#i made this one after the 1st cancellation never posted it on here properly and i really like it sooo

[eddie-redcliffe]

'You wear fine things well.'

[prorevenge]

Friend lodges a Police Report just to throw away his chances at life.

This story mainly revolves around a friend (K) of mine and a (former) friend (J) of his. K's sister, C, was also involved. I played a very minor role.

K as a person is a great individual. Extremely smart, aces every test, loves history/politics/economics. He is the self classified nerd of the grade with an ace in every subject. Contrary to popular belief, he was not bullied for this. In fact, due to his generosity and intelligence, many had already pegged him as going far in life.

J was also along similar lines, but was very eccentric. Still, both were nearly inseparable and were great friends.

The two of them loved talking part in History Bowls and academic competitions of any kind. Over the years, the schools cabinet had begun to teem with their accomplishments.

However, after a History Bowl both of them attended together, their relationship started to fray. While they had come in third as a team, K had come in 1st under individual rankings while J came in a distant 7th. Both positions received a trophy, so in total they received three trophies (one for the team, one for 1st place and one for 7th place). As a courtesy, seeing the J could had no space for the trophy that day, K offered to take it back with him, and return it during school. J obliged.

Our school usually honours students who win outside events by calling them up on stage in front of the whole school and getting the director and HOS (head of school) to present the award to the students. As such, they did the same for K and J. However, on that day, J had an exam he had to be in, and as such, missed out on the presentation. K received the awards on behalf of both of them, and specifically took the microphone to mention that J was a team member as well, incase anybody felt that all the awards belong to K only.

But, when J heard what had conspired, he was furious. He felt that the presentation should have been postponed and felt that K was doing it on purpose. He felt even more verified in his theory when K forgot to bring the trophies on another day in order to return J's back to him (K is like that all the time, its something we all like as it adds a bit of character to a person in a world where everyone strives to be perfect, but clearly J does not). He went full on atomic on K, calling him all sorts of names and effectively throwing their friendship into the bin. K felt hurt, but thought that was the end of it.

No, that WASN'T the end of it. J went around slandering K's name behind him. As a school, we all knew K well, so really didn't take anything seriously. J got really pissed, and started making Facebook posts, messaging K's professor friends to slander his name further. K's older sister, C, got wind of this. She turned red with fury. She was School President and felt it was her duty to protect the students, but if somebody messes with her brother, god save them. And that's what she did. She cornered J one day and let him know in not so pleasant terms that he is messing with the wrong person and to stay away.

For some reason, J suddenly took this to another level. His mom and him went to the police the next day and lodged a report against K, C and their parents for slander and harassment. Then, J's mom proceeded to call K's mom and go Godzilla on her, boasting about how she is going to go to jail and that "she is going to regret creating her two kids." Luckily, we live in a single consent state, and I guess you know where this is going.

But, guess what the police did. They threw the case out. They cited a lack of evidence for the case and threw it out.

You would think this would be the end of it, but no, we keep going.

J and his mom were properly pissed at this point. Nothing was going according to their plan. So they kept with the slander campaign, ramping up efforts on Facebook. I have no idea what they were thinking.

While this was going on, J was running up trouble with the school's administration as well. You see, J was in the grade above us, and was in the midst of applying to universities. As part of his application, he needed a school code to verify the application. But the school was delaying the handoff of this code. J had been severely abusing his mother's influence and connections to bend the school administration backwards, giving him better predicted grades which would be sent to the universities.

The teachers were pissed at this, as they had spent countless evenings doing the predicted grades for all the students in the cohort, and here was a kid abusing his influence so that he could get an unfair advantage over others. Understandably, therefore, they delayed the handoff.

J got even more pissed. CC'ing his mother in the email, as well the director and HOS, he sent three scathing emails to the Curriculum and Course Co-ordinator of the school, calling her "a bitch" who was too interested in "serving others" and wanted "him to die", even though she had never mentioned this. This was too much for the school, who struck him off the roll of graduates and blocked all contact with him, never sending him the code. This was in March, which will be pertinent later.

It is important to note that except for J and the school administration, nobody had any idea that J was off the graduations, and when graduation rolled around in August, and he was not there, we were surprised but relieved, as we thought that this would be the end of it.

Fast forward a few months to November, and I was scrolling through Facebook when I saw J had made a post with screenshots of the emails he sent to the administrator. In the post, he was gloating about how he had played the administrator, by apologizing to the administrator a month after sending those emails, and how they replied back with the code to get him out of their hair, and how he has the upper hand now and had got into university (he mentioned which but I won't post it) and wanted the world "to see the school as it really is".

What he did not count on was me seeing it, and K's inactive second Facebook account which was still friends with J. I quickly let K know, and screenshot the emails in case K needed it later. K did the same, after which he posted on the account that he was deactivating it because there was spam on it. J must have seen this post, because less than two minutes after, his own post was deleted.

But this is not where it ends. K wanted to take revenge for the months of abuse and psychological harm his family and him underwent. Thus, with my help, we collated the evidence, including the phone call and screenshots of the email, as well as screenshots of the other posts he made, and, I am not sure on this part as I was not involved here, K sent the email to the university he was enrolled in, and to the school.

This was the last straw for the school, who proceeded to officially expel him, and then sent the details of the whole incident to all universities they were partnered with and have contact with to which he had applied, leading to them cancelling his application to their universities.

Last we heard (we all blocked him afterwards) he knew it was us, but had no evidence to prove this. His offer from the university was retracted, and he has been unable to apply to any university in Europe and US.

TL;DR: J decides to get all pissy because he missed out on award ceremony, slandering K and lodging false police reports against K's family and K himself. Same time, he starts being hostile with the school administration and boasts about it. K pulls all evidence and phone call, and sends it to school and J's university, getting his offer retracted and effectively blacklisting him from a majority of the universities in Europe and US.

(source) (story by HeavyVictory0)

[bapofficial]

why 151115 is so important

hi, semi here! thought I’d make a post about 151115 for B.A.P fans who joined the fandom after the lawsuit. this will partly be factual, and partly my personal take on it.

B.A.P all filed a lawsuit on 27th November 2014, suing their company TS entertainment for:

not paying them properly and no transparency in the company of where their profits were actually going

overworking the members to the point where they had to go to the hospital, and were then being made to leave it (after paying the fees themselves!!) early to perform

damage to their mental and physical health

no free time or social life / time to see family

excessive number of (very expensive!!) overseas concerts to milk out international fans’ pockets (the cheapest LOE ‘14 London ticket was £89! for a 2-year-old group!! fun story: my naive 15-year-old self messaged the B.A.P Facebook page raising my concerns over this hahahahahdsdsfd they never replied lol) instead of giving B.A.P exposure in Korea apart from music show promotions (does this sound familiar?)

concerts being planned without the members even knowing etc

more detailed info here!

personally, before the lawsuit I wasn’t that involved in the fandom itself and instead followed B.A.P attentively but from afar. I remember being really surprised to see TS cancel a leg of the LOE ‘14 tour for the members’ health, thinking that TS was a good company for paying attention to that. but now that I think about it, for TSent to cancel concerts (£££) makes me think it must have been really bad. 

the lawsuit period flipping sucked. minimal updates from the members, who probably had enough shit on their plates without going on social media; honestly to think about it, we get so restless if we don’t hear from them for a few days, so imagine weeks/months. no news apart from shitty news of TS postponing courts (with my non-existent legal knowledge, I feel like they were trying to drain B.A.P of money or ??? something idk but they must have gained something from dragging it out and making everyone else so frustrated). it was just a dark time of uncertainty, and with each passing month, the possibility of B.A.P coming back to the k-pop scene together was becoming less likely. I originally cheered B.A.P on when I first read the news of the lawsuit, being proud of them for standing up for themselves against injustice, presuming they’d be able to pull a Block B and find a new company soon enough. but as time went on (Yongguk released AM 4:44 and Zelo released No Title in around April/May 2015, voicing their frustration too), I started to realise it wasn’t going to happen. “I miss bap”, “where did bap go”, “it’s so sad about bap” etc etc... 

the news of B.A.P returning to TS ent on 1st August was a strange surprise. on the one hand, a lot of us were really happy at the prospect of B.A.P being back! but on the other, how could we be sure that TS wouldn’t mistreat the members again? B.A.P insisted that they talked things over with the company and that things are now better, and though TS continues to show signs of profit-oriented use of the group (eg two world tours in two years! wtf!), and just general poor management and lack of thought/communication, B.A.P chose to go back for a reason, and I trust their reasoning. being a person who generally sees the best in things, I just sat on my bed half-stunned and blasted their most badass songs at the highest volume, finally being able to thoroughly enjoy their music again without feelings about the lawsuit nagging at me. from what I can see, there are still definite improvements to how B.A.P are treated:

more free time 

better pay, if some members having cars/scooters (lmao) and going on holiday is anything to go by

Yongguk and Daehyun being able to have their own homes, and Zelo being able to move back in with his family, and the other three moving into a better apartment. in the early days, all 6 members used to sleep in one room!!

they’re going to be releasing their third full album soon!!!

member solo activities: Daehyun acting in musicals, Youngjae being a host for The Show, Yongguk and Zelo working on their own music, etc

Yongguk given a break from all activities for a few months to focus on his mental health

so anyway, B.A.P announced that they’d be making their comeback with their 4th mini album Matrix on 16th of November 2015, but on the 15th they’d hold a comeback showcase. they made a V App channel, had a live video of them literally standing there in their matoki suits, bodies completely covered.....and it was the most wonderful feeling watching them all together again. you really don’t fully appreciate what you have until it goes. their matrix showcase was aired live on V App so everyone could watch B.A.P stand together on stage for the first time in almost a year. I’m not exaggerating when I say it was one of the most surreal and happy days of my life to see and feel what I never thought I’d experience ever again. I woke up in the middle of the night to watch them singing again, and looking so happy to be back doing what they love. after such a miserable period of time, 151115 marked a fresh page to a new history of better things. it’s the symbol of their rebirth into the B.A.P we know now.

some people these days will complain about how the lawsuit damaged B.A.P’s popularity and success etc, and they’re right: it did. disappearing for months (not years!! people exaggerate how long the hiatus was) at such a crucial time of rapid change in the k-pop industry lost them many fans, but what would the alternative have been? a popular, successful B.A.P who were being worked to death on a minimal wage, singing on stage about social justice when they had none themselves? no matter what, I’m extremely proud of B.A.P for taking action and I’m glad that they did. the journey was bumpy (and often still is), but it’s still much better than what it was before. we shouldn’t focus so much on all these ‘lost fans’ and ignore the fact that B.A.P have been active for the last two years, gaining new fans and making new music and memories.

B.A.P continues to grow: it’s clear how much they improve with each and every comeback (see: line distribution). TS still sucks, but a tiny bit less than before (seriously though if they announce another world tour in 2018 I will go over there and slap a bitch). but yeah, most importantly, B.A.P is back! and has been now for exactly 2 years! they’re back and they’re here and they’re amazing and I love them and I’m so proud to call myself their fan :’)

[berserker-official]

Livestream 11/2

Season 4 news is here! Today we get a small taste of the heroes and maps, while the meatier part of the stream is the patch notes and faction war changes.

Starting us off Eric announced a Free Weekend event. the free weekend will be next week from November 9-12, but there’s an added bonus. If you’re a veteran and you play at least five pvp games with a newcomer in a group, after the even you’ll get 5000 steal. So if you have friends that have never played before and want to get them interested while getting a lot of steel as a bonus, now’s the time. The newcomer will also get 5000 steel to start them off!

The Feast of the Otherworld event may be over, but there’s still time to buy a bundle. Those will be available until the 6th, and will have reduced prices based on the loot that you won when you got it after a match. However, the masks are now at their original price of 20,000 steel.

The new content of the week! 1 new ornament for each hero, each at 5000 steel. This list I have written down is based on the faction, so it’ll go Warden’s ornament, Conq’s Peacekeeper, etc.

Knights: Hero of Legend, Golden Legend, Regal Crown, Armored Lion, Mercury’s Favor, Faunus.

Vikings: Ocean’s Defender, Sea Serpent, Storm Bird, Fourth Circle, King of the Isles

Samurai: Malice, Emperor Beetle, Despair, Battle Cat, Desperation

Season 4 Tournament News! The two finalist teams are revealed. Clutchmeister’s team will be the European final, while iSkys’s team is the North American final. They will face off on November 11 during the Season 4 Reveal event

Season 4 reveals! Representing the scorpion and wolverine, the Aramusha and Shaman are here! The Aramusha is locked as a male, and Shaman locked as female. The new maps are called Market Town (samurai map) and Gauntlet (viking map). We will also get to equip 4 EXECUTIONS AT ONCE!

With the reveal of tribute mode again, we got to hear about some changes that will be taking place. Some of these changes include stealing or placing a tribute will keep the game going after the timer runs out, and if the steal or placement is successful, the game will end or go into tiebreaker depending on the points. Renown changes mean feats will unlock slower. Damage boost has been reduced and will not affect feats. Shield boost has more accurate regen rule. Respawn rules ave been improved.

Based on first impression the new heroes look like they won’t have as much customization options as other heroes, but rest assured knowing that they will have the same depth as the others.

I missed some of how Shaman plays but she sounds incredibly aggressive with bleed and a powerful finisher if bleed is applied.

The Aramusha is a hybrid that’s a mix of vanguard and tank. With his dual blades he can perform an infinite chain attack that can go into powerful finishers that can be canceled for further options. He also has a defensive stance that’s time based with the possibility of nasty counter attacks.

Ranked dominion is coming soon.

Events like double XP weekend and the Halloween even till be more available.

No immediate news about dedicated servers but it’s still being worked on.

Faction War changes! Bio and her team have been making changes to the faction war that will all go down when season 4 starts. These changes include:

Readability, World Building, and Rules Updates.

In terms of readability, clarity and agency were important. So now the fronts are easier to understand. The numbers on the fronts have been changed from percentages to actual number of assets deployed on both teams, and instead of the swords and shields on the fronts, arrows are placed to show where that front will be moving. If you’re unsure where to deploy assets or your banner, hotspots will be shown. These hotspots are areas on fronts that are heavily focused on.

In terms of world building, the faction war has to be concrete and inspiring. All terminology for the faction war will be updated. Turns and Turn updates are now Battle Preparations and Battles, Rounds are now Campaigns, and War Assets are now called Troops.

Every territory will be named something, and the maps for each territory will be more visible.

Finally, some rules are being changed. Battles (Turns) will be 11 hours long instead of 6. This helps with time zone differences. The most exciting rule change is that Troops will carry-over. After a Battle, 50% of the winner’s troops will remain on that territory, and carries and stacks after every battle. This makes it so every battle matters instead of the last one. However, this might be tweaked throughout the season.

Patch notes!

The full notes won’t be available to the public now, so we have to wait at least a week.

The team has improved the patching system, so future patches will be smaller. However, because of this, and to make previous patches smaller, this season 4 patch is huge. Be ready everyone.

Loading optimization due to this patch has been sped up by 10%

We’ll be able to see level 3 bots now.

Run away punishment system for duels has been updated, so players that are running away can’t reset the punishment by constantly locking and unlocking their opponent.

The first of many fight system updates for season 4! When a player is Out of stamina, lights that are blocked by them won’t be interrupted, and chip damage will be dealt. This is to make OOS dangerous and to put pressure on players that enter this state.

Dodge roll stamina has been increased to 50 and no longer has defense, so you can be guardbroken. They want rolling to be good but not the go-to option to stay safe.

Shuffling (exit lock movement) won’t make you go faster, so you can’t lock/unlock repeatedly to quickly get out of a situation.

Critical HP Regen is removed.

Dodge roll can now avoid traps and bombs, so placement needs to be thought out more.

Stair guardbreak problems should hopefully be fixed.

Small bug fixes on almost all heroes.

Lawbringer has some range changes. Certain heavy attacks have more reach now. (i didn’t get the details so I’ll rewatch the stream to get them.)

Nobushi: blissful rest feat has been replaced with second wind

Gladiator: Heavy opener block recovery has been increased to 900 ms.

Feats: removed uninterruptible on most feats, so feats like the longbow, axe throw, etc can now be interrupted. There are some that are still uninterruptible (again, I missed the exact ones.)

Passive feats will have clearer cooldown feedback, and many have a cooldown increase of 5 seconds.

Map spawn changes have been made to Duel and Brawl maps. For now we know that Sanctuary Bridge and Shipyard have Duel spawn changes, and Tower Ruin has a change in Brawl. These will be in more detail next week

Pre-season 4 heroes will get 5 new weapon variants and 2 armor variants. Shaman and Aramusha will start with 12 weapon variants and 13 armor variants.

No new rarity, but new stat bundles, including Extreme Stat bundles and Standard Stat bundles.

Customization: You can now equip 4 executions. This is similar to emotes, where you press a button for one emote and hold if for the second. For Xbox players, press X and Y for two executions, and hold them down for the other two.

Engraving is now Embossing, and can now be applied to cloth materials.

Duel Tournament Rewards now have priority based on which hero you play as, but if you already own that reward you’ll get one at random. Also Season 3 rewards will be replaced with new rewards at Season 4.

PC improvements: water reflections are improved, double buffering v-sync option is changed (it will automatically be disabled so you stay in the game instead of getting kicked out of the match.).

Duels will properly forfeit when opponent leaves.

Camera changes to ballista zoom: when you zoom in you’ll be in 1st person, so your ornament doesn’t get in the way.

Post-match changes so you don’t get locked out of matchmaking

Fixes to getting kicked out of a match due to loss of framerate or packet loss.

Tournament announcer will be more chatty

Customization bug fixes

Out of Stamina blink on stamina bar is back

Gamepad layout bug fix on PC

Windowed game mode bug fix on PC

Client bug fix

Hero customization in loading? (I’ll double check)

Next week the art team will be on so we can get an in-depth look at the new heroes, maps, and gear, as well as a reveal of the full hero trailers.

[quiznakchronicle]

A collection of discourse/vent asks

So over the last few weeks we’ve gotten a bunch of discourse/vent asks, mostly from people frustrated at the number of events in the fandom and/or how they’re being managed. We understand that people turn to us because we’re the ones in the thick of all these events, but please keep in mind that this isn’t a discourse blog. We’ll answer all the asks we have in one shot in this post (under a cut) because we don’t want people thinking we’re ignoring them or don’t care about what they’re saying, but after this we won’t be answering such asks publicly anymore. In the future we’d ask that if you have a grievance regarding events in this fandom please either talk to us in private about it (send an off-anon ask to this blog or DM Mod Pidge at @ace-pidge) or make a separate post about it on your blog. If you just want to anonymously vent/rant at someone may we suggest something like @vld-rage-confessions

Thanks for understanding <3

- Mods Pidge & Shiro

Anonymous said: 12 days ago regarding that anon complaining about event capacity, I think it might be helpful to also bring up a discussion about how certan events are run. Some events are run very smoothly by mods that are mature and act professional, while others are either run by well-intentioned newbies or people who don't have the skill to run the event they are. I have had to drop out of several bangs because the mods have refused to use email for sign-ups or check-ins, instead forcing all the work on participants1/2

2/2 They put all of the responsibility for both creating the piece, communicating with partners and performing check-ins on the participants and then people drop out due to poor communication and confusion. I have asked mods to please use email and send out confirmation / check-in emails and many have been rude and self-righteous about it, calling those that ask for better modding skills lazy or entitled. I am frustrated since I have always handed my work in on time, but have had to drop

3/2 from events due to absolute silence on the part of mods. It is not good practice to run your entire event out of tumblr / twitter and expect all participants to keep checking your blog / check in with you. It is teh responsibility of mods to send out emails and check in with participants, not the other way around. it is the responsibility of mods to make sure the communication is there, and the responsibility of participants to do the work and hand it in.

4/2(sorry) I don't wnat to make a c=major call-out post or shame particular people, but I feel like this is a trend that needs to stop. Certain events (big bangs, I've noticed) are being run like drag-and-drop set-and-forget events that mods don't need to put effort in to beyond putting up a tumblr. Running a big bang is a HUGE amount of effort and if you're not willing to put the effort in to run it properly, you run the risk of burning the entire community. We need to focus on a few well-run events. Sorry, finished. (no need to publish this ask)

I think this is a very good point and in fact I was partly thinking of this ask when I made my events etiquette post with my list of advice to organizers and participants. The importance of good and consistent communication during events simply cannot be understated, it’s what will make or break your event

Anonymous said: 12 days ago thank you so much for posting the thing about too many events. i'm thinking about not accepting zines if i get in because i don't think they'll sell and i don't want to work on something for nothing and i don't know how to get that across to these mods because they think selling a hundred is good but i get more kudos on my ao3 fics than that

Honestly the situation with zines has me particularly worried, because there is actual money involved. In previous fandoms I’ve only ever seen a few zines overall, never this many and all at once. It really does saturate the market. The last thing anyone wants is for people to put in all that work only for it to flop at the end because few people actually order it. It’s not any one person or zine’s fault, because all of them have neat concepts and themes. The problem is in having them all at once.

Anonymous said: 12 days ago I don't know how recently the problems with dropouts have started getting worse, but it could also have something to do with school starting back in a lot of places. If students didn't think about school starting or didn't expect to have more work this year than last year, they might be dropping stuff because of that. Oversaturation is definitely a problem we have, but things might even out a little bit in a few weeks once people adjust and it might get a little bit better? Hopefully?

That’s definitely a possibility. As I’ve said in the past it’s very important to consider your long-term life/work/school schedule when considering whether to run or sign up for an event. I have noticed in the past week or two less new events have popped up, so either I’m not finding them lol, or we’re heading into a lull which will hopefully allow things to even out

Anonymous said: 12 days ago on top of "too many events", there are a lot of /competiting/ events. 3 keith zines (for example) are all gonna compete with each other, period. people only have so much money to give, so someone buying 1 keith zine can't spend THAT SAME money on the other 2. (nor can they spend it on a lance zine, klance zine, etc). thinking these don't compete is the 1st mistake. creators are gonna spend time making things no one will buy and the mods are gonna lose money producing it.

Yeah, I touched briefly on the situation with zines a bit further up. I think the one saving grace for these zines is that while they may all be in production more or less at the same time they don’t go on sale at the same time. But I definitely hear you. We all want all the zines to do well, but like you say people aren’t made of money

Anonymous said: 12 days ago confession: im in an event run by the worst mod ever and its incredibly fucking frustrating. it feels like they dont give a shit about the event. i applied to their zine before i knew that but if i get accepted i WONT participate and in the rejection i will tell them why (its been over a month). they havent done ANY check ins as scheduled have basically disappeared and my artist hasnt replied either. im so mad i want to cry and drop out and never do an event again. this hurts us too you know

Aw Nonny I’m so sorry you’re stuck in this situation... The flipside of poor event management is fandom creators like you being turned off from participating in projects and that’s really upsetting. Fandom events should be a source of fun and creativity, not stress and anxiety. I’m so sorry, I hope in the meantime since you sent this your situation has improved ;A;

Anonymous said: 12 days ago Guys please don't encourage mods who are continuously late on their dates or end up canceling their event due to their poor planning. I get that you want to treat them well but not giving honest feedback ("please keep to the schedule in the future" or "I'm disappointed this was cancelled") tells them that there are no consequences to their bad management. But there are: one week only had 2 participants. Zines aren't making money. Too many events + bad mods = poor participation. I'm sick of it.

This is important. If the way something is being run isn’t working it’s important to say so, otherwise how will the mod grow and learn to do better in the future. I know it feels like “calling out” but it needs to be said. Seeing an event to completion is a partnership between the organizer(s) and the participants and both sides need to be proactive and be willing to listen to each other

Anonymous said: 10 days ago My 2 cents on the events discourse: they're optional so don't sign up. Personally I'm sick of having shitty mods and terrible experiences so i won't be doing anymore vld events. Sucks because i love fandom events but apparently no one who runs them gets the point of them so...

Yeah, I’m seeing more and more people saying they’re just not gonna participate in anything anymore and it sucks that it’s come to this. I totally understand though ://

Anonymous said: 8 days ago dear people who follow QC: we do not have unlimited money. zines for profit are going to continue to do worse because more people will hit their spending limits. we do not need multiple character zines, ship zines, or race zines (galran/altean/etc). if you think galra keith, nature keith and gen keith don't compete with both each other AND the lance zines then please take an econ class before launching. we have plenty more seasons, let's not run this fandom into the ground, shall we?

Anonymous said: 6 days ago I'm quitting fandom events. There are so many bad mods and it's made this experience really terrible for me. I'm telling you in hopes that you publish this ask so people who see it will think about if they're modding for 15 min of fame or if they're taking it seriously. Enough is enough

I think I’ve pretty much said everything further up, so I’ll just leave these last two ones here like this

[lindafrancois]

7 Emergency Hacks to Stay Healthy in the Winter

“Winter is coming”

– House Stark.

Like the White Walkers of the old stories our Gran used to tell us, winter is descending upon us mere mortals, and we must prepare! This endless onslaught of vicious attacks on our brains and our bellies will leave us ripe for slaughter if we’re not careful:

Cold weather that encourages us to sleep in, avoid the elements, and say “maybe tomorrow.”

A sun that rises too late and sets too soon means we often go days without seeing the damn thing.

Cookies and candies bombarded us from everywhere we look.

Oh, and a f’ing global pandemic that has left us isolated and alone. 

These and more challenges are just begging us to go off the rails. And a built-in excuse called January 1st where we promise to “start over” helps us rationalize us “pausing” until then. Black Friday has come and gone. Cyber Monday is now in the rearview. Thanksgiving is now a distant memory.

And yet…the challenges are still just getting started.

Luckily, we have 7 “hacks”  to survive these trying times. If you want, you can try them too!

Here’s what we’ll cover with our guide on surviving winter:

Winter Hack #1: Don’t Run in the Wrong Direction

Winter Hack #2: Never Two in a Row

Winter Hack #3: Consider Skipping a Meal

Winter Hack #4: Strength Train Before Big Meals

Winter Hack #5: Don’t Rely on Motivation

Winter Hack #6: Have a Plan B

Winter Hack #7: It All Counts

Alright, let’s equip you with some strategies to survive the storm.

Winter Hack #1: Don’t run in the wrong direction

We need you back in the fight, right now.

We all see January 1st as the “reset,” and there’s nothing wrong with a reset to start out the year. The problem is when you compound your issues by digging yourself deeper into a hole that you have to eventually climb out of!

Eat very poorly for long enough, and the hole will start to resemble Bruce Wayne’s prison in The Dark Knight Rises:

Think of it like you’re on the starting line of a race for a healthy life that starts Jan 1st. You have two options:

A) Hang around the starting line: Hang out and wait for the gun to fire. Then start running.

B) Run in the opposite direction. Run farther away from the starting line, so when the gun goes off you have even FARTHER to run in the race.

So, Step 1 is not running in the opposite direction. This means you can’t skip all your workouts and eat like crap and give up til January. This is you going the wrong way, and will make the task of “starting over” on January 1st that much more brutal.

Instead, do what you can to “tread water” and hang out around the starting line. If you CAN, stay on target. One bad meal doesn’t ruin things. One missed workout isn’t the end of the world. If you have an awful day, respawn and get back in the fight. Immediately.

A four-week freefall is a hole you’d rather not be in. You also don’t want to be in THIS hole:

But that’s beside the point…

So forget B. Let’s aim for A.

Winter Hack #2: Never Two in a Row

I first talked about “Never Two in a Row” back in like 2012, and it’s a mantra I’ve been living by ever since.

You’re human. And life happens.

What SHOULD NOT HAPPEN is missing two days in a row. Or eating TWO bad meals in a row. Or having TWO bad days in a row.

Why? One bad day can feel like a speed bump if you’re trying to get healthy. Get back on track right away and there’s no problem.

However, missing two days in a row is like turning that tiny speed bump into the Misty Mountains. If you miss one day in a row, no problem! Just act like it didn’t happen and get back on track.

But once you miss two days in a row, you are now 67.42% more likely to fall into a multiple week hole. Okay, I made up that statistic, but two days very easily becomes three, which very easily becomes a week, which easily becomes “I’ll wait til January.”

That’s running in the wrong direction. 

So AIM TO NEVER EVER EVER miss two workouts in a row. If you miss a workout on Monday, go on Tuesday and get right back on track. If you eat pie for lunch, because it ain’t gonna eat itself, make your dinner healthy AF. Do that, and you’ll be fine.

So whenever you have a bad day or do something against your plan, I need you to respawn right away (“start over” in video game lingo) and make the next day the best day you possibly can.

Winter Hack #3: Consider Skipping a Meal

Spoiler alert: you’re going to eat lots of decadent food this upcoming month. (Unlike Noel’s delicious Thai Zoodle recipe above)

I know it. You know it. So we can do one of two things.

We can pretend like it’s not going to happen, and then be surprised and beat ourselves up when we put ourselves in a carb coma and go on a calorie-induced bender.

Or we can be smart about it and negate the impact these days have on our waistlines. Better yet, we can make these additional calories work FOR us.

For starters, our metabolisms aren’t that smart. Your weight will fluctuate based on total calories consumed over many many days, not after ONE power-bomb of a meal.

So, if you know you are going to eat a monster lunch and dinner (I see you, Christmas), eat a stupidly light breakfast, and a light breakfast tomorrow – the calories will average out in the long run.

Or, if you’re willing to dig in and do the research, SKIP breakfast (and maybe lunch) before your monster meal. It’s called “intermittent fasting,” and it’s what I do to stay on track during weeks when I know I’m going to eat poorly.

First, I skip breakfast every day (I haven’t eaten breakfast for years now).

Second, I might choose to skip lunch as well the day after a monster meal. Again, dig in and do the research (or just read this), and you’ll find that missing a meal isn’t the end of the world. In fact, it can lead to a healthier lifestyle for the right person.

If you’re interested in skipping a meal here or there, our snazzy new app has an intermittent fasting adventure in it that you can try RIGHT NOW.

Sign-up for a free trial right here:

Winter Hack #4: Strength Train Before Big Meals

Whether or not you take advantage of intermittent fasting, you can time your workouts to coincide with your unhealthy meals.

As I mentioned in our article on The 5 Rules of Weight Loss, think of all the calories you eat as first-year wizards at Hogwarts.

They need to be sorted into one of three houses (“Burn as Energy,” Store as Fat,” or “Rebuild Muscle.”)

The extra calories you eat over the holidays always go towards “store as fat” unless you give them a really good reason to head to the “build muscle” common room. Politely asking them won’t help.

You need to give them a reason. And that wonderful reason is STRENGTH TRAINING.

When you strength train before a big meal, the muscles you trained are broken down and need to be rebuilt. So, over the next 48+ hours many of those extra calories will be diverted to rebuilding (stronger) muscles instead of becoming fat.

Yeah, our gyms are probably closed because of the pandemic. But that doesn’t mean we can’t do bodyweight training from our living room.

Try a heavy strength training workout just a few hours before a holiday mean, then proceed to eat with everybody else. While they all lament “I’m so full, I ate too much, wahhhh,” you’ll know your calories are being used to rebuild muscle. So internally, you can start doing an evil villain laugh… Muahahahah, you know the one.

Work smarter (like a nerd).

Winter Hack #5: Don’t rely on motivation

Here’s another spoiler for you: you are NOT going to want to work out this month. It’s going to be dark and cold, and your nose is going to run (better catch it!), Zoom meetings are going to go on unending, you’re going to be hungover, and so on.

The amount of motivation you’ll need to get over these obstacles is gargantuan. So don’t force yourself to try and “dig deep” and just “work harder” and feel guilty when you’re “not motivated.”

Instead, do whatever you can to never, ever ever rely on motivation. Your body won’t say, “oh that’s okay, I’ll stay in shape because I feel bad for you.” There are 31 days in December just like there are 31 days in August.

Which means you need to stay on track even though it’s much easier to do in the summer. So instead of motivation, build fail-safes to make sure you are staying healthy. Schedule your workouts in your calendar and set up alerts so you are reminded. Recruit a buddy so you can check-in on each other.

Or go with one of these more diabolical examples:

Take a really really embarrassing photo of yourself, or type up a tweet with an embarrassing secret. Schedule it to post at 6:15 (or whatever time is early for you) every morning before you go to bed. Put your phone in the other room. If you don’t wake up on time, and run in the other room and cancel that tweet, it goes out! Better just get out of bed and train before work.

Give your co-worker $250. Tell him/her that you will work out 3 days per week, and text him a photo of your workout. If he/she does not receive that photo, they’ll donate $50 of your money to a political cause you can’t stand.

Set your credit card alerts to email you and your wife/husband every time it’s used. Agree ahead of time you’ll never use that card to buy fast food or else you’ll have to be on diaper duty for the next 3 months straight (or something that fits your situation).  

In each of the instances above, you’re going to do exactly two things:

Get really mad at yourself. Probably curse a lot. Swear vengeance on your past self.

Do the damn thing you know you need to do while also being mad at yourself.

Never ever ever rely on motivation. Now, motivation doesn’t hurt. It’s just not reliable. So if you are in need of some motivation to get started, try this watching this video to remind you that training in the winter makes you a badass:

Just don’t rely on it, or feel guilty when you don’t have it! Whenever you DO feel a burst of motivation, use that extra energy to build systems. Here’s how to use motivation properly.

Winter Hack #6: Have a Plan B

“Too cold today! Can’t go to the gym and do my workout, DAMN! Looks like I’ll just have to sit here and eat ice cream.”

“Ran out of groceries, and it’s snowing. I guess I’ll just have to order pizza.”

The problem with winter is that it makes the unhealthy option always the easiest. We’re lazy, and I have to imagine we’re a bit like bears in that we want to hibernate and store fat when it gets cold out.

We have this tiny voice in our head subtly nudging us to pick the path of least resistance: aka pizza and skipped workouts.

And we can’t let that voice win. Then, the White Walkers win. And we’re all screwed. So, instead, we’re going to MacGuyver the sh** outta our winter by having a Plan B prepared.

For example:

A Workout PLAN B: Have a place in your house or apartment that you can go to and do the Beginner Bodyweight Workout, a workout from Nerd Fitness Prime, or some yoga.  It might not be as great as the gym (which may or may not be open), but it’s still a workout. It might mean investing in a door frame pull-up bar or a yoga mat, but a small investment for maintaining momentum through the winter is worth any amount of money. Here’s How to Build a Home Gym if you’re interested. 

A Nutritional PLAN B: Have a healthy meal in your freezer that has already been prepared and ready to be heated up. We make horrible decisions when the fridge is empty and we’re hungry. The Sirens of Dominos and Pizza Hut beckon us to call them for a 30-minute delivery.

So use your own laziness to help!

Here are some things to consider:

Have a meal in your freezer that’s all ready to go.

Store SteamFresh veggies for emergencies.

If you use delivery apps for crap food, delete them from your phone.

Do what you need to do to make it more difficult to make the wrong choice.  

Winter Hack #7: It All Counts

So you can only train for 15 minutes today instead of 20.

So you have time to do a few yoga poses instead of working out for an hour.

So your ONLY option at the holiday party (if it’s even going on) is pizza and you didn’t have a great breakfast.

THIS DOES NOT MEAN YOUR WINTER IS RUINED.  80% IS STILL 80% BETTER THAN ZERO PERCENT.

Every little bit counts. It REALLY, REALLY does. Every small change, or even living off pie HALF of the time is FAR better than living off pie all the time. Swap ONE beer for ONE glass of water, and it’s a victory that will translate to your waistline. Do 5 push-ups as soon as you get out of bed, and it’s a victory.

Winter is a problem not because people make one bad mistake, but because one bad mistake quickly sets off a chain reaction of disasters justified by the fact that folks can’t do something 100%. So they opt for 0%.

If you don’t have time for a full workout, do half a workout! If you have to eat from a drive-through, no problem. Drinking water or a Diet Coke and grab some fruit as your side. 

Here’s something else to try:

Every morning when you wake up, do 20 bodyweight squats, 10 push-ups, and if you have access to a pull-up bar (or gymnastic rings), hang from them for 30 seconds. No bar? No problem, here are 5 pull-up alternatives.

Make this the FIRST thing you do every day (using systems built back in point #6). That way, at least every day during the winter you’ve done something.

Together we can Brave the Winter

There you have it. 

While you don’t have to follow all 7 hacks this winter, even just adopting one or two might help you build some momentum between now and the new year.

And as always, if you need any additional help, we’re here for you.

What kind of help?

Well, you could consider:

#1) Our Online Coaching Program: a coaching program for busy people to help them make better food choices, stay accountable, and get healthier, permanently.

You can schedule a free call with our team so we can get to know you and see if our coaching program is right for you. Just click on the button below for more details:

Our coaching program changes lives. Learn how!

#2) Exercising at home and need a plan to follow? Check out Nerd Fitness Journey!

Our fun habit-building app helps you exercise more frequently, eat healthier, and level up your life (literally).

Try your free trial right here:

#3) Join the Rebellion! We need good people like you in our community, the Nerd Fitness Rebellion.

Sign up in the box below to enlist and get our Rebel Starter Kit, which includes all of our “work out at home” guides, the Nerd Fitness Diet Cheat Sheet, and much more!

Get your Nerd Fitness Starter Kit

The 15 mistakes you don’t want to make.

Full guide to the most effective diet and why it works.

Complete and track your first workout today, no gym required.

Alright, that about does it.

But real quick, before somebody yells at me in the comments, yes I know a lot of Aussies and Kiwis are NF Rebels, and I know it’s nearly summer down there. You can laugh at us all you want, your winter will come soon enough. Oh, it will.  

Now, let’s hear from you:

What do you do when the going gets tough, when the temperature drops, and life gets busy as hell?

How do you fight back?

What are your favorite specific tricks or systems you use to stay on track?

Leave your comment below and share with your fellow Rebels.

-Steve

P.S. If the cold weather is bringing you down, this guide on overcoming the winter blues may help.

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Photo source: Joerg Huettenhoelscher © 123RF.com, qwartm © 123RF.com, Ivanko Brnjakovic © 123RF.com

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