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sweetswesf · 2 years

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Check In

What I Did Today

Actually woke up w/my alarm

Procrastinated getting the day started after waking, but at least I did not hit snooze!

Worked out

Talked to my gym crush...albeit nervously, but I still did it!

Accepted the invitation to the event hosted by the only 2 men I've slept with...then invited a friend...then commenced to trying on what I plan to wear...I hope I don't have a nervous panic reaction and start shaking when talking to one of them like I did last time in a surprise encounter of them *eyeroll*

Worked for about 6 hours on the AlgoExpert videos! This is the longest I've spent on them.

Cooked all my meals, never ordered out, and ate pretty balanced!

Stayed pretty hydrated

Took a walk for 10 minutes after dinner

Got over 10k steps

Did BOTH of my face wash routines

Look at this progress!

What I Learned Today

Hash tables, stacks & queues, strings, & runtimes of their common operations

I can do this!

Feeling

Accomplished; I got a LOT done...more than I thought

Proud of myself; I didn't even need a nap nor did I get hella tired today

A bit more energized now that I'm averaging a bit more hours of rest at night and a little less constant stress...work put a LOT of stress on me...no matter what I did, I always felt like I was being watched or should have done something better, or that I should have been monitoring something that I deployed somewhere

Hopeful that I can keep this up and do better

Grateful that I don't have crazy headaches anymore...slight dizziness...but, I just remind myself to keep pushing through

Takeaways

I'm going to get something like that house in Spain

Don't allow my mind to think negative thoughts

As I have heard throughout my life, I gotta stop being so hard on myself...

How I Got Myself Out of a Rut Today

My friend telling more people I am looking when I am not trying to interview drove me nuts for many reasons: 1) I have a LOT of things lined up that I am PREPPING for!!!, 2) I TOLD him I was not trying to interview right now...MANY TIMES, 3) I would NEVER apply to the places he's volunteering my name for without running past me, 4) This lowers my stock having someone search around for me when I don't want or need them to...After telling him to chill and taking a big sigh, I got to work, because I need to shake this identity off me! LOL If I was prepared, I wouldn't even have aggressions like these! It sounds spoiled, but I hope y'all understand; I appreciate his gesture, but he's deciding to ignore my judgement despite me telling him, and throughout my life I have been trying to show people that I got it and some just don't trust my word, even if I was trying to prove it to them (which I'm not)...

Wasting less time overall

Telling myself it's okay to feel tired and that it was going to be worth it

Goals Completed

Found a therapist

Stopped listening to people worried about their own circumstances and remembering God works on his own time and that I am in no rush...

Got back on the ball

Being kinder to myself and stopping guilting myself if my energy isn't always on 100%

Goals After Today

Strengthen my relationship with God

Understand the main concepts I need to from Interview Cake, AlgoExpert, etc. in 6 months, NOT less than 3

Drop my body fat percentage to Marion Jones, Michaela Cole, or Jade Cargill levels

Consistently fight urge to fill up my time with social media/YouTube

Fully forgive my family & build a great relationship with them

Be more confident & faithful

250 steps/hour & 10k steps/daily consistently

Drink more than 64oz a day consistently

Go on a date with a guy I actually like who actually likes me too

Learn more about my gym crush & get him to ask for my number

Get a house similar to that one in Spain

Update my personal app

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the-general-hux · 5 years

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@temptedbythelight

Hux tried to stop his legs from trembling as he stood in line at the auction house. He'd never had to stand for so long at once before, having been brought here directly from an OmegaPrime breeding house. They specialised in pairing pedigree alphas and omegas to produce prime stock for their eager beta customers. Before today Hux hadn't seen the outside of his pen where he had been born with his siblings. Alpha pups were taken from their mothers almost as soon as their eyes opened, ready to be trained to become builders, farmers and other heavy laborers. The best specimens were reserved for studs or pets for daring betas. In contrast omegas stayed with their mothers until they were fully mature and entered their virgin heat. They were then put on suppressants and sold at various markets depending on their quality. The highest quality breeding stock like Hux ended up here, to be sold to rich elite betas as luxury pets. Their demure and submissive nature making them easily trainable and well behaved.

The line jostled as an omega at the front of the queue was lead on stage. Hux looked at the floor, trying once again to calm his trembling body. His knees felt like jelly and the cold was making his feet turn numb. It seemed like no time at all before the omega in front of him was lead on stage leaving Hux next in line. His shivering increased and he nervously clutched his hands together. He was next, soon he would be sold to his first beta owner. He hoped they were kind and patient, but then omegas weren't meant to hope so perhaps he was already being disobedient.

The beta auctioneer pushed his way backstage through the curtains and took Hux's dangling lead hanging from the simple leather collar around his neck.

"Come on sweetie, don't be afraid" he cooed as he gently led Hux past the velvet curtains and onto the wooden stage, placing him on a chalk x marked on the wood. Hux squinted against the bright lights even as he focused his eyes desperately on his toes, maintaining his submissive posture.

"As you can see ladies and gentlemen we have yet more high-quality breeding stock for you. Arrived here just this morning from OmegaPrime itself" the auctioneer announced to his avid audience. There was a scattered muttering at the mention of OmegaPrime. They were well known for producing award-winning pedigree omegas, and also for being exclusive with their stock.

He flipped the page on his clipboard and started reading Hux's fact sheet.

"So specification: red hair; green eyes; petite frame and tall; his fertility rates very highly at 82.6%, if you're considering breeding from him; bloodwork suggests no genetic disorders, but as always OmegaPrime offers a lifetime guarantee with that; and finally a family line which includes 3 award-winning pedigree omegas. I’m sure we can all agree that this is a rather special individual. With all of this taken into account I think we'll start the bidding at 1 million."

Hux remained focused on his feet ignoring the bids as they climbed higher and higher, the better behaved he was the more he would be trusted by his owner. And that meant more freedom and less punishment.

"Sold! To buyer 24 for 60 million, that's our highest bid yet today day so that's the amount to beat!" The beta joked as he gently led Hux to the other side of the stage where a beta woman took his lead.

She led him out of the backstage area and into what looked like a waiting room, before coaxing him to climb into a carry kennel. Only a few minutes passed before the door swung open and Hux peeked through the cage at his new owner. The beta was tall and thin with dark hair and a pointed face, he was smiling though as he moved into the room, setting Hux at ease. That was a good sign.

"Good afternoon sir, congratulations on securing your bid." The woman bowed politely as she took the signed cheque from Hux's new owner.

"Thank you Ms, and please call me Harold" he said as he made his way towards Hux's cage. "Hello little one, you're very pretty aren't you", he murmured as he held out his hand for Hux to sniff.

"Of course Harold. Now may I enquire as to if you've brought from us before?" The woman asked pulling out some pamphlets from her bag.

"No, I'm afraid not", Harold turned to face her, "I'm a first-time omega owner actually, but I have an alpha slave at home".

"Well I wouldn't worry sir, training omegas is far simpler than training alphas! They’re naturally obedient you see. I'll give you these leaflets on basic care but with your purchase we've included a bed and some feed to get you started, we’d like to make this process as seamless as possible. Now we can have the crate taken to your vehicle or if you'd rather we can have him delivered tomorrow morning." She motioned to the cage Hux sat in whilst handing over the leaflets.

"Oh no, I'd definitely rather get him home today. I imagine it's been a stressful and tiring day for him so I'd like to get him settled." Hux watched as his owner spoke to the beta woman. His voice was kind sounding and calm and Hux wondered if his hopes had come true with this man.

His cage was suddenly hoisted up into the air by beta workmen as they followed his new owner out of the room. The auction house was a maze of corridors, and his cage jolted from side to side with each sharp turn before they stopped at an automatic door. It slid open and Hux was greeted by the cool outside breeze as he was carried out into the car park. The air smelled fresh and clean, and the chill gave Hux goosebumps as he sniffed eagerly at the new smells that surrounded him.

"It's probably the first time he's been outdoors. OmegaPrime have very strict quarantine rules so their omegas are often fascinated by the outside world. Things that are ordinary to us are extraordinary to them." The beta lady spoke as Hux was loaded into the trunk of his owner’s car.

Harold nodded, "So I've heard, I plan to let him out in the garden as much as possible so he can explore the outside world more fully." The trunk slammed and Hux only heard muffled voices as his owner moved around the car. The front door opened as he clambered in, slamming the door and starting the engine. "Don't worry little one, we'll be home soon.

Hux's owner’s house, or Master Harold as he'd been instructed to call him, was large and intimidating. The front door itself loomed over Hux as he was led inside and the stark hallway beyond reminded Hux immediately of the auction house. He was ushered through the house and into the kitchen. It was all grey with straight lines with a huge polished granite worktop stretching from one side of the room to the other. There was no clutter or personal touches in the room and Hux wondered if his master had ever used it. Thankfully Master had placed his bed in the utility room next-door, in a large cupboard with the door taken off.

“I was told that omegas like boxes and enclosed spaces to make them feel safe so I think this will be suitable. The boiler is just above it so it should be nice and cosy too.” Master rubbed the back of his neck bashfully before pointing to a generous bowl of food and a clean bowl of water.

"Those are for you so please eat and drink your fill. Now the leaflets all say you'll want to settle into your surroundings so I'm going to leave you to it for a while, you’re allowed anywhere with an open door. If you need anything don't hesitate to get my attention, I won't be angry or upset if you need something." Master smiled gently, "I'm going to call my friend Callum, he's an expert at slave keeping and he’s helped me a lot with my alpha Ben. He'll come over and give you a good look over for me. I'm afraid I'm at bit of a novice at this." He patted Hux's head. He walked out of the room.

Hux looked around briefly before crawling over to the food bowl. It was standard OmegaKibble which is what he’d eaten since he had been weaned from his mother. The familiarity of it was comforting as he happily tucked in. After licking himself clean Hux snuggled down in his new bed. His master had tucked a clock between the many blankets that made up his nest. The soft ticking reminded him of his mother's heart-beat, when Hux would lie next to her in their pen, and it lulled him gently into sleep.

He woke only a short time later when there was a knock on the back door. He looked up as his master walked past to open it, before ushering a huge alpha into the room.

“Just wait there Ben I'll bring you dinner in a moment." Master moved back into the kitchen.

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barrendome · 5 years

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the 2b2t survival guide

are you planning to play on 2b2t? have you been playing but can’t seem to get out of spawn? or have you been waiting 12 hours in queue to no avail?

in that case, have i got some stuff for you! heres a handy guide about how to actually play, and some tips to help along the way!

step one: preparing

you can just hop right in and go, but it is smart to know a bit beforehand.

know what you're getting into. the server has no rules to it, so you just have to expect a fuckton of disgusting shit, slurs, etc. just kinda accept that, and ignore it.

get a hacked client. sure, you can play on vanilla, but doing that will make your life harder. the best client to use is impact, but if you really need to you can download wurst instead.

make a plan. although this is optional, its smart to do. you can just wing it if you wanna, but it’s helpful to have a goal for what you wanna do in the server.

step two: queue

queue is basically inevitable, but there are a few things you can do to make the wait less painful!

decide if you want priority. priority queue is a godsend, it takes 30 min at MOST to join the server! but on the other hand, its 20 dollars per month. if you’re planning on playing for a long time and dedicating lots of time to playing? get priority. if you just wanna check the server out? don’t worry about buying it.

join when nobody else would. the best times i’ve found are near 1-3am, or on a weekday in early mornings. you’ll still have to wait hours, but not as long as you would otherwise.

pray for a server restart. when it restarts, turn on auto-reconnect (if you have that) or just keep on trying to connect. you’ll get onto the server extremely quick if you’re able to join right after a restart.

do something else. multitasking is the best way to wait. leave queue running in the background and check on it whenever you can, but fill your time with other stuff. i usually draw or watch videos when waiting!

step three: common sense

you gotta use normal common sense, but also server-unique common sense.

remember: there are no rules. people are going to kill you. people are going to grief you. people are going to say gross shit. the worst kinds of people are here on the server, you have to accept that.

what you build is gonna go. no matter how nice it looks, how far out it is, how tiny it is, whatever. its how 2b2t works. when you build, you have to remember that its going to get destroyed one day.

you aren’t safe. no matter how far away you are, or how nice that one person is. don’t get lulled into feeling secure, stay on edge. better safe than sorry.

enderchests are your friend. you’re definitely gonna die, several times, so keep any important things in your enderchest. for more space, put everything into shulker boxes and store the boxes in your enderchest. this is why silk touch pickaxes are something you’ll need: because your enderchest is the only safe place for your items.

signs are the best communication. carry a sign with you, and read all the signs you find. its not important, but its fun to read what people write, and its nice to make your own mark on the world with just a simple sign.

don’t trust anyone. or at least, be cautious of everyone. if you run into someone, expect deaths, and be cautious even if they give you stuff.

you aren’t special. oh, so you watched a bunch of fit videos and know everything about the server? no you don’t, shut up. you’re gonna spam things in chat and grief a bunch of builds to become a notable player? you’re gonna become a minor annoyance, shut up. you read this guide and now know how to become the best 2b2t player ever? my guide is shit, shut up.

everyone hates new players. don’t openly say you’re new. just stick to yourself for the first while of joining.

step four: chat

so you’ve joined, and you connect to see.. the constant spam of chat.

hide the chat. go into settings, and turn chat off. usually chat isn’t worth looking at, except for warning about server restarts. if you wanna keep chat on, just turn down the opacity.

use /ignore. theres bots constantly flooding the chat, so if you wanna keep chat on, spend time quickly ignoring all the bots.

don’t ask for help. you do not wanna let everybody know you’re new, and if you don’t get ignored, people will send gross shit or fake help instead.

if you have a question, ask google. like the point above, asking for help isn’t a good option. search stuff up on google or the 2b2t subreddit before asking chat. and try not to ask obvious questions either.

don’t get into arguments. don’t rile people up or argue, its kinda risky, and again some bad shit will get sent your way. its really not worth it. if you get angry at some gross shit people are saying, just /ignore them, because fighting them will make you just a laughing stock.

step five: escaping spawn

i know what you’re thinking, “tumblr user barrendome! stop rambling and just tell me how to actually PLAY now!”, and yeah yeah, okay, i will.

turn your hacks on. what i’d suggest is turning on storage esp, player esp/tracers, search (search for blocks like melons, crops, wood, etc), and things like that. also keep xray and freecam ready, and make sure you set keybinds for those.

collect, store, die, repeat. i never did this, but my boyfriend did, and it worked incredibly well. he would collect as many resources as he could, store them in an enderchest whenever he saw one, and then either die of hunger or something else. he’d repeat this process until he had enough stuff in his enderchest to get him out of spawn.

save your hunger bar. try not to run, and try not to jump. its hard, but its important. most deaths are from hunger in the first while of playing, so just try not to get hungry. for this exact reason, the main thing you’re looking for is food.

don’t go into the nether right away. spawn nether is impossible to get out of, so travel on the overworld for about 2000 blocks, and then its safe(ish) to go into the nether.

20000 blocks is the safer zone, but its still spawn territory. outside of 50000 blocks is when id consider making a base if you really need to, but try to go much farther if you can.

step six: just outside of spawn

so you’re out of the major spawn area... now what?

find food, farm food. get as much food as you can, thats the most important thing to do at this moment. make sure you have as much food as you could need, and store some in your enderchest.

make a temporary base. you can make a small house, a hole, or even just a dirt hut. just make sure you have a place to store all your extra stuff, and a place to stay for now. (sidenote, don’t put a nether portal right beside your house.)

find a bed. later on, beds aren’t a big deal, but at first they definitely are. try to find or make a bed, and set your spawn somewhere. i’d suggest hiding the bed somewhere near your temporary base, but don’t make it visible.

get geared up. use your xray and get some diamonds, look through dungeons for enchanted books, make yourself tools, etc. its best to get what you need now that you’re out of spawn.

go fishing. you can get food, enchanted books, xp, etc. going fishing is actually super useful. the autofish hack is your friend right now. but don’t go afk when fishing, you can get kicked for it.

remember the nether highway myth. if you have almost nothing, and are travelling on the nether highways, there’s a good chance a high-level player could stumble upon you, take pity, and give you stuff. remember not to trust anyone right away, they could still end up killing you. but there is still a chance that being on the highways could get you everything youd ever need. again, though, make sure to put everything in your enderchest!

step seven: planning and playing.

im ready! ..what do i do now?

make a goal if you haven’t already. if you wanna be a nomad? plan where you’re gonna wander. if you’re gonna make a huge base? plan where to build it and go out there. if you’re gonna go visit monuments? figure out which ones and their coordinates, and start walking. gonna join a group? figure out which one would be safe and fun to join, and try to get in.

get as far from spawn as possible. unless you wanna stay near spawn, try and get 100,000 blocks away or further. and if you really wanna keep a base intact, don’t stay near any of the major highways.

have fun! as rough this server can be to play on, theres a lot of cool stuff you can find, and its important to find joy in the chaos.

and that’s all for now!

i may have forgotten things, so feel free to send me anything i missed! but i hope that everything i was able to write down will be enough to help anybody that wants to join 2b2t.org, the oldest anarchy server on minecraft!

#2b2t #minecraft #mineblr #2builders2tools #fitmc #fit #barrendome #salc1 #minecraft guide #minecraft server #what do i tag this?

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popculturebuffet · 4 years

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Loud House: 11 Louds A Leapin Review or It’s My Bobby in a Box

Happy Holidays errybody! Christmas returns to this blog after a bit of a break to tie up some loose ends, and celebrate my birthday with a return to the loud house. It’s honestly good to be back. While it can be a struggle to cover a pure comedy, I genuinely like the show a lot, even with it’s flaws i’ve gone into, and my regular reviews gave me a running gag in my hatred of rusty and a new respect for the show. It’s just with a buiser schedule and me not actually trying to have something resembling order to things, I kept shoving Banned Together back despite really wanting to see it since.. you know.. Luna episode.. until it ended up sliding into ANOTHER set of episodes. It’s things like this why I have a queue now: while it’s not set day by day, in case I want to do more than one i na day, it is there to keeep some semblance of order and keep me on track so this dosen’t happen again. So with all that being said.. why did I choose to do A DIFFRENT loud house episode for the second time in a row before getting back to the current season? Simple.. i’ve been putting this episode off personally for even LONGER. I meant to watch 12 louds a leapin back when it first came out at the start of season 2... and just never got around to it. And just kept never getting around to it, wanting to watch it at christmas but then forgetting to do so for the last 4 years. Spare a thought there.. 4 years. In that time 80 years have passed, an era of marvel movies have come to an end, a tick series has come and gone, She Ra has come and gone, ducktales premiered then annoucned it was ending.. my point is way too many shows are ending too soon, and i’ve let this slide for far too long. So I bumped this one up to finally take a look at it, as i’ve waited this long and didn’t want to risk missing it a fifth fucking time. So yeah i’m taking look at what’s probably a classic episode in the fandom with fresh eyes. Let’s see what I thought shall we? It’s Christmas Eve at the Loud House and Lincoln is once again Zach Morrising it up .

Not what I meant.. whatever that is. It’s been 30 years since that episode aired, probably a good 12 since I first saw it and I still have no idea why they did this or if it was giong to end in a three way before the girls showed up. We just don’t know and the greatest minds in the country are baffled.. and you know working on the vaccine and making sure it’s safe.

No Linc is talking to the camera about it being christmas while gearing up to go sledding with his sled big red. Meanwhile the rest of the louds are doing their usual christmas activities which we get introduced to as Lincoln gets ready. The girls sub-plots here are, outside of Lori’s., less plots and more running gags, various shenanigans by the girls tying into their personalities and christmasy stuff. It works perfectly.. while it’s a bunch of gags.. the gags are funny and it’s neat to learn more about just how the girls celebrate christmas and what they get up to every year. It’s part of what’s to love about holiday specials as you get a once or twice in a series chance to see how our heroes celbrate the holiday and thus a look into stories, gags and character stuff very unique to the holiday. It also uses the fact LIncoln was the protaganist at the time very well, using him as our viewpoint to set up all the christmas goings on as he makes his way out of the house, so we can cut back to them later as his plot goes on. It’s really good stuff. So what are the girls up to? Let’s go down the list by age shall we?

Lori: Lori has the most involved plot anyway so it’s best to start here. Lori and Bobby are having their first christmas together... though it does bring up the fact that they’ve only been dating 2 years at most, yet plan to get married.. I mean that is a lot but your also 18. Then again time is nigh incomprehinsiable to unpack in the loud house, and at least 3 years passed in the one year it took to get them all aged up, so I wouldn’t think about it too hard. Lori, still being in huge bitch mode as she was early on, pressures bobby to get a good gift. She later gets said gift but despite being told to open it immideitly, her siblings chide her on her habit of tearing presents open and thus get her not to open it. So that’s a runner through the special, with Lana even putting her on a leash at one point, which I found hilarious. Less hilaroius is the conclusion as it turns out in the box on christmas day.. is BOBBY, who understandably is not looking so good...

Thankfully bobby’s not dead or they all would be, but still the poor boy missed christmas eve with his mom and sister for this stunt. I mean I get it’s his fault, he’s apparently LITERALLY too dumb to live it turns out and should’ve you know made a noise sooner and probably didn’t want to ruin the suprise.. but we still nearly got an episode where a 4 year old had surivviors guilt for letting her older sisters boyfriend suffocate in a box. That’s dead santa from gremlins levels of fucked up. Thankfully Lori loves it and I assume bobby’s worried family joined them for christmas eve. That image fills my heart with hope. But seriously bobby never again we can’t loose you. At least not before Sergio.

Leni: Leni’s is very simple it’s just a running gag of her taking various christmas things, making them into outfits then saying shhhh to whoever’s around when she hears, or in later cases is right there, with the person asking. Just a funny bit. Luna: Is working on a christmas song. It’s one of the weake runners as the failed songs just aren’t that funny, but the payoff for the main plot makes up for it. WE’ll get to that. Luann: Has one of my faviorite bits, her 12 puns of christmas which is both really adorable and leads to an adorable moment with her dad. Always loved their relationship.

Lynn and Lucy: Are teamed up this episode which makes me genuinely miss how the two would be used as a pair ocasionally earlier on but just .. arne’t anymore> The rest of the girls status as roomates is used liberally but not so much these two. IT’s just weird and disheartning to me. That being said their plot is simply the two digging around to find where the presents are hidden, which I never got as why would you want to know weeks ahead of time. You can’t use any money to buy the stuff you dind’t get or they’ll know and they usually figure out you knew ahead of time and it just brings thigns down. But from a kid’s perspective I guess I get it and while it’s weird to have Lucy be one of the ones following I like it, as it shows that benath her gothy demanor she’s still just an 8 year old girl excited for christmas, and that’s adorable. A decent enough runner.

Lana: Gets a good one: She keeps accidently catching people, and a passing car in one case though she has a jack to help, in her reindeer traps. Its not only funny but really adorable especially since she dosen’t care about trapping SANTA persay, she just wants her own pet reindeer and frankly who wouldn’t want a rideable woodland critter who can fly. Dammit now i want one too.

Lola and Lisa: Lola gets a fairly standard one tha’ts still pretty damn funny; She wants to get offf the naughy list by playing good for a day. What makes it funny is that last part.. that instead of doing it over a few days like most of this plot she’s trying to cram it all into one day while also trying not to strangle Lisa, who keeps showing up to say santa’s route is impossiuble. As ducktales covered he slows down time.. also you know.. not every kid celebrates christmas so ther’es probably a good number of houses he dosen’t have to cover in one night. Lily: Just randomly pops out of stockings a bit. it’s precioous as it sounds. The Parents: It had honestly been so long both since i’d seen a season 1 episode, and since the two had been both given actual names and fleshed out considerably, that i’d forgotten Rita and Senior had their faces obscured for all of season 1. It’s REALLY weird and jarring to go back to after getting to know them as fully formed people of their own over the past 3 seasons, and especally gorowing to love Senior, as he’s a loveably goofy dad but without the incompetence of most comedy dads. He can bumble but he’s also genuinely supportive, talented and pulls his weight in his marriage and family. We do however start to really see their fully formed , full member of the cast perosnalities here: Rita is clearly tired from the sheer amount of shit she has to juggle, but is also nice and warm and while Lynn Sr.’s goofiness was established already, here it’s tempered into his current shape and his love of cooking and through role as the family chef is established. While he was established as cook earlier he goes from someone who’d use frozen food just to get by to a master chef who probably does use a lot of frozen stuff but can make anything taste good and will eventually have his own restraunt. It’s really fascenating to see them slowly emerge. They don’t really have plots themslves, and Lynn’s only real gag is wanting everyone to try his figgy pudding.

So with the rest of the family covered let’s get to our main plot. Lincoln is sledding.. on the slide out back.. for some reason.

The reason is simple.. his sled ends up in the yard of Mr. Grouse, their neighbor and old man who yells at louds. Lincoln explains grouse keeps everything that ends up in his yard and has taken a lot from the Loud Kids over the years. So lincoln.. uses the slide to sled.. DIRECTLY IN FRONT OF HIS YARD.

I’ve been wanting to use pigtail kim since I made that one recently. But her points stands. What?!. I mean Lincoln can be stupid, he’s only 12 it’s allowed, but usually more out of not realizing what he’s getting into or using kid logic. He’s not this brain dead. That’s Leni’s job. It just feels like plot contrivance. Just have him build some sort of contraption as a makeshift hill and tell the audience he’s doing this because his family dosen’t want him going to an actual hill on christmas or is too busy to take him. There are easier ways than this half assed rube goldberg machine of a setup. So naturally his sled ends up in the yard.. and he calls on Clyde to help....

Now if you’ve been reading my reviews for a while, you know that reactoin is normally reserved exclusivley for this guy.

But since Rusty was in his larval state with only a few apperances and hadn’t emeerged from his coocoon as the douche I know and love to take pot shots at, there was actually something WORSE. Something more obnoxious. And with far far worse implications. And that my friends was seasons 1 and 2 Clyde. Clyde in the early seasons CAN be fine, and the self we know now. In fact I wish he interacted with the sisters more as the slumber party episode early on gave him a nice dynamic with all of them and the episode with him and leni was terrific. The problem one there was running gag with him, one character trait that utterly sucked the joy out of the room at best and made him into an unlikeable little shit at worst; HIs crush on Lori. When she’s around at BEST he has a Master Roshi nosebleed, stammers her name and passes out, something that wasn’t funny the first time and quickly became grating the 80 other times they did it. But at worst, as he is here? He’s creepy, obessevie and worst of all. .a real dick to bobby. Who as we’ve established is...

So that was NEVER going to go over well and even ignoring that is still very bad. The little creep just constantly treats Bobby with hostility, which given this is Bobby, he dosen’t realize is going on. Any time their relationship is threantned Clyde’s main goal is to swoop in during the aftermath and win lori over. He constantly wants Bobby out of the way, The ONE TIME he dosen’t come off as a massive dick is when Lincoln thinks Bobby might be cheating, and that’s because Clyde isn’t planning on swooping into the wrecakge of someone’s relationship to get a girlfriend, but to punch the guy out for cheating on her. Bobby wasn’t and Clyde obviously isn’t capable of that, but it’s a bit more understandable and even CLYDE wants to make sure there’s evidence first. But more often than not he’s just under the assumptino Lori will be his despite the massive age gap, her having made it obvious she’s not intrested, and her being in longterm relationship she’s really happy in with someone else. And this was season 1 lori who reacted to this, so the fact she’s not being the queen of all bitches about it only makes him look that much worse. And to add to that, Bobby not only KNOWS he has as crush on Lori but is suppportive of clyde, cheering him on when she kisses him once for doing something noble, and generally treating “Clydsdale” like he would any of Lori’s blood siblings. It was excurating then to sit through this every few episodes.. and it’s even worse now because the gag’s complete dissaperance from Season 3 onwards really paints the picture that this gag was entirely because series creator Chris Savino thought this was FUNNY and no one else did. And given he got fired for, you know, HARASSING WOMEN AND NOT TAKING NO FOR AN ANSWER you kinda see how an already bad bit was made worse. So yeah while the sled thing is bad this.. is objectively worse and drags the special down more. It’s thakfully not omniprescent but man is it hard to watch. Clyde being in full dickhead mode is trying to get a kiss from lori and is using a missletoe hat for it.. And can we just agree that while Missletoe can be used well in stories, to help two shy people finally kiss or to ramp up romantic tension or what have you, that it’s often used by creepy douchebags to get kisses they don’t deserve both here and presumibly in irl before the plauge hit? We can? Good. But yeah that’s his plot, no suprise he gets one, bah hum bug. He also throws in some Bobby bashing by fantasising about him ending up in the yard and clyde ending up with lori since Grouse keeps bobby.. even though instead Lori would just ignore clyde, storm over there and rip an old man’s spine out mortal kombat style.

So yeah Lincoln wants his sled back, but he can’t do it alone as the old man scares him, hence Clyde coming in. They make an elaborate plan using some careful blueprints.

Their real plan is to have Clyde disract grouse while Lincoln grabs the sled but it fails and mean mr mustard finds it and takes it inside. Desperate, Lincoln prepares to do some crimes and head into his house. Clyde is afraid he’l end up in jail and never get to visit because only family can. Clyde you are family. Plus Prison visits aren’t limited to relatives only, any show with a character in jail storyline will tell you that. But Lincoln makes a valid point that Grouse stole his property.. I still dont’ think this is the right way to handle it and his parents should just go over and ask the loud, irate asshole to give the kids stuff back he stole to be a dick, but this is a kids show and again we wouldn’t have a plot but unlike last time my head dosen’t hurt from this. He’s desperate, he knows that probably wouldn’t work and again he’s 12. 12 year old logic is fine. Naturally he ends up getting caught as Grouse didn’t leave for long, though having found a photo of Grouse with a sled as a kid, understandably fires back on him that he wasn’t always like this. Why he like this. He also has the much farier point that again, it’s his property and “My yard my rules” is about as much a legal rule as a note saying “I can do what I want, ron”. But Grouse understandably, hey he’s a dick but the boyd id be and e, makes him clean up and after Grouse fails to get the loud parents Lincoln, via a comination of a charming family photo and Grouse talking to his sister on the phone, finds out the real reason he acts like this: He misses his family and being on a fixed income can’t visit them often as he tells his sister he won’t be home for christmas to see his sprawling family.

And while it doesen’t excuse his actions.. it does explain why Grouse is so bitter: you would be too if you had a massive family who clealry loved you and your on good terms with.. but through no fault of your own and presumibly despite working hard toa fford retirment you just.. can’t see them. Their there and you have the phone, but you don’t know how to work the internet and it’s just.. not the same as seeing them. Your just seperated from them and can’t be near them or hear their voices or get hugs. Which.. given the current pandemic i’m sure MANY of you can relate to that.. to being seperated from your loved ones and trapped, and especailly many people mr grouses age are facing that. While this special is good even without the context of seeing it this year it especailly resonates and i’m glad I waited this long simply beaause it came at just the right time. Grouse tells him to leave not planning on calling his parents.

So in christmas special fashion, Lincoln is touched byt his story, and feels bad for the old curmudgeon. Sure they don’t get along and the bastard broke his sled.. but again you’d be bitter too in his shoes. The guy has nothing and is alone.. and Grouse has done nothing to deserve that, even with his actions resulting from it. No one should be alone on christmas. So Lincoln tells his sisters, all of whom rally around him, including Luna whose writer’s block is broken as she finally realizes...

And not singing about that was holding her back. Luna has her song and Lincoln, as expected has a plan. And we soon see that plan as Grouse gets a knock on the door.. and finds the Louds, parents included, and The McBrides all there singing him a christmas song. It’s pretty decent and the first time we really get to see Nikka Futterman sing and i’ts beautiful> Ther’ed be better, and worse luna songs to come but this is still pretty neat and sweet. THey came to offer him deocrations, dinner, company.. and a one way bus ticket to his family... presumibly the family will pay the other way or he can easier the day after christmas. Point is he’s touched, and genuinely and sincerly thanks them and invites them in, with Grouse’s actor John DiMaggio REALLY selling it hard.

So our heroes gather for Christmas Eve all together, and under Grouse’s roof with Grouse giving the kids their stuff back having had a change of heart. Sure he misses his family.. but the Louds and Mc Brides have shown him he dosen’t have to shut everyone out as a result. And while Grouse apologizes tht his sled is gone.. Lincoln’s fine with it he got something better. So the next morning we end on the kids opening presents, and Lori saving her boyfriend from axphisxiation, seriously between this and strife of the party i’m really starting to sour on lana. Regarldess Lucy finally belivies in santa both due to gifts nd seeing him last night, while Lincoln finds a sled from santa.. and then goes outside to see Mr Grouse off, recognizing he’s the one who played santa in a really sweet and senitmental bit. The two part on good terms even if Lincoln breaks another window. Things have changed if not that much. Final THoughts: If it wasn’t obvious, I REALLY loved this one. While it has it’s flaws, and Chris Savino sucks dirty ass in thunderstorms obviously.. it’s still a really sweet, well constructed special and I really recommend checking it out. It’s on the nick app if you have cable and on CBS All Acess if you have that. Until next time merry christmas to all and to all a good day.

And if ther’es an episode of the loud house you’d like me to review leave it in the comments or you can comission a review of it for five dollars. Just direct message me to work out the details or send an ask for my discord.

#the loud house #lincoln loud #lucy loud #lola loud #lori loud #leni loud #luna loud #lynn loud jr #lynn loud senior #rita loud #lily loud #lana loud #luann loud #lisa loud #clyde mcbride #harold mcbride #howard mcbride #bud grouse #christmas

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johannepetereric · 4 years

Text

Unnamed | Part 2 of my Creative Writing Midterm, Which I Finally Decided To Use As An Excuse To Write Fanfiction

I wrote this on the 17th, as the Part 2 of my Creative Writing midterm. Some stuff was edited, like “his mother” to “their mother”, to make it less...inappropriate..I just checked Pinnacle, and the part where the Midterm for that class is supposed to be is blank, so I’m scared of when/if she’ll grade it and what I’d get if she did.

But I haven’t posted a story in a while, so here it is! I was originally planning on queueing this for Christmas Eve tomorrow, but *shrug* might as well. I might get inspiration to write a Part 2 between now and then.

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Renzou has a lot to do today. Kasuka-chan is coming home, and she is expecting a fully-stocked apartment.

The redhead doesn’t want to imagine the horror of seeing his girl crying because he forgot orders. This morning’s forecast predicted rain soon, so he’ll have some time to spare to go find something.

Boom! But now it’s raining—and thundering.

Eh. He shrugged. Nothing a call home can’t fix.

He typed in the home number of the wall telephone. Yes, they decided to keep the wall phone even though it’s the 2030s.

Ring-ring-ring. Ring-ring-ring. Ring-ring-ring. Ring-ring--gacha! “He-llo?” Renzou heard the soft voice of their mother. Worried. Sniffly.

Perhaps snot in the mouth. “Mama, have you and Dad put up the Christmas lights yet?”

He did not get a response.

“Did you remember to put up the lights?” Renzou reiterated.

“No. Do you need them?”

“Yeah. Kasuka-chan wants a very Christmas-y apartment.”

“Oh. I see.”

“And it’s raining on our end, and I have another idea in mind. Could you get one of the henchmen to bring them over?”

“Sure, I guess?”

“Thank you. That is all!” Click! Renzou hung up just like that. No time to waste!

It’s time to start cooking!

Really, it was a matter of remembering what she wants—and he certainly can’t ask her! That’d blow the cover and he’d get the yelling-for again.

Can he do it this time?

So, Renzou thought as he paced their apartment--the size of the ones in your typical American TV show. What does Kasuka-chan want now? Last year, I tried the turkey without gravy and that failed. Maybe duck? Should I order in meat? What did she say she wanted for Christmas yesterday? A ring—no, that’s for a different event—a necklace—no, not yet, it’s not the American New Years’ yet—a doll—no, not after what happened yesterday—a—what?—oh, yeah! I could look online for that new antique shop in town! What is it called again?

Renzou’s brain never ceased making up prettier and grander gift ideas—what, gifts? I thought I already had one prepared?—did I? Yes, I did—

Renzou logged into the computer—his account, for this one. Can’t have Kasuka-chan seeing my failures.

He opened a new tab. It was easy.

Antique shop near me—yep, Anteiku—what, that looks suspicious—wait, no, if they are, they’re good—

He searched through the list of Christmas items that they might have—even broken ones, but I’ll comfort her—until there was nothing left.

He sighed.

And then scrolled through Halloween.

Renzou found himself an hour later searching through her side of the bedroom.

And found a rectangular strip of paper—yes, here it is!

It was a reasonably-lengthy list, much smudged and many crossed-out like waste, but he could still pick something—oh, so she does want jewelry—ok.

So he’s already prepared.

Ding—dong! He heard the doorbell reverberate throughout the homey housing space.

He opened it. It revealed a big, burly man—wet from rain, unfazed—in a black suit holding a stack of large cardboard boxes.

Must be one of the henchmen. “Are you Ren Suzugamori’s?”

“Yes. Here it is, young master.”

“You are dismissed.”

And then the lackey marched away all officially.

It’s annoying, but it’s worth it.

Renzou placed the mountain carefully onto a corner floor-space—damn, this thing’s heavy—to move aside all the furniture. The couches, the table, even the rug. They all got shifted around to far-off corners of the “lobby-space.”

This could get messy.

And it was.

Not just Christmas lights. The contents of the boxes were stockings, plushie bears, old knitted angels, metal and porcelain décor, a macrame owl that vaguely resembled Auntie Misaki.

And, of course, the lights.

Those had a box of their own.

It was a huge box. It layed the foundation to hold everything else.

No radio. They knew Renzou and Kasuka already have one.

Renzou set out the not-lights first. Carefully organized the plushies, the angels, the delicates carefully onto ledges that are off their ledges. Just like how she wants to save them even if it breaks her heart.

The metals…put them on their bed—they’ll be fiiiine…will they?

It was not something worth dwelling on—much.

Renzou hammered the owl to right beside the door.

And now comes the lights.

…By the Reverse, this is Armageddeon.

The multi-colored lights were all set to represent the knot that Alexander could never untie.

Renzou fimbled and fumbled and fungled around with the lights. He caught himself in Jormungandr’s grasp soon enough.

He sighed again. I hope she doesn’t get home that soon.

#maleoc #impliedkaichi #kaichi #ocs #henchman #sideaichixren #christmaslight #basedonaprompt #allusions #siblingincest #if you payed attention to the story updates #may or may not have a part two #i didn't have enough willpower or energy to do more than a cliffhanger #i'm sorry #iwrotethisinsteadofsleeping #christmas special #iwrotethisinsteadofworkingonanotherfic

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paharvey99 · 4 years

Text

No Waitrose October: Days 27-28

Day 27

Who’s staying up for the US election then? I’m so excited about it, I keep checking that 538 website and looking for the latest Pennsylvania polls and trying to work out whether Biden is in a better position than Clinton was four years ago… I mean, all the polls are saying Biden is going to win, if you were looking at it rationally you’d say he was going to win big, but after what happened four years ago I don’t think anyone can look at anything rationally right now. Plus the Republicans are going to do everything they can to steal the election, they’re not even hiding it.

I don’t know anything about US politics the rest of the time, by the way, just around election time. I always wonder if there’s an equivalent set of people in the US when we have a general election; people sitting about in Dallas or Pittsburgh, frantically checking up on the chances of Iain Duncan Smith getting chucked out in Chigwell. I hope so.

I’m not staying up for the election, by the way, I’ve read that there probably isn’t even going to be a result for a few days because of mail-in votes. Although I’ve also read that the Republicans are trying to claim that there has to be a result on the night as a way of trying to get all the mail-in votes chucked out without being counted, as they’re more likely to favour Biden… OH GOD I LOVE ELECTIONS. If I get any more into this election I’m going to start calling the Republicans the GOP and it’s going to get really embarrassing.

I think part of the reason I’m excited about it is because getting rid of Trump would just be a nice thing, wouldn’t it? One less thing to worry about. And it would be nice round about now to have fewer things to worry about. Also, if Trump gets kicked out it’s bad for Boris Johnson, isn’t it? Johnson looks more nakedly awful once you stop being able to look across to America and say, “Well, at least we haven’t got that guy”. He’s a lot more exposed as a total shit if Trump goes. Hopefully that would make a difference on some tiny level.

Anyway, you didn’t come here for ill-informed and badly-reasoned political chat, you came here for… actually, what? Why do you even come here? Why are you reading this? This isn’t worth your time. It’s not enriching your existence. You’re just sitting there on your phone, trying to pretend you’re not addicted to your phone, while reading about me and my inconsequential opinions. Seriously, stop it. Go and talk to your children. Go out for a walk. Give your mum a call. Listen to Big Thief, or Cornershop, or Brahms. Paint. Give your head a treat. Whatever you do, just STOP READING THIS.

…

Right, now we’ve got rid of the part-timers, let’s get down some hardcore No Waitrose Octobering. Day 27, a Tuesday – a nursery day. The four year-old I live with has been getting much better at getting ready for nursery recently. It could be that the person I live with and I have got better at adapting to her latest software updates; currently, she basically wants to do everything for herself, even if she can’t do it. This makes even the smallest task, such as putting on Fireman Sam in the morning, utterly arduous.

Me: *presses button on remote*

Four year old I live with: I WANTED TO PRESS THE BUTTON

Me: Ok, come here then

FYOILW: Which button is it?

Me: The big button in the middle

FYOILW: *presses wrong button*

Me: No, not that one, this one. *presses button on remote*

FYOILW: I WANTED TO PRESS THE BUTTON

Me: *kicks self*

A pretty hectic day, but all days are pretty hectic at the moment. I’ve got more stuff to do, more meetings to go to, more people to talk to than ever before. Remember the good old days when working from home was openly acknowledged as being a bit of a skive? Feels like we might have changed the dial on that one.

Did the evening nursery run and on the way back decided to nip into M&S Food for a treat. The four year-old I live with loved M&S Food last time we were there, so I thought she’d enjoy it again. We did actually need some stuff as well, don’t worry. We needed milk, and I also had a vague plan to get something fancy for tea, as we didn’t have much in at home. Then it turned out that there wasn’t really anything fancy in M&S Food that I fancied, so I decided to go with the half a packet of bacon in the fridge as the basis of our evening meal. It turned out to be a good decision; I made some tomato, olive, bacon and chilli pasta that was pretty delicious, all told. It’s often the case that meals borne of mild desperation are among the tastiest, no idea why.

Didn’t go to Waitrose.

Day 28

Wednesday, and a new tactic. As you’ll remember, the four year-old I live with is at nursery from 1pm on Wednesdays, so Wednesday morning has become Big Shop Day. Now, the last few weeks have proved that going to the shop in the morning, coming back for lunch for an hour and then hotfooting it out again to nursery is a bit of a scramble, so I decided that today we would try going out to do the Big Shop and just staying out until it was time for nursery, see how that went.

We decided to go to West Hove Sainsburys, to try to buy a swimming costume again. They didn’t have one last week, so I was confident they wouldn’t have one this week, which was exactly what I wanted to happen. The four year-old I live with was confident they would have one this week for some reason, so I decided to let her discover the harsh realities of capitalism the hard way.

Thankfully Sainsburys hadn’t decided to start stocking swimming costumes in the last week and we made it out of the clothes section unburdened by lycra. The four year-old I live with had sensed that she had missed out on a treat though, so was on the lookout for the rest of the shop for something to fill the treat-shaped void. This intensified in the magazine aisle, I have no idea why I went down the magazine aisle, a rookie error. Ignoring the plaintive magazine demands, I hastened to the baking aisle and filled up on vaguely exciting things like sugar and golden syrup.

It was around this point that the four year-old I live with spotted a unicorn. Everything has unicorns on them these days, because four year-olds like them and idiot parents like me will give in and buy them. The thing that I caved in and bought was some kind of unicorn-flavoured Angel Delight. On closer inspection it emerged that it was three different layers of Angel Delight that you had to make separately and assemble in fancy glasses, which sounded like more effort than Angel Delight is worth, but vague nostalgia won out and it went in the trolley.

The four year-old I live with has learned that pretty much everything after the baking aisle in West Hove Sainsburys is as boring as hell, so almost immediately the demands to go and pay started up. Frankly I pretty much agree with her; the beer selection in Sainsburys is the worst of any major supermarket, and the freezer section holds little interest beyond frozen peas and fish fingers, so we went and picked up a sausage roll from the hot food counter for lunch and found a socially-distanced queue to stand in for the till.

Back in the car we ate our lunch despite it only being about 11am. We still had a couple of hours to kill before nursery, so we called Granny for a chat. We told her about the unicorn-flavoured Angel Delight; she’d heard of Angel Delight but never had it. The internet informs me that Angel Delight was invented in 1967, at which point Granny was 45 years old. Of course she’s never had it, it’s still some new-fangled rubbish to her.

I wonder what I’ll think if I get to the age of 98 and I have some grandchild ringing me up and telling me they’ve just bought some Vegan Magnums or something. I think I’ll be okay with it, all told.

After the phone call we still had a bit of time to fill, so I had a look on the map on my phone to see if there was a nearby park we could have a look at. There seemed to be something called Hangleton Park, which looked quite big, so we went there. The park itself did indeed turn out to be quite big, a long narrowish stretch of grass with nothing on it other than a couple of benches and a few trees in each corner. Not exactly what I was after, but I had packed a ball, so I could work with it. We ran about and chased a ball and pretended to be monsters until it was time to go to nursery, at which point I went home and did a load of work in the afternoon.

After the evening nursery run and assorted malarkey, I made a chicken for tea. I’d been reading Nigella’s Christmas book where she gives a recipe for fancy roast potatoes, so I decided to try them out. Usually I just shove the potatoes in round the chicken, but for these I parboiled them first, coated them in newly-purchased semolina and tipped them into hot fat on their own baking tray. They were perfect, crispy and crunchy coating around a fluffy interior. They were almost too good, really, I was a bit suspicious of them. I asked the person I live with what she thought of them, she said she prefers her roast potatoes gloopy and I needn’t have bothered trying anything fancy.

Probably won’t be bothering doing that again. Also, I now need to find something to do with the rest of the packet of semolina.

Didn’t go to Waitrose.

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rktiffxny · 8 years

Text

CALL ME ON YOUR CELL PHONE, LATE NIGHT WHEN YOU NEED MY LOVE ♫ ( &&. WORDS NEVER MEANT TO BE RECOVERED — )

( 160926* )

she still hasn’t asked. she knows and he knows that the question is there. it lingers, hovers, looms over their heads but tiffany smiles and pretends instead. once upon a time ( and not so long ago ), she started to believe she won’t have to do that anymore, pretend. somehow, she’d forgotten that fairytales are just make-believe and she doesn’t know who’s to blame when she already gave up on fables years ago. too much hope, she tells herself, and, as she looks at leo over skype, she also thinks there’s also not enough.

why didn’t you go home? is something wrong? “are you happy, oppa?”

( 161001 )

“i thought you guys were doing fine.”

“we are. it’s just . . . different.”

“you couldn’t have expected better when you turned him down.”

“i didn’t turn him down—” a lie. “i told him not . . . right now.” there’s a difference, right? right. ivory sinks into a plush tier and she toys with the hem of her sweater, loose ends that taunt her and the risks too daunting.

“then what are you worrying about?”

she grumbles, displeased— with herself or with cassie, there’s no telling. “i didn’t say i’m worried.”

“you didn’t have to. just talk to him about it.”

“but—”

“there’s no but, steph. aren’t you tired of this? you keep denying everything when it comes to getting in too deep,” she says it, air quotation marks and all. “you did it all the time with byunghun and look where that got you.”

it’s the first time cassie has thrown it in her face so directly, but above all it’s the first time tiffany thought maybe she shouldn’t go to her sister for everything. maybe, patience has finally run out.

“okay, sorry.”

( 161008 )

“you’re so quiet.” her response is nothing but a soft hum and cassie’s annoyance rings in her voice. “that’s your queue to speak, steph.”

“i don’t have anything to say.”

“you always have something to say. why aren’t you telling me anything?”

but it’s tiffany who should be asking that. because it’s obvious leo and cassie have a secret they’re not telling her and it’s more than what’s going on with their father. it’s obvious her two older siblings are fighting.

it’s obvious she’s not supposed to ask but she so desperately wants to.

it’s obvious it’s something that can’t be easily fixed or talked about.

it’s obvious that there’s nothing tiffany can do when she’s so far away and that’s what she hates about it the most.

“i don’t have anything to tell.” and neither do you.

( 161017 )

she’s so certain she’s figured it out when she talks to tiffany next. “you’re not going to tell him, are you?”

“huh?”

“that you want to be with him.”

“i am with him.” quite literally too. bobby’s just in the next room over and prince is barking at him as per usual for attention. it didn’t feel like too long ago that prince used to bark at bobby for being a ‘stranger,’ an intruder. she almost forgets that it’s been well over a year.

“but you’re not going to wear his ring.”

she doesn’t answer and cassie takes it as she’s right. therein lies the problem.

the truth is that cassie always thinks she’s right. her plans, her morals, her beliefs as one of the siblings that has remained religious. leo and tiffany seem like they couldn’t care less, at least compared to when they were all younger. this time, tiffany doesn’t have the energy to correct her.

“yeah,” she lies, because it seems to be the new in thing for the three of them.

but her and bobby are more than fine. awkwardness never lasts for long and distance is never truly exists between them. they’re more than fine. what cassie thinks is exactly what tiffany isn’t going to do. she swears by this time next month, she will be wearing that ring. what cassie thinks be damned.

( 161023 )

"what’s wrong, sweetheart?”

“hm? oh— nothing, dad. i’m sorry. i was just . . . “

“zoning out? or as you used to call it, daydreaming.”

she laughs at the memory of what once was. it was her favorite excuse when she was in high school. her mother teased her for it and her father scolded her but she knew they both smiled at the same time, a small, amused one to themselves. one of her favorite smiles in exchange for a favorite phrase. what’s not to like about it?

“are you worried about your brother and sister?”

when isn’t she?

a misconception, at best— that being the youngest meant she was the most worried about, and not the one that worries. because she’s the youngest, the baby, everything is kept from her. shielded, sheltered— secrets without a single truth in sight at times.

all it does is leave pressure on them. pressure to be perfect. pressure to be happy. pressure to pretend.

“they’ll work things out. they always do.” he seems so sure, so at peace and tiffany’s happy to see him smiling so effortlessly.

“hey dad.”

“hm?”

“i know.”

“know what?”

she shifts, makes herself more comfortable on her bed, prince rests his paws against her side and she stifles a laugh at how ticklish she is even at the smallest touch. “so what’s her name?”

“what?”

it’s been years since tiffany saw her father blush and she swears, she absolutely swears, he’s a little nervous. her father, the ruthless lawyer with an impeccable record, even though he’s retired from the law, is actually nervous. years since he blushed and even longer since she thought he was being adorable. she almost forgot how endearing her father can be.

“her name, appa,” she chuckles, absent-mindedly fixing her bangs, casual as can be, switching to korean if only to tease him. “what’s her name?”

“i— who told you, honey?”

“no one. the last time i was home, i saw her name on your phone. i wasn’t snooping, i swear!” but his scolding glare says he believes otherwise. “promise, dad! but a good night text isn’t so platonic that late. i hope you’re being safe.” he sputters and she hides herself behind a pillow, as if there isn’t thousand of miles between them. “anyway, her name.”

“natasha.”

“oh my god, dad. you’re dating the black widow and you didn’t tell me sooner?”

“stephanie.”

“okay, okay i was just kidding. but . . . i’m happy for you.” he smiles and it’s another thing she hasn’t seen in a while. that kind of carefree smile. it’s been over six years. since her mother passed. “she’d be happy for you too.”

( 161030 )

"any halloween plans?”

she shrugs, vaguely mentioning elysium and most certainly deliberately not mentioning that bobby is going with her. even if leo seemed to be calmer about him since he came to visit — which tiffany still doesn’t know the reason for — she didn’t think letting her brother know that she spends even more time than he got to witness for himself with bobby.

“how’s your girlfriend?”

“why does my baby sis sound jealous, huh?”

“i’m the only one who hasn’t met her! of course i’m jealous,” she rolls her eyes. “if that’s what you want to call it.”

“come visit and you can meet her.”

it’s words that only draw a sigh out of her and he knows why. his last visit also gave him a clear view of how busy her schedule is, how little she sleeps. everything she’s unable to do. even groceries he realized cheolwoo helps her out with from time to time, keeping her refrigerator stocked, which he’s both proud of and grateful for.

“okay, i’ll come visit you.”

“and take her with you? ooh, are you that smitten oppa?”

“she does want to go to seoul one day.”

“are you really going to bring her?”

the look in his eyes tells her no. she knows her brother too well to think he’s that easily committed, that willing to let his girlfriend so fully into his life. there’s a reason she hasn’t met the girlfriend yet, even through skype or facetime.

“do you really like her?”

it’s the same question she didn’t have to ask her father and in some weird twisted way it’s funny. their father who lost the love of his life is more open to dating than two of his own children.

“do you like bobby?”

she’s caught off-guard. a question she never expected him to ask and she’s smiling before she nods, slowly but it’s a definite yes.

“i might be falling for him.”

( 161116 )

"is it weird?”

“is what weird?” she hums softly as she pets chocolat, gesturing for the mastiff to come closer until the dog settles at her feet.

“the merger. working in the same building as all those other trainees. your friends. jihyun. bobby.”

her sister still doesn’t know and tiffany’s unsure why she hasn’t said a word. that bobby’s not just bobby but her boyfriend. the ring on her finger isn’t easily visible through facetime and tiffany shrugs it off.

“we’ve always known it was going to be like this if it came to it. we did fine on the mgas.”

“but you weren’t at the same place everyday.”

“and we’re still not,” tiffany insists, her nose crinkling in annoyance at the thought. maybe she was too resistant to change but it was such a drastic change. how could she not be irritated to some extent? “we only have to go two days a week so i . . . only go when i have to.”

“if you say so.”

their conversations are so forced now, distant and tiffany’s never truly felt the physical distance between them until now. at least in this way. tinges of guilt and regret eat away at her whenever she thinks of how much emily is growing, how much she doesn’t get to see and be there for. but this? this distance is different. it’s resent and she can’t tell who seems more bitter, her or cassie.

“i have to go get ready for bed now.”

“bye.”

“ . . . yeah, bye.”

( 161116 ) * later that day

“just break up with her.”

“i don’t want to.”

“i didn’t ask you if you wanted to but you should.”

“cassie, i’m getting tired of this shit. if you’re gonna call just to yell at me, then don’t bother calling.”

“if i don’t yell at you, are you gonna realize that what you’re doing is fucked up. what’s wrong with you, leo? this isn’t like you.”

those words are a trigger and all he sees is red.

“maybe you don’t know me.”

silence, a click, and a dialtone. the unfinal verdict.

( 161203 )

"are you going home for the holidays?”

“i don’t know yet.”

“come on, leo.”

“don’t start.”

a stalemate. it’s what everything is boiled down to in the moment because he knows she’s annoyed that he has the opportunity to and won’t and she knows that he’s going through something even if he won’t say a word. but tiffany is the last person who could judge because she’s the first that can understand. they’re always more alike than they realize and she nods, concedes because this is her older brother. her only brother but her favorite no matter what.

“how are you doing?”

“good. actually—” she laughs a little, laughing at her choice of words, as if it’s an unlikely outcome and there was once a time she truly believed it. “i’m really happy.”

he chuckles too, just as amused because, again, if anyone could understand it’s them.

“does that mean you have news for me?”

“not anything in particular but you know i love christmas. what about you? anything to tell me?”

there’s a flicker of recognition in his eyes and he knows he set himself up for that question, a small smile on his lips as he shakes his head.

“how’s your girlfriend?” this time, she almost misses it. she almost misses how his eyes dim, darken, burn with guilt even as he says, “she’s good, we’re good.” and another almost is how convincing he is. she almost believes him.

( 170108 )

"oppa, what’s wrong?” it’s the middle of training when he first calls. 5 missed calls and he’s still awake once she can call back.

shaky breaths and she’s terrified. he never sounds like this. even at the funeral, she remembers leo being the strongest one. he held her hand, squeezed it, comforted her, told her that everything will be okay and those words are stuck in her throat as she listens to what she’s so certain is her brother crying.

he’s devastated and she can’t figure out why.

he’s hurt and she can’t be there to do what he’s done for her since she was a child.

nothing has said and she spends her entire dinner listening to him do his best to steady his breathing. she’s a few minutes late but she can’t leave, she can’t even move from where she’s sitting, not until he abruptly tells her he has to go. no explanation, no goodbye, just another click and a dialtone, what her father said is the new norm for her two siblings when they talk to each other.

she doesn’t understand until it’s too late.

( 170127 )

"you really don’t know what’s going on with him?” or with you.

“no, and you shouldn’t be asking.”

“why not?”

“just don’t, steph.”

“no, you can’t just shut me out of this. you’ve both been acting weird and you’re being jerks by acting like it doesn’t affect the rest of us but it does. dad’s finally happy and you’re bringing him down with all this fighting. don’t deny that either, i swear, cassie. don’t you dare.”

“well, tell me how you really feel.”

“if i did that, i’d be calling you guys something much worse than jerks for being like this.”

“you don’t understand.”

“of course i don’t. you guys aren’t telling me anything!”

“i can’t.”

in this moment when her sister was the one she should’ve believed, tiffany didn’t. it wouldn’t be too long that she’d realize why cassie couldn’t, that the redness of her sister’s eyes wasn’t exhaustion from raising a toddler.

she’d understand why her sister’s heart was broken.

( 170209 )

tiffany does her best not to cry when she knows anytime soon bobby will walk through the door. cassie doesn’t have to speak for tiffany to read between the lines. the this is why i didn’t want to tell you is written all over her face and she feels numb. she wishes she really was.

“are they really doing it?” and there’s the question that could kill her. the question that reveals all, of how for the first time in her life, her brother has broken her heart.

does leo really want her to get an abortion? does he really not want his own child?

#xsolo #xfamily #bobbyrk #tw: pregnancy and related topics #tw: death and related topics #can u tell i'm trying not to say certain words #this is so much word vomit #and yet very very /very/ vague!!#my only style of writing lbr

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rachelisnotatwork · 6 years

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Week 9: in which we bid goodbye to Australia

New Zealand has many good features. Decent public transport to the airport isn’t one of them. To get to the airport you need to get a bus for an annoyingly long period of time.

Luckily for us the bus stop was right outside a brunch restaurant so had a huge breakfast and sat about sipping hot drinks until the last moment when we dashed out to the bus.

Our flight back was uneventful (how I like my flights) and we swung by Hertz to pick up our new rental car. Now we spend a lot of time renting from Hertz and it has now mostly reached the stage of customer loyalty where we rent a smartcar and arrive to find ourselves upgraded to a brand-new minivan. So imagine our disappointment when we got exactly the car we’d rented. Entitlement crushed.

We drove back into town, picked up Esther and packed the back of the car with the obscene amount of food Esther had purchased and/or prepared (delightful characteristic of all members of the Bischoff family- they pack about a week’s worth of food for every 24 hours you are away) and headed off to the Blue Mountains.

We had rented a very nice airbnb with a big fireplace, so I set myself up to do what I do best, which is tend the fire and then eat delicious meals prepared for me.

The next morning we headed out for a hike. Marcel had spent the previous evening flipping through a book of walks and found one that started at a place called Pulpit’s Rock. This turned out to be one of those nightmarishly vertiginous places, so I stayed on another (fairly horrendously vertiginous) rock and photographed the Bischoff siblings.

We then followed a very empty path along the cliffs overhanging the valley. Pros, good views. Cons- there was a lot of bloody ups and downs. And despite it ranking as an easy walk, a lot of those ups and downs were via thigh high rocks. So imagine 4km of constant up and down scrabbling over big rocks with a huge drop on one side. It was pretty sweaty.

We decided we didn’t want to go the whole way back, so called a taxi as recommended by the guidebook to take us back to where we’d parked our car. Our taxi driver rather alarmingly (given it is a fairly small touristy area) never heard of it but he did eventually find it in his giant laminated book of maps.

We collected the car and headed into town so Marcel could print and email a signed police statement (oh the joys of being a doctor) and then we headed out to admire the view at Echo Point and eat ice creams.

In the evening we went out to the Korean we’d eaten at the last time we were in town with Ruth and Ian and I had nut tea and little pancakes shaped like fish, filled with red bean paste, and felt very overly full.

The last time we’d been there we’d done a huge walk down into the valley by Three Sisters. Since the weather was pretty bad for the rest of the time we had forecast in the blue mountains, no one wanted to set out on a 4 hour walk. So instead we decided to get tickets for something called “Scenic World Blue Mountains”. This got you access to a cable car that went across a waterfall, a funnicular down into the valley, a dinosaur walk and then a cable car back up.

We started off with the cable car across the top of the waterfall. We could have queued to travel back, but since the queue to get on it had taken about 20 minutes and the walk back around the top of the falls was only about 15 minutes, we decided to go with the walk. Easier said than done though as it was amazingly badly signed. Big on my list of things to do is “not get lost in the Australian bush” and that ambition nearly got thwarted.

Next we headed down on the world’s steepest funicular. It was, steep. Not much more to say about that. I’ve ridden quite a lot of funiculars, most of which seemed pretty steep and this didn’t seem that out of the ordinary, although it was the only one that ended up in a “dinosaur walk”. Although again that walk was pretty hard to find. When we did find it, it featured a lot of animatronic dinosaurs that I have to say, as a dinosaur pedant, were not native to Australia. It was fairly surreal though.

We then attempted to go along one of the nearby hiking paths, but the path irritatingly had a lot of fallen trees on and instead of clearing them, they’d just cut some steps into them to help you climb over them, which is a slow and irritating way to hike especially when you find the path ends in a landslide.

So back we headed and up in the cable car. To recover from our exhausting dinosaur viewing and attempted hiking, we headed to a chocolate shop in town and ate obscene amounts of cake before toddling off home for more lazing in front of the fire.

The next day promised torrential rain from dawn. So we were fairly surprised to get out of bed and find blue skies and sun blazing down. We decided to plan some short walks to lookouts instead so that if the weather changed we wouldn’t be too far from home.

Our first stop off was a place called Anvil Rock. This had an amazing view over the mountains and was completely empty, just us.

As we walked back to the car with me leading the way, Esther talked about her fear of snakes and I said they just weren’t something that worried me that much because they are pretty shy and we make such a lot of noise walking they’d just move away. At that moment Marcel piped up from the back to point out I’d just stepped over a frozen in fear snake. Oops. Attempts at identification suggest it was a juvenile brown snake (aka super poisonous) but I maintain it’s mouth was pretty small and it would most likely have just bitten my trainer.

Near Anvil Rock is a pretty cool-looking place called Windswept Caves, so we stopped and admired those before driving on to another nearby lookout, which was nice, but not as good as Anvil Rock.

After that we drove on to a place called Lincoln’s Rock. This is one of those unfenced lookouts that reduces me from normal human being to sweaty blob of fear that has to be prised from the nearest solid object that is miles from the edge. So Marcel and Esther enjoyed the view and I photographed idiot tourists risking their lives for selfies.

After that we went to take a quick walk to a viewing point overlooking Wentworth Falls. We just about made it there before the terrible weather, but we definitely didn’t make it back before the rain. We drove our soggy selves back and spent our last evening admiring astoundingly thick fog through the windows.

The next morning we drove back to Sydney and dropped the car off at the airport (because we just love driving to the airport there). Then we headed out to see Ruth and meet the newest member of their family, who hadn’t been there the last time we’d visited, Elliott. It was lovely to catch up with them all and go for a walk along the seafront and have dinner and do the crossword (just like being back at uni. Except for the gorgeous seaside views).

Saturday morning we checked in online for our flights the next morning and headed out for the day. About an hour after we checked in for our flight we got one of those casual emails that say “there’s been a slight change to your departure time”. We logged in expecting to see a 5-10 minute change. Instead it had been moved to 10 hours later. Marcel then spent an enragingly long time on the phone getting shunted between departments trying to find out what the hell was going on. Presumably because we called and complained early, we got bumped to a delta flight that was leaving roughly when our scheduled flight was supposed to leave. We had middle seats on opposite sides of the plane but the Delta spokesperson promised I’d get my vegetarian meal and that if we went to the airport early we could get our seats swapped to sit together.

So we headed out to enjoy our last day in Sydney. We took a ferry out to Manly and then took a walk around the headland there, which features an old plague graveyard and great views over the harbour. We also happened across an echidna wandering about doing it’s thing, which was a nice little last wildlife spot.

After dinner we said a “probably” goodbye to Esther and headed to our airbnb.

The next morning we arrived at the airport painfully early to find our flight had been hugely overbooked and there was no chance of sitting together and no vegetarian meal booked for me. Given it was a 14 hour flight, I was less than thrilled. A 14 hour flight that was also an hour and a half delayed in setting off (and we’d got to the airport 3 hours early so that was 4.5 hours of hanging around before 14 hours on the plane).

I was even less thrilled when I took my seat. This was between two elderly women from the Southern US. They were friends, but refused to swap to sit next to each other so instead I ended up wedged in the middle. They then got out wipes and cleaned everything in site, which was funny because the only germy thing in sight was the one who was sitting in the window seat who coughed and sneezed constantly. The one in the aisle let her handbag fall open and it was full of more benzodiazapines than a well-stocked pharmacy. They then spent the next hour constantly talking over me, before the one in the aisle seat had some wine. This in combination with the contents of her handbag caused her to pass out for the next 8 hours, entirely blocking any exit to the toilet.

The one sitting in the window seat (coughing constantly) didn’t sleep but maintained a strange policy (for someone who elected to sit next to a stranger) of refusing to speak to me. So for example she couldn’t work out how to turn on her reading light and instead would read by mine and then sigh loudly if I turned mine off to watch a movie. I was feeling petty at this stage so didn’t volunteer to help.

14 hours can stretch to a very long time when you are dying for a wee and are trapped in the middle on an incredibly uncomfortable seat. When I finally towards the end of the flight decided to try and sleep (when the aisle lady had woken up and I could finally go to the loo), the lady in the window seat decided to loudly tell her friend, over me, that she wanted to use the bathroom. I decided if she wanted me to move she could just ask (previously when she’d wanted to use the loo she just stared at me until I asked her if she wanted to go to the loo and then she just nodded) and so feigned sleep. She then decided to have a really loud conversation to see if she could “accidentally” wake me (and then presumably stare at me until I offered to move) but by now I was feeling really annoyed so I just pretended to be asleep for an hour out of spite. Which is also a very boring way to spend time. By the time we arrived at LAX I was pretty much done with ever travelling again…. But instead Sunday had begun again (oh the magic of the international date line!)

Luckily this Sunday was much better. We picked up a car, had brunch and then drove to our friend’s Kat and Karl’s lovely new house, took a nap, ate lots of cheese and crackers and then went out for an amazing Mexican meal with them and Saman and Ashley. So round 2 of Sunday was WAY better than Round 1 and ended the week on a good note.

Ways I thought I might die in Australia this week: heat stroke, being bitten by a snake with a good sense of irony, fallen off a ridge edge, dropped dead of the vertigo induced by the possibility of falling off the edge, ruptured bladder from being stuck between drugged up old ladies.

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raynakam · 7 years

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Week 5.5 of 2018 😢 / BKK DAY 1 🍗

Quick update on the past 3 days before I can get into bkk updates hehehe I’m calling this week 5.5 😂

Workload started piling up on Monday, but I expected it although I didn’t think it would get that insane.

Alexandra food village’s dry ban mian with J and Qien for dinner that day 🙃 Had a side of 10 gyozas cos jer said it was nice. Gyozas were good, just that 3 is my max hahaha Oh yes, I have to mention that the auntie making my teh ice was so precise that she was using a weighing machine to weigh every single ingredient she added into the drink 😂😂 The drink turned out nice so I guess it was worth her effort? lololol

Took a bus then train back, and while we were on the train, J suddenly said “wah so fast potong pasir already!” Literally 1sec later the train announcement came “Next station, clarke quay” LOLOLOL WE LAUGHED UNTIL 😂😂😂

Skipped chiro on tues cos I couldn’t afford to leave work half an hour earlier. Met J for dinner and dk how we decided on 4 fingers haha maybe the only fried chicken I willingly eat 👌🏻 I’ll try the spicy ones next time hehe

Quickly went home to get started on packing. I only managed clothes before I turned in for the night but it was a good call to start a day early cos Wed was SHIT 😭

Told J that I was nervous for the meeting on Wed and I was right to be nervous. It went pretty badly and the amount of work to be done after the meeting........ Couldn’t help but feel like my bkk trip came at a wrong time.

Had a quick lunch of dry ban mian at vivo (I see a pattern too lolol) before we headed back to office, where I spent the rest of the work day going through an insane number of files FML

As if I didn’t have enough on my plate already, my period decided to come a couple days early 😭😭😭 I was praying it would come after the trip. Oh well, I am at least grateful it didn’t come halfway ya? Popped a panadol before I headed back to files I CRY. MY DOG LIFE

Did what I could and left office with my boss after 11 hours of the grind. Through shit like this, I am eternally grateful for a nice boss ✨

Wanted to cry when I realised there was no food at home but I sucked it up and called my mum to takeaway some food for me. I had to wait maybe an hour but I took the opportunity to chill a little cos I could feel myself being very panicky. Mum came back with oyster omelette, which I enjoyed with KUWTK 😌

And then it was time to pack......... I didn’t leave much time for myself evidently, so I only got to bed around 1am? Holy, that’s 3 hours of packing wtf ray how????????

BKK DAY 1 🇹🇭

Tore myself out of bed at 6:15 in the morning cos I still had last minute packing to do plus this was the first time I had to call a cab to the airport myself 😅 Usually my parents fetch me there or they’re the ones calling a cab when we travel tgt haha so I was understandably a little panicky cos there were so many unknowns!!!!

Didn’t have to worry myself that much cos I got a cab easily (fare was $30 though wtfff) and reached the airport with a lot of time to spare.

Checked in and this was our first stop.... We made plans to check out the YSL outlet here, to see if the wallet I liked was cheaper since duty free and all?

WE BOUGHT IT 😍😍😍 I was 90% decided that I really wanted the wallet already so when it was $60 cheaper than retail stores, I pretty much handed my card over immediately hahahaha I am so happy ✨✨✨ J says she wants to get it for me as a christmas cum birthday gift but we’ll see!

Yakun for breakfast, where they forced us to get large cups of drinks so obv I couldn’t finish??? Oh yes, the two evian bottles were from the YSL sales assistant haha went back to return a bottle afterwards cos it was unopened.

While waiting for J ✨

我的头发很乱

Boarded! HAHA I LUV THE HOOD omg 😂😂😂 So kewt and I even managed some sleep on the plane, which is gr8 considering the flight’s only 2 hours ✈️

我爱我的鞋子👟 Asked my mum to look at my new shoes and she said “you bought new shoes again???? Ray, when you go bkk, you just eat, don’t buy clothes and shoes ok. Just eat” LOLOL I replied with “good joke mum”

Landed, settled sim card and hopped on a cab to our hotel! The ride took ages due to the jam, and J scared me cos she told me there was no meter in the cab??? She still said “hope we don’t have to fight about the fare later” 😂😂 I also quickly went to check my past dayre post and gathered that the fare should be roughly 600baht. Turns out meter was on all the while haha and the driver only charged us 500 phew no fight phew phew

We booked berkeley again cos it was a pretty good deal and we’re so familiar with the hotel/it’s location. Paid for late check out on monday as well since our flight’s only at 6pm. Spent a long time in our room waiting for my phone to charge 🙄 But I took the opp to quickly unpack everything.

Before we left the hotel!

J was starving by then so we stopped by mr shake at central world. My milk tea was pretty good but the calamansi drink she wanted wasn’t in stock so she ended up with plum green tea which wasn’t nice 😅

Continued with our walk to siam! I love how familiar we are with everything, such that we rmb how to walk everywhere without the need to google map 👌🏻👌🏻 J was asking me if I knew where inter was, and I said “ya just go to siam square, cut through the tiny stores then exit, cross the pedestrian crossing with the police and turn left” WHERE DID THIS INFO COME FROM????? IDK

First food stop: Inter! I think this is J’s and my favourite restaurant in bkk. The food is v good and inexpensive, what more can you ask for? Got the water mimosa again but asked for it to be less spicy cos my dayre reminded me that it was too spicy for us the last time we were here haha tried a new fried fish which turned out pretty good surprisingly! Erm the curry beef was a mistake on my part haha I wanted to order red curry with beef but idk why it became this dish instead 😂

Curry was great but there were a lot of fatty beef parts so overall, a no go for us 🙅🏻‍♀️

STAR OF THE SHOW ⭐️ Couldn’t go to inter without ordering our fav wings!!!!! Still as good as before omg Bill came up to less than $25 I LUV BKK

Shopped around siam square and exercised tremendous self control. Only bought myself a phone cover for $6 hehe proud proud Continued wandering around the area then stopped by watsons and bath and body works to get our bkk essentials - large packet of tissue and hand sanitizer LOLOL

📍Hokkaido Cheese Toast @ Siam Square Before we came to bkk, I was telling J that the cheese toast originated from here so we should eat the one here haha forgot all about it until we changed upon it at siam! Best things is there wasn’t a queue at all hehe and they had the strawberry & matcha flavours that I think aren’t out yet in singapore?

But we’re basic af, so we just got an original to share amongst the both of us! Smart decision to share cos it got a bit too much towards the end. Dk how much it is in singapore but it’s 69baht here!

🧀🧀🧀 Verdict: I quite liked it! The bread was nicely toasted and the cheese was really stretchy, not too heavy tasting. There was this creamy liquid filling inside which I didn’t like, and which is why I said it got too much towards the end haha might not eat this again, but glad I tried.

Got a bit thirsty while walking around and went in search of their koi outlet. Found it and was so pleasantly surprised that they had small sizes!!! How cute is this small green tea macchiato omg the lady helps to poke the straw in and she makes sure the straw goes through the O in KOI hahahaha i luv it they are so cute

Aesthetics 101 with this random cafe on the middle of the mall 🌿 There’s really nothing much in siam leh. I think I said this last year already hahaha plus the malls are quite confusing so we end up at the same place after walking for ages. Decided to head back to our hotel after a bit and J suggested we take a train from siam to chit lom, which is just a stop.

Not smart cos the train station was a bit confusing to manoeuvre around plus we hit peak hour I think. And it was only after we alighted at chit lom did we realise that our hotel’s in the middle between siam and chit lom haha so it would have been smarter to just walk from siam. Oh well, you learn new things everyday!

Was supposed to have after you but we were craving salty food so we headed to the hotel to rest before dinner at talad neon.

Took us a while to get out of the room haha talad neon’s super super near to our hotel which is great cos my poor feet 😅 J got a coconut drink and we walked around a bit. I love talad neon leh!!! But I can understand when people say there’s nothing much to do here. I just like it for its cleanliness, close proximity to our hotel and there’re still a decent number of shops 👌🏻

Took such a nice photo of J ✨✨ Dinner at hubba shrimps, essentially a cheaper version of dancing crab haha vibes were...... thai disco-ish 😂😂

Hello it’s me 😌

📍Hubba Shrimps @ Talad Neon Got the one with mixed seafood, which contained shrimps, two different kinds of mussels, squid, clams, corn and potatoes. Asked for the sauce to be less spicy but less spicy in thailand doesn’t mean much lolol the sauce was v tasty though!! But the seafood was okay only, not very fresh/tasty. Overall a decent meal for less than 500 baht

💕 Continued walking around for a bit before heading back to our hotel to walk around the night market downstairs. Got myself only 2 pieces of clothing that day 😌

Yet another wrap dress from talad neon for 250 baht. As expected, it’s too big on me but I’ll make it work by looping the waist bands around my waist to give the dress some shape. It’s a little sheer as well so will have to put on an inner lining. Otherwise, I do like the cut and prints 🌾

This mustard top from the night market below our hotel for 150baht. I hesitated a little cos bkk tops are usually too huge for me, but...

it’s a tie back so you can adjust it to be smaller! I’ve been meaning to get smth like this from taobao, like it’s literally been sitting in my cart for ages haha

#raytravels

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topicprinter · 7 years

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Hi Reddit!My name is John and in February 2017 I was let go from my cushy, corporate job in Finance where I worked for the past ten years. Admittedly, I had become complacent and needed a serious change. I was given a few months to look for a job while employed, but since I had not kept up my learning I found it difficult to move into a similar position that paid close to what I was making (due to other candidates being more qualified).Why not just get another job?Ever since I can remember, I have wanted to start a business. However, the demands of my job had made it difficult (not impossible) to start something on the side. Looking at the situation as glass half-full, it seemed that this all may be happening for a reason. I also had the benefit of not having any kids (yet), and my car was going to be paid off in March.The IdeaI spent the first half of my twenties learning everything I could about the stock market, options, trading, and anything similar. The second half of my twenties my learning fell off, and when I picked it up again, I found it extremely difficult to get good data unless you were:A programmer (I was not)Rich (nope)Worked for a company that had access to it (no, and certainly rules against using that for personal use)I was very good with Excel (non-vba), and highly-knowledgeable with basic to advanced financial concepts. I knew how to value companies, but I did not know how to get good data. I was very interested in programming and automation concepts, but did not have years of time to learn how to code.I worked towards a simple idea: an online repository of data. This dropbox-like navigation would house different datasets from multiple categories, starting with the data I had trouble getting in the first place: stock prices. It would contain CSV files (since Excel and Sheets is what I knew how to use) and would be a familiar interface for uploading and downloading. Users would not have to know how to use APIs, advanced programming languages, or complicated programs. And since I knew how to use Excel, I would also include automation templates that users could download and use on their own.I now had an idea, seed capital (aka severance) and time. I presented these pieces to my wife who was…not happy. She was, rightfully so, worried. Starting a business is risky, daunting, and ruthless. If I was going to do this, she wanted an exit plan.The MilestonesWe worked together and come up with these milestones. While aggressive, they have provided me with an actionable framework to work towards.Get one sale within the first two monthsGet 100 sales by the sixth monthGrow at 10% per month for months six through 12As I left my job on February 13th, this left with the following timeline:One sale by April 13th (completed on April 12th)100 sales by August 13th175 paying customers by February 13th, 2018While extremely excited, I am nervous.The ChallengesSince being out on my own, I have found a few things to be rather challenging:What is an appropriate way to balance time?How do you juggle product development vs. marketing?I always hear the term “minimal viable product” but how do you know when it becomes minimum viable? If a website loads in 3 seconds, is that fine? What about 10 seconds?I come from a background in finance. I can forecast with my eyes closed. But when it comes to marketing, I sometimes feel lost.Things break and have unexpected consequences every dayI use the rule of 5: Estimate how long something will take you, then multiply it by fiveProducts I currently use (not affiliated with any of the listed products)Wordpress. Enough has been said here, but I now know how to build a website that loads faster than 90% of the websites out there. FREEDivi theme. While a bit pricey, the features and ease of use are AMAZING. Would recommend to anyone. I actually stopped the monthly piece, so you can still get the theme, you just lose support and updates. $89 one-time, FREE on-goingVultr and Digital Ocean. High performance SSD cloud hosting for the website. I needed a solution that offers good performance, and could be modified for future scaling. Two servers (one for site, one for vault) @ $40 per monthNextcloud. Open-source, dropbox-like software. This is the interface for the data repository. FREECanva. Awesome for coming up with graphics for anything you can think of. $13 per monthNamecheap. Where I purchased the domain name. Negligible cost, not worth noting. If you go with a less used TLD (such as .club instead of .com) it comes out to $0.88 a YEARCloudflare. Great for speeding up websites, however the current website is pretty light load so this may be overkill…but it’s freeBlockspring. Awesome Excel/Google Sheets add-in that makes calling APIs extremely easy. I use this in a good amount of the automation templates I offer on the vault. $15 per monthZapier. Automation tool. $20 per month. Currently used to fill up my…Buffer. Scheduling tool for social media profiles. $10 per monthUpwork. I have one developer on staff who I sourced from Upwork. She is amazing, and has been extremely helpful in initial development I was unable to do. Ranges from $200 to $400 per month. I do not have the link at the moment, but someone on this subreddit had a great write-up on sourcing talent from UpworkData feed. The most expensive piece, but absolutely required to put the data into the repository. $500 per month. This is exactly the barrier to entry I am trying to knock down for young investors and data-minded individuals. The price is so high due to redistribution (and I foresee this being the most expensive piece going forward)Monthly cost: ~$838 to $1038 per monthProducts I have stopped usingIntercom. At this stage in my business this is not needed. Too expensive considering the traffic to the website is very light. I can get around this with a simple contact form, or use a cheaper solution (like Cugiq). However I do think the product is rock-solidHunter. While I think the product is really awesome, it is pretty expensive for a newcomer and Blockspring provides some workarounds that give similar functionalitySocialQuant. I made the mistake of thinking I needed a large twitter following to gain credibility. This was a waste of money, and apparently there are ways to boost your followers on Twitter quite easily without any money (but pointless). Makes more sense to grow organicallyWix. My original website was here, but it was missing some needed functionality. I was also worried about the SSL issues they were having (might still be having) so I went with WPKickoff Labs. I had an idea for an initial launch with a viral marketing campaign, and so I started a kickoff labs subscription. This was dumb because Wordpress offered ways to build landing pages and viral campaigns, so I stopped usingBuzzstream. Only temporary, as I believe I will use this in the future, but Blockspring has similar functionality that can take up 90% of what Buzzstream can do. The remaining 10% will be when the business growsI went a little product happy in the beginning, but now I have settled down a bit. I now look for ways to consolidate functionality.Skills I have gained since being on my ownIt is quite amazing what you can learn when you are excited, motivated, and ready to tackle the day every day:I can now setup a Wordpress website that will load faster than 90% of the websites out thereIntermediate knowledge of VPS, dedicated servers and baremetalBasic scripting in PHP, PythonLearned how to call, and modify APIsAdvanced Nextcloud integrationBlockspringZapier, where I setup an automatic updating of my Buffer queue based on specific pages of the website. I also setup a Twitter marketing tool that will search Twitter for specific terms (less retweets), extract out the users that sent the Tweet, check to see if they are currently following me, then send the list of names and tweets to me by email every day at 9amIntermediate knowledge of bash commandsI have read about 6 books, including: Traction, Growth Hacker Marketing, From Impossible to Inevitable, 7 Day Startup, Ask, and Platform ScaleI now know what the hell people are talking about when they refer to new technology (for example, two months ago I couldn't tell you what Hadoop is...just thought it was a funny word)A good portion of these learnings came about from wanting to save money instead of hiring a developer. While I believe I saved a good amount of money by attempting to do these things myself, hiring a developer for the more difficult parts would have definitely made sense.ConclusionLuckily, if I happen to fail I will have gained a good amount of additional skills to put on my resume. I look at this situation as a win-win. I plan to buckle down and go pretty heavily in marketing for the next couple of months, in pursuit of reaching 100 sales by August.If anyone is interested, I would be happy to provide updates on how everything is going. I have learned more in these last few months than I did the prior year.*Edit - Some peeps have asked what the website is, so here you go: Spreadstreet.io

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