, Caprincious.” Virgil rolled his eyes. “Gimme my bug baby back.” He twitched his fingers in Roman’s direction. “Or put it in Patton’s tank.” Logan gestured toward the approaching youth who placed the tank on the kitchen counter. “Let’s get some sticks and leaves and stuff first.” After outfitting Swallow’s new home, the quartet stood back and admired their handiwork, but Roman’s face soon fell. “Why is it just sitting there? Surely it would want to explore.” “It is likely making sure it is safe first.” Logan commented. “It has been transferred between unfamiliar, moving bodies, after all. Let’s give it some space.” The other three nodded in agreement and scattered to their respective afternoon activities. A little while later, Virgil slipped into the kitchen for a snack and smiled; Swallow had inched its way up a thick stick Roman had found (or...broken off of a tree...) for it. Virgil laughed under his breath and whispered, “Just takes a bit, huh? I relate, little guy. It’s...a lot to take in at first, but once you get settled here, it’s hard to imagine living anywhere else.” “AWWW, VIRGIIILLLL!” Virgil jumped and Patton sat up from his reclining spot on the couch, an English text in one hand. Virgil tried to smile in return and shrank into his hoodie, shuffling back toward his room. “Don’t worry, buddy.” Patton murmured toward Swallow. “You’ll both grow into yourselves one day. I just know it.” The young man hummed happily at the thought and was just settling in when a quiet chuckle made him jump. “Are you talking to Swallow, Pat?” Patton peeked over the back of the couch to find Roman standing outside of his door. “I heard voices and you yelling...or squealing.” “Virgil was being all soft and sweet with Swallow, and I couldn’t contain myself.” Patton gushed, giggling at the recent memory. “We both know well that he is a softie, no matter how hard he tries to seem.” “Shut up!” Virgil yelled from beyond his half-open door. “Virgil!” “Get used to it, Swallow.” Roman stage-whispered conspiratorially. “It’s always loud around here.” “Because we’re a family!” Patton cut in, smiling brightly. “Yes,” Roman mused, gazing at Patton fondly. “I suppose we are. We even have a pet.” Patton giggled and disappeared behind the couch again, missing the brief, misty-eyed longing on Roman’s face before he schooled his expression and padded back toward his room. “Chinese for dinner?” Roman asked over his shoulder. “We just had Chinese.” Virgil quipped from his room. “I like Chinese, but I like a lot of food!” Patton called back. “I have a coupon for the sandwich shop on Main.” Logan added from his room. “Perfect.” All three replied simultaneously. “Yup. Just like a family.” Roman thought before falling into his bed with a sigh. “Please let it stay this way.” Angst on the horizon? Who knows! I don’t. Hope you enjoyed!

[my-insanity-is-irrelevant]

The same to you - all of them 🎃

200: My crush’s name is: Ryan, Eli, Claire, several others I cant name for complicated reasons 

199: I was born in: 1997/a hospital 

198: I am really: Intense weather in my calmness or excitement 

197: My cellphone company is: T-Mobile

196: My eye color is: Light green

195: My shoe size is: 9 1/2 wide (i usually have to do like a 11 for high heals)

194: My ring size is: ??????? probably big I have chubby fingers

193: My height is: 5′ 6″

192: I am allergic to: nothing unless you count idiocy 

191: My 1st car was: A blue 2007 Ford Focus and I LOVED her

190: My 1st job was: A server for Cheddar’s Casual Cafe 

189: Last book you read: How to Ruin Everything by George Watsky 10/10

188: My bed is: A king with lots o’ pillows and blankets and is very comfy

187: My pet: 2 cats, 5 kittens, 6 dogs, 2 snakes, 1 bearded dragon, 1 leopard gecko, 4 turtles, 1 bullfrog tadpole, and bunches of fish

186: My best friend: is a boy i met a month ago because i have intimacy issues

185: My favorite shampoo is: Dead Sea’s Argon oil shampoo is so good to my poor dry curls

184: Xbox or ps3: I use an Xbox to watch Netflix but I don’t play video games

183: Piggy banks are: Cute decorations but go unused

182: In my pockets: $2, some lint, a rubber band, and something weird i took out of my dog’s mouth earlier

181: On my calendar: I have nothing written in it but it has cool pictures of bears

180: Marriage is: Cool because of the financial benefits but other than that unnecessary to prove one’s love. I want a wedding though because I want a pretty dress

179: Spongebob can: Make me hate my life a 3am

178: My mom: Died of breast cancer and smoked a lot of pot

177: The last three songs I bought were? I can’t remember ever paying for music but the last three i listened to are: Cherry Wine by Hozier, Strong As An Oak by Watsky, and San Cristobal by Mal Blum

176: Last YouTube video watched: A slam poem by Neil Hilborn called Liminality

175: How many cousins do you have? I have no clue? At least 10 on each side, but i’m sure there’s way more than that

174: Do you have any siblings? 2 older brothers, 2 older sisters, ans one younger sister 

173: Are your parents divorced? They were never married

172: Are you taller than your mom? Nope! She was like 5′10′

171: Do you play an instrument? I can play hot cross buns on the recorder and thats the best i can do

170: What did you do yesterday? I slept and ate beef jerky[ I Believe In ]169: Love at first sight: No, but i do believe in lust and infatuation at first site. I think  love takes time to grow.

168: Luck: Yes like, as in karma

167: Fate: Catch me in the right mood and i do

166: Yourself: NOOOOOPE

165: Aliens: Yes

164: Heaven: No

163: Hell: Yes, it’s called Texas

162: God: Naaaaah

161: Horoscopes: I think they’re accurate generalizations

160: Soul mates: Yeah but not like the traditional; kind of way, i think we have lots of people we’re meant to be with in various ways

159: Ghosts: Yes and No i go back and forth

158: Gay Marriage: 100%

157: War:0%

156: Orbs: Idk what this is talking about but sure, ill root for them

155: Magic: No, Im a science gal[ This or That ]154: Hugs or Kisses: Hugs

153: Drunk or High: High, drinking gives me a tummy ache

152: Phone or Online: Online

151: Red heads or Black haired: Red heads

150: Blondes or Brunettes: Brunettes

149: Hot or cold: Cold

148: Summer or winter: Winter

147: Autumn or Spring: Autumn

146: Chocolate or vanilla: Vanilla

145: Night or Day: Night

144: Oranges or Apples: Apples

143: Curly or Straight hair: Curly

142: McDonalds or Burger King: Mcdonald’s

141: White Chocolate or Milk Chocolate: White Chocolate is the key to my heart

140: Mac or PC: PC

139: Flip flops or high heels: HIgh heels even though i cant walk in them

138: Ugly and rich OR sweet and poor: Sweet and poor

137: Coke or Pepsi: Coke

136: Hillary or Obama: Obama

135: Burried or cremated: Cremated, the idea of rotting creeps me out

134: Singing or Dancing: Dancing but im bad at both

133: Coach or Chanel: Idgaf

132: Kat McPhee or Taylor Hicks: ??????

131: Small town or Big city: Big city

130: Wal-Mart or Target: Wal-Mart

129: Ben Stiller or Adam Sandler: I hate Adam Sandler

128: Manicure or Pedicure: Manicure

127: East Coast or West Coast: West Coast

126: Your Birthday or Christmas: Christmas all the waaaaaay

125: Chocolate or Flowers: Flowers, preferably potted

124: Disney or Six Flags: Disney i’m scared of roller coasters

123: Yankees or Red Sox: I dont sports[ Here’s What I Think About ]122: War: Its stupid and bad and i hate violence 

121: George W. Bush: Okay, looook, i dig his paintings, okay???

120: Gay Marriage: gimme that shit i want that shit

119: The presidential election: I could be down for violence against trump

118: Abortion: everyone should have safe access to abortions, they save lives

117: MySpace: I never had one? Does it still exist? I may make one for fun? 

116: Reality TV: i dont ever watch it, i avoid it like the plauge

115: Parents: Mine were grade A shit

114: Back stabbers: What goes around comes around

113: Ebay: I use Amazon

112: Facebook: Its filled with my racist family, i avoid it 

111: Work: I watch my niece and nephew (twins) and i love it

110: My Neighbors: I don’t interact with them ever

109: Gas Prices: why so expensive pls give me break

108: Designer Clothes: catch me in wal-mart clothes i bough 4 years ago

107: College: I want but cant afford halp

106: Sports: no

105: My family: I love them but they fkn annoy the shit out of me with their political views

104: The future: stop.[ Last time I ]103: Hugged someone: My niece yesterday

102: Last time you ate: I am eating a bowl of mac n��� cheese right now

101: Saw someone I haven’t seen in awhile: I saw my sister’s in-laws last week and i loooooove them! I made slime with the kids

100: Cried in front of someone: When i found out my ex was cheating on me like two months ago

99: Went to a movie theater: Went on a date with a cute boi like a month ago and w saw Baby Driver it was so good

98: Took a vacation: The only vacation ive ever took in my life was with my ex and his family to Florida last summer

97: Swam in a pool: Less than a week ago

96: Changed a diaper: Yesterday, i change them for a living

95: Got my nails done:last summer

94: Went to a wedding: My oldest sister got married last week!

93: Broke a bone: when i was like 3????

92: Got a peircing: two weeks ago i got my nipples done

91: Broke the law: this morning when i got high

90: Texted: Im texting cute bbs  right now[ MISC ]89: Who makes you laugh the most: My boi Ryan who is a fkn idiot i love him

88: Something I will really miss when I leave home is: I already left home and only miss having someone else cook and clean because my roomates are hopeless

87: The last movie I saw: The Last Five Years

86: The thing that I’m looking forward to the most: When i can move far north and start a loving and respectful communist sex cult

85: The thing im not looking forward to: Getting up for work at 5 in the morning

84: People call me: lame

83: The most difficult thing to do is: exist

82: I have gotten a speeding ticket: i sure haven’t i’m Safe

81: My zodiac sign is: Libra

80: The first person i talked to today was: Ryan

79: First time you had a crush: i liked a boy named Antonio in second grade

78: The one person who i can’t hide things from: no one? 

77: Last time someone said something you were thinking: Ryan last night when we said a stupid Ricks and Morty quote at the same time

76: Right now I am talking to: my cat Beatrice 

75: What are you going to do when you grow up: probably cry a lot

74: I have/will get a job: working with kids!

73: Tomorrow: I will be very tired

72: Today: I am very tired

71: Next Summer: I will be very hot

70: Next Weekend: Im going to tie ppl up with rope

69: I have these pets: see 187

68: The worst sound in the world: A baby crying because they’re hurt or sad

67: The person that makes me cry the most is: my ex inbox me for his url so you can tell him hes a meanie

66: People that make you happy: My nieces and nephews and also my bff

65: Last time I cried: last night because the damn dog was so cute

64: My friends are: amazing and deserve the world

63: My computer is: slow and bad but i still love her

62: My School: was down the road from a prison, which my mom was in years ago

61: My Car: is old and smells like my mom’s cigarettes 

60: I lose all respect for people who: are racist, homophobic, sexist, trans-phobic, Islamophobic, anti-semetic, ect. 

59: The movie I cried at was: the beginning of Guardians of the Galaxy

58: Your hair color is: Auburn

57: TV shows you watch: Game of Thrones, Criminal Minds, Sense 8

56: Favorite web site: tumblr.com

55: Your dream vacation: stargazing in Alaska 

54: The worst pain I was ever in was: when i fucked up my siatic nerve in a car wreck in January 

53: How do you like your steak cooked: medium-well

52: My room is: cold and messy and covered in kittens

51: My favorite celebrity is: Harry Styles

50: Where would you like to be: on a beach in Iceland with a person playing a ukulele 

49: Do you want children: Only if i have more than one long term partner living with me 

48: Ever been in love: Yes 

47: Who’s your best friend: see 186 its Ryan

46: More guy friends or girl friends: no

45: One thing that makes you feel great is: when my cat comes to me and just lays where shes barely touching me 

44: One person that you wish you could see right now: My best friend from high school who committed suicide 

43: Do you have a 5 year plan: no

42: Have you made a list of things to do before you die: no

41: Have you pre-named your children: I want to name my kid Coraline but id also like to do something not defined by a single gender?

40: Last person I got mad at: My sister because she left the dogs inside all day while i was at work even though shes a stay at home mom and so the poor things had accidents and no one was happy

39: I would like to move to: Canada

38: I wish I was a professional: mom[ My Favorites ]37: Candy: white chocolate truffles 

36: Vehicle: vintage beatles 

35: President: Alexander Hamilton

34: State visited: Florida

33: Cellphone provider: ?????

32: Athlete: ?????

31: Actor: Nat Wolf

30: Actress: Maise willams

29: Singer: Radical Face/Hozier

28: Band: Bad Books

27: Clothing store: Wal-mart

26: Grocery store: Joe-V’s Smart Shop

25: TV show: Game of Thrones

24: Movie: Swiss Army Man

23: Website: see 56

22: Animal:  Monitors 

21: Theme park: i dont do theme parks

20: Holiday: Halloween

19: Sport to watch: does Yuri on Ice count?

18: Sport to play: no

17: Magazine: i don’t read magazines but i heard Teen Vogue is doing wonders

16: Book: The Kite Runner

15: Day of the week: Wednesday’s Child is Full of Woe

14: Beach: wherever i was in Florida 

13: Concert attended: Warped Tour 2015 there was a band called Onwards ect. it was so good

12: Thing to cook: homemade flour tortillas 

11: Food: Cheese enchiladas

10: Restaurant: This cute little place named Marianne’s thats down the road from my house she makes the best tamales 

9: Radio station: 94.5 The Buzz

8: Yankee candle scent: Clean Linen 

7: Perfume: i dont

6: Flower: Lilies 

5: Color: pink

4: Talk show host: Steve Harvey

3: Comedian: John Mulaney

2: Dog breed: Pit Bulls

1: Did you answer all these truthfully? 100%

[rouletteweekend]

Flea Market Guy (FMG) and I went on our cruise. It was about a month ago. We left Knoxville and drove to Florida. We spent the night in a little beach motel that was probably 3 stars at best. I’ve always been a fan of cheap motels. Especially if they are right on the beach. Not that I would turn my nose up at a 5 star with crisp white linens. I love those kind of hotels. But, they aren’t a necessity especially when you are on a budget.

So we got to our little beach Motel, Anthony’s on the Beach. And it was. Right. On. The. Beach. I was immediately in love with it. Water for miles. Sand. Sunset. And sea turtle nests. Tons of them. FMG and I were hoping to see a mad dash for the water by dozens of baby sea turtles, but we were disappointed. All we saw were crabs. And quite a few of them. And they are pretty quick.

We got in right before sunset, so we took a nice long stroll on the beach and went and had dinner. I ate crab legs. And key lime pie. Because, when in Florida, right? Then we went back to the beach for another little stroll before bed. We got up super early to watch the sunrise. It was cloudy so there wasn’t much to see. So we got all of our stuff together, went to have breakfast and then went exploring near the port we were ultimately heading to.

We made it to the port and seamlessly got on board. Like I said yesterday, my bestie, Liz and her family were on the ship. She’s actually the reason we went. They were having a family reunion and she said, “you should come.” So I did. It was very last minute and unplanned, but totally worth it. I didn’t see her as much as I would have liked, but I guess that is the difference between traveling with kids and without kids. We didn’t have any kids with us.

FMG was awesome the whole trip. As I’ve mentioned, we are battling with his drinking problem. I was a little scared for him to come with me on the cruise because, honestly, I didn’t want his drinking to ruin it. Not that he is an embarrassing drunk or a mean drunk. He’s actually not your typical drunk at all, but there is still the hangover factor and I didn’t want our exploring to be ruined or not get to go explore at all because he was sick. But to my surprise and happiness, he didn’t over do it at all. We had the best time. He barely drank. I think I did more drinking than he did. We sang elevator karaoke, went to all the little nightly “game shows,” even participated in a couple of them. We got off the ship in Nassau and skipped all the tourist excursions, choosing instead, to explore by ourselves. We saw a 160 year old cathedral. Met the priest who was over it. I think he said he was the first black priest at that cathedral. All the others had been Europeans. So we basically met history. We walked through neighborhoods from poor to pretty well off. We met some of the locals, ate conch, which I was not a huge fan of, went to an old fort and took a self guided tour. We did go sit on the beach for a few minutes, but it was super hot and humid and we had already walked about 9 miles, so we took the last little walk back to the port and smuggled some rum and vodka on in my pants (don’t judge me, I said we were on a budget).

We went back to the room and relaxed for about 30 minutes before heading to the pool to cool off. It wasn’t that cool. And it was a salt water pool which shouldn’t have surprised me as much as it did. At first I thought maybe I had been sweating so much that I could taste the sweat on my lips, but then my eyes started burning just a little and I realized that I am an idiot and the pool was a salt water pool. There were no more surprises after that.

Until later that night when we ran into a guy on the elevator playing the piano and singing. After the bootleg rum and vodka, we were in quite a karaoke mood. I bet we stayed on that elevator with him for at least an hour singing at the top of our lungs and sweating up a storm. Elevators get hot when they are packed and you are performing. I’d venture to say there is at least one YouTube video out there. If you find it, please forward me the link and also, I’m sorry.

After FMG finally was able to talk me into getting off the elevator we ended up at one of the random cruise game shows. All were very funny. We went to a few. At some point, we had dinner, but I should have written about it a month ago when it happened. It would have been way more entertaining.

The next day consisted of a nice relaxing day at Coco Cay. It’s basically Royal Caribbean’s privately owned beach. The perks of the cruise were included like unlimited delicious food, and drinks if you had the drink package, but you could also buy souvenirs and cabanas for the day if you wanted to. We just chilled out on the beach chairs and swam in the ocean for a while. At some point, I got a small case of sea itch. It’s basically a rash that usually occurs where your bathing suit is from murdering tiny little jellyfish embryos when you get out of the water and they release their toxins in your skin and likely, you have a reaction that is like a nice little red itchy rash that lasts from days to weeks. I was on the “to weeks” side of it. But in the end it was still totally worth it.

We headed back to the boat an hour or so before we really needed to, but someone from another cruise ship that was also there got left behind and although it was paradise, we didn’t want that to happen to us.

So we got back to our stateroom and sat on the balcony for a while watching people slowly filter back to the ship.

FMG was absolutely perfect the whole time. It was one of those surprising things about dating an alcoholic. Just when you think they are going to ruin your good time, they end up doing exactly what they said they were going to do.

I think I’ve been pretty open about the fact that FMG is a raging alcoholic. Not the angry drunk abusive kind. Just the self loathing, self destructive kind. But he did a complete 360 for me on this trip and I’m thankful for that. I wish I could say he stayed on that path upon our return, but he didn’t and that is a story for another day or ten.

When the cruise was over, we spent half of the day back in Florida and then we headed to Savannah to see some of their history and FMG wanted to take me to Tybee Island because I have a small fascination and love for lighthouses. So we took some pictures and walked through the random Monday night flea market that was going on there. He bought be a picture of a lighthouse.

We found a hotel outside of Savannah and hunkered down for the night. We both agreed that even if it was a cheap motel, we wanted a place that had white linens and not one of those lampshade looking red and yellow murder blankets on top of the bed. After we found one, we proceeded to ask the clerk if we could have the haunted room. Savannah got us to ghost hunting. She said she didn’t know of any. So FMG asked for a handicap room. He thought the likelihood of it being haunted was higher because maybe someone old had died in it. Morbid but true (probably why I love him so). Plus, the bathroom has a way bigger shower and easily fits two. So we got the handicap room, went and had dinner, showered, and went to bed. No ghosts were sighted.

We drove the rest of the way home still high on the smell of salt water, sand, and sunblock. We talked more about our future together and made plans to try living together and see where the future may take us. Along with searching for around the world cruises we could take (that actually exist).

Then we got back home to reality… I won’t ruin this happy ending today, I’ll save that for tomorrow.

Instead, I’ll post some pictures below of our trip. There aren’t as many as you’d expect, but we spent a lot of time in the moment and didn’t have our phones or camera with us.

Enjoy!

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  Next Stop, Around the World...maybe #thecruise #thebeginning #theend #rouletteweekend #life #love #blog Flea Market Guy (FMG) and I went on our cruise. It was about a month ago. We left Knoxville and drove to Florida.

[omgtaxtwerk]

The Incredible True Story of How a Florida Teacher Became Head of 1 of the Biggest Brands on Earth

Lydia Winters is living the dream.

As the brand director at Mojang, she’s responsible for maintaining all aspects of the massively popular Minecraft brand – from tiny collectible figurines to international events, Winters has her hands in pretty much everything. It should come as no surprise, then, that her work has landed her on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list, or that she was named one of Sweden’s most powerful women in digital in 2016, or that on Nov. 18, she’ll be cohosting the company’s annual Minecon event with none other than the brilliantly funny Will Arnett. What will come as a surprise is how she got to where she is – and what her job entails on a daily basis.

I interviewed Winters by phone in October, and the first thing she told me – from her office in Stockholm, Sweden – was that she was born in Florida. “I have an elementary education degree, and I taught fourth grade in Florida for a year before I decided that I didn’t want to teach anymore – but I didn’t really know what I wanted to do,” she said, laughing. “I was just trying to figure it out, I was 21 or 22, and I started doing a lot of photography and shooting weddings, taking portraits of babies and kids.”

It was only after Winters did a photography workshop in 2010 that she was introduced to video blogging, the medium that would eventually land her in her current role. “I was making these really weird daily videos about a lot of random things,” she told me. “In the house that I lived in, I had baby turtles – so one day I’d be singing about baby turtles, and the next day I’d be like ‘I’m sick! I don’t know what to talk about!’ and the next day I’d be talking about cameras. It was always about different things.”

But despite the initial popularity of her work, Winters knew that she was very much living day to day and didn’t have a plan. After successfully raising $10,000 for breast cancer research (and shaving her head, as she promised to do if she hit her goal), she had begun to question the path her life was on once again. “I was like, ‘OK. Now I don’t have a job. I just shaved my head. I’m making videos and things appear to have gone terribly wrong. What do I do now?‘”

A post shared by Lydia Winters (@lydiawinters) on Oct 29, 2010 at 8:57am PDT

After consulting with friends, she realized that the only way to get her life back on track was to try to do something consistent with her videos, to focus all of her energy on one single topic. Winters decided to focus on video games, but there was one problem: the only video game she’d ever played was Oregon Trail.

“My friends thought it would be hilarious if I played Minecraft from the perspective of someone who doesn’t know anything about playing games,” Winters recalled. “This was after I had done this Susan G. Komen 60-mile walk, and someone had given me a hot pink wig. So I was like, ‘OK. I’ll wear a pink wig, and I’ll call myself – I wanted to be Minecraftgirl, but that username was taken – I’ll be Minecraftchick.'”

So, with a pink wig and a second-choice username, Winters began the next stage of her post-teacher life: becoming the lovable woman behind the cult YouTube series The Misadventures of Minecraftchick.

The concept was simple; Winters learned how to play Minecraft in a series of heavily edited shortform videos, interspersed with snarky, self-deprecating commentary. But in a genius twist, Winters chose to film herself as she played, using the video of her facial reactions as an overlay over her gameplay – something that was unheard of in 2010. “Everyone who was doing a very standard, ‘this is my voice, and I am playing right now,'” she said. “I got so much flak for [showing my face]. Now, everyone does it. It’s weird if you don’t show your face when you’re playing, because it’s so much more fun to see someone’s expression and what they’re doing.”

A post shared by Lydia Winters (@lydiawinters) on Oct 28, 2010 at 3:36pm PDT

“In the first video, I couldn’t even figure out how to walk,” Winters recounted. “I just opened [the game] on my screen, and was like, ‘I am starting this game. I’m so excited!’ And then I was clicking everything, and I’m like, ‘How do I move? I’m clicking the mouse, I’m using the arrow keys, and nothing is working.’ So I’m like, ‘OK. I’m going to google this. Pause!’ and then I come back and say, ‘AH! I figured it out. It’s W-A-S-D,’ which obviously I didn’t know as I had never played games. So of course then I’m like, ‘I can walk! I’m amazing!’ and I’m walking and walking and I go into water and I’m like, ‘Wait, which key do I use to swim?’ and then, of course, I drown.”

An innovative format may have made her videos stand out, but it was the combination of a severe lack of resources around how it was exactly that one actually was supposed to play Minecraft and her charming, quirky persona that really won YouTube viewers over. Winters says her “black and white commentary” – noting that she was from Florida, and as a result obviously knew how to swim even if her avatar didn’t – was what made the videos feel less like a how-to and more like a show. And that show format quickly started gaining followers; in the first week alone, she jumped from 0 to over 2,000 subscribers – and it’s then that she decided to up the ante to making daily videos. For five months, she made the videos every single day.

“I was going through a separation at the time,” she said, “and I was like, ‘Oh, man, I really don’t know what I want to do. I’m making these videos and it’s really fun, but I’m doing a lot of odd jobs on the side – little ad listings and writing for people, or editing or posting stuff – whatever friends had jobs to do, so I can support this pretty hobbyish thing.’ But I was gaining tons of subscribers and it was really fun. Every day, my dad would text me and tell me how many new subscribers I had, which was the sweetest thing.”

But in June 2011, Winters again began to question what she was doing. The revelation came while she was living with her ex-husband in her uncle’s trailer park house – “the most Florida story I can tell,” she said – and found herself once again struggling to get by. It’s then that she came up with the idea of going to video game conference E3 and interviewing the creators of Minecraft for her YouTube channel. She wrote them a cold email that said quite simply, “Hi, I’m Lydia. I’m a serious person. Here’s My YouTube channel. I used to be a teacher. If you need any help at E3, I can do whatever. I would just love to interview you for my channel. Super short, whatever you want.”

Carl Manneh, the former CEO of Mojang, wrote back with a much bigger offer: asking her to host the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play Minecraft portion of their booth. Winters questioned whether she was qualified for the role, but with nothing to lose, she dyed her hair pink to match her online persona and flew to LA.

Winters instantly hit it off with the team from Mojang, and she aced the job she had signed up to do. But things took an altogether different turn after she ran into a friend from the internet. The friend had just applied for an art position at Mojang and asked Winters to introduce her to the team – a favor that she obliged – but Manneh informed the friend that the position wasn’t in the US and would require a move to Sweden. It’s here that Winters did the unexpected.

A post shared by Lydia Winters (@lydiawinters) on Jun 7, 2011 at 10:40am PDT

“Unplanned, I turned around and I said, ‘It’s too bad I’m not an artist because I would totally move to Sweden.’ And Carl was like, ‘We want someone to work with the community. Let’s talk more about this tonight.’ And I was like, ‘What?’ And I walked away – I remember very vividly being in the LA Convention Center and trying to find some internet because I was thinking, ‘Where is Sweden? I know it’s in Europe, but is it in the middle?’ But then I googled it and was like, ‘That is SO far north. That is really far north in the world.’ But I thought it was all very funny, because obviously it was just a weird conversation and nothing else will come of it.”

Later that evening, Winters attended a mixer – and Manneh essentially told the Mojang team that they were bringing her back to Sweden when they went home. None of the staff could tell if he was serious, but for her part, Winters was over the moon. “I’m texting my mom like, ‘I’m going to move to Sweden, everyone who thought I didn’t have a plan.’ And she’s like, ‘What? No, definitely not.'”

It took until the last day of the event, however, for Winters to finally get a formal interview – and even after all that, she went home to Florida, thinking, “OK, this was all crazy, but they’re going to go back to Sweden – they’ve been swept up in this sort of very American craziness, they’re not going to follow through on this because it’s crazy and they don’t know me. We don’t know each other, and this is insane.”

Two weeks after E3 ended, Winters had been hired by Mojang full-time. Six months after accepting the job, she left Florida and started a new life in Stockholm, Sweden. And she’s never looked back.

A little over six years later, Winters still loves her job. Her American-ness and penchant toward talking (and talking loudly) made her an enormous asset to the Mojang team, composed mainly of Swedes who prefer, in her words, “next-level quiet.” The role that she took initially saw her looking after the community building related to the Minecraft brand but evolved to become a more senior role looking after all of the merchandising, events, and licensing as well.

“Each thing that has happened in the company has kind of always been like, ‘Well, I can do that,’ and you kind of raise your hand and think to yourself, ‘Actually, I don’t know if I can,'” she said, laughing. “But six years later I can spot the smallest detail in [something related to] Minecraft that is incorrect and people are like, ‘How did you do that?’ And it’s because I’ve looked at it, and I care about it, and I’ve seen it for so long. So the tiniest thing I can spot in a slide that was two slides ago, like, ‘Hold on. Can you go back a second?'”

There’s a reason that Winters has trained herself to spot these sorts of things, and it comes from the best imaginable place: for the love of what she’s doing and the people she’s doing the work for. “The amazing thing about Minecraft is that it’s way more than a game,” she said. “It’s a life-changing thing. It’s a way to spend time with people; it’s a way to communicate. It’s so big, and it’s so important that every day I’m like, ‘This is too important to screw anything up.’ I have to make sure everything is amazing, everything is perfect for this incredible brand that I get to have so much ownership over.”

A post shared by Lydia Winters (@lydiawinters) on Feb 14, 2015 at 6:00pm PST

Every day presents something new and different, and even she herself admits that no two days in a row are ever the same. I asked her to walk me through a typical day at the office, and what became immediately clear is that she really does have her hands in pretty much everything the company does. But naturally, there are some things that are set in stone.

One of those things is her morning routine. “I get up and work out with my personal trainer or at the gym, because I’m on the road to Minecon and I want to look very buff on stage,” she said, laughing. “After that, since I’m a very late person by nature, I’m always on the run from my apartment [to the office], which is on the South Island in Stockholm. My home is a 10-minute walk from work – but I can make it in seven minutes if I run. I’m usually running with a really delicious coffee that my partner has made for me, and I’m kind of spilling it and drinking it as I run into the office.”

On the day I spoke to Winters, she had kicked off her day with a three-hour meeting with one of Mojang’s merchandising partners, who pitched a whole host of new ideas for her team to consider. Winters, who said she was “maybe the eighth person hired at the company,” now has a team made up of product designers and project managers who help her with the approval process on each and every piece of merchandise. Her focus is making sure that everything that gets made has an extraspecial touch and “isn’t a label slap where the same artwork goes on everything.”

What happens when you aggravate a Wolf? Well, MinecraftChick (aka Lydia from Mojang!) found out the hard way when she first started playing the game. We’ve animated her story with LEGO stop motion, of course! All she wanted was a furry friend… #LEGOMinecraft #Minecraft #LEGO #MinecraftMoments

A post shared by LEGO Minecraft (@legominecraft) on Sep 23, 2017 at 7:30am PDT

“There’s always a reason why something is positioned the way it is,” she said. “There’s a reason why a skeleton is being chased by a wolf [on an item] and it’s because wolves like bones and that’s kind of funny, because it’s something that would really happen. A little kid is not going to say, ‘I understand this shirt was very thoughtfully picked for me,’ but they may say, ‘Yeah, that is exactly what a skeleton does.’ And then there’s the adults who buy products, and you want them to go, ‘Wow, there was extra care put into this. This is more special than I thought it would be.'”

It’s not just animals and baddies that get a critical look, either. Minecraft used to predominately focus on a guy named Steve, and Winters was instrumental in getting a second main character, a female named Alex, added into the game as well. “I was like, ‘We have all this merchandise and it’s only a guy!’ and everyone was like, ‘No, Steve is genderless.’ And I was like, ‘He has a goatee. He is definitely a guy. He can be whatever gender he wants to be, but his name is Steve. How many Steves do you know that aren’t male?'”

Alex has red hair like Jeb, the lead designer, and green eyes like Winters herself – injecting a little bit of the Mojang personality into the game they spend so many hours each day perfecting. But she’s also a focal point for many of the conversations that Winters has with her merchandising partners on a day-to-day basis, pointing out the type of relegation that can happen to a female character without a critical eye: “If you’re not really careful and vigilant, Alex is always pushed behind Steve. Or she’s loving animals, and never doing any of the fighting. They both have to be shown in many different roles, because we have so many different players – on a daily basis, I’m talking about this, and looking at it constantly.”

The conversations that Winters has on a daily basis to avoid gendered typecasting are, in her eyes, crucial to putting forth the best possible version of the game to its users. One example of this is the struggle she went through with a specific brand who didn’t understand the importance of equally weighted roles for the “male” and “female” characters.

“There was a description of Steve and a description of Alex,” Winters said. “In the description of Steve, he was an architect, a designer, or a geologist or something. For Alex, it said, ‘She likes to build, explore, and mine.’ The two were sitting next to each other, and I was like, ‘Look at the difference between these two descriptions. You are saying that because Steve is male he has a job – Steve’s not an architect, he’s just a dude that builds. But if you’re going to say he has a job, at least use the same language for both of them. Either they both have jobs or they both like to do certain things.'”

Over the years, Winters has seen countless examples of Alex being mentioned with regard to fashion and Steve in relation to great careers and always puts the kibosh on it immediately. “You know that this will never go through,” she has told numerous clients, adding, “This isn’t OK. There’s no world in which we will approve this. Rewrite it. This not gender equal.”

The statement applies not just to descriptions of the two characters, but their positioning, the weapons they use, and the real-life models that are used to show off the goods that the company signs off on. In her mind, both characters should be portrayed as badasses – not one over the other. “I’ve had pink hair, I love pink, I love purple, I love animals,” she explained. “That’s fine, but there are also girls who don’t love any of that.”

It’s clear in looking at Mojang’s myriad offerings that these “soapbox moments from Lydia” have made a tangible difference – and an unexpected extra benefit is that it has also affected the workplace culture of Mojang as well. Winters, who once saw herself as a lone wolf hopping around doing whatever needed to be done, now has five people reporting into her and a whole lot more women standing by her side when she has these conversations.

In Seattle. Photo by @vubui. Fashion by @nittygrittywomen.

A post shared by Lydia Winters (@lydiawinters) on Mar 9, 2015 at 11:08pm PDT

“I was the first woman in the office, and then there were two of us – our CFO and I – and now, I’m happy to say, we have a huge amount of women working in the office,” Winters said, noting that she spent her lunch hour after the merchandising meeting doing a one-on-one with one of her direct reports. “They’re all amazing and incredible and save me so much time and have so many amazing ideas – and I’m transitioning into a better leader and a better boss because I take it very seriously, making sure that they’re developing as much as possible, just like I’m trying to.”

But she’s not just a manager and a brand champion. She’s also a brand ambassador, so Winters spent the afternoon before we got on the phone planning out the big reveal for this year’s annual Minecon: that she’ll be joined on stage with Will Arnett.

“It’s both the most exciting thing and the most panic-inducing thing I’ve ever done, because it’s like, whoa, this is the big leagues now – I’m going to be on stage with Will. And I think he’s amazing and I have for so long that I’m like, oh my god I’m going to pass out. And it will be so bad if I just faint,” she said, noting that while she may be fangirling out now, the most exciting part of him hosting is that he’s a huge fan of Minecraft himself.

“He was super interested in cohosting Minecon because he and his kids play together. And we always care about someone having a personal connection to Minecraft. I want everyone to play, but I get that it’s not for every single person – and there’s something really special about finding someone who’s not just awesome at what they do but they also like Minecraft, too.”

It’s awesome to finally say that Will Arnett is my co-host for MINECON Earth http://ift.tt/2m4pG30

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