#I went to an interview and put both versions in my portfolio

[imflyingfish]

Its so odd seeing that cow build going around lmao

[nanamismoonchild]

 pairing: CEO! Namjoon x black Assistant! Y/N

genre: fluff, angst, boss/employee relationship, f2l

warnings: mention of racism/discrimination in workplace, very indirect mention of domestic abuse

Summary:   Losing your job was one of the worst things that could possibly happen to you. Bills started piling up, and soon enough you were in complete debt.  By a miracle, you were offered the position of assistant to the CEO of Persona who turns out to be a real sweetheart.

WC: 5.6k--i think this is the most i’ve written. i could’ve written some more but ya girl was losing that thing called inspiration. 

A/N: This fic is the definition of what a Hallmark movie is. First it takes you on a straight-forward path then BAM! But you gotta love them for that.  Remember was originally supposed to be called Deceiving the Moon, but I changed the plot entirely into this one and I can’t but love this version more so now it is Remember. And I hope you’ll remember to enjoy it!

beta-reader(s)-- @birbdae​ thank you for the praise and the tiny criticisms bby. they made me smile! 

The pink paper slip seemed to burn your hand as you held it.  The tears in your eyes did nothing to persuade your boss of three years to keep you on the project that you held dear to your heart. The new girl he had hired to replace you couldn’t meet your eyes as she handed you the box filled with your personal belongings from your office space. 

“Oh, ____. Before you leave, can you email the final preparations for the toy drive? We would like to get started as soon as possible.”

The bastard smiled up at you as he practically ripped your heart to pieces. The toy drive had been your idea from the start to beginning. You were the program manager as well the assistant to the CEO who had wanted nothing to do with the project until he learned of the tax cut he was able to receive.  

Then he replaced and fired you. Now he was asking for your hard work that you manifested.  

You had dealt with a lot of shit regarding this company. Racist comments while being the only black woman on the team, being told you hair being in braids was not professional, and being paid the least out of everyone including the new assistant. Yet you had stayed. Your dreams of finally managing to pull off a huge event in your name had made you persevere and smile in the face of the evil work environment. 

The dream slowly crumbled as you stared at the assistant, the boss, and the pink slip. There was no way you would give him anything you had created.  

“No. Start the entire project yourself. I’m sure your new assistant knows how to program manage. I’ll be taking my toy drive elsewhere. I will not be letting the kids down because of your incompetence and willingness to fire me two months before the charity was supposed to begin. Fuck you.”

The CEO’s smile dropped quickly hearing those words. Perhaps this was a bad idea. But before he could retract his statement of firing the one person he knew he could count on, you left the office, head held high, middle finger in the air. 

 Three weeks later, the many jobs you had applied for had not replied to you, and your last paycheck from the previous job was slowly dwindling. If nothing came up soon, you wouldn’t be able to afford the rent for the next month. 

Your friends Seokjin and Jungkook offered to help; however, your pride was getting in the way and you would only use them as a last resort if you couldn’t find a job in time. 

For the time being, you tried to relax and avoid thoughts of the impending bills that threatened to pile up. 

Putting on a bonnet and pouring a glass of wine, you prepared to pamper yourself with a little Netflix binge. Seokjin had brought the wine as soon as he had heard about what happened. He worked at  Persona and couldn’t believe the unjust condition that had been forced on you. Persona was the best company to work at according to your older friend. He had once tried to convince you to apply there. Yet you hadn’t listened. There might not have been a chance to grow there seeing as many interns went there after graduating like Seokjin, and you prefer not to work with friends. As much as you loved Seokjin, you knew how childish he could be despite the mature attitude he tended to exude. You were the same way. Putting you two together in the same building was a catastrophe waiting to happen. 

The day he brought the wine, he told you the CEO--Kim Namjoon- was looking for a new assistant and would more than listen to your project proposal. 

Not to mention, he would pay you more than what you received at your old company. 

The idea tickled in the back of your mind as you sipped your wine. As much as you would have liked to work somewhere differently, the bills were waving at you in the distance and the employers you had contacted seemed to be uninterested. At least Seokjin could put in a good word for you. 

Picking up your phone, you dialed the number you knew well. 

“___! “ “Jinnie!” You could hear Jungkook in the background, yelling something that was unclear to you. 

“To what do I owe the pleasure? Do you need food? I just made those dumplings that you like so much. I could run them up to you.”

“Please. I haven’t eaten anything all day. But that’s not why I called. I want to know how to apply for the position of the assistant.”

Seokjin audibly gasped and made a sound keen to a squeal.  

“You apply by showing up tomorrow in your best business apparel at eight am sharp tomorrow at my doorstep so I can take you for open interview sessions. And bring your portfolio--no resume needed.”

“No resume?”

“Nope.”

“Oh...Alright. Eight am sharp. Best business clothes. Portfolio. Got it. Thank you Jinnie.” “No problem, __. Anything for Jungkook and I’s best friend who tends to steal our hoodies,” he said, a smile practically being heard through his voice.

“Those aren’t your hoodies anymore first of all. Second of all, I don’t steal. I borrow without the possibility of giving it back.  Third of all, bring me my food. I’m starving.”

“I’m already at your door. Open up. And Jungkook came here too. He brought that silly game of his.” Hanging up, you stand up to adjust your bonnet and the pajamas you had lounged in. You walked over to the door and opened it to see your friends’ arms full of snacks and games to play for the night. 

“We’ll be done with our mini get together for you to get enough sleep and prepare for your interview. Right now, we’re going to help you mope around,” Jungkook told you as both he and his older roommate stepped into your apartment.  

“Somehow I doubt it, but I’ll give you the time of day since you brought dumplings.”

All three of you laughed. 

 The next morning, the alarm blared at six o’ clock. Sitting up and stretching your limbs, you pushed yourself off the bed and into the bathroom. You needed to look your best for the interview and show you were the best candidate. And that started with a nice, hot shower. The lavender soap washed the stress off of your body and the water carried it into the drain. 

Jungkook had helped pick out your outfit while Seokjin had helped prepare your portfolio.Your hair was braided, and it was too heavy for you to set it into a bun of some sort, so you let it stay down and applied a little coconut oil.  

 Everything was ready and set. You were ready. 

At exactly eight o’ clock, you stood outside of Jungkook’s and Seokjin’s shared apartment. You could hear shuffling coming from right behind the door, alerting you that Jin was going to open the door. As he swung the door open, you leaned over to see a slightly disheveled Jungkook throwing on his backpack. 

“Late for class again?”

He grunted and moved past you. 

Jin laughed and locked the door before pushing you towards the exit of the apartment. 

“You ready for the open interviews?”

“I think so. Scratch that. I know so.” Your momma always told you confidence was the answer to everything.  

“You’ll wow Namjoon. You’re more than qualified and Namjoon could use your ideas. That’s why I said bring your portfolio.” “Thanks.”

 The drive to Persona was quick and easy. And loud as Jin played his favorite tunes and sang along to them. It uplifted your spirits and calmed some of the butterflies that blossomed in your stomach. You knew a lot about Namjoon from what Jin told you whenever he came home from work and bothered you. 

He was sweet and caring. His employees came first to him and took their opinions seriously.  Any criticisms anyone had was dealt with right away as a group or one on one. 

On one occasion, an employee’s car was destroyed because of her ex and she couldn’t find a way to work other than Ubers. It began to get too expensive, and she told Namjoon her dilemma. After a brief meeting, he was convinced to begin a carpool service for his employees at no cost to them. 

Your old boss was neither of those and only cared for the profits that came. If someone didn’t have a ride to work, it wasn’t his problem.

Namjoon’s handsome according to Jin. Tall, tan, and handsome had been the exact words Seokjin had said. Namjoon’s smile brightened everyone’s day when he smiled and nodded good morning to everyone. He always wore tailored suits--clothes fitting him to a T.   

You didn’t necessarily need these details for the interview, but knowing exactly what type of boss Namjoon would be would set your mind to achieve your goal of getting the job through any means. 

Seokjin walked you to the door of his boss’s office and knocked twice. A deep voice told you to come in.

The butterflies in your belly  picked up full speed. As you tried to calm yourself down, Jin opened the door. 

“Namjoon! ____ is here!” Jin announced.  

The man in particular was seated at a mahogany desk in a  leather chair that seemed much too small for him. As big as he was though, he exuded a calming aura, and not one of arrogance.  

He stood up, a huge smile spreading on his face. His dimples were pronounced and it made your heart skip a beat or two. Jin had not mentioned dimples. They were your weakness. 

“Thank you Seokjin. You can go get started on your work,” he dismissed the older man and turned to you. “ Hello,  Ms ___. A pleasure to speak to you today.” “Um, it’s my pleasure to speak with you as well.”

He circled around back to his chair, and motioned for you to take the chair across from. As you made your way over, you took in the decor of the office. It was bigger than your previous boss’s.   There were many statues that you knew were from the KAWS collection. You had a few yourself, but not as many as this man had. The statues were placed in display cases that were scattered around the room. The room was not stark white, and had small bouts of brown and orange around the room. It was unusually calming--helping those butterflies in your belly. 

Sitting down, you smiled at the man in front of you, not knowing how to start the interview. 

“So I presume Seokjin told you about the position and what I’m expecting, correct?”

“Yes, and I believe that I can do more than what you’re expecting of me.”

Namjoon nodded, “That’s good. An assistant who wants to do more is exactly what I’m looking for. My last assistant was an intern, and though she was great, I wanted a little more. I see you brought a portfolio. Tell me a little about what is in it.”

This was the moment you had prepared for. Even though you had anticipated it to be later in the interview, you knew exactly what to say.

“This portfolio actually contains some of the projects and the work I developed at my previous job. One of them includes a toy drive. I was fortunately able to keep the project for myself, and I planned on getting funding from a local bank in order to kickstart it again. The toy drive would consist of donations and toys I buy myself and giving it to domestic abuse shelters for the mothers and children-”

“When was this supposed to take place?” Namjoon interrupted, curiosity clear in his voice. 

“Oh, it was supposed to take place next month. December. It’s a time crunch but I believe I could do it. The other projects were for my boss who couldn’t be bothered to do anything for himself--Oh I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to say that.”

“Completely fine.” He drummed his long fingers on the table, encasing them in silence for a while. 

You hadn’t meant to ramble on about the toy drive, but the passion you felt for the charity event was incredible. Your mother had owned a domestic abuse home, and the amount of women and children who had to spend Christmas hiding away was consistently on your mind. You wanted to do something for them. 

“___?” 

“Yes?” You steeled yourself for another question. 

“On the basis that you continue this toy drive, and it is successful--I have a feeling it will  be--the job is yours.”

You practically jumped out of your seat, grabbing Namjoon’s hand and shaking it in excitement.  

“Thank you, thank you, thank you! You will not be disappointed. I will be the best assistant to you and this toy drive means too much to me for it to fail.” 

Namjoon grinned, his dimples showing out again. “You can talk to Jung Hoseok in the HR department. He’ll get you ready to be an employee of Persona. I want you to work tomorrow morning.”

Nodding, you moved to stand up and leave before remembering to bow in respect. 

“Thank you so much.”

“No, thank you. Not only will I have some of this paperwork done, but I’ll be getting very good advertisement for the company. It’s a win-win.”

“Right. How much paperwork do you have exactly?”

“It’s been about two months since my intern left, so…” He trailed off, running a hand through his hair. 

“I’ll be here bright and early then,” you said giggling. “See you tomorrow.”

Closing the door behind you, you glanced around for your best friend. You found him near the coffee machine in the far corner. As you sidled next to him, you poked him, making him jump.

“___! That didn’t take too long. How did it go?”

“We should probably wake up early enough to eat breakfast before we both have to be at work.”

 The news took a minute to  register in his brain. He took your hands and brought you in for a hug. 

“I told you you’d get it! And no, we’re not waking up that early. We can breakfast here--there’s an all-day buffet set up in the kitchen. Speaking of, you might not even know where that is, so I’ll have to give you a tour of the place. But there’s a few hours til I have a lunch break.”

“It’s fine. I have to go to HR anyway and fill out some paperwork.” 

“Min Yoongi was just about to go there. Weren’t you?” Seokjin turned towards the stranger in question. Min Yoongi had been completely hidden from you because of Jin’s broad shoulders.  

“Uh, yeah. I can take her.” 

Yoongi held two cups of coffee in his hands and a manila folder tucked into his armpit. He was only missing a bluetooth speaker in his ear and you can say he looked like all of the clients your previous company dealt with.  He was handsome with pale skin and droopy brown eyes. 

You gave him a small smile, and let him lead the way to HR. It was a few floors down so you had to take the elevator. It was a slow ride down. 

“What’s your name by the way?”

“I’m ____. Just got hired.”

“Min Yoongi. You already know that though. I’m a financial analyst.”

“Sounds cool.  How long have you been working here?”

“I was hired last year. I’m assuming you know Seokjin?”

“Yeah, I’m his best friend.”

The conversation came to an awkward pause. Thankfully, the elevator arrived on your floor and Yoongi led you to the office of Jung Hoseok before heading off in the other direction. 

Jung Hoseok was seated behind a desk; his eyes were focused on the computer screen in front of him. He glanced away from his computer to focus on you and smiled.. Everyone here at Persona seemed to have easygoing smiles and it helped settle any uneasiness you had about accepting the job and getting to know your new co-workers. You had rarely interacted with any of your former coworkers outside of meetings.  You hoped to change that. 

“I’m assuming you’re ___? I have the paperwork on that table over there. Salary information, bank information, the usual. Please fill it  out and I will have you as an employee in no time. Take as much time as you need--I won’t be going anywhere soon.”

The paperwork was easy to fill out, taking only a few minutes of your time. You would be paid more than what you were being paid at your former job. You had thirteen vacation days and thirteen sick days, totaling twenty-six days in all for you to take care of yourself. You couldn’t remember the last time you had actually been able to stay home from work for even having a rough day. There was an employee handbook at the end of the stack that you would take home and read. 

“I’m done.”

Hoseok startled, having forgotten you were in the room from how silent you were. You handed him the papers and promptly sat back down, avoiding all conversation with him.  He reminded you of everything you didn’t want in coworkers. 

It took him at least twenty minutes to get you into the system. He turned to you with the prettiest smile on his face. 

“Congratulations! You’re now an employee of Persona. I’ll have an ID ready for you tomorrow when you come in. I’ll meet you in Namjoon’s office.”

Working with Namjoon was poles apart from working with your old boss. He didn’t give you an ungodly amount of work to do just because he could. He let you catch up on the work that had yet to be completed by his intern and gave you enough time to plan the toy drive. 

You’d get so into your work, you’d lose track of time and he would have to guide you out of the office to eat lunch. He treated you to many lunches on several occasions always saying it was in his best interest to keep his assistant fed. You felt it was for more than that. 

Namjoon was very attractive and was definitely your type. Boss-employee relationships only worked out in fanfictions and movies unfortunately. And there was the small detail of the employee handbook strictly advocating for non-relations in the office. 

You’d discern a hint of flirtiness whenever he complimented your outfit for the day. Of course, you thanked him. But you refused to flirt back. There was no point in indulging in the flirting game. He was your boss and that’s all he would be for as long as you had this job. 

Biting into a sandwich that you brought for lunch, you go over the email once more. It was an email for the employees of the company to donate any toy they could. The deadline was the 24th considering everyone had Christmas off. A week and then the children could have a special Christmas filled with toys and cheer.  You only needed Namjoon to approve it and send it off. You had asked Park Jimin, who was part of the marketing team, to create little animations for you. They were the cutest things ever and made the email a lot more friendlier. A snowman waved, there was snowfall, and even Santa bringing a toy to a child. Jimin had completely outdone himself for you. 

Namjoon would be back from lunch in a couple of minutes, so you decided to sit in his office and wait for him.  It was only next door to your office so you didn’t mind and you could straighten up his filing while you were in there. 

Soon you were lost in the work of rearranging his file system. It was weird to see that man was usually always well-kept, but his organization skills were a little lackluster. No wonder he hired you on the spot. A picture was at the bottom of the file cabinet--Namjoon didn’t want everything to be on the computer for emergencies. Picking it up, you see a dimpled child with his arms around what you assumed was his mother. His face was covered in chocolate but you knew that it was a young Namjoon. They were sitting at a table filled with different foods and you could make out a Christmas tree in the background. A familiar tree. 

You had spent many hours and years in front of that tree. It belonged to your mother’s shelter. Your favorite ornament to hang on it was a Strawberry Shortcake ornament that your father had given you before the three of you moved to South Korea. That's how you recognized the tree. The ornament hung low from the Christmas tree exactly where you always put it. Namjoon had been there. You couldn’t remember ever meeting him considering you always spent your Christmases in the shelter with the families. 

You would have recalled seeing dimples as deep as his. 

A tiny gasp alerted you that you were being nosey. 

“Namjoon! I’m sorry. I was just re-organizing the cabinet. I didn’t mean to pry..but I found out something you might want to hear.”

“And what would that be?” His tone wasn’t angry but it still had a little attitude. 

“You used to stay at my mom’s shelter. Small world,” you started to giggle before realizing what exactly his and his mother’s staying truly meant. “Maybe you don’t want to hear that.”

To your astonishment, Namjoon smiled at you. A small one but your heart still fluttered. He wasn’t entirely mad at you. 

“Yeah. When Seokjin mentioned you for the position, I instantly recognized your name. I wanted to hire you right then. You had been so nice to me and my mother that it stuck with me for all these years. Obviously you don’t remember me as much as I remember you though.” 

“It’s probably because I’ve been so focused on the toy drive. I really want to surprise them this year. It’s the most I can do to show them that they’re not completely alone in the world. That people are thinking of them and want to help them.” “And I think this gesture would make everyone happy. I know I would have loved something like this.”

“And I would have gladly given it to you. But I was only ten years old at the time. But for right now, I need you to approve this mass email that advertises the donations of toys.”

Namjoon let out a guttural laugh and sat in his chair to review the email. 

 It was the 24th--the final day of the donation drive. Your co-workers had been dropping off toys since the email went out. The storage room on your floor was filled to the brim and you were beyond ecstatic.  There were doll-houses, kitchenettes, monster trucks, board games, painting sets, bicycles (with the training wheels), and even things for the older kids staying at the shelter. Namjoon had thought some of the toys could even go to another shelter in the city. You decided to pick a homeless shelter knowing there were a few kids there as well.  

Namjoon had helped you rent a truck for the day that would aid in loading and transporting the toys across the city to the shelters. Jin, Jungkook, Jimin, Hoseok, Yoongi, and the new intern, Taehyung, had offered to help as well.  You were grateful for the help and thanked each of them for giving up a portion of their Christmas to help you deliver the toys.  

Loading the truck took hours as there were many toys. You treated everyone to a few drinks and dinner for all the help they were giving you. 

“Here’s to seeing the smiling faces on the children tomorrow when we deliver the toys!”

Throwing back the shot glass of soju, you whooped and whistled along with the men around you. The plan wasn’t to drink too much as you had to be up bright and early in order to deliver the toys to both shelters in time before the children woke up.  

The shelter leaders had already promised to try and keep them from going near the tree before nine that morning. 

After eating, you all made your way to your cars--of course you had back with Seokjin and Jungkook. You reminded everyone to meet at the office. You and Namjoon would be driving the truck, while everyone else trailed after you in their cars.

The morning could not come soon enough for you. 

 Waking up wasn’t hard for you at all. The exhilaration coursing through your body was enough to get you to hop off the bed and into the showers without so much as a grown. The bonnet you had placed on your head the night before had kept your hair in tip top shape as usual. You could always trust a bonnet. 

Finger combing out the curls that had flattened a little through the night, your afro soon came to its puffy and natural state of bouncy curls.  

You rushed to put on the ugly sweater outfit you had bought for this occasion before rushing out of the door, colliding into Jungkook and Jin. They, like you, were excited for the day ahead of you. 

The three of you packed yourself into Jin’s car and blasted Mariah Carey’s Christmas album for the short ride to Persona. 

The rest of your group was already waiting for you. Jimin had made hot chocolate for the lot of you, and after a brief moment of making sure the toys were all packed into the truck, Namjoon and you climbed into the front seats, and took off. 

Namjoon was singing off-key to ‘What Do the Lonely Do on Christmas’--a classic love of yours--creating a symphony of giggles from you. The Christmas cheer was big in all of you, especially the tall giant that is Namjoon.   He was showing a much goofier side of him that you would have loved to see more of in the office. The man was carefree most of the time,but he always held this air of seriousness. You couldn’t help but wonder if his childhood had created some of that. 

The shelter was slowly moving into your vision as you got closer and closer. You heartbeat picked up, realizing just how much you missed being here with your mom and dad. They were some of the best memories you could ever have. However, your mom began to think that the shelter wasn’t the best place for you to grow up in and made you stay with your father at home or in his office. You had always come back, but it was always too crowded and the children never wanted to play with you since you were in high school. You thought it was because they couldn’t relate to you since you hadn’t been in their position. 

Namjoon pulled into the drive of your mother’s shelter, parking the car to where the trunk faced the door for easy access. 

Your mother was waiting for you at the front door and gave you a tight hug. 

“Hey baby girl! I’ve been waiting for you. The kids are going to love waking up to these.”

“I know Mama,’ you turned to introduce the boys. A bashful Namjoon was already behind you.

“I’m not sure if you remember but this is Kim Namjoon.  He used to stay here.”

It took your mother a minute to recognize him. He had grown up so much from the scrawny little one he used to be. Always hiding under his mother unless he was playing with you. 

“Well, I’ll be damned. Kim Namjoon. Son of Kim Eunha. Boy, look at you! Come here and give me a hug,” your mother said, her southern drawl prominent in her voice.  She pulled Namjoon into a hug, making the huge man blush a deep red. 

Holding back a giggle, you stuttered, “Mama! Mama! Let him go. We gotta get the toys out the truck or the kids are going to see nine Santas putting  toys under the tree. And it’ll just ruin everything.”

“You’re right. But I won’t be helping,” she laughed.  “Y’all have fun with that. Imma go make some cookies.”

You shook your head, laughing. Namjoon was laughing as well, indicating he remember just how boisterous your mother could be.

“It’s a black mother thing,” you told him. 

Unloading the toys didn’t take as long as loading them did to all of your surprise. The toys that were to be taken to the other shelter stayed in. Namjoon and you were staying here while the rest of the boys took those. 

The living room of the shelter was filled with toys for the little girls and boys, and you couldn’t be happier. For years, it had only been a few toys under there. Most of them had been from your family but you couldn’t afford too many.  

Your ornament on the tree was in the same place it always was. It was slowly losing a few of its colours, but Strawberry Shortcake could still be made out. 

“The famous Strawberry Shortcake. You know, I asked you if I could put it on the year I stayed here. You let me.”

The memory popped up as soon as he said it. 

You were both tired from running around in the snow for hours until Jack Frost started nipping at your noses. You only had enough energy to fix up the tree. Namjoo had asked to put it on, and you almost threw a fit before recalling why he was here. You obliged, and saw how happy it made him.  

“I did. You looked so happy. I think I wanted to kiss you.”

“We did. Right under that mistletoe.”

Blushing, you turned towards where Namjoon pointed and saw the old mistletoe your father put out to trick your mother into kissing him. He put it in the same place knowing she would stop right under it: the entrance to the kitchen. 

“Oh wow. Why am I just now remembering that. We had no idea what we were doing and you even bit me!”

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“Yeah, you totally bit me,” the shriek of laughter you let out was enough to wake the entire shelter, but the memory was too amusing.  How had you forgotten it?

Before he could think of apologizing for the mishap and offer to re-do it, the laughter and shrieks of children waking up and bounding down the stairs interrupted the both of you. 

“Santa came! Santa came! Wow! Look a bike!”

Various gasps and squeals exploded through the living room. The mothers all had cups of hot chocolate, holding back tears of appreciation. Some of the older kids noticed the tablets that had been laid out on the “big kid” table and were soon immersed in figuring out who would get what. 

Your heart squeezed seeing all the happiness unfold around you. This was what you wanted. Just a day for the children and mothers to have a little hope.  

You picked up a gift that you had bought personally the day after seeing that Namjoon had stayed at the shelter. You had lied and said that you hadn’t remembered everything. But you remembered this one.

“Namjoon!” You held out the present for you. It was wrapped in spiderman paper wrapping but it was all you had left.  

He tore it open with vigor and let out a tiny gasp seeing what it was. 

“You remembered?”

“Yep. It was my pinky promise before I left. I always keep my promises.”

It was a leather notebook with a fountain pen. It was something that he could easily buy himself but you recollected the exact conversation you had years ago before leaving the shelter. 

 “Oh, you’re leaving ___?”

“Yeah,” you kicked at a frozen rock, “Mama thinks it’s not safe for me to be here right now. So I’ll be spending time with my Dad in his office from now on. I’ll still come here though. This place means a lot to me. “

“Cool. I won’t be after next week though. My mom finally found a place for the two of us.”

“Aw, I’ll miss you. You owe me another kiss.”

“”And I’ll miss you. I promise you another kiss if you promise me a leather book with a fountain pen.”

The surprised look on your face made him laugh.  

“Uhm, why a leather book with a fountain pen?”

“I want to be a business owner one  day. A leather book and fountain pen are fancy and I’ve seen your dad use one.” “It keeps him organized according to Mama. But I doubt it. Dad would lose his head if it wasn’t attached to his body.”

You both laughed and pinky promised. 

 As much as you didn’t like boss-relationships, you had known Namjoon since your childhood technically. And you would like to get to know him more. Obviously your relationship was going to bloom had you two not been separated.  

Not to mention, he had let you finish the toy drive. Had it not been for him remembering who you were and loving your idea, you wouldn’t have been able to do it. Working for him was a Christmas miracle if you said so yourself. 

It was meant to be.  

“I think you owe me something now.”

Namjoon placed both of his hands on your hips, bringing you in closer to him. His smile showed you the dimples you had come to love to see.  

“I promise this time with no biting.”

Namjoon’s index and thumb lifted your chin up and his soft lips pressed against yours. 

Around you, the kids were tumbling around with their new toys and the teenagers were still fussing over the electronics. 

But the kiss is all that mattered. 

Merry Christmas to you. 

[captawesomesauce]

Thoughts at 11am...

W had a job interview the other day and she did so well. She took time to prep for the questions, washed her hair so it looked really nice, and even got a new outfit with the help of her friends. 

--- Ok... so that’s the sanitized version of the story lol. 

Here’s what happened from my perspective, the ever loving and always supportive fiance or musband (mike husband combo) as she likes to call me!

When W gets an interview, it sets off a chain of events that is a lot like preparing for a final exam, including all of the stress, worry, and anxiety. 

The first part of the preparation is to develop a list of questions they might ask and how should she answer them. 

- This usually means she sits there with her laptop, frustrated, confused, anxious, and all tied up in a knot before saying MIKE!!!!!! Help me with this??? What does this mean???? What should I say??!?!?!? 

- At that point, I often just type to her, or verbally write out my best answer, as her, to give her a framework to build off of, massage, and make her own. It’s not easy, but because I know my W so well, and I know what we do so well, I can put myself into her shoes and “just talk” and let the info flow. 

- Why do I want this job or what about this company.... MIKE!! what should I say? Well lets look at their website and let’s comment on 2 or 3 of their things... and then let’s tie it to when you did this project, or that project. Another thing I had her do was write a list of every academic paper/project she worked on. Not the names of the classes, but topics she became intimately aware of. I like using that as a jump off point in answers... like... When I did this project, I really dove deep into the analytics of such and such data, which is very similar to what your company does with x, y, and z. 

- The funny thing is, often, she just tells them what I said verbatim. After the interview, with some coaxing after she says it went well, she will admit that they really loved my answers, and stories, and the way I phrased things. She now talks like Mike and it’s so funny, but it makes me laugh how much better I know her than she does, and how I’m able to craft these things to HER specifically. We’ve even just sat down and done a real hard introspection for an hour+ about WHY she likes GIS, and the things she does. That was really hard on her, but she NEEDED to do that.... so I played therapist and walked her through her choices, the things she liked and disliked, the things she wanted, and hated, and helped her see how those things were all interconnected so that she could understand herself better. 

- She always does a GIS project for these things too to show her skills. I am BIG on this... you need need need to show a portfolio!!!! Absolutely, no excuses. She fought me hard about this, but her Behance and other stuff has been her biggest selling points. Unfortunately, this often means hours of work on a new project, getting data, troubleshooting, designing, and outputting something new. Usually we co-work on it, sometimes she just steals a project of mine and claims it as hers lol. I do a LOT of gis projects, save a lot of data, and have a collection of things, just ... because... and they always come in handy when she wants to show off work, ... even if she sometimes shows off mine. lol

- But man, that’s a lot of work and I’m always glad I can help, and always willing, but boy it takes a lot out of both of us to really dig in deep and answer these things!

Next up you have to understand we had a class on Emergency Management in schools, like what happens when you have a fire, or active shooter, or something like that. So that meant less sleep, less time, MUCH more stress, and not as much time to prepare for the interviews or go shopping for stuff.

Speaking of shopping for clothes, W doesn’t really have any business clothes/outfits and they really threw us for a curve ball with this in-person interview in just a couple of days notice!!!! We couldn’t push it to later because we have a 7 day class coming up too!

- She reached out to her girl friends and they gave her advice on this and that and what not.. and I absolutely appreciate them taking the time to do that.

- Thing is, none of that was useful or helpful LOL. 

- She was searching women’s clothes, and women’s business clothes, and using the search bar a lot and it was a disaster. She also didn’t know her size!

- The size was the most important thing!!!!!!

- I eventually showed her the best way was to use the categories and filters (just like in GIS) because search results are so wonky and skewed. 

- But what really ended up happening, and this is the important part, I eventually just took over, went to the KIDS section, and picked out a school uniform of khaki pants and polo shirt for her! ... I had to! Everything else was way too big for her, and she got so frustrated and so stressed by the whole thing, we had to find a place that had quick same day pickup and free returns, and kids sizes, and business appropriate clothes... which is really limiting... so that meant... school uniform! 

- We ended up going to 4 different stores, in 3 different trips, 1 of them was a good 30 mile round trip drive. As anyone who knows me knows, I hate driving, I HATE driving. But... it had to be done, so I did it, and without complaint, and with cheeriness, supportiveness, and love. And not even faking it. She knows I hate driving, but I don’t grumble, I don’t complain, I don’t make it a thing or something she has to deal with. I’m good at handling my own bullshit internally because it’s not her fault, her problem, or anything she has to bear on her overloaded plate. I don’t like it... but I can suck it up and DO it, because it’s important for her, and for us. 

Which brings us to the next point, after the class was over, we drove 44 miles to a place I’d never even heard of/looked at on the map. I mean I kinda know Tempe exists... but... beyond that, I had no idea where/what or any of that. It was 106 to 109 degrees out, and we set out to this adventure. You could tell she was stressed like just before a test. So I just let her chill and focus, and I handled the driving.

- She was really worried about talking with a mask on..... so I gave her some tips on how to breathe, talk slow, and really get the words out and you’ll be loud and fine. I’ve worn masks as a firefighting for over 20 years, it just takes patience but it’s fine. She did that and said it worked well! 

- It said the trip usually takes 50 mins. I made sure we left closure to an hour and a half early.... we needed all of that time as there were multiple accidents and traffic was heavy in spots! Always have that cushion!!!! Especially if it’s a place you’ve never been to before and you need time to locate it. We got there a few mins early and it was perfect. But man, that drive was tense... multiple freeways, lots of traffic, people driving nuts, and a brush fire blocking one of our routes too. I just had to make sure we got there safe, and on time, and was in the correct lanes for the switches... and we did it. Long drive though.

- Once we got there, thanks to Covid, i’m not going to go find a mcd’s or something and hang out... so that meant I just kinda threw up the sunshade to block some of the sunlight, opened the windows, drank a lot of ice cold water, and had a mini-usb/battery powered fan and mister going because like I said, it was 109 degrees and I had to sit in the hot car for nearly an hour while she did her thing. They say don’t leave babies and animals unattended.. but Musbands are ok :)  - When it was all over, I made sure she drank some cold water, relaxed, and then we drove home.... another hour or so. 

I answered her questions, helped with the GIS project, picked out the clothes, went and drove and got them, took her to the interview, waited in the hot damn car, drove home.  Now for the funny part.... at dinner last night she was going on and on about how she posted a thank you to her girlfriends for help with the clothes, because that’s SOOOO important.... this is a hot button issue with her because she helps so many people and then they ghost her and it fucking sucks. So she posted a big thank you to them that was individualized and had their names and stuff, and how she appreciated their help.... 

- I wasn’t mentioned at all. 

I just looked at her when she was saying about the thank you and how they responded with AWW glad to help and how they loved being named and stuff.. and I just looked at her... and said something like “So... what exactly did they help out with? .... pretty sure I picked out the clothes and did the rest....” And she just stopped and looked at me and just busted up laughing as we both were just dying at the sillyness and the OOPS of the situation. 

Yup, thanked everyone for their advice.... not me... the one who did everything lol  

Whoopsie lol. 

So yeah, she has interviews and stuff... but it’s really a joint effort... a lot of hard work, a lot of coaching, a lot of everything... It’s just like being back in school for finals where we did the same thing.

She has learned, and learned well, my #1 lesson... Be stressed during the preparation, and over prepare... so that when you take the test, when you go to the interview, you’re relaxed, you’re confident, and it feels easy. Don’t blow it off, and show up when it matters and feel like OH FUCK! 

She’s taken that to heart, and it shows. and I’m really proud of her for everything she is doing and has accomplished. 

Best life partner ever. 

[ashintheairlikesnow]

Exactly What You Need: Owen

To the Anon who won the “guess the post-apocalyptic New Zealand kids’ show Owen Grant had a guest star role on”: Here is your requested drabble! Owen Grant, the night he ordered Kauri.

CW: Owen is a fucking creep. Implied/referenced assault/abuse with younger!Vincent Shield, manipulate/abusive thoughts, dehumanization. Owen Grant is a dark man and people triggered by abuser thoughts regarding rape/assault should please heed that and stay safe

Tagging: @maybeawhumpblog, @pepperonyscience, @haro-whumps, @18-toe-beans, @burtlederp, @finder-of-rings,

It started with the hair, and the eyes.

Originally, he hadn’t really thought about Vince, exactly - he was just… he was just kind of lonely, and he’d been scrolling the Whumpees-R-Us site, thinking about how it seemed like basically everyone with a name worth knowing and a good stock portfolio had one of the Box Boys or Box Babes now.

And it might be nice to have someone around here to talk to. It’s not like he could talk to the fucking Roomba.

The condo was gorgeous, and he went out to lunch a few times a week with Nicole and some of the former costars and everything that he’d kept in touch with, went to conventions, even wrote an introduction for a book on the dark side of child acting that was pretty well received. He went to the gym three days a week, he watched a bunch of Youtubers that updated pretty regularly. Owen kept himself busy, basically, and none of it stopped him from being really. fucking. lonely. 

His mother had called one night after he’d been drinking for two or three hours straight, slowly killing a bottle of gin and a bag of limes while sending increasingly drunken text messages to no one in particular.

He and his mother still talked two or three nights a week. He was probably the only former child actor he knew who still had a really close relationship with his mom… or at least as close as your relationship can be when you’re lying to her about fucking everything about yourself.

She knew anyway. She’d been the one to help him cover it all up with Vince, what happened, why they never spoke again. She knew - but her constituents were bigoted assholes and in the part of the country Carlotta Grant set her sights on, you have to play to the bigoted asshole or you don’t get elected.

His mom was the biggest bitch he knew, but she wasn’t a bigot, exactly. Just happy to roll over for them for the sake of her Senate career. It would kill her ambitions if too much about Former Child Star Owen Grant got into the news, so Owen lied to everybody and everybody pretended to believe him. He’d been lying about it since he was still acting, it’s not like it was that hard to just… keep lying, right?

Even if he’d sort of hoped quitting acting - getting away from Vince and what happened - making his own life out here away from everyone… he’d sort of hoped he could stop lying, then. But nope. Mom got all political and Owen kept on lying.

He’d fucking hate her for it, if he didn’t love her so much.

In any case, she’d called and Owen had been trashed and it… well. The whole time he’d had the Whumpees-R-Us site up, looking through options, scrolling past faces that weren’t right. Or they almost were. But they weren’t the one he wanted. 

“Mom, I just want someone here who cares about me,” Owen had said, heavily, into the phone. He knew his words had gone slightly slurred, and he waited for her derision - his mother was the queen of it, after all, of cutting you apart with words alone. “Listen to this - a Whumpees-R-Us nonproductive pet can arrive with any skillset you require or phys, physical combination of- shit, sorry, Mom, I’m drunk-”

“Yes. I can quite tell you are. Don’t be ridiculous, Owen, you’re not getting one.”

“I’m a grown-ass man, Mom, and I say I am.”

“Would you at least order a girl?” 

There it is, Owen thought. Carlotta Grant didn’t care if her only child bought a living human person, just if it fit the version her constituents wanted to see. 

He took incredible pleasure is pausing long enough to take another long sip of lime and gin before he answered, “Oh, it’ll definitely be a boy.”

“Owen…” Carlotta sighed, heavily. “Darling. We talked about this.”

“No, you talked about it. At great length, no matter how often I asked you to stop. I want a boy and I’ll have one. Here’s a compromise, Mom - what if I don’t let it leave? I’ll keep it in here with me, they can train it to not be able to even walk out the door without me.”

“Owen…”

“Take it or leave it, Mom.”

Carlotta went quiet again, for much longer this time. Then she finally said, “Fine. Owen… I know that my decision was difficult for you-”

“All of your decisions are difficult for me, Mom.”

“Your decisions haven’t exactly been easy for me, either. Vincent Shield could still cause trouble for me, if he ever chooses to air what you did to him publicly.”

“He won’t. We told him I’d stay away from him if he kept it hush-hush, and he did. He won’t say anything to anyone, Mom. You can trust him. I couldn’t, but you can. It doesn’t help his career either, you know, if they find out about him.” Owen felt his throat catch, had to swallow hard against the tears. 

“Right. We don’t need them find out about your latent sadism, either, but I suppose I must put my trust in the career aspirations of Vincent Shield. Get whatever you want, Owen, but I had better not see it step one foot outside of that condominium if it makes it into the news.”

They spoke for a while longer, about nothing and relatives and people who had recently died or pissed his mother off, senate bills she was worried about and Owen’s latest project bankrolling a documentary exposing a monopolizing pharmaceutical giant, and the whole time Owen’s mind wasn’t on the conversation at all, but on Vincent fucking Shield.

They’d been inseparable. They’d made promises to each other. Then Owen had fucked one tiny little thing up - just the one thing, and it hadn’t even been that bad, what he’d done, and Vincent had probably liked it anyway - and Vincent had left and never came back.

He glanced down at his empty glass with a bit of ice that still clinked, and then up at the Whumpees-R-Us website. Create a completely customized option for minimal surcharges and receive the perfect pet of your dreams.

He poured more gin, added another twist of lime. “You know what my perfect fucking pet is?” He asked no one in particular. The Roomba beeped softly under the couch in its docking station. “Vincent Shield’s my perfect fucking pet. Make him feel pretty fucking sorry for what he did. They don’t have anyone on here who even looks like him…”

Then his blurry, bleary eyes caught a line at the bottom of the pictured Box Boy options. This does not represent the totality of what Whumpees-R-Us can provide. Send us your requirements and we will dedicate ourselves to fulfilling your every need, with an added surcharge.

So he clicked on the custom order form for Box Boys, watching it load, blinking at how fucking huge the page was. And it started with a simple box that asked what kind of pet you were searching for.

Owen very nearly wrote I’m so fucking lonely.

Instead, he settled for Companion.

The screen blinked and new options appeared. Platonic, Romantic, Domestic, or Combination?

Owen snorted. Platonic. He wasn’t some fucking sicko, he was just looking for someone to bring some life into this place. But… maybe it was just that he was drunk, or maybe it went deeper than that. In any case, a thought came to mind. He pictured wide blue eyes in a face that used to be pale, now tanned on all the movie posters. Thought of those eyes full of tears, for him. Then… then he thought of what it might be like if those eyes weren’t full of tears, but something else.

The thing Vincent had owed him, and had never been able - or willing - to give.

Then he unclicked his previous decision, and chose Combination. 

We will return to detailed specifics of your [Combination] requirements in a later section. For now, please list physical requirements for your Box Boy.

Owen swallowed, looked up the photo of the movie poster for Dimmer Switch, with 20-year-old Vincent Shield and 17-year-old Owen Grant in action poses against a dark background and a glowing light. Vincent’s face was clearly visible - soft and slightly sweet-looking, wide blue eyes, curly black hair. Long limbs and kind of a slim body type, not as muscled-up as he was now.

Not that Owen kept up with his career or what he looked like now, or anything.

He started with the hair, and the eyes. At first it felt wrong, like he was trying to build a Frankenstein’s monster for himself, but it was all perfectly legal and if it was really wrong, why were so many people buying them now? 

No, this was fine.

Owen was fine.

He was going to bring Vincent Shield home, and once Vince came back here, he was never, ever going to be able to leave.

He checked every box, wrote down details. At the bottom of the physical requirements section there was a spot to upload photo references, and he added the movie poster, some other pictures from magazine interviews from back then, he and Vince together in a few of them. Shots of Vince with the mop of curly hair and a bright wide smile, flashing whitened teeth. Shots of Vince with his arm around Owen, the both of them grinning for the photographer.

It took nearly two hours to finish, and by the end of it he’d stopped being drunk or maybe he was drunker than ever, but he’d entered a place of perfect clarity about his decision. He was about to spend a lot of money on this boy.

It was going to be perfect.

In the final box for any added comments not covered by the questionnaire, Owen Grant typed, Make it so he can never, ever leave me without fear. Make it so he wants my touch more than anything else in the world. Make it so he would lose his mind before he’d lose me. I want him to be sweet, and kind of a soft person. I want him to put up with anything I do to him. 

He paused, considering, and then added one more thing.

I want him to love me.

Then he pressed SUBMIT, made himself drink a glass of water, and passed out in his bed.

When he woke up the next morning, the Roomba was in the middle of a cleaning routine and his phone was ringing. He squinted at a number he didn’t know, but decided to answer it on kind of a whim. His number was private and only a few people had it - if someone was calling he didn’t know, it was probably one of his mom’s staff members. “Hello?”

“May I speak with Mr. Owen Grant?” A warm, melodic voice spoke on the other end of the line.

“Ah, this is Owen Grant.”

“This is Karen Renford, Client Satisfaction Director at Whumpees-R-Us. We received your request for a custom order last night and I’ve just had time to review it. There is… an exceptional amount of specialization in this order form, Mr. Grant.”

“I… I know. Shit. Oh, sorry.”

“No apologies required. I indulge in a bit of profanity myself on occasion.”

“The, the order form… was it too much?”

Too much to hope for, that Vince’s blue eyes could be all for him. Too much to dream, that he could fix all his old mistakes. Too much, to think he could keep someone here when Vince had run so far, so fast, and made it impossible to get close again.

“Not at all. We are aware of your… connections, Mr. Grant. We would love to work with you on this request, and hope you would let your influential mother know how excited we were to be given this opportunity to truly prove the merits of our methods.” 

Owen tried not to audibly snort.

“We already have a suitable candidate in mind who is most of the way through his basic training, although there have been a few… hiccups.”

“Hiccups?”

“Ah, it’s all part of the process.” She did not quite laugh, but there was a lilt to her voice that suggested she wanted to. “645898 is a sweet soul at heart, once you take apart the rest of him. I think he’ll be perfect for what you need.”

“So why the phone call?”

“It is customary for the company to directly contact clients of your… discerning and exacting taste. Considering the costs associated with so many specialized requests-”

“I am more than able to pay the amount owed, Ms. Renford.”

“Oh, we know that. This isn’t about money at all, Mr. Grant. Whumpees-R-Us is dedicated to client satisfaction, and it’s my job to look at this form, speak directly with you, and ensure that you receive exactly what you need.”

“So you can make him… want to stay here? Not able to leave?”

“Can we make him ‘love’ you, as you requested on your form?” Her voice held no mockery, no hint of judgement. “Mr. Grant, your request is considerable, but I believe we can ensure that your boy won’t ever be able to take a step out the front door without you by his side. We can make sure those big blue eyes are focused entirely on you, no matter what you do to him.”

Owen’s free hand clenched slowly into a fist, and something twisted and untwisted inside of him. 

Vince’s eyes, all on me. No matter what I do. 

“That sounds perfect,” Owen breathed out, shifting in the bed. “I want him to think I’m safe. That I’m the safest thing in the whole world.”

No matter how much I hurt him.

[maraudererasmut]

The explanation you gave to Sirius being mean makes sense but it just doesn’t show in the writing I guess

Normally, I don’t feel the need to defend myself when I see things like this, mostly because I know that lots of people have differing opinions and they are totally entitled to them! 

However, I can find parts of Black and White that clearly examplify all of the things that I said in my last response… 

 And I’m kind of confused that my writing ability is brought into question, because I can pinpoint all of these instances (and more) with ease. 

 So let’s break it down line-by-line, anon! 

 "For me, I see him as a very troubled person. He comes from a very wealthy, abusive family who solved all of their problems by throwing money at him.“

 ((Sirius’ family wealth is seen in Part 1)): 

 "Sirius Black, son the illustrious Orion and Walburga Black, is following in his parents’ footsteps as a curator of magnificent works of beauty.“ 

 ((Sirius’ absusive family can be seen in Part 16)): 

 "Before you ask, no, I’m not close with the other Blacks. They're… the only thing we share is the name. I’m not… well, I’m different. We don’t speak anymore. It’s better that way.“ 

 ((And Part 18)): 

 “Anyway…” Lily continued. “One of the main reasons that Sirius left was his parents. They were… well, they were cruel to him. They drank. A lot. It… never ended well…” 

 "Keep in mind, Lily and James both love and care for Sirius— There must be something they see in him that Remus hasn’t noticed yet." 

 ((Lily and James’ love for Sirius can be seen in Part 18 where Lily insists that Sirius is a nice person. She believes this strongly.)): 

 "He’s more than that, though, despite what the past few weeks have shown you…” 

 Remus responded with a laugh of his own, recalling the look in Sirius’ eyes at the coffee shop. He had seemed so apologetic, so genuine, so different from the gallery owner version of Sirius. 

 “I don’t doubt that…” 

 “I’m sorry about him, by the way. I swear, he’s not usually like this. He’s a really nice guy…” 

((Also in the same chapter, Lily shows Remus that she talks to Sirius outside of what the reader sees, and that Sirius is genuinely worried that he made Remus upset)): 

 “Good. Don’t worry, Remus. He’s not mad at you.” 

 Remus raised an eyebrow skeptically at Lily. 

 “You sure?” 

 “Positive. He doesn’t see this as your fault at all. As far as he’s concerned, he’s worried that he upset you.” 

“What? Upset me? How? Why would he think that?“ 

 “That’s what I keep telling him. Now we just have to wait for him to believe me. Things will be fine in a few days. The dust will settle and you two will be able to get back to… whatever it is that you call normal…” 

 ((And in part 25, Lily is absolutely convinced that Sirius would never take advantage of another person, almost as if she knows he’s a good guy…)):

 “Positive,” Lily said with absolute certainty, as if she had been there to verify. “Sirius would never do that. Never.” 

 Now, we can get to examples in the fic where Sirius has shown good qualities, such as caring for other people and putting them before himself: 

 ((In Part 2, Sirius offers Remus an interview after just meeting him. This isn’t really something most gallery owners would do)): 

 "I’m an artist, actually.” Remus’ cheeks were beginning to ache from his forced smile, but he kept it up. “I’ve been looking for the right gallery to show in for some time now.” 

 “Well then,” Sirius responded, his eyebrow raised ever so slightly, the corner of his mouth turned up. “You’ll have to stop by with your portfolio at some point. I’d be remiss if I didn’t give James’ friend an opportunity to show me his work.” 

He put a particular emphasis on the word friend, as if he was entirely aware of the fact that Remus and James had only just met a few moments before.  

((In Part 19, Sirius shows Remus a softer side of himself)): 

 "Thank you, Remus. Not… not just for the coffee… but for coming. Here. I… appreciate it.“ 

 ((In part 21, Lily says that Sirius has been telling her that Remus’ work is great)): 

 "Don’t worry so much, Remus, you’ll be fine. From what I’ve heard, the pieces you’ve made are great. People are going to love them." 

 ((In Part 22, Sirius notices that something is wrong with Remus, and immediately goes to try to take care of him, even when Remus says he’s fine)):

 "Remus, are you okay?” 

 Remus reached out a hand and pressed it into a black lapel. The fabric was so soft, he couldn’t help but run his fingers across it. 

 “Yeah, ’m fine,”………..“Are you okay?”

 “Yeah, I'm… I’m fine?” 

 Remus felt two surprisingly strong hands brace against his arms, and he leaned into the touch, his fingers still grazing soft material. 

 “Are you sure you’re okay?” Remus nodded aggressively, immediately regretting that decision. The room was feeling quite dizzy. 

 “Let’s get you some water…”

 Remus felt himself being guided across the room, he felt pressure on the small of his back, an open palm, fingers spread out. He liked that feeling. 

 ((Same chapter, Sirius realizes that kissing a drunk person without their consent isn’t right, and immediately dismisses himself from the situationa fter apologizing):

 “I— I shouldn’t have done that,” Sirius murmured, taking a step back, putting distance between Remus’ body and his own. “You’re not thinking straight… I shouldn’t… I’m sorry, Remus.” 

 ((In part 24, Sirius tells Remus he was worried about him. True, he’s not handling his emotions well, but he clearly cares about Remus)): 

 "You left without saying anything, you ignore my calls all day… Hell, I even went to your flat, Remus! I was worried about you!“ 

 ((In part 25, it’s revealed that Sirius took care of Remus while he was drunk, including cleaning up after he vomited and having his clothing (the only suit that Remus owns) dry cleaned by the time he woke up)): 

 “When the party was over, you were too drunk to go home on your own. James and I were fine with you staying, but Sirius had insisted…” Lily trailed off, recalling the events of that evening. “He brought you back to his place, saying he wanted someone to keep an eye on you. You… well, your alcohol didn’t stay down. Sirius helped you out of your messy clothes and put you to bed in his spare room. He had his assistant get your clothing dry cleaned early the next morning.” 

 Look. I’m not normally one to not accept critique of my work, but I’m fairly confident that I included enough instances of everything that I had discussed in my previous post within my actual fic. 

Throughout Black and White, Sirius is shown to be someone who has a short temper and who doesn’t handle his emotions well. He is also shown to be someone who cares about his friends and is capable of good things. I show my viewers a very limited perspective (through Remus) and I have put these characters through some challenges. 

Sirius is not handling things maturely, and he is acting out, but I don’t think it’s a valid assessment that I have painted him as "irredeemable”. I think instead of “it doesn’t show in your writing”, a better statement would have been “but I didn’t pick up on it throughout the story.” The evidence is there. Whether or not you noticed it does not mean that it is not included.

[orbemnews]

The Small Business Administration’s Gaffes Are Now Her Job to Fix Isabella Casillas Guzman, President Biden’s choice to run the Small Business Administration, inherited a portfolio of nearly $1 trillion in emergency aid and an agency plagued by controversy when she took over in March. She has been sprinting from crisis to crisis ever since. Some new programs have been mired in delays and glitches, while the S.B.A.’s best-known pandemic relief effort, the Paycheck Protection Program, nearly ran out of money for its loans this month, confusing lenders and stranding millions of borrowers. Angry business owners have deluged the agency with criticism and complaints. Now, it’s Ms. Guzman’s job to turn the ship around. “It’s the largest S.B.A. portfolio we’ve ever had, and clearly there’s going to need to be some changes in how we do business,” she said in a recent interview. When the coronavirus crisis struck and the economy went into a free fall last year, Congress and the Trump administration pushed the Small Business Administration to the forefront, putting it in charge of huge sums of relief money and complicated new programs. It is by far the smallest cabinet-level agency, with an annual operating budget that is typically less than half of what the Defense Department spends in a day. It was long viewed within the government as a sleepy backwater. But when the pandemic sent unemployment claims soaring, Congress responded with an unprecedented plan: Give businesses money to keep their workers employed. Just seven days after President Donald J. Trump signed the $2.2 trillion CARES Act in late March 2020, the Small Business Administration began accepting applications for the Paycheck Protection Program. Agency employees describe a blurry month of round-the-clock work to manage the program’s launch and early days. The agency’s 68 district offices, which normally field a few hundred inquiries a week, received 12,000 phone calls a day from desperate business owners. A rotating group of a dozen people camped in an ad hoc war room at the mostly empty headquarters to write the program’s rules and revamp technology systems to handle the onslaught of applications. Despite lots of speed bumps — including confusing, often-revised loan terms and several technical meltdowns — the program enjoyed some success. Millions of business owners credit it with helping them survive the pandemic and keep more workers employed. Economists are skeptical about whether the program’s results justify its huge cost, but Mr. Trump and Mr. Biden both embraced the effort as a centerpiece of their economic rescue plans. As the pandemic stretched on and the economy plunged into a recession, the Paycheck Protection Program morphed into the largest business bailout in American history. More than eight million companies got forgivable loans, totaling $788 billion — nearly as much money as the government spent on its three rounds of direct payments to taxpayers. But there were pitfalls, some of which will take years to unravel. Fraud is a major concern. Thousands of people took advantage of the rushed program’s minimal documentation requirements and sought illicit loans, according to prosecutors, to fund gambling sprees, Lamborghinis, luxury watches, an alpaca farm and a Medicare fraud scheme. The Justice Department has charged hundreds of people with stealing more than $440 million, and scores of federal investigations are active. (During her confirmation hearing, Ms. Guzman promised that she would “prioritize the reduction of fraud, waste and abuse.”) There were other problems. Female and minority business owners were disproportionately left out of the relief effort. A last-minute attempt by Mr. Biden to make the program more generous for solo business owners came too late to help many of them. This month, a new emergency popped up: The program ran short of money and abruptly closed to most new applicants. “There was no warning,” Toby Scammell, the chief executive of Womply, a company that helps borrowers get loans, said of the latest debacle. His company alone has more than 1.6 million applicants caught in limbo. The Paycheck Protection Program is far from the agency’s only challenge. It’s also managing a complex and evolving system of low-interest disaster loans of up to $500,000 and new grant funds, created by Congress, for two of the hardest-hit industries: the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant for live-event businesses and the Restaurant Revitalization Fund. (The hotel industry is pushing for its own version.) Today in Business Updated  May 25, 2021, 2:46 p.m. ET Each required the agency to create policies and technology systems from scratch. The venue program has been especially rocky. On its scheduled start day, in early April, the application system completely failed, leaving desperate applicants hitting refresh and relying on social media posts for information and updates. “I turned to my associate director and said, ‘I figured something like this would happen,’” said Chris Zacher, the executive director of Levitt Pavilion, a nonprofit performing arts center in Denver. The Small Business Administration revived the system three weeks later and has received 12,200 applications, but it does not anticipate awarding grants until late May. People lower in the tiered priority queue, including Mr. Zacher, fear that even if their claim is approved, they won’t see a check until June or July — a major hurdle for venues trying to plan their summer and fall seasons. “It’s maddening,” Mr. Zacher said. “A program that’s supposed to help save indie venues is putting us at a disadvantage because of all these delays.” Ms. Guzman, 51, hears those criticisms relentlessly — the response threads to her agency’s social media posts have turned into primal screams of pain. (“I SERIOUSLY CANNOT TAKE THIS WITH SBA ANY LONGER” is one of the milder replies.) She said she understood the urgency. “It’s definitely unprecedented — across the board, across the nation — and we are seeing multiple disasters at the same time,” she said. “The agency is highly focused on just still responding to disaster and implementing this relief as quickly as possible.” This is Ms. Guzman’s second tour at the Small Business Administration. When President Barack Obama picked Maria Contreras-Sweet in 2014 to take over the agency, Ms. Guzman went along as a senior adviser and deputy chief of staff. The women had met in the mid-1990s. Ms. Guzman, a California native with an undergraduate degree from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business, was hired at 7Up/RC Bottling by Ms. Contreras-Sweet, an executive there. “I was always impressed with her ability to handle jobs with steep learning curves — she has a quick grasp of complex concepts,” Ms. Contreras-Sweet said. Ms. Guzman spent her first stint at the agency focused on traditional projects like its flagship lending program, which normally facilitates around $28 billion a year in loans. This time, the job is radically different. “We’re working closely to identify opportunities to build up a strong agency to meet this demand of scale,” she said. “The S.B.A. needs to be as entrepreneurial as the small businesses we serve. What I really, truly mean by that is that a more customer-first approach.” The agency is testing a new “community navigators” program, which will fund local organizations, including nonprofits and government groups, to work closely with businesses owned by people with disabilities or in underserved rural, minority and immigrant communities. It’s an expansion of a grass-roots effort by several nonprofits to get vulnerable businesses access to Paycheck Protection Program loans. Ms. Guzman said she was bullish about that effort and other agency priorities, like expanding Black and other minority entrepreneurs’ access to capital — but first, like the clients it serves, the Small Business Administration has to weather the pandemic. And to do that, it has to stop shooting itself in the foot. The much-awaited second attempt at opening the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant fund was preceded by one final debacle: The agency announced — and then, less than a day before the date, abandoned — a plan to open the first-come-first-served fund on a Saturday. For those seeking aid that has not yet arrived, the incident felt like yet another kick in the teeth. Ms. Guzman said she was aware of the need for her agency to overcome its limitations and rebuild its checkered reputation. “This is a pivotal moment in time where we can leverage the interest in small business to really deliver a remarkable agency to them,” she said. “I value being the voice for the 30 million small and innovative start-ups around the country. What I always say to my staff is that I want these businesses to feel like the giants that they are in our economy.” Source link Orbem News #Administrations #Business #Fix #Gaffes #Job #Small

[prorevenge]

Throw me under a bus to CTO and CEO? I throw you out of country.

warning: long story. tl:dr at the end.

My prorevenge story is from earlier in my career when I was a team lead of 20 people and was accountable for one of the core product lines company sold. Company was a tech startup and was in process of disrupting sector we were in. So much so that our parent company, a huge global conglomerate bought us out right as we were growing into mid size. Parent company invested hundreds of millions of dollars to try to hypergrow the business after buyout which also costed them hundreds of millions of dollars. We’re talking fuck ton of money.

Now back to my revenge story. In tech startup, infrastructures is often given just enough money and love to be just good enough to keep things alive. If you make it out of early stage and have a growing business then you pay your dues and put in some serious work to get your infrastructure to be more sustainable and scalable like a start of a real business. Or you suffer the consequences and slow the growth of the company in wide degreeing of severity. Our company just hit that stage and required major overhaul or business was going to suffer greatly. I’m talking like slowing our growth by 50% because that’s what was told to us as why this is now #1 priority for everyone involved. To take care of the overhaul SVP of IT was put in charge by the new CTO to get this done. SVP of IT being ‘busy’, he put his top lieutenant whom I shall call Asshat to run point on it.

Issue is that Asshat’s boss, SVP of IT and Asshat were both incompetent to do the job and was only able to survive so far because old CTO. Old CTO plus Asshat + Asshat’s boss joined the company early, stuck with it, received promotions for loyalty by founders which is what they should get. Problem is that these three weren’t seasoned vets in tech nor had the right potential to grow fast with fast growing company. Basically they were noobs who got lucky. In addition the founders weren’t tech savy so they didn’t realize this to make the changes. Eventually old CTO cashed out as part of buyout and the new CTO just started.

Back to infrastructure overhaul. Asshat made the decision to build out this new infra in parallel and when ready, everyone will switch over to new infrastructure. Problem was that none of this was communicated properly or often, updates were shared infrequently with development and product management teams. With hundreds of millions of dollars pouring in, new sales opportunities through our parent company, we in development and product were barely keeping up with insane velocity the company was growing. So whatever few noises Asshat made about the project on the rare occasions he did. It got quickly buried in our mind as we tried to survive the onslaught of onboarding and servicing new customers, launching new products, hiring new staff, training new staff, etc.

Fast forward sometime in future and out of the blue, we were notified by Asshat to start testing the new infrastructure. This infuriated all of us because being told (not asked) by Asshat to suddenly test new infrastructure meant we had to somehow find time when we were barely keeping up with business demands by busting ass and working late. Only way find time to test was to either ask/make some of our guys work longer and we were already overworking just so we can keep up with business demands. It really sucked but we gritted our teeth and got into it to. After all, growth of company could take hit hard as 50% if we didn’t. Soon as we started using and testing the new infra, it became very apparent that while new infra is better than old...it was only marginally better and required significant amount of tweaking + heavy duty testing before we can even consider when to start switching over the new infra.

Asshat started freaking out and said that’s bullshit, new infra is good, we’re lying, I got some office political motive, so forth, Asshat and his team tested it already number of times, performance looks great compared to old stuff, blah blah. Reason for his freak out was that before he asked us to test, Asshat already informed his boss, SVP of IT a cutover date who then informed the CTO that they have a date already set. CTO then informed the CEO of the date and both CTO & CEO told our board the date. By this time new CTO wasn’t so new and was thinking about reorganizing his upper management team to operate at what he thought would be better suited for the company. While SVP of IT and Asshat sucked at their job, they weren’t stupid and had a solid game of office politics. They knew they committed a date, if they drop the ball, they would be let go for sure as part of reorg, and it’d be difficult or them to find a job of this level at any other company of this growth + $$$.

So what happened was that despite my concerns and challenges that we weren’t going to hit the date with what they built. Asshat and SVP of IT who is now involved because his ass is now on the line, started to try to strongarm me with their hard influence of SVP and Director authority to get my team to do the tweaks which is their fucking job. When they realized they couldn’t because I don’t report to them and I sure as fuck wasn’t going to burn my team any further, they switched to office politics and started to throw me under a bus to CTO and CEO in closed doors saying I wasn’t being a team player, stopping my own team from collaborating with them to make the launch of new infras success, I’m single handedly jeopardizing the date. Which also infuriated my boss, SVP of Eng because she got sucked into it. This all made my working life more miserable and on top, my review was a stake.

I hated office politics and this was the last straw for me with Asshat and his douche boss. Instead of defending myself politically, I went into doomsday prepper mode getting ready for the revenge. Any free time I had at work and outside of work, I spent prepping, it was literally part time job on top of my insane work schedule. I gathered up treasure troves of data and documentations of captured performance metrics, various test results, my own project & staffing & risk mgt plan if I were in charge to salvage this infra program, my version of rollout & rollback plan, etc. etc. All of this wasn't possible just by myself so I begged, bribed (food), called in favors at work of people whom I trusted to gather some for me by taking actions like running loadtests overnight.

Days passed and Doomsday came. CTO called for the meeting with Asshat, my boss, and I to determine what the fuck is up. SVP of IT wasn’t able to attend on this day for reasons I long forget. During the meeting, Asshat started to go full out on me on how I am failing, screwing the company and him over, I don't know my shit, I fucked over dates that was committed to the CEO + Board, etc. Too bad for him that my boss, has been pissed for a while because initially Asshat and SVP of IT skipped her by talking to CTO and CEO directly. She started to immediately fire back at the Asshat. I didn’t say shit for first several minutes as Asshat and my boss duked it out. CTO stopped the verbal combat and asked me for my 2 cents. I whipped out my doomsday prepper package. Said give me sec to email everyone what I put together and asked the CTO to put it up on his monitor for us to all see so I can walk everyone through on what I prepped.

New CTO was a seasoned vet of tech scene and he quickly sniffed out that what I had shown and talked about were legit. Asshat was getting riled up even more and started to attack me on personal level. CTO said STFU in nice professional words, told Asshat to revisit the milestone dates and to come back with a real date because he, CTO will take the heat for this and will update the CEO + board that new infra is delayed. He also asked my boss if she could loan me out to get this done with Asshat as his peer and that his door is open to me for any help needed (I was mid level line mgr, Asshat was upper mgt as director). After that he asked me to leave.

Eventually we got the new infra ready and we cut over, minor hiccups but it was smooth for most part. During this time, I landed a new gig at another company and left shortly after. CTO had an hour long exit interview with me and I unloaded about Asshat, SVP of IT about their behavioral issues, which could be looked over to certain degree if they were good at their job which they weren’t and how they were costing company money, used this infra project as key example of days lost on dev productivity and business growth, how they office politic'd good people out in their own org and some devs, etc. etc. CTO thanked me and let me go.

Couple months pass and I got a call from my old boss, SVP of Eng. We met up for coffee and she shared with me what transpired after my separation. CTO executed his re-org, Asshat was fired and because he couldn’t find another job within timeframe, he had to leave the country. I was dumbfounded because I had no fucking idea Asshat was here on work visa. As for SVP of IT, founders stopped CTO from firing him but agreed on transfer to parent company. Prior to transfer CTO backchannelled with people he knew at parent company to arrange that SVP of IT was just SVP of IT in title and had no real team, no real responsibilites. SVP of IT basically ended up in rubber room. Holy shit did it make my day. Best part is years later, I came across SVP of IT at a meetup and dude wouldn’t even acknowledge me I was alive hahaha.

tl;dr

Overworking mid level line manager gets thrown under bus to CTO and CEO by Director and SVP of IT on critical project. Affects my work life and upcoming review. I prepared portfolio of data and documents to prove them otherwise.

Director and SVP of IT are proven wrong. Director gets fired, was apparently on visa and has to leave country. SVP of IT gets transferred and ends up in worthless role

(source) (story by throwaway19808012390)

[daleisgreat]

PSP 15th Anniversary & Neo-Geo 30th Anniversary - Flashback Specials!

A couple months ago in March, the PSP hit its milestone 15th anniversary of its North American launch, just a few months after its end of 2004 debut launch in Japan. It came and went without much hubbub in the gaming media however due to that hitting around the same time the COVID-19 outbreak started to make waves in America and that pandemic rightfully getting the bulk of the press attention. Writing about game platform anniversaries over the past several weeks has been helping me get through these wild times we are now in by reflecting on my memories of these platforms, so with that said, please join me in looking back at Sony’s debut handheld….and later on in this very same flashback special I will have a bonus addendum with my memories of the Neo-Geo since it recently celebrated its 30th anniversary.

I remember when the PSP was surprisingly announced at Sony’s 2003 E3 press conference. I was there in Los Angeles covering my first E3 that year! The website I wrote for at the time, the long defunct vgpub.com, was a smaller gaming press outlet and only had one invite to the Sony press conference so our website founder, John attended the Sony conference while I and another staff writer slept in! I will never forget when John got back shortly after it ended and my colleague and I asked him if there were any big surprises (still a year or two away at this point with conferences being live streamed and with MySpace being the only major social media in 2003, there was a lack of live minute-by-minute news reporting and you would have to wait at least a couple hours until after the conferences ended to check gaming websites for news updates). John replied with an ‘oh yeah’ and proceed to hand us a little PR packet with a press release announcing the Playstation Portable (PSP) and how it would have near identical tech to the PS2 and be able to play movies with its UMD-discs. By mid-2003 the PS2 was a juggernaut around the globe and took up a little over half the market share in the home console gaming market against the Xbox and GameCube. With the PSP offering a big upgrade to the then-current GameBoy Advance out on the market and having near PS2 quality graphic capabilities, and with DVD movies being a huge factor into PS2 sales, it only seemed logical the PSP would be a sure-winner in the handheld gaming market. All three of us were buzzing about the news and how the PSP would be huge for handheld gaming and how Sony likely would take over. That did not quite happen however due to the surprise success of the Nintendo DS, but that did not stop the PSP to go on and be a viable gaming handheld alternative and have a fair amount of global success. I recall being incredibly stoked for the PSP launch, with a lot of hype going into its 20-plus launch game lineup.

I particularly remember being excited for Lumines, a new puzzler from Bandai that put a new twist on Tetris-style dropbox puzzle gameplay. It achieved this by making combo-clearing squares, instead of lines, and having a mesmerizing evolving soundtrack and graphic scheme whenever certain score targets were hit. Amazingly, the gameplay ranked right up there as top-in-class puzzler gameplay with Tetris. Combine that with its dazzling visuals and phenomenal soundtrack and it resulted in Lumines being the surprise killer-app of the PSP launch. Earlier this week I popped in Lumines Remastered on the PS4, and the gameplay is still as addicting as ever, and my anticipated quick five minute round for a refresher resulted in nearly playing an hour nonstop! From the other launch games I remember getting Untold Legends, Twisted Metal: Head-On and Tony Hawk’s Underground 2: Remix. Head-On was an all-new Twisted Metal game that was a good handheld version that also offered up online play, which was among one of the first of all handheld games to do so. I was a big fan of the hack ‘n slash action-RPGs on consoles during that era like Dark Alliance and Champions, and Untold Legends was a fun portable take on that which also offered up local wireless multiplayer. My friend, podcast co-host and also fellow VGpub staff writer Chris, along with my brother Joe, met up for a few memorable multiplayer sessions of Untold Legends.

All three of us played a whole heck of a lot of PSP in its initial weeks. At this time in early 2005, downloadable audio shows were kind of catching on but it was still a few months before Apple officially dubbed them as ‘podcasts’ on iTunes. I brought up the idea to Joe and Chris to get together to record an audio show for VGpub all about the PSP launch and our initial thoughts on the games available. We had no idea how to set it up on the technical side, so we winged it and Chris brought over one of those old-school stationary, coffee table tape recorders that are kind of stereotypical in psychiatrist or detective interview scenes in movies. We hooked an auxiliary cable from it to my PC and somehow produced a digital tin-can-and-string version of what would be the pilot of VGpub’s podcast. We sent the pilot to the VGpub editors to see what they thought, but we were dismayed when hearing back they thought it was too long at around 50 minutes in length. Bummed with that reception, we wound up not posting the PSP pilot show, but eventually gave podcasting another go when that scene took off several months later after it caught on with iTunes. We had a fun seven year run on the podcast, and when VGpub sunsetted a couple years after we started, we continued with the podcast on its own site for a few more years and as part of the launch posted the long lost pilot episode. And now in honor of the PSP’s 15th anniversary, I dug out that amazingly awful audio quality pilot from my hard drive archives and uploaded it to YouTube so now you all could relive our initial highs over the PSP’s launch. You can check it out by click or pressing here, or by checking out the embed below!

Behold our low-tech, amateur endeavor of the very first podcast I participated in that focused on the launch of the PSP. THUG 2: Remix was a nice port of the console version of that Tony Hawk game I played a lot of. It was shortly after playing this is when I realized I did not want to play PS2 ports on the PSP. While a lot of them packed in a lot of the same content as their PS2 counterparts, they suffered noticeably due to the PSP having one analog ‘nub,’ only one pair of shoulder buttons and having to dial back the graphics and/or features in order to get it running on the comparably lower-powered PSP. I realized this moreso over the next year picking up and trying out PSP versions of BurnOut, Virtua Tennis and Gun. Once again, nothing against the PSP versions since a lot of them played and looked fine on the PSP, and if I primarily was on the road or travelling I would have been thrilled with these versions. It was over this next year I realized I would rather play these PSP ports on the PS2 instead of dealing with those compromises.

Unfortunately in the early years of the PSP, it was dominated by PS2 ports and five star original titles like Lumines were few and far between. This culminated with barely getting any play out of the system and selling off my PSP a little over a year later in mid-2006. Things were looking dire for a little while for the PSP, but Sony and strong third party support from companies like Square-Enix, EA and Capcom continued to pump out games and eventually the PSP established a strong portfolio of original releases. Some of the original efforts from Sony were so strong that games like Twisted Metal: Head On, Syphon Filter and Motorstorm: Arctic Edge got remastered ports on the PS2 to keep up first party releases for the PS2 in its twilight years. I want to make sure to give a shoutout to other strong original PSP titles such as the Patapon series, WTF: Work Time Fun, both Phantasy Star Portable entries, all four SOCOM titles, Resistance: Retribution, both Pursuit Force games, Killzone: Liberation, Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep, Final Fantasy: Crisis Core, both God of War titles, Mega Man: Powered Up and Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker. In 2012, I acquire PSP’s successor from Sony, the Vita. It featured digital backwards compatibility with a fair amount of the PSP’s library. I wound up acquiring about a dozen of the PSP games I always wanted to try this way that I missed out on after selling it. The Vita was also compatible with most of the PSone classics that were available on the PS3. This lead to me playing a lot of Final Fantasy VII a couple years ago in anticipation for the recently released and long coming FFVII Remake. This past week a fired up a few of them for a refresher on some of the PSP titles in preparation for this article. I had a lot of fun with the original Pursuit Force….at least the first couple missions anyways since that game had compatibility issues and frequently froze on the Vita.

I dusted off my Castlevania skills in my attempts at playing the remake of Rondo of Blood that is part of Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles. It has a challenging but fair degree of difficulty in the few levels I progressed through. Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops I dug a lot for its first couple bite sized missions that focused on the origins of Snake meeting Campbell. Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker I consider to be the true, fully featured fifth installment of the series since it essentially has a full length story and slate of missions available. I did not play it on the PSP, but instead on the HD remaster collection that released a year later on the PS3 and loved grinding through its wide variety of missions that set the stage for The Phantom Pain. While it is not compatible with the PSP’s physical discs, the Vita is a good alternative to experience most of the PSP’s library through digital download for those still curious about the PSP’s games. On the UMD movie side of things, launch PSPs came bundled with a copy of Spider-Man 2 which I eventually watched on a plane trip. The quality of the UMD movies were undeniably good. Later on, I got sent a UMD to review of the fun underdog sports film, Dodgeball and those wound up being the only two UMDs I owned. For the first year or two of the PSP lifespan I remember game stores being flooded with physical UMDs, but a lot of them cost nearly as much as their DVD versions at the time and I am speculating that people anticipated they would only cost half or a third as much as DVDs kind of relative to how the portable-to-console game pricing goes, and when that proved not to be the case it lead to a quick exit for UMD movies on the PSP. I look back at the PSP and will fondly remember those awesome early months I had with it, and how it later redeemed itself by having a fleshed out lineup of original games. I want to also give the PSP props for becoming the only platform that easily surpassed portable efforts from other companies that tried to compete against Nintendo in the handheld gaming market like Atari, Tiger, Sega and SNK. I adhere caution when tracking down used PSPs due to reports of some PSPs being susceptible of having bulging battery packs over time. Sony released a few different revisions of the PSP, so I do not know if that is related to only the launch version, or for all versions of the PSP. This is why I recommend tracking down a Vita instead to get your PSP fix for those interested.

In the bonus addendum to this PSP anniversary flashback, I will touch on my brief memories with SNK’s Neo-Geo to commemorate its recent 30th anniversary of the original launch of the Japan arcade hardware. The arcade side of the Neo-Geo was dubbed the Multi-Video System (MVS) and it debuted in Japan in April of 1990, and following in American arcades a few months later in August. For those not in the know, the 24-bit arcade hardware had a home console version called the Neo-Geo Advanced Entertainment System (AES) that launched in Japan later on in 1990 and in 1991 in America. The unique thing about the Neo-Geo is both the MVS and AES used the exact same technology so it was possible to have 100% faithful home ports. SNK wanted the home experience to as close as possible to the arcade that it bundled the system with two mammoth arcade sticks. I first remember seeing Neo-Geo games in MVS format at various arcades in the early to mid-90s. The MVS cabinet was unmistakable with it having the eye-grabbing Target-red color and the two-to-four mini-game marquees listed at the top of it. The big draw to arcade operators at time of the Neo-Geo MVS was that the games came on friendlier priced cartridges that could easily be swapped out like games in a console instead of ordering whole new arcade machines to replace them. I have seen the four-slot MVS plenty of times, but I mostly remember seeing the two-slot version more frequently in arcades over the years, and for the most part it was the same two games featured on them: Puzzle Bobble (AKA Bust-a-Move) and Metal Slug. These were the two game I primarily encountered on the MVS in my childhood arcade experiences. I was not all that great at Puzzle Bubble with its unique spin on puzzle games by shooting bubbles onto the playfield from the bottom of the screen. I did however love Metal Slug and its sequel that I also recall seeing originally on the MVS. Metal Slug was arcade bliss at the time, with charming cartoony soldiers oozing with detail and twee animations as they run ‘n gunned with an arsenal of over-the-top weaponry, villains and larger than life boss battles. Metal Slug is one of the few games where slowdown is a good thing in my opinion because it primarily happened when encountering daunting bosses and explosions that filled up the screen and it felt like the machine was doing all it could to keep the action moving.

Jason and John from the MetalJesus crew do a fine job here giving a 101 lesson on the Neo Geo hardware and have lots of footage here of some of the best games to hit Neo-Geo.

A few weeks ago I did a quick playthrough of Metal Slug X on Xbox One since it was on Game Pass, and everything that I fondly associated with those run ‘n gunners was still there, even the slowdown! Thankfully the AES and MVS games did not remain trapped on their original expensive hardware. By the mid-2000s, SNK regularly started to output various collections of games both digitally and physically. I highly recommend Metal Slug Anthology that hit PS2 and Wii, and later got digitally ported onto the PS4. A majority of the individual Neo-Geo games got ported over individually in recent years on PS4, Xbox One and Switch. Since all these marketplaces frequently run sales on their back catalog, you can now find a lot of these games well under their default price of $7.99 each. Over the last few years I checked out plenty of original Neo-Geo games this way. I tried out too many fighting games to count by doing this, but also finally got a chance to play SNK’s arcade sports offerings that got overlooked by their many fighting games. Three Count Bout is a graphically impressive wrestling title, but its button-mashing leniency takes a toll on thumbs. I loved Dunk Dream/Street Hoop, which is SNK’s take on NBA Jam, but with a hip-hop makeover and catchy rap-filled soundtrack. Neo-Geo Turf Masters is a fast-paced, fun golf title and until recently I had no idea that the Super Volleyball game I loved so much on Genesis had a beefed up version and a sequel featuring amped up robots and robotic attacks on the Neo-Geo. The Neo-Geo is renowned for its acclaimed catalog of fighting games with several entries each in hit series like Samurai Shodown, Fatal Fury, World Heroes, Art of Fighting and its flagship fighter, The King of Fighters which saw annual entries on the platform for 10 years from 1994-2003. Of all these, the ones I frequented the most of were various re-releases were King of Fighters ‘97 and ’98. Its team based fighting style made it standout from the other fighting games, and it was only in recent years with some longer sessions with KoF ’98 that I finally started to come around on it. One of these days I want to give an honest effort at getting into Samurai Shodown. I remember the gaming mags were hyping up its debut entry at the time as a major breakthrough to fighting games with its gruesome swordplay it brought to the table. I eventually picked up its anthology disc on PS2 and dabbled with a couple entries, but never too seriously and need to correct that sooner than later. A random memory is attempting to play Samurai Shodown II at Arcade Infinity in Koreatown one evening in the afterhours of covering E3 in 2003. Shortly after starting it up, someone sat down and challenged me and proceeded to properly dominate me. Looking back, that may have something to do with why I never gave it that much of a shot.

I never had a chance to play the AES home system until well after its lifespan in the early 2010s at regional retro game conventions. That was because I did not see one in the wild until then. Unfortunately in 1990, the home console market was dominated by the NES while the Genesis was only a year old and just starting to break in, so while the MVS was a bargain for arcade operators, the AES arcade perfect tech was way ahead of the times and cost exponentially more compared to the NES and Genesis at the time. Reading copies of Game Players and Electronic Gaming Monthly back then I associated Neo-Geo AES games as being the games that literally cost $200-300 individually in the back of the magazine ads for mail service game catalogs. Occasionally there would be SNES/Genesis ports of the popular games like the original Fatal Fury and Samurai Shodown, but obviously there quality was dialed back to run on the weaker machines and that was realistically all of what was available to a majority of the home console market until those anthology collections started to get released in the mid-2000s. I never owned an AES, but I was stunned by its lasting power with official games being released for it all the way until 2004. I only a saw a Neo-Geo AES for sale once at my local retro game shop all these years back around 2008 and I want to say it was going for about $200, and part of me wanted to get it for the standout collector’s item it would be, but another side of me knew the games went for insane amounts by that point and the games were already by then starting to get re-released on other consoles in more wallet-friendly anthology discs. If you have yet to dip into the Neo-Geo catalog, I would highly recommend either grabbing the digital copy of Metal Slug Anthology on PS4 for some awesome two player run ‘n gun couch co-op with a friend as the perfect way to start off. Otherwise, type in ‘ACA’ in the Xbox One/PS4/Switch digital marketplaces to see most of the Neo-Geo games released digitally under the ACA banner. While it was damn near impossible to afford to play the AES games at home during their initial release, I will close by giving major props to SNK for keeping their back catalog of Neo-Geo titles alive for current generations to discover on current platforms at consumer friendly prices! Thanks again for sticking with me in reliving my memories of the PSP and Neo-Geo with this two-for-one flashback anniversary special! Want more retro-game goodness? Then take a peek at my other flashback specials below!

My Other Gaming Flashbacks Dreamcast 20th Anniversary GameBoy 30th Anniversary Genesis 30th Anniversary PSone 25th Anniversary Saturn and Virtual Boy 25th Anniversaries TurboGrafX-16 30th Anniversary and 32-X 25th Anniversary

[theprodigaldaughtersworld]

Eva James

Eva James lady in bed next to her husband Adam as she had many nights. Even in his sleep she felt the distance between them. A pounding in the door jerked Adam to his feet. He looked at her as if she were to blame for the insistent knocking. "Coming", he shouted as he pulled on pajama pants.

The next several hours were a blur. The pain and anger in Adam's eyes pierced her to her very soul. This wasn't her fault. She had done everything she could to temper the rage that seemed to possess their eldest son Kane. His jealousy towards his younger brother Abie had always been there. No matter how much extra attention she paid Kane he still managed to believe that quiet gentle Abie was her favorite. That could not have been further from the truth. She admired Kane's strength and boldness. When the boys were younger and a man made advances towards her it was Kane who put him in his place while Abie held on to her leg.

These were her thoughts when her cell rang. The caller id read Stephanie Heartache. She frowned. Her sorority sister Tam had recently been featured in an edition of Broken Hearts and Troubled Wives. Wasn't Stephanie the interviewer? She answered the call on the third ring. "Hello." "Hello, I am Stephanie Heartache. I was given your number by Tamar Beddingfield. I was wondering if it would be possible to speak with you."

Eva sighed. "Sure would you like to come by my home? I have a few hours before I meet my husband at the funeral home." In a soothing voice Stephanie replied, "Would you be up to meeting at Pinks Hot Dogs. I feel like maybe somewhere away from your place might be a bit more relaxing. There are still news vans and paparazzi lined up outside your house. I will have a car waiting at the back gate in 10." Eva agreed and grabbed her purse and a pair of shades. She decided on a blond wig as well. Her lighter complexion and the wig would allow her to slip past any overly eager paparazzi who might anticipate her exiting through the back.

Twenty minutes later she was ensconced in a booth at the famous hot dog eatery. Pinks was a favorite of hers and Adam's when they were dating. It was their version of experiencing a life they never thought they would live. She knew the mahogany skinned beauty across from her must have gotten the information from Tam. Tam understood she'd need comforting and familiar surroundings to tell her story.

Stephanie looked at her with compassion and empathy. "Thanks for speaking with me today. How Are you doing?"

A bitter laugh escaped Eva's mouth. That was a loaded question. She was sad for her dead son. Even sadder for her eldest who was now a fugitive. He'd done something he could never take back. She was afraid her marriage would not survive another crisis Adam clearly blamed her for. Her response to Stephanie was simply, "Numb. I wonder when I'll ever wake up from this nightmare. My son's inheritance will cover all funeral costs instead of jumpstarting his future after college. My other soon is a wanted man. My husband still hasn't forgiven me for getting us removed from Paradise. Adam and I were promised to one another at our birth. Both of us are firstborn heirs to unbelievable fortunes. We've always been there together. Two peas in the same pod. We were married in grad school. His degrees in business and finance were the perfect complement to my degree as an architect. Adam was groomed to run the resort our fathers built on Paradise Isle. He was happy and content moving to the island and expanding the resort on the timeline our Dads mapped out for us. Not me I became impatient so when a shady investor talked me into divesting some of my stock to accelerate the expansion I went to Adam with the plan. I sunk low enough to say if you really loved me you'd trust me in this. So we made the deal. I didn't look at my stock portfolio. I had no clue just how much I was giving up to have an even bigger piece of the pie. That careless decision cost us and our fathers the resort and our positions within our families. It was decided that we would have to figure it out on our own. No more cushy allowance checks to pay for the extravagant lifestyle we were used to. No home waiting for us in Beverly Hills when we needed to leave the island. We ended up in Baldwin Hills. Adam makes a good living but we've never grown accustomed to driving ourselves everywhere. We knew nothing about gangs except for what we'd seen in movies and television. Our son Kane inherited my need to do the opposite of what was expected of him. He grew tired of waiting to have the finer things in life he'd have access to when he received the trust created for our children after we left the island. Our wealth would be given to them because of my error in judgment. Kane gravitated toward young men in Inglewood and Compton who taught him how to make a quick buck, while Abie focused on education. He wanted nothing more than to put me and Adam back in Beverly Hills. Now he's gone. Killed by his brother and I don't even now why." She placed her shades back on her face. Rose from the table and exited the restaurant tears streaming down her face.

Stephanie didn't know what to think. She wanted to run after her and embrace her. She knew that words would not reassure this strong impulsive woman who had endured so much. A woman who loved the men in her life with all her being. A woman who needed to forgive herself more than she needed her husband's forgiveness.

Another excerpt from Only in Bible am original work of fiction written by yours truly

Remain blessed

[sentrava]

November 2018 Highlights: The High + Lows

Heeeeey, November, you’re looking pretty. No actually, you were pretty miserable weather-wise, bringing in a ton of rain, gray and gloom. That’s OK, though, because it meant SVV and I were holed up inside for much of the month, checking off task lists left and right and knocking out both house work and work work.

November saw us home a lot more than usual, and it was nice catching up on some big editing and video projects that have looming deadlines. In fact, we were only at a hotel three nights this month, at a friends’ house in a state park for two nights, then at my mom’s house for two nights over Thanksgiving weekend. I’ve loved the added time at home! Feeling far more zen than I was this time last month.

As we finalize our 2019 work game plan—a lot of career shifts and big changes on the horizon!—here’s how the last month went down in our little corner of the Interwebs:

Highs

I “modeled” in a video ad campaign for Visit Franklin. And when I say “modeled,” I obviously mean that three friends and I drank a lot of cocktails, took a bunch of selfies, did SUP yoga in gale-force winds and sub-40 temps, and had a merry old time while being filmed every step of the way. I’ll post the final version when it’s out, but suffice it to say, we had a blast being trailed by a crew of seven good-looking men with cameras—and a lone hair and makeup artist who put up with our demands. Every girl should be so lucky!

SVV and I went back to Savannah. Four days during the shoulder season when temps are pleasant and crowds are few? Yes, please! Sign up for all the fall trips to Savannah in the future.

I was interviewed by SELF magazine about loving kids but not wanting my own. And Charlotte even got her first magazine shoutout! One thing being around a baby has done is grow my love for babies—I’ve always loved kids but used to not care for them until they were 18 months old, the beginning of the fun age I like to think—but now anytime I see a two- or three-month-old newborn, I’m all “GIMME DAT BABY.” But no, I still don’t want my own, thanks for asking. I will happily hold yours, though.

Speaking of which, my niece is crawling! And actually took her first steps earlier this week—at just 8.5 months old. She’s advanced, that one! But really—where did the time go?

My friend Terry interviewed me for a piece with AFAR magazine and Athleta. Want to know my must-have winter travel accessory? You can read all about it here!

I’ve been working on upping my video game. As we land more and more projects that incorporate video, I want to elevate both my technique and my editing, so I’ve hired my friend Eric Irvin, owner of the Charlotte-based One Eyed Pop, to give me Premiere lessons by Skype, and so far, so good, but it’s a sloooow process (Adobe, why you gotta be so quirky?). Here’s a quick little wakeboarding reel I put together from SVV’s and my last lake day of the year.

My November/December pages for AAA Living are on newsstands. I’ve officially been writing this bimonthly column for a year now, and I truly love getting to research more about every nook and cranny in Tennessee—and work with the awesome magazine team in North Carolina. One day, I’ll go back and retroactively update the past two years of my writing portfolio page (oops … it’s just a very involved process).

We went on a friend getaway to Jamestown. I’ll have a blog post about this magical hidden gem in Tennessee going live next week, but let’s just say that those 48 hours with some of the best people are just what the anxiety doctor ordered to make all my stress melt away!

My cousins came to visit from Memphis. I’m so lucky to have grown up with a girl cousin so close in age—Rebecca and I are just a year apart—and one who is family-centric enough to want to visit us at any chance. She, John and the kids came down the day after Thanksgiving for two nights, and I can’t get enough of their sweet trio. (I used to just say “the girls,” but now that Mason is here—and 2.5 years old, at that—I guess I have to come up with a new way to refer to them!)

I published my annual gift guide! Looking for present ideas for your kid, husband, wife, sister, brother, friend? Check out my ultimate holiday gift list here.

I wrote more about Nashville for Hertz. If you’re coming for a meeting and have some time for a little “bleisure” (God, I hate that term), here’s how I suggest spending a perfect day in Nashville, from business lunches to cocktail time.

I also wrote about Franklin for Mic. Did you see the Best Places to Travel in 2019, including my piece on Franklin? Well, if not, you might be out of luck as the company announced its immediate closing the same day this went live (who knows if the site will stay up or not!). Sigh.

Lows

It’s a tough time to work in the media. On top of Mic shutting down without warning, both Glamour and Seventeen announced they were halting print production, and American Girl magazine folded entirely. It also appears many of the Conde Nast magazines are eventually going to follow suit. I’m just glad that SVV and I started our own agency nearly seven years ago, and that we don’t rely on magazine work to pay our bills anymore!

Our heater went out on the first day of winter. We had no fall; it went from a blistering 85 degrees to a bone-chilling 30 seemingly overnight—and that’s when we found out we had no heat. That was $5,000 I was not prepared to spend! On the flip side, we got a tax refund check for the first time ever—we overpaid significantly in 2017, which is a side effect of being self-employed and paying quarterly estimates—so a chunk of it went straight to home maintenance, instead of my SEP and SVV’s 401K (womp, womp).

That’s about it! December sees us going to Oklahoma City for our last work trip of the year, then heading to Georgia with my parents for four nights in the mountains over Christmas. I’m looking forward to doing nothing but catching up on my reading list and tasting some good local beer!

How did your November shake out?

All of my past monthly highlights can be found here.

November 2018 Highlights: The High + Lows published first on https://medium.com/@OCEANDREAMCHARTERS

[saturdayam]

A COMIC LIFE: ALEX OGLE INTERVIEW

WELCOME TO A COMIC LIFE episode 4.

OUR NEW BLOG SERIES FOR MANGA BEGINNERS, A COMIC LIFE, COVERS THE BEST TOOLS FOR CONQUERING THE WILD, WILD WEST OF SELF-PUBLISHING AND WEBCOMICS. 

This is blog series that continues our association with PLASQ, developer of the award-winning comics creation software, COMIC LIFE and new product, COMIC DRAW. They supported our recent fan art tournament MARCH ART MADNESS which helped to promote talented amateur artists from around the world.

Today, we interview comicbook artist and Comic Life/ Comic Draw user, Alex Ogle!

Saturday A.M: What was it like growing up in Kansas?

Alex: Quiet and flat. There wasn't a lot to do growing up. I found I enjoyed drawing and creating characters.

Saturday A.M: What motivated you to move to Tennessee?

Alex: I moved mainly to have better opportunities and I knew there were several comic artists in Atlanta that I wanted to meet.

Saturday A.M: How were you introduced to comics?

Alex: I went with my Mom to the grocery store and they sold comics in the Magazine section. I spent all my time in front of the comic rack looking at books.

Saturday A.M: From what I understand, you are a self-taught artist. Did you learn through drawing fan art of your favorite characters or did you learn by sketching from life?

Alex: I learned from copying art that I liked at the time. I was into Alan Davis’s work on Excalibur (1987) then I studied Marc Silvestri’s work on X-Men and Wolverine. I was a Marvel kid.

Saturday A.M: Looking through your art, I couldn't help but notice most of your work appears to be done in traditional Noir. What prompts you to produce black and white artwork?

Alex: I've been a fan of Black and White art since the 80’s. Indie books usually could not afford color printing so you could really see the ink work.

Saturday A.M: Could you tell us a little about your role at Tubatomic?  

Alex: Tubatomic is a company I co-founded to do design and animation projects.

Saturday A.M: Could you tell us about your previous project JONNI NITRO, and what surprising opportunities did it lead to?

Alex: Jonni Nitro started off as a comic book idea that we did some Black & White animation to call attention online to the book. The animation went viral and spread across the internet. It wasn't long until we sold the rights to an entertainment startup and worked on producing the animation for their site.

Saturday A.M: There was a period in time when you had to put your comic book career on hold. Could you tell us what happened?

Alex: Tubatomic took off and we started designing for companies. Compared to being a freelance artist trying to make indie comics working in design is still artistically satisfying and is easier to earn a decent living. I focused completely on designing and didn’t do any comic work for 13 years.

Saturday A.M: How did you make your triumphant return to the comic book industry?

Alex: Kickstarter had just started up and print on demand intrigued me. It made the investment of self-publishing much lower. Suddenly I could make the comics I want in my spare time. My first project was Infinity Pilot. It went very well for me and was a lot of fun. Now I’m hooked on doing Kickstarter campaigns and try to do one a year.

Saturday A.M: How did your usage of Instagram lead to a job at Marvel?

Alex: So one of the worst things about being a comic artist is dealing with rejection when submitting portfolios. I got lucky and an Art director at Marvel found my stuff on Instagram. He contacted me about doing art for pin-up style art for Marvel.

Saturday A.M: How often does social media lead to a freelance job?

Alex: I’m not sure how often. But if you watch panels on Youtube about breaking into comics. The advice is to post and the publishers will find you. I didn’t think that would work but it did!

Saturday A.M: What was it like doing freelance work for Marvel?

Alex: I always feel honored to contribute. I’m still a Marvel kid inside.

Saturday A.M: How did it feel to draw your favorite Marvel characters officially?

Alex: It feels amazing. I’ve drawn art for all the characters that have appeared on Netflix and I’ve done promotional art for the latest Guardians of the Galaxy movie. The latest art I've done are characters from Spider-Man.

Saturday A.M: How important do you feel, is the factor of mystery within entertainment?

Alex: Keeping the audience's attention is very important. In comics, I think we give too much away. Let’s make projects more like filming Jaws. Don’t show the shark.

Saturday A.M: Could you tell us a little about your current publishing house ACTION LAB ENTERTAINMENT?

Alex: Action Lab Entertainment publishes Hero Cats which is a series created by Kyle Puttkammer. Kyle wanted to spin off a new series focusing on the Black Cat of the team, Midnight.

Saturday A.M: Ah! So, could you tell us about that series, MIDNIGHT OVER STELLAR CITY?

Alex: Midnight Over Stellar City is about a cat that doesn't like criminals. I did a short three issue series last year and we are currently releasing the next three issues in 2017.

Saturday A.M: Could you tell us about your recent art book?

Alex: I did a Kickstarter campaign to collect many of the commissions and art that I have done into one book. It’s 70 pages in B&W of my work. I’m very proud of it.

Saturday A.M: What type of digital art equipment do you use?

Alex: I’ve always been a Mac user. I use a 27 inch iMac and a smallish Wacom tablet. Then when I want to work mobile I use an iPad Pro.

Saturday AM: Do you use portable comic creation Apps like Comic Draw or Comic Life?

Alex: I’ve started using Comic Draw for sketching out my page layouts. Drawing apps have traditionally only been single page documents. I’ve really enjoyed being able to flip pages and plan an entire book. Comic Life has been great for lettering. I remember feeling like lettering took forever. Now I really enjoy placing in all the balloons and captions.

Saturday AM: Which do you prefer, working for a publishing house or creating indie comics?

Alex: I like both equally. It’s very rewarding to invent your own characters and get feedback from your audience about the story. I love to try and draw an interesting version of a character that we have seen forever and that has a rich history. As long as I’m drawing I’m happy.

Saturday AM: Thanks, Alex!

FOLLOW ALEX OGLE

[preciousmetals0]

Buffett’s Billionaire Bust; Nio’s Bailout Is a Must

Buffett’s Billionaire Bust; Nio’s Bailout Is a Must:

Who Wants to Invest Like a Billionaire?

We like talking heads here at Great Stuff … both the financial media version and the ’80s rock band.

(“Burning Down the House” is oddly appropriate this week: “Hold tight, wait till the party’s over.”)

So, when Warren Buffett — the Oracle of Omaha himself — chimed in on yesterday’s 1,000-point Dow sell-off, we just had to cover it.

But what does ol’ Warren Buffett do when the Dow plunges and the S&P 500 Index drops like a rock? He abides, just like the dude.

It’s more than that, however. According to Buffett, a stock market rout like this one is “good for us.” In an interview with CNBC, Buffett said: “Most people are savers, they should want the market to go down. They should want to buy at a lower price.”

Ironically, the Oracle admitted that he couldn’t foresee everything — especially where COVID-19 is concerned. Buffett said that he’s “not a specialist,” and that “a very significant percentage of our businesses one way are affected.”

The Takeaway:

Let me ask you something: What does Warren Buffett look like?

Does he look like a billionaire? Then why are you trying to invest like a billionaire?

Repeat after me, class: “I am not Warren Buffett.”

Now, I like Buffett’s cool demeanor in the face of the COVID-19 outbreak and the ensuing market volatility.

I also admire his investing outlook: “If you’re buying a business, and that’s what stocks are… you’re gonna own it for 10 or 20 years.”

There are two really big problems with trying to invest like Buffett right now.

First, you might not have 10 or 20 years to wait for the market to come back. If you’re in retirement, close to retirement or anywhere inside that 10- to 20-year range, taking Buffett’s advice could be dangerous.

So, while Buffett is right that the current market volatility will work itself out (the market always goes up … eventually) it’s possible you may no longer be solvent when that happens.

Second, you are not a billionaire. (Unless you are, in which case … I have cookies, a mean sense of humor and good bourbon. Wanna be friends?)

Since we are not billionaires, we don’t have the luxury of sitting back all laissez faire and watching the market drop 3% … 4% … 5% … whatever. I guarantee you that even if the market plummeted 50%, Warren Buffett’s portfolio would be just fine. Your portfolio, however, would not.

You need to be much more cautious in the current market environment. You need a different plan.

Here’s the bottom line: Warren Buffett has billions … tens of billions. Will he hit $100 billion before he joins the choir invisible? Who knows … and who cares?

Warren Buffett’s investments won’t make YOU rich. When you look at what the Oracle owns today, you’ll find a laundry list of old-world stocks grinding out pennies on the dollar. When you have Buffett’s billions, I guess that works.

But you are not Buffett. You have an eye for well-run, profitable new-world businesses — not stodgy old companies from decades past.

See, while billionaires are counting pennies (albeit that’s a lot of pennies) they miss out on a whole slew of up-and-coming superstars. I don’t want YOU to miss out on this new wave of innovative, American-made businesses.

Click here to learn how you can get a leg up on billionaire investors today.

Going: Mama, I’m Coming Home

As of this writing, the Dow was again off more than 2% … making Home Depot Inc.’s (NYSE: HD) 1% rally all the more impressive.

Riding the tailwind of a strong U.S. housing market, Home Depot reported much stronger-than-expected fourth-quarter results. Earnings rose 5.8% to $2.28 per share, topping the consensus estimate for $2.11. Sales came in at $25.8 billion, edging out Wall Street’s target of $25.7 billion.

Home Depot also put its 2020 forecast above the Street’s estimates and hiked its quarterly dividend 10% to $1.50 per share.

If not for the coronavirus, HD stock would have gained considerably more ground today. Speaking of which … Home Depot offered no comment on COVID-19 or its potential impact.

Hmmm … maybe that’s the real reason why HD initially surged higher. You can’t have a virus warning sell-off if you don’t issue a virus warning.

Going: Modern Problems, Moderna Solutions

If that isn’t Moderna Inc.’s (Nasdaq: MRNA) official slogan, it should be. (Email me, guys, I’ll make you a good offer!)

While many biotechs have promised a vaccine or potential treatments for COVID-19, none have begun human testing … until today. Moderna just put forward a coronavirus vaccine for “phase 1” testing.

Known as MRNA-1273 (you guys really need to work on branding!), the vaccine was recently shipped to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for a U.S.-based study.

From start to finish, Moderna’s potential COVID-19 vaccine took just 42 days to develop, which is impressive given that such efforts have taken months in the past.

MRNA shares rallied more than 17% on the open this morning before succumbing to broader-market selling pressure.

Gone: Yuan for the Road

When it comes to Nio Inc. (NYSE: NIO), I stand corrected, dear readers.

Back on February 10, I warned you not to buy the dip in this Chinese electric vehicle (EV) maker. The company reported a dive in year-over-year sales, which it blamed on COVID-19 and the Lunar New Year holiday.

If you went ahead and bought the dip, you’d be up more than 21% right now. However, the only reason you’d be up is because of a Chinese government bailout.

You see, Nio is performing so poorly that the municipal government of Hefei (i.e., the Chinese government) offered the company a partnership. Nio already has its main manufacturing hub there, so it’s a win-win.

The result is that Nio is moving its main headquarters to Hefei in exchange for 10 billion yuan (about $1.43 billion). Wall Street sent NIO shares soaring more than 18% on news of the cash infusion.

So … mea culpa on the short-term outlook for Nio. However, given that this is the same Chinese EV maker that reported an 80% surge in losses and canceled its investor call back in October … I guess I’m sorry/not sorry?

Nio will need more cash beyond this latest infusion. I guarantee it.

Can I just say that I love cherry-picked data like this?

The question is: What happens after the S&P 500 Index falls 2% or more on a Monday?

Clearly, as the chart says, the market rallies … and it rallies big! So, don’t worry about the market sell-off or the coronavirus … right? After all, both MarketWatch and CNBC optimistically projected a “Turnaround Tuesday.”

How’s that working out for you, boys?

The problem with the chart lies in the time frame. Look at it closely.

Excluding yesterday, it’s the period from 2009 through 2019 — the longest bull market run in U.S. history. Of course the market will be higher one week or one month down the road!

Now, I’m not saying that the market will be lower one week or one month from now (though, honestly, I don’t see much stopping COVID-19 to keep a decline from happening). What I’m saying is that past performance is not always a good indicator of future returns — especially when the time frame you’re looking at is the longest bull market in history.

Those dips in the chart above were excellent buying opportunities. It remains to be seen whether the current virus-related dive is an opportunity or a trap for investors used to buying the dip for the past 10 years.

Great Stuff: Marco?

You’ve listened to us yap for the past week. Now, Great Stuff wants to hear from YOU!

That’s right, it’s time to feed the beast! Write in to GreatStuffToday@banyanhill.com and let us know your deepest, darkest market desires! Are you burning down the house? Or have you found a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity? (This is not my beautiful house!)

Here are some questions for this week that you may ask yourself:

Do you follow Warren Buffett’s investing moves? Why or why not?

Where do you see the Dow or the S&P 500 at the end of 2020? Up? Down? Flat?

What are you doing to prepare for this viral market?

Is Great Stuff a good newsletter or the best newsletter you’ve ever received?

Now, you know the drill. You have about two days to drop me a line at GreatStuffToday@banyanhill.com to make this week’s edition of Reader Feedback.

In the meantime, don’t forget to check out Great Stuff on social media. If you can’t get enough meme-y market goodness, follow Great Stuff on Facebook and Twitter.

Until next time, good trading!

Regards,

Joseph Hargett

Editor, Great Stuff

[goldira01]

Who Wants to Invest Like a Billionaire?

We like talking heads here at Great Stuff … both the financial media version and the ’80s rock band.

(“Burning Down the House” is oddly appropriate this week: “Hold tight, wait till the party’s over.”)

So, when Warren Buffett — the Oracle of Omaha himself — chimed in on yesterday’s 1,000-point Dow sell-off, we just had to cover it.

But what does ol’ Warren Buffett do when the Dow plunges and the S&P 500 Index drops like a rock? He abides, just like the dude.

It’s more than that, however. According to Buffett, a stock market rout like this one is “good for us.” In an interview with CNBC, Buffett said: “Most people are savers, they should want the market to go down. They should want to buy at a lower price.”

Ironically, the Oracle admitted that he couldn’t foresee everything — especially where COVID-19 is concerned. Buffett said that he’s “not a specialist,” and that “a very significant percentage of our businesses one way are affected.”

The Takeaway:

Let me ask you something: What does Warren Buffett look like?

Does he look like a billionaire? Then why are you trying to invest like a billionaire?

Repeat after me, class: “I am not Warren Buffett.”

Now, I like Buffett’s cool demeanor in the face of the COVID-19 outbreak and the ensuing market volatility.

I also admire his investing outlook: “If you’re buying a business, and that’s what stocks are… you’re gonna own it for 10 or 20 years.”

There are two really big problems with trying to invest like Buffett right now.

First, you might not have 10 or 20 years to wait for the market to come back. If you’re in retirement, close to retirement or anywhere inside that 10- to 20-year range, taking Buffett’s advice could be dangerous.

So, while Buffett is right that the current market volatility will work itself out (the market always goes up … eventually) it’s possible you may no longer be solvent when that happens.

Second, you are not a billionaire. (Unless you are, in which case … I have cookies, a mean sense of humor and good bourbon. Wanna be friends?)

Since we are not billionaires, we don’t have the luxury of sitting back all laissez faire and watching the market drop 3% … 4% … 5% … whatever. I guarantee you that even if the market plummeted 50%, Warren Buffett’s portfolio would be just fine. Your portfolio, however, would not.

You need to be much more cautious in the current market environment. You need a different plan.

Here’s the bottom line: Warren Buffett has billions … tens of billions. Will he hit $100 billion before he joins the choir invisible? Who knows … and who cares?

Warren Buffett’s investments won’t make YOU rich. When you look at what the Oracle owns today, you’ll find a laundry list of old-world stocks grinding out pennies on the dollar. When you have Buffett’s billions, I guess that works.

But you are not Buffett. You have an eye for well-run, profitable new-world businesses — not stodgy old companies from decades past.

See, while billionaires are counting pennies (albeit that’s a lot of pennies) they miss out on a whole slew of up-and-coming superstars. I don’t want YOU to miss out on this new wave of innovative, American-made businesses.

Click here to learn how you can get a leg up on billionaire investors today.

Going: Mama, I’m Coming Home

As of this writing, the Dow was again off more than 2% … making Home Depot Inc.’s (NYSE: HD) 1% rally all the more impressive.

Riding the tailwind of a strong U.S. housing market, Home Depot reported much stronger-than-expected fourth-quarter results. Earnings rose 5.8% to $2.28 per share, topping the consensus estimate for $2.11. Sales came in at $25.8 billion, edging out Wall Street’s target of $25.7 billion.

Home Depot also put its 2020 forecast above the Street’s estimates and hiked its quarterly dividend 10% to $1.50 per share.

If not for the coronavirus, HD stock would have gained considerably more ground today. Speaking of which … Home Depot offered no comment on COVID-19 or its potential impact.

Hmmm … maybe that’s the real reason why HD initially surged higher. You can’t have a virus warning sell-off if you don’t issue a virus warning.

Going: Modern Problems, Moderna Solutions

If that isn’t Moderna Inc.’s (Nasdaq: MRNA) official slogan, it should be. (Email me, guys, I’ll make you a good offer!)

While many biotechs have promised a vaccine or potential treatments for COVID-19, none have begun human testing … until today. Moderna just put forward a coronavirus vaccine for “phase 1” testing.

Known as MRNA-1273 (you guys really need to work on branding!), the vaccine was recently shipped to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for a U.S.-based study.

From start to finish, Moderna’s potential COVID-19 vaccine took just 42 days to develop, which is impressive given that such efforts have taken months in the past.

MRNA shares rallied more than 17% on the open this morning before succumbing to broader-market selling pressure.

Gone: Yuan for the Road

When it comes to Nio Inc. (NYSE: NIO), I stand corrected, dear readers.

Back on February 10, I warned you not to buy the dip in this Chinese electric vehicle (EV) maker. The company reported a dive in year-over-year sales, which it blamed on COVID-19 and the Lunar New Year holiday.

If you went ahead and bought the dip, you’d be up more than 21% right now. However, the only reason you’d be up is because of a Chinese government bailout.

You see, Nio is performing so poorly that the municipal government of Hefei (i.e., the Chinese government) offered the company a partnership. Nio already has its main manufacturing hub there, so it’s a win-win.

The result is that Nio is moving its main headquarters to Hefei in exchange for 10 billion yuan (about $1.43 billion). Wall Street sent NIO shares soaring more than 18% on news of the cash infusion.

So … mea culpa on the short-term outlook for Nio. However, given that this is the same Chinese EV maker that reported an 80% surge in losses and canceled its investor call back in October … I guess I’m sorry/not sorry?

Nio will need more cash beyond this latest infusion. I guarantee it.

Can I just say that I love cherry-picked data like this?

The question is: What happens after the S&P 500 Index falls 2% or more on a Monday?

Clearly, as the chart says, the market rallies … and it rallies big! So, don’t worry about the market sell-off or the coronavirus … right? After all, both MarketWatch and CNBC optimistically projected a “Turnaround Tuesday.”

How’s that working out for you, boys?

The problem with the chart lies in the time frame. Look at it closely.

Excluding yesterday, it’s the period from 2009 through 2019 — the longest bull market run in U.S. history. Of course the market will be higher one week or one month down the road!

Now, I’m not saying that the market will be lower one week or one month from now (though, honestly, I don’t see much stopping COVID-19 to keep a decline from happening). What I’m saying is that past performance is not always a good indicator of future returns — especially when the time frame you’re looking at is the longest bull market in history.

Those dips in the chart above were excellent buying opportunities. It remains to be seen whether the current virus-related dive is an opportunity or a trap for investors used to buying the dip for the past 10 years.

Great Stuff: Marco?

You’ve listened to us yap for the past week. Now, Great Stuff wants to hear from YOU!

That’s right, it’s time to feed the beast! Write in to GreatStuffToday@banyanhill.com and let us know your deepest, darkest market desires! Are you burning down the house? Or have you found a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity? (This is not my beautiful house!)

Here are some questions for this week that you may ask yourself:

Do you follow Warren Buffett’s investing moves? Why or why not?

Where do you see the Dow or the S&P 500 at the end of 2020? Up? Down? Flat?

What are you doing to prepare for this viral market?

Is Great Stuff a good newsletter or the best newsletter you’ve ever received?

Now, you know the drill. You have about two days to drop me a line at GreatStuffToday@banyanhill.com to make this week’s edition of Reader Feedback.

In the meantime, don’t forget to check out Great Stuff on social media. If you can’t get enough meme-y market goodness, follow Great Stuff on Facebook and Twitter.

Until next time, good trading!

Regards,

Joseph Hargett

Editor, Great Stuff

[cynthiadshaw]

Perspective & Advice for Those Facing Insurmountable Odds

Throughout our journey with Voyage, the one thing we have learned over and over is that hidden within every challenge is a blessing or opportunity. It’s up to us to determine whether a challenge we face will be a step back or the catalyst for a step forward.

We had the honor of connecting with some of the city’s brightest leaders and role models and we asked them our question of the month: What is the best advice you have for someone who feels like they are facing insurmountable odds.

Below, you’ll find their advice and links and other info so you can learn more about them, their work and how to connect with them. We’ll be interviewing many of these amazing individuals in the coming weeks, stay tuned.

Bryttany Barrick | Fashion Enthusiast & Owner of Bryttany Bee Boutique

The best advice I could give for someone who is facing insurmountable odds is to stay calm, and stay focused. It sounds easier said than done, but even the smallest steps count. One thing that I’ve done to remain grounded at a time like that is keep a small notebook with me to help organize my thoughts. Even just writing out a checklist helps significantly. Take things day by day, one step at a time, and before you know it, the odds will be in your favor.

IG: @bryttanybee Business: @bryttanybeeboutique FB: http://www.facebook.com/bryttanybeeboutique

    Dillon Potts | Videographer & Photographer

The best advice I can for someone who feels they are facing insurmountable odds is to remind yourself of your value, accept that failure is part of the chase, give every opportunity your all, and overall be the best version of yourself and in turn, you will find yourself achieving what you once thought was impossible.

Instagram: Or @dillonpotts Facebook: https://facebook.com/dpottsmedia/ Portfolio: https://msha.ke/dillonpotts/

De’Arion “DJ SaucyD” Wafer | DJ & Upcoming Producer

To answer this question, I say nothing is too impossible to conquer nor is it too great to overcome. You can achieve anything you put your mind to because you’re in control. Those odds you are facing can make you doubt yourself, make you feel like you won’t amount to anything, and make you lose all motivation for what you want to do. But, you should face these odds head on and set out to do what you want, find your purpose, and find your passion. You’ll feel like you can conquer anything once you do this. Motivate yourself, surround yourself with positive energy, and those that support you in all that you do. I figured this out by the obstacles I went through this past year. I have dealt with failure, adversity, heartbreak, the closest people around me bringing me down, and even losing friends. I know you may have gone through the same things because it’s life. We all face at least one or all of these obstacles. I gave these examples to express the fact that those insurmountable odds were hindering me from moving forward. You may feel the same. In the midst of my hardships I found myself and my passion: music. I became a DJ and I am now venturing into music production. I have networked with amazing people, gotten noticed for my craft, and my business is booming! I can’t seem to catch a break during the weekends and I love every bit of it. Also, I recently graduated with my Bachelor’s Degree in Logistics and Supply Chain Management from UNT Dallas at the age of 20. I beat the odds. Anything is possible.

Instagram: @dj.saucyd

Mercedes Davis Sr. | Founder of Intelligent Minds and Author of the Kingdom Of Heaven

I would just say don’t give up there is no point on going back to square one when you prayed to be where you are now you might not be where you want to be but the gap between who you are and who you want to be is a lot smaller then it used to be.

Amazon: http://bit.ly/kohbook Instagram: Intelligentminds1

  Thottie Jay | American rapper,Singer & Songwriter

Image Credit: Brian Irby (@_brianirby)

God will never give you more than you can handle. Take things one step at a time and remember; you are bigger than the obstacles that are being thrown your way.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/t_hottiejay/ Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/1xHOXir0m9hPcMWbITS9Cv?si=4-o-WaALRFCg9elrBA_NcA Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/thottie-jay/1425228905

Diana Padrón | Professional model & owner of Lollitalo Handmade Gifts

From my own experience, I would say that God does not give us battles that we cannot combat , so we must rely on the adversities of life and see each disappointment as an experience and learn from it. Always think positive to bring light and love where you need it most. Your mindset shapes your life, and if you choose to see obstacles you will see only obstacles, but if you focus on a solution a clear path will present itself.

And remember that in the end everything will be fine and if it is not, it is because the end has not come yet.

“You’re gonna be happy” said life, but first I’ll make you strong.

IG: https://www.instagram.com/dianakpadron/ https://www.instagram.com/lollitalo/

  Tylor Herbert | Photographer, Owner of Tylor Michelle Photography

The best advice I can give is to change your attitude. To know that you are capable of anything and are capable to overcome anything you set your mind to is key. Make small steps towards your goal and always remember that even the small steps are a step forward.

Website: tylormichellephotography.mypixieset.com FB: Tylor Michelle Photography Instagram: @tylormichellephotography

Fredrick Henry | Dallas local

God gave you what you can handle. Life cannot deny someone who gives it their absolute all.

Instagram: @fred_fntz

  Steezie Stee The Brute | Rap Artist / Model

Stay strong and patient life wasn’t meant to be easy but if God ain’t give up on you then you shouldn’t give up on yourself and tackle reality passionately.

  Instagram: @SteezieStee @Reverbnation

Austin Snodgrass | Photographer

The best advice I would give to someone who feels like they are facing insurmountable odds would be to never forget your value and how much you have to contribute. Don’t compare yourself. Most of my battles with growing as a photographer have come from comparing myself to other creators and creatives. Rely not just on yourself, but on those closest to you that you trust. Insurmountable odds seem less daunting when you have a team of friends cheering you on that believe in you. Another piece of advice I would give is to be aware of your mindset. Instead of thinking, “I don’t know if I can do this”, think “I can do this. It’s going to be rough and I might fail once or twice, but I’m going to put in the work necessary to do this”. My favorite quote of all time is “You did not wake up today to be mediocre”. I’m also a believer that your dreams are only as crazy as the work you’re willing to put in to achieve them. All of this to say, when you feel like odds are stacked against you, take a look at your mindset and the people you trust the most. It just might change your perspective.

Facebook: /208vibes Instagram: @208vibes Website: 208vibes.com

Edward Sena | Photographer and Graphic Designer

Go all out, if you tell yourself you can’t do it then how will you ever persevere and get stronger. There will always be obstacles and negatives, surround yourself with people who believe in you and will be there through all odds, through all situations. When I had to withdraw from college I was nearly homeless and stuck in Pennsylvania, 1,500 miles away from home, a friend let me stay at his home while I tried to get everything back on track. The right group of people can turn any negative odds positive, no matter how slightly they may turn.

IG: @edwardsen3.14 , @edwartsena

Maggie Bryant | Photographer, Creative, Leadership Consultant at Life Leadership

Courage doesn’t always roar; sometimes, it’s the quiet voice at the end of the day saying I will try again tomorrow.” When I face seemingly insurmountable odds I try to remember to just take the next step. It’s easy to get overwhelmed when looking at the big picture, but when I break it down into small bite sized pieces it allows me to get wins along the way which then inspires & motivates me to do more!

IG: @maggiebryantphotography, @katteosborne, #altardstate @altardstate

Andres Gutierrez | Conceptual portrait photographer

My advice for anyone facing any insurmountable odds is to always remember no one has ever achieved something great without trying. So even against all odds you will achieve what you think is the impossible. You must take any negative energy and turn it into positivity to believe in yourself. Use any doubt you have against you as fuel to become better than the goals you have set. There are also lessons to be learned from failing, learn and grow from it. It takes time and dedication but when you want to overcome something you must work for it and the rest will work itself out.

IG: http://www.instagram.com/sights.not.seen

Emerson Funes | photographer & Outcast

Keep fighting no matter how hard it is because you will gain so much more then you expect in the beginning. It will help you become better and strong.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/umei.effects/

  Kelly Vega | Video producer & Photographer

I’ve learned that every experience, both the good and the bad will eventually get you to where you are supposed to be. Every win, every loss and every mistake. Don’t be afraid to fail at something new and don’t be so hard on yourself for feeling lost, confused or like you haven’t achieved all that you wanted to achieve. Don’t expect success overnight, be patient and focus your energy and emotions on the things you can control. You have passion and you are beautifully gifted. Work hard, explore your deeper self and show yourself what you’re capable of.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kvstudi0s/ Instagram: @k.vstudios

      Mogli (Logan Estrada) | Pizzaiolo & Producer/DJ

Image Credit: Syneca Milan (Synecamilan@gmail.com). Insta: https://www.instagram.com/followsyneca/

The best advice I could have for someone who feels like they are facing insurmountable odds would be to “take a step back and face everything one at a time, one after the other.”

IG: @mogli_music Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/moglirecords

Shane McCormick | Photographer, Artist & Problem Solver

Image Credit: Shane McCormick

I have faced insurmountable odds more than I’d like to admit. There is a lot of pressure that comes with being a photographer in an oversaturated environment. Over time, I have learned to work well under pressure, but that wasn’t always the case. A quote I like to think about from time to time is “who you are is defined by what you’re willing to struggle for.” If you choose your battles wisely and learn from your mistakes consciously, you may find that the odds you face become less and less insurmountable. When you’re stressed out, under pressure, or feeling like you’re not good enough, take a moment to look yourself in the mirror and say, “you got this.” When I tell myself this I tend to forget about the problems I’m facing and go into the situation more confident and energized than before.

IG: www.instagram.com/portrait_god Website: http://www.shanemccormickphoto.com/

Antonio Acosta | Photographer

As for the advice, I would say to break down those odds into smaller so they are more manageable to handle and focus on one at a time as to not overwhelm yourself.

    Peytan (E-KYD) Ivory | Recording Artist/ Creator

Alright, so the best advice I can give. I have a few things to share; First things first I have to state its all a mind game at the end of the day. Knowing that information, you have to attack it internally. Even though all the destruction is happening externally in your physical reality.

Tip #1: Don’t take it personal. I know when you’re going through something you can feel all alone and personally attacked, but thats not the case at all. As people we are really good at masking our pain. It might look like someone has it all together and all the answers but that could be a facade. Pretty much we are all in the same boat at the end of the day. We all have something we’re trying to overcome. You’re not alone in the struggle.

Tip #2: Don’t take it to heart and let it encrypt your spirit. You never want your heart to grow weary and heavy. You need to keep your heart pure at all times. Once something has taken ahold there it’s pretty much solidified. I don’t consider myself religious, just more spiritual but a good proverb to keep close- “Guard your heart with all diligence, then from it flow springs of life.” You don’t want to accept the odds – as fact in your heart because you could possibly open the door to more crisis within your realm.

Tip# 3: Take a look back and see all that you’ve overcome in your past and let that give you the confidence to pull through. This too shall past type of vibe. Life is all about overcoming. We’ve been overcoming odds since we were children. Try to think back to a situation that you were able to grow from and remember the steps you took to make it out. Thats what I do. When the climb to the top is getting too grimy for me I look back at all the things I’ve managed to pull through and I tell myself if I can make it to where I am now I can get to where I’m trying to go.

Tip #4: Have a “Light At The End Of The Tunnel” mentality. Pretty much you’re in this dark tunnel, you wanna always have your mind set to I’m going to make it to the light. I know there is light at the end of this tunnel type of thinking. You have to KNOW that you’re going to make it to the light regardless what is going on. No matter what darkness is surrounding you. You have to DESIRE the light. If you don’t have that deep seated belief you’re going to be stuck in the tunnel. Its your decision. Be stuck in that darkness or get to the light no matter what.

Tip #5: Go out and have fun! Take your mind off all the heavy stuff. Go out with your friends or if you have no one go out alone. Try to enjoy the moment while you’re out. Forget all that you gotta deal with for a few hours and just enjoy being. Try to put into perspective the grand scheme of things which is we don’t have control of a lot of the things we go through and understand life didn’t come with a blueprint – knowing that, try to let go and just be for a while until the solution comes. Remember within your being that the answer WILL come.

Instagram: @imekyd & @itsflightcrew

Ronnie Cade | Content Creator

For anyone who feels like they’re facing insurmountable odds, I say to persist and tap into your creativity. If there’s a will, there is always a way. You may just need to think outside the box in order to beat the odds.

IG: https://instagram.com/authenticdiscourse | https://instagram.com/somaticmovement

Darby Mcvay | Videographer & Content Creator

My advice to someone that feels like they’re facing insurmountable odds is purely this; just keep going. No matter how many people say no, no matter what the odds are, if you have something you’re passionate about and you believe in it, never ever give up. All an idea needs is the right opportunity, the right timing, yours will come.

IG: @darby_mcvay

Jose Patino | Photographer & Videographer

Stay consistent on the course to your goal and if you need to, take a few minutes to relax and remind yourself why you began this journey. History has proven that greatness takes time and only those who are willing to push through and sacrifice are those that reach success. After all, if it was easy everyone would do it right?

Website: ajpproduction.com Instagram: @_jpproduction

        Angeles | Business Owner

Image Credit: @rddproductions

The best advice I can give for someone who feels like they are facing insurmountable odds is to have courage in yourself, hustle hard, and stay positive. You can truly conquer whatever you put your mind to.

Website: Titasnatural.com Facebook: @titasnatural

      Shun | Designer/Creator of THE MOVEMENT

We must never forget who our Creator is!

Website: Www.Movementpiecesbyshun.com IG: Themovementpiecesbyshun

  Anai Garza | Food Enthusiast and Baker

I would advise that person that you have to take it day by day because you only live once and life’s too short to not enjoy it. Find yourself a supportive close-circle in friends and family that shares your views and goals and always remember every day to take some time to pamper and take care of yourself by doing something small you really like such a meal you enjoy, mediation, working out, or eating a dessert, you’ve earned it by working every day to overcome your odds.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lilpastries/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lilpastries/

      Ryan Daniel, D.D.S.

You were born to be a beacon of light. You were born to overcome any fear or any fright. You were born with the heart, will, & passion to never give up, & fight. If they say there is no way, you make it. Never ask for permission to be great, you just take it.

Instagram: @d.dental1

The post Perspective & Advice for Those Facing Insurmountable Odds appeared first on Voyage Dallas Magazine | Dallas City Guide.

source http://voyagedallas.com/2020/01/13/perspective-advice-facing-insurmountable-odds/

[walterfrodriguez]

A-Rod is coming for NYC and SoFla real estate

Alex Rodriguez (Photos by Guerin Blask)

Alex Rodriguez has seen both his professional and personal life covered exhaustively in newspapers across the country for decades now.

But since retiring as the Yankees’ star third baseman in 2016 — and, according to Forbes, pocketing over $480 million during his 22-year, pro-baseball career — he’s become even busier.

He’s now juggling regular media appearances with color commenting baseball games (he’s a broadcaster for Fox Sports and part of ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball team) and growing his real estate and investment empire, which all operates under his A-Rod Corp. umbrella.

He is also co-hosting a podcast, which launched last year, called The Corp, where he’s interviewed guests ranging from Martha Stewart and Kevin Bacon to real estate tycoons like Barry Sternlicht and Barbara Corcoran. Oh, he also has two daughters, ages 11 and 14, and is engaged to superstar singer, producer and actress Jennifer Lopez — aka J.Lo.

Since he founded the Miami-based A-Rod Corp. in 2003, the firm has purchased over 15,000 apartments across the U.S., deploying hundreds of millions of dollars on real estate and investing in companies like the hospitality startup Sonder, private jet startup Wheels Up, Snapchat and NRG eSports.

Sternlicht said Rodriguez has shown that he’s willing to put in the time and energy needed to succeed in business and said he comes to an “informed decision based on reasoned information and careful diligence.”

“Alex approaches business with the same dedication and passion he did baseball,” Sternlicht told The Real Deal via email. “Alex wants to win, really crush, in his work as he did in the majors.”

In July, A-Rod Corp. closed on a $4.5 million condo at Terra’s Grove at Grand Bay, twin luxury towers in Miami designed by starchitect Bjarke Ingels. (The company is building out its unit as an office and creating a ground-floor event space).

Meanwhile, in May, the Miami-based Monument Capital Management, A-Rod Corp.’s multifamily arm, launched its fourth residential fund focused on workforce housing with the majority of the roughly $50 million it raised coming from family offices and high-net-worth individuals, including fellow professional athletes (though he declined to name any).

It’s planning to buy about $200 million worth of real estate and has already closed on properties in Illinois and Tennessee with a third under contract in North Carolina. And it’s looking to launch a fifth fund, for $100 million, in 2020.

Workforce housing has been “one of the best places to take your money” because it has “tremendous yield and protective downside,” he said, during one of two interviews with TRD last month. The first of those conversations was at partner Stonehenge NYC’s Manhattan office, the second at his sprawling 11,000 square-foot Florida home, which has an indoor basketball court and where his art collection is on display.

In Miami, Rodriguez’s company is also investing in at least two developments, the Fairchild Coconut Grove, a boutique condo project, and a 31-story rental tower at 40 Northwest Third Street, the latter with Grand Station Partners.

On the New York front, last December, Adam Modlin, Rodriguez’s personal broker in New York, introduced him to Stonehenge CEO Ofer Yardeni and, six months later, the trio announced a partnership to buy rental buildings and condos in the Big Apple. They’re now in contract on their first deal: A 100-plus-unit rental building on East 51st Street in Manhattan.

The partners will be tapping their personal networks to raise about $500 million and then leverage that to buy $1 billion worth of value-add multifamily real estate in the city in the next 18 months, said Yardeni.

“Collaborating with [Rodriguez] will be extremely beneficial to all of us,” Yardeni said, noting that Rodriguez has a “tremendous network and an excellent reputation.”

“The vast network that he has can help Stonehenge go and raise capital from family officers, high-net-worth individuals and more institutional players because when Alex calls, everybody listens,” Yardeni added.

Modlin also gushed about Rodriguez, saying the retired Yankee has been “thinking about investing in New York City multifamily for years” and that he “brings a secret sauce.”

“Alex is a partner that anyone would dream to have,” Modlin said.  

The 44-year-old Rodriguez — who just sold a home in Los Angeles (which he bought from Meryl Streep) for $4.4 million and unloaded a $17.5 million pad at 432 Park Avenue — spends about half the month in Miami. The other half is spent jet setting on his Gulfstream IV to New York, L.A. or wherever else his broadcasting responsibilities take him.

Below is an edited and condensed version of his conversations with TRD — which were more focused on real estate stats than baseball stats.

You made your first real estate purchase in your early 20s, only a few years into playing for the Seattle Mariners. Tell us about that deal. It was a duplex out of Miami. The reason I liked the investment was because it was 10 minutes from Miami Beach and 10 minutes from Coral Gables and it was near the water. I needed around $48,000 [for the] down payment. I was very nervous about it. It was near the Miami arena. My thesis for the investment was very simple — it was around fear. I felt that if I bought some real estate that over time, if I signed a 15- to 20-year note, that by the time I was 30 or 40 I would have a handful of assets with very little debt. That was my answer to not going bankrupt, owning hard assets.

So, is that why you initially got into real estate? You said you didn’t want to go bankrupt. That’s all I’ve ever known. I always say, stick to what you’re passionate about and what you know. Coming from a single mother, all we knew was renting. We never bought anything. I envisioned one day as a young man that if I got an opportunity to trade places with a landlord that I would.

Alex Rodriguez (center) with Adam Modlin (left) and Ofer Yardeni

Do you only purchase multifamily? We’re really focused. Yes, I play sports. But I play baseball. Yes, I play real estate, but I play multifamily. … I’d say [our] average is Class B properties. There’s always an added-value component to them.

You spent the majority of your baseball career on the Yankees under Joe Torre and Joe Girardi. What did you learn from them about running and managing an organization? Joe Torre and Joe Girardi were both great managers. They both held me accountable. They expected you to show up early and leave late and they did not micromanage. Joe Girardi was more hands on, and Joe Torre was more like the Godfather. I remember one time I was struggling and Joe Torre brought me into his office. He thought I was overworking. I was nervous because it was 2004 and it was my first year as a Yankee and they have this incredible history with so many championships. I thought he was going to be mad and really get upset with me and he said ‘Look, I think you’re pressing too much. If you turn around, there’s a beautiful bottle of wine, Silver Oak and next to it a cigar.’ He said, ‘I want you to go home, drink that bottle of wine.’ I said, ‘Well, I’m not much of a drinker of wine.’ He said, ‘Drink it and have a cigar, and come back, tomorrow’s game is at 7. If you show up before 6 o’clock I will fine you. So just show up and play.’ It made me so nervous to show up to the park so late. Usually, you’re there five or six hours before the game. [But] I show up around 6 o’clock. That night, I go out and hit a home run. The next night I go out and hit two home runs and off I went and finished that season very strong.

You went straight to the Mariners from high school, forgoing a scholarship to the University of Miami. Have you considered going back to school and getting any degrees? I’ve always thought about it. Joe Girardi always said that I was a teacher and a student at heart. And I think he’s right. I love to learn. I’m constantly trying to educate. I’ve been self-taught because I didn’t have any formal education. But I wouldn’t rule it out.

Does your team scout out opportunities and bring them to you? How involved are you in the whole process? I mean if you talk to Lane LaMure, Jeff Lee, Lisa Peier and Erin Knight [from my team], they’d probably tell you I’m involved too much. But I think that as we scale, we have to really count on our team. Ideas and opportunities come from all over the place.

How big is the company? It’s fluctuated. We were at one point 10,000 apartments. Today we might fluctuate by 3,000 to 6,000 depending on whether we’re buying or selling. We feel that it’s fairly late in the cycle right now. We take the philosophy that we sell 3,000 but we buy 1,000.

Are you worried about a recession? Are you preparing for that? We’re definitely in a defensive mode. We have our feet on the brakes a little bit. We made the decision about three years ago to start selling some of our portfolios and preparing for an opportunity. So, while we’re still buying, we’re cautious.

You’re investing in Chicago, New York and Miami. What other cities are you eyeing right now? We like to buy, fix [and] refinance. We’ve had a lot of success in secondary and tertiary markets, especially in the southeast. North Carolina has been great. We’ve had a lot of success in Texas. Chicago has been an incredible investment for us. … We’re very fortunate to have [Monument’s Chief Investment Officer] Stuart Zook leading the way. He’s always identifying new markets. Interesting markets where we haven’t been before are Tucson, Reno, Portland and Seattle. As we kind of move into the West Coast for the first time, it’s been a fun process. [Zook is] really good about picking what’s next. He’s got some great cities up his sleeve.

I read that you know Warren Buffet. What’s the best advice he’s given you? One of the lessons learned from Warren Buffet has been to do what you absolutely love to do with the people you love and respect. One of the interesting things I found with Warren is that he’s 89 and to this day, he’s still putting in six days of work. He’s in the office every day at 7:30. He reads five to eight hours a day.

Who else do you look up to in the real estate industry? I look up to Stuart Zook. I feel incredibly fortunate that I met him almost 11 years ago. I thought it was the biggest break of my [business] career to find a guy that’s managed over $2 billion in assets over the course of his career and who understands the game so well. Someone who’s extremely ethical and incredibly conservative. We do this all the time [head butting motion] because I want to buy, and he says ‘No, no, no.’ That’s why he’s a much better investor than I am and why our returns have been incredible. He’s like Ted Williams. If it’s not right down the middle, center cut … he does have Buffet-esque discipline. I wish mine could be that good. But I’m a little more aggressive.

Does being a celebrity works against you in business? It’s a great question. As an athlete, there’s a gift and a curse. Sometimes, people celebrate and take the meeting. But for the most part, they’re thinking that you’re just an athlete. So I think part of what you have to do as an athlete is surround yourself with institutional-type investors with incredible background so a) they understand that your infrastructure and your team is one that can play at the big-league level and b) be one that can actually follow through and do the things they say they can.

There were reports that you are launching a business reality show in the same vein as “Shark Tank” on NBC. What can you tell us about it? We can’t talk much about the business show, but we’re very excited about and it has a little bit of a “Shark Tank” twist.

You told a crowd at a 2018 real estate convention that J.Lo loves real estate and has a “superpower to see what’s good and what’s not.” Do you guys talk about real estate and do you have plans to invest in any projects together? Jennifer loves residential real estate. I love commercial real estate. So, we make a good team there. She has impeccable taste, obviously. When you walk into her home, it’s always impeccable, smells good and is always in great neighborhood.

You two recently sold your condo at 432 Park. Why did you sell? Was it an investment decision or a personal decision? It was a trade. We love the building. We went in, we bought it. We have a big family — we didn’t fit. We needed a little bit more space.

Are you looking for a new apartment in New York City? I wouldn’t say so. We’re happy.

You announced your engagement to J.Lo in March. When’s the wedding? Now that was a nice pivot. We went from New York real estate to the wedding. Why don’t we go back to New York real estate?

How did you first meet Adam Modlin and how did you make the jump from broker-client to business partners? I met Adam over 25 years ago over at Bergdorf Goodman when he was selling suits. I knew I was going to like Adam from the get-go because the suit cost $500 and he tried to sell it to me for $5,000. I said this guy’s a pretty good salesman. Adam Modlin is a savant when it comes to New York real estate.

What about Ofer Yardeni? I met Ofer through Adam. I met him in South Florida over dinner [at Prime 112 in Miami Beach]. We quickly hit it off. Then we set a meeting together that lasted three days on the West Coast. My partner, Lane LaMure, came out. Adam came out. Over the course of two or three days we put together what we thought was a really great idea to buy real estate in New York City. Ofer has an incredible background. He served in the Israeli military. … He has a great family, great morals, great ethics and great background. He brings that intensity from his [military] background. He’s up every day at 4 a.m., he’s working out by 5, in the office by 6:30 or 7. With my background in New York, it’s always been a dream of mine to own real estate [there]. It’s the best real estate in the world. To have an operator who essentially is like Michael Jordan in his space … I thought it would be a great partnership.

Principal of Monument Capital Management Stuart Zook and executive vice president Erin Knight

When do you plan to make your first NYC investments? We’re close to having a letter of intent for an asset right here in Manhattan. It’s a great opportunity for us. It’s rentals and it’s in Manhattan.

Where else do you see potential in New York? Around Yankees Stadium or around Citi Field in Willets Point and Flushing? I think that there’s upside around Yankee Stadium and around the Mets [at Citi Field]. I think both have a lot of upside. Anywhere in New York City, you have the potential. … But I think for this particular venture, we’re really focused on Manhattan.

A-Rod Corp. is moving to a condo in Coconut Grove. One your execs, Erin Knight, said the firm is bullish on the area. Are you planning any other investments there? Well, Erin Knight is from Miami and she went to school right down the street at Ransom Everglades. So, we ended up buying this beautiful office space. The kids go to school nearby and right across the street we’re developing about 27 apartments in a place called the Fairchild Coconut Grove, which is right on the water. We’re very bullish when it comes to Coconut Grove. In five or seven or 10 years, you’re not going to be able to recognize Coconut Grove. It’s going to be awesome.

Where else in Miami? We’re developing about 31 stories, 300 units in downtown Miami. We love rentals and it’s just a place that’s on fire. I love Coral Gables, Coconut Grove, Miami Beach. I wish I was spending more time in Miami

I read that $20 million of the $50 million you raised for that fund came from high-net-worth individuals. Have you tapped any other athletes or celebrities? We’re very diversified. They come from the private equity world, hedge funds and entertainment. We have probably a dozen athletes that have come on board. One of the things I’m very proud of with our LPs [limited partners] is that over 95 percent of anybody who’s come in has never left us. They just keep doubling, tripling down.

What advice do you give to young athletes who want to invest in real estate or start their own business? Do you get that question? Yeah, I do. We have several dozen athletes that have invested with us, and every single one of them has come back for more. [I say] ‘I made mistakes, just like I made mistakes in baseball. I had some failures, that’s part of it. But I think never trying to be involved, that’s also a mistake.’ Even if you’re not interested, you have to be interested in protecting your future. I think you have a responsibility to yourself and a fiduciary duty to your family. … Real estate, with the right partner, is a great hedge to the W2 income you earn as an athlete. While your career earnings potential downgrades, your real estate appreciates. The No. 1 thing I would say is find a great partner. … No. 2, find yourself a great lawyer [who can] structure deals in a way that you have downside protection and you’re not putting yourself out there. No. 3, I would say, never personally guarantee. No PG for an athlete. So many people have gotten hurt like that. And then fourth, I would say, find [a deal where] everybody has skin in the game.

Have they been happy with their investments? The greatest thing for me is when I send them their returns. I’ll send them an email, and they’ll call me right away. They’re like, ‘What? Are you serious?’ It makes me happy because a) it’s interesting to them and b) they’re connected and they have some passion behind it. And athletes are really smart people. … They just need a little financial coaching, financial literacy. But once they get it and they’re confident, they’re quick learners. They just have to have people that look out for them.

Is there someone who did that for you? I’ve always had a passion for it. And then I looked up to some of my buddies like Magic Johnson, Greg Norman, Arnold Palmer, Pat Riley. All of them became friends and mentors. I really think that for athletes, picking great mentors is an incredible way to go. Almost like picking a board of advisers as diverse as you could think of — from age to gender to skill set. One thing that’s always going to be true is that you’re going to come into some challenges and choices. To be able to have a handful of people that you’ve very carefully put together, it’s so powerful. For me it’s been incredibly powerful to have people in the tech space, to have strong women, to have people in finance, to have people in sports. I can’t just have five athletes on my board.

Do you see opportunities in esports and other types of entertainment from a real estate angle? We own a big stake in NRG eSports in San Francisco. We’re building a new arena for them in SF, which we’re very excited about. We’re bullish about the space. When you think about esports in general, there’s more kids today playing esports than physical sports. While it’s great for the business of esports, it’s scary for the next generation.

How much cash do you have in your pocket? I have zero cash in my pocket. My money is in real estate. Why, do you want some of my money?

How do you manage your time? You’re extremely busy. I would say that it’s a blend between running A-Rod Corp. [and] media obligations. First and foremost is obviously being with my family and the kids.

Is this the busiest you’ve ever been? For sure. I thought I was busy when I played baseball. Even with baseball there’s a predictable schedule every day. This changes every day.

Do you still have an intense workout schedule? I try everywhere I go to get a workout in. I try every day to break a sweat, especially when I travel. I try to incorporate hot yoga. It relaxes me, it’s like meditation.

If you didn’t have baseball or real estate, what would you be doing? I think private equity. I love building things. I like curating great teams. I love to see other young people win and make a lot of money. There’s nothing that makes me happier than to see people on my team the first time they make a million dollars. It’s life changing. Coming from team sports, you just love to win with teammates. I don’t think it’s a lot of fun to win by yourself. What fun is it to get rich alone? That sucks. You want to share the pie a bit. What happens is when everyone tastes that champagne or how sweet the cake is, then everyone gets to the office at 6:30 in the morning instead of 7:30. And now you’re looking at the next deal, and the next deal. The power of alignment is everything.

What do you want people to know about you that they don’t already? I feel like they know a lot. One, that I’m a terrible cook and an even worse dancer. Other things they probably don’t know is that I enjoy business just as much as I enjoy sports … and I go at business just like the way I approach sports. You’re only as good as your team — you’re an average of the five people you surround yourself with every day.

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Beeline Creative Inc., found the perfect mix of Tiki and Geeky, their barware is high quality but also serves it’s audience with accurate mugs and tiki drinkware.  We sat down with President and Founder Brandon Giraldez to find out how Beeline makes the best Geeki Tiki’s in the business.

Q. Beeline Creative started with Hugh Hefner and is now making amazing geeky tiki mugs… can you tell us how it all started and how you went from Playboy to geek culture?

Our first product was a Hugh Hefner Bobblehead Doll and at the time, Bobbleheads were seeing a resurgence in Pop Culture. I had collected Bobbleheads on “Bobblehead Night” from various stadiums in Northern and Southern California and grown quite fond of them. When I saw Hugh Hefner at a bar in Hollywood one night, I ordered him a Mai Tai (Hef’s Favorite Drink).  He thanked me for the drink on his way out and I told my buddy, “I should make a Bobblehead for Hef… I bet people would dig it.” Turns out they did.

  I started adding additional product categories to our company’s portfolio which included Plush, Action Figures and Beer Steins. What sets us apart from other companies is that all of our products have a fun, unique and innovative twist to them that aren’t usually seen in that category. i.e. When we made Anchorman and Pulp Fiction action figures, they were larger than the traditional 1:6 scale and included a Talking Feature, which was something not too common at the time.

  When we developed our line of Beer Steins, they were figural in nature and included a head-hinged lid. When Lucasfilm signed off on our line of Star Wars Signature Steins, we knew we had created something special. The steins were more of a ‘Holiday/Gift-able” item as they were closer to $50.00 and collecting the full series was quite an investment. I wanted to develop a line of collectible mugs that were more affordable and that fans could collect more easily. It was at that time that we brainstormed licensed versions of tiki mugs. The first concepts we sketched were for Darth Vader and it was something we refined for weeks until we had the design just perfect. Shortly after we had a proof of concept, I needed a name for the brand and “Geeki Tikis” was born.

Q. Your tikis have a perfect mix of defining the character but also making them tiki, how do you find the right mix of both?

The key is making sure that the character is still recognizable, while embodying our “Signature” Geeki Tikis look. It’s a lot easier to work with new licencors now that we’ve established a brand and have something for them to reference. We like to say “We Put the Geeky into Tiki!”

Q.  You are taking on huge geeky universes with thousands of different characters, how do you decide who makes the cut?

At the end of the day, I go after licensed properties that I am passionate about, most of which stem from my childhood i.e. Star Wars, Gremlins, Garbage Pail Kids along with more recent Pop Culture juggernauts like Game of Thrones and Rick and Morty.

Once we have a line that we want to develop, we then mash up the licensed characters with our ‘stylized tiki elements’. If there’s a line or character which we don’t think will translate for the brand, we won’t move forward. On some occasions, i.e. Game of Thrones, our stylized designs have character likeness so they will also need to be routed through the actors for their sign off. To date, everyone involved has been very receptive to the brand, which has been great.

Q.  Beeline is making amazing bobbleheads and highly detailed action figures, can we expect more of this in the future?

Although our recent focus has been on the Geeki Tikis® brand of products (Ceramic Mugs, Mini Muglets & Tiki Tumblers), we do have plans to develop new products outside of the drinkware category. All of our products are very “Toyetic” in nature, whether it’s a Shotglass, Snack Bowl or Beer Stein. Action Figures and toys in general are a big passion of ours and something we will continue to develop and expand upon.

Q.  Your website also gives out some recipes, how many days in the office are spent “testing” the recipes?

Hahaha, while all of us at Beeline enjoy a good tiki cocktail, we work with ‘professionals’ in this arena and don’t typically concoct our own tiki drinks. We’ve collaborated with some of the nations best mixologists who specialize in tiki cocktails, so that we can offer something truly special to those interested in our tiki mugs and tiki cocktails.

Most recently, we partnered with our friend Jason Alexander who owns/operates “Devils Reef” in Tacoma, WA. Devil’s Reef is a Nautical-themed Tiki and Rum Bar. Jason is a HUGE Rick and Morty fan.  He developed 10 original cocktails, which he now offers at his bar (served up in one of our Geeki Tikis) for those who request it. We offer our followers new tiki-themed cocktails on “Aloha Friday’s” and post them to our website when available. One day, we plan to develop a cocktail book which will expand on this interest of ours further.

Q.  Any plans to make complete geeky drinkware sets? Like maybe a Luke shot glass inside a Tauntaun stein?

The Geeki Tikis drinkware sets are definitely something that we’re interested in developing further and we have some fun stuff in the works. Our first drinkware set was our 2017 Star Wars Celebration Exclusive which was a 41oz. Jabba the Hutt Geeki Tikis mug which came with a Salacious B. Crumb “Mini Muglet”. The latest sets include our 45oz. Rancor Geeki Tikis mug which holds a Jedi Luke Mini Muglet. We also have a Millennium Falcon Punch Bowl Set which will include Mini Muglets for Chewbacca and Han Solo. As we continue to develop new items within the Geeki Tikis brand I.e. Mini Muglets, Swizzle Sticks, Coasters we’ll find innovative ways to tie them in with other products. At the end of the day, we want to develop something that a.) makes sense and b.) has our fans saying “HOLY SH*T I HAVE TO HAVE THAT!”

Q.  Is there a particular set of tiki mugs you are especially proud of and why?

Ohhhh that’s a tough one. We’ve had such a fun time developing tiki mugs for hundreds of characters, all of which I’m passionate about.

A few of my favorites are the “Horror-themed” Geeki Tikis i.e. Jason, Michael Myers & Pennywise. These were fan favorites and something unique and different for us. We’ll be introducing new characters in the Horror Series later this year.

We also have a new line of Garbage Pail Kids, which are turning out fantastic. I was curious how the characters would translate to our brand and I am excited to share these with our fans. Being a kid of the eighties, I only wish I could have sipped my chocolate milk out of an Adam Bomb Geeki Tikis mug back in the day!

I am also very proud of the new Star Wars 18pc Mini Muglets set we are debuting at SWC this week. This set is a HUGE passion project and something way out of left-field, yet so freaking cool! The Mini Muglets are approximately 3” and hold 2oz of your drink of choice. Another fun feature is that they’re stackable, allowing you to create Tiki Totem Poles and mix-n-match combinations; Dark Side, Light Side, The Ice Planet Hoth, etc.

I would love to continue developing Mini Muglets for a number of other characters in the Star Wars Universe, as it will give fans the opportunity to collect a large number of characters while not running out of shelf space.

Q.  What came first for you a love to tiki’s or a love of all things geek?

All things “Geek” definitely came first, as I grew up with most of the licenses we now develop product for. That being said, I was introduced to “Tiki” fairly early in life at 18 years old when I visited my first tiki bar “Trader Dick’s” in Reno, NV. I was instantly drawn to the ambiance of the tiki bars, the designs of the tiki mugs and all things tiki culture.

Q.  Any future characters you can tell us about?

We have some very cool Star Wars items now in development for San Diego Comic-Con. These will be First to Market Releases which we can’t wait to share. We also have some great Summer and Holiday items for Rick and Morty, Scooby-Doo and Classic Batman!

Q.  Where can our readers find Beeline Creative next?

Following Star Wars Celebration, fans can come see us at San Diego Comic-Con (July ’19) and New York Comic-Con (Oct ’19). We also will be launching a Shop-in-Shop mid-June in the heart of Hollywood, which will often host special events and first to market releases. For the latest and greatest updates please follow our Instagram @beelinecreative.

Interview with Geeki Tikis Beeline Creative Inc., found the perfect mix of Tiki and Geeky, their barware is high quality but also serves it's audience with accurate mugs and tiki drinkware.