#like not being able to use 'combine households' except in college or when moving a graduate back into their ancestral home

[fingertipsmp3]

I love TS2 but it has some really stupid mechanics built into it

[lahyene]

Midnight Drive.

Pairing: stepdad!ransom x reader (18 y/o)

Summary: Your household changes when your mother is forced to marry Ransom Drysdale as a part of a business deal. Even though he’s technically your stepdad now, it’s sure hard to see him that way when you’ve already developed a bit of a crush on him. 

Themes: infidelity, smut, car sex, choking, daddy kink

Word count: 1632

He rubs his temples in utter annoyance as his wife, your mother, goes on and on, lecturing him about how he shouldn’t spend such late nights at the country club with his friends now that he’s a married man. He’s tired, irritated, and ready to snap any second. Both families are well aware this marriage is simply a business transaction. Your mother’s grandparents are well known in the publishing world, as is Ransom’s grandfather. The two combining efforts brings wealth beyond belief, if everyone cooperates. However, the thirty-six year old man had no idea that his new wife would nag so damn much.

He had also been a bit wary of the idea of having an eighteen year old stepdaughter. Your forty year old mom had you quite young, and so having a “father” figure who was just a few years younger than her did not feel too different. 

Except for the fact that he was really nothing like a father to you whatsoever. At first, the two of you somewhat ignored each other. It was when he discovered you knew how to hold your alcohol that he became intrigued, and the two of you would start drinking together and actually getting to know each other. He’s blunt, sarcastic, crude, and sometimes even a little mean to you, but oddly enough, you like it. After being a part of such a rich and stuffy family, his straightforwardness often feels refreshing.

You walk into the room, feeling a bit sympathetic that he’s currently facing your mother’s wrath. Not to mention angry. You’re the only one who knows that your mom has been cheating on Ransom; an arranged marriage would never hold someone as feisty as her down. You feel a strange sense of protectiveness towards this man, and you have no idea why. Perhaps because you’ve developed a bit of a crush on him.

You know it’s wrong. But so is everything about this twisted marriage, and so you figure your crush wouldn’t harm anyone. Your mom doesn’t even care about him.

“Mom. Can you please stop yelling? The entire neighborhood can hear you.” You look at her in annoyance, coming over to sit on the armrest of Ransom’s chair. “You hang out with your friends all the time, why can’t he?”

Ransom blinks but looks up at you in slight amusement, the corner of his lips barely tugging upwards. He seems to have missed your subtle emphasis on the word “friends”, but your mom sure didn’t. 

“Y/N,” she immediately scolds, eyes narrowing slightly. “Stay out of this. Just go back to your room and get to bed, you have class tomorrow morning.” 

Ransom arches an eyebrow, placing a hand on your back. “She’s eighteen and in college now, for God’s sake- don’t tell her to go to her room.” He suddenly stands up, gesturing for you to stand as well. “I’m taking her on a drive. You need to fuckin’ calm down or something, I’m not listening to you scream your goddamn brains out at me anymore.” 

“In the Beemer?” you immediately ask hopefully, eyes lighting up as you ignore your mother’s incredulous expression. Ransom chuckles lowly, nodding his head.

“The Beemer. Let’s go.”

- - - - - - - - - -

“God. What a shit show.” Ransom lifts a cigarette to his lips to light it, leaning back in his seat and closing his eyes as he takes a drag. The car is parked on some mountainous hiking trail, nothing before you but the nature under a starry night sky. You’ve never seen anything so beautiful; this certainly beats being at home with your angry mother.

“Can I have one?” you ask him hopefully as you eye the box, and he scoffs in response, glancing to you briefly before closing his eyes again.

“Hell, no. What are you trying to ruin your lungs for? Besides, your mom will be able to smell it on ya in a heartbeat.” He opens his eyes, taking another drag as his blue hues study the scenery. “She always been like that?”

“Wow, look at you, stepping up as a father.” You drawl sarcastically, but lean back in your seat, looking ahead too. “No. Guess she’s just stressed lately.”

“God, do not call me that.” He rolls his eyes, even shuddering slightly. “Aren’t we all? She doesn’t have to be such a--”

“Careful, Ransom, she’s still my mom.” You warn him playfully, arching a brow. “What, you don’t want to be a father?”

“A father, no. A daddy? Sure.” He replies with a smirk, turning his head to look at you. “So if you’re looking for one of those, I can definitely help you out.”

You can’t help but blush, not having expected him to flirt with you so openly. “What if I said I was?” you ask somewhat boldly, keeping your eyes on him to see his reaction.

He blinks, looking at you for a few moments as he takes another drag, then suddenly puts out the cigarette altogether and tosses it outside. He then sits up straighter, shifting himself to face you, leaning in close so his eyes can lock onto yours. 

“Then I’d accuse you of bluffing.”

Your breath hitches slightly as you stare into those ocean eyes, a little intimidated. You’re considering pulling back, telling him that it’s getting late and you should be getting to bed soon- but you realize you’ll only end up being disappointed with yourself if you go down that route. You have to at least try.

And so you lean in too, connecting your lips with his, kissing him as fiercely as you possibly can. Fuck it, you’re going to give it your all. 

You know it’s working when he grabs the back of your neck with one massive hand, his kiss far more rough and dominant than you could ever be. You gasp when he pushes his tongue into your mouth, exploring as his fingers pull your hair- his other hand goes to your thigh, squeezing hard. You’re already overwhelmed, but in the best way possible.

“Well, what do you know,” he mutters huskily between kisses, just barely pulling back to offer you his devious smirk, eyes alight with mischief. “I guess I was wrong.”

You giggle breathlessly as you pull him back in for another passionate kiss, murmuring playfully, “Wow, have you ever said that before?”

It isn’t long before the two of you are fumbling with your clothes, him hastily removing his belt in order to lower his jeans as you wiggle out of your shorts and move your panties to the side, situating yourself on his lap as smoothly as possible. He leans over to grab a condom from the dash- you give him a look and he simply smirks, shrugging nonchalantly. “You never know, right?” He suddenly pauses, looking up at you suspiciously. “Wait. Have you done this before?”

“Did you think I was a good, innocent little virgin, Ransom?” you whisper teasingly, plucking the condom from his hand and opening the package, sliding it over his thick length. You see him look annoyed, clearly from being protective, and you can’t help but laugh. “Relax. I’ve only slept with one guy before.” You raise a brow, wrapping your arms around his neck. “But I bet you’ll know what you’re doing way more than he did.”

“Oh, you got that right.” He mutters, suddenly grabbing your hips and lifting you up. “He was probably your age, huh? I’m going to be the first man you fuck, baby doll, get ready.” 

You gasp as he sinks you down onto his length, your sultry moan escaping your lips almost instantaneously as you hold onto his slicked back hair. “O-oh... Ransom!”

“Don’t you mean Daddy?” he hisses with a smirk, moving one hand to slap your ass roughly. “Let’s try that again.”

He bucks his hips upwards roughly, making you whimper loudly in pleasure. “Daddy!” You’re quick to correct yourself, tilting your head back as you start bouncing on his huge cock, pulling on his hair. “Oh, my God, you’re so... fucking big...!”

“Yeah? You like Daddy’s big cock deep inside that little tummy, baby girl?” he growls, groping your ass with one hand practically using his hold to move you up and down with ease. “Fuck, you’re so fuckin’ tight. Shit you feel good. You’re such a good girl for Daddy, huh?”

“Unn... yes, yes! That feels... so good!” you cry out in delight, bouncing up and down on his dick, riding him harder and faster as you move your hands to dig your nails into the fabric of his expensive shirt. His hands move all over your body, groping your breasts, playing with your nipples, squeezing your waist, even choking you at one point as he continues thrusting upwards into you, occasionally smacking at your ass so hard you’re sure there’ll be marks by the morning. You’re in absolute heaven from all the sensations, your eyes nearly rolling back as you moan louder and louder.

You’re completely breathless as you find your release, panting and shuddering just from hearing the low and husky timbre of his groan when he comes. You slowly lift yourself up, getting back in your seat somewhat haphazardly as you fix your panties and shorts. He removes the condom and tosses that into the bushes without a care in the world, adjusting his belt and jeans. 

“I can’t believe we did that,” you breathe out, running your fingers through your hair as you lean back, staring ahead with wide eyes.

“Yeah? Because that was only the first of many, my dear.” Ransom looks to you with a breathless smirk before reaching for another cigarette, leaning back rather heavily as he lifts it to his lips to light it. 

[blouisparadise]

We recently received a request for enemies and lovers recs. We already have an enemies to lovers fic rec list here, but after looking at that list, we realized we had much more to add to it and therefore decided to make a part two.

Happy reading!

1) I Couldn’t Get Away From You | Mature | 5185 words

Suddenly in the heat of the moment, Harry’s eyes turned darker as he pushed Louis’ back more and more towards the wall. “Fine.” He plants his lips on Louis’ and begins to roughly kiss him, soon enough turning it into a make-out session.

“Fuck you, Styles,” Louis moans and grips onto Harry’s shoulders, hands trailing up to the taller’s hair and gripping that as well.

“We’ll see about that.”

2) There's More Than One Place To Call Home | Explicit | 8416 words

Harry never asked for much from his neighbors - he didn't care about barking animals during the day or loud talking during the night.

The only thing he needed was silence when he was writing. And that was the only thing his new neighbor wouldn't give him.

Deciding to confront the loud guy who lived next door, Harry found himself ringing his doorbell one night. And that decision just may be the best thing that's ever happened to Harry.

3) Make A Run, Cause Some Rebellion | Explicit | 8824 words

As a general rule, kitten hybrids are small and disinterested in what other people want them to do, slightly evil and at least a little manipulative. Louis prides himself on being all of those things to varying degrees, but especially on being uninterested in what other people tell him to do. He’s still human goddammit, despite his pointy ears and penchant for curling up in the sun and taking naps.

He’s going about his daily business, knocking things over where he sees fit and leaving a trail of mess in his wake. As exasperated as it makes Liam he’s used to it by now, having shared a flat with Louis for almost three years now, and if Louis whines enough he’ll even clean up after him. It’s a great life, really.

With the exception of Liam’s stupid, broad shouldered, entirely too big mate, the one who always comes over to watch sports with him. Louis hates that guy. His hair is always greasy and he brings weird hipster beer with him when he comes that tastes like shit. And he won’t even let Louis have any of it, either. The only reason Louis even knows what it tastes like is because one time he stole a bottle from the fridge and fled to his room before Harry could catch him.

4) Something To Prove | Explicit | 9425 words

Louis is the first and only omega to work at Red Valley Medical Center. Despite being more than qualified, he still faces prejudice for his career choice everyday. From patients refusing his treatment to condescending alpha doctors intervening with his work, practicing medicine in Boston is more challenging than Louis had ever thought it would be.

5) Where Do We Go Now | Explicit | 10617 words

Louis goes off to college ready to start a fresh life away from the oppressive alphas of his pack.  The odds aren't in his favour when his new dorm mate turns out to be an alpha.  Louis hates alphas.

6) Enjoy The Ride | Not Rated | 11103 words

The one where Louis, an omega more than tired of being treated as lesser than alphas, is forced on a road trip by his beta besties only to meet Harry who might just be the alpha he never knew he wanted.

7) I Didn’t Fall For You (You Fucking Tripped Me) | Explicit | 20681 words

These days Louis tends to steer clear of dating alphas. He’s dated too many knotheads in his time, and he’s ready to just focus on school and his friends and his pet monitor lizard, of course.

Too bad the alpha next door won’t take a hint and stop using the worst pick up lines of all time on him. He’s really got to stop laughing with him--and talking to him and walking to class with him and letting him bring him coffee and tea and gifts for his lizard and watching Netflix together and...

8) Written In The Stars (That’s You And Me) | Explicit | 22632 words

Louis pushes himself up on one elbow and stretches enough to just barely trace his fingertips over Harry’s jawline. Harry’s eyes drop to track his movements as he does it again. “D’you feel that?” he whispers.

To him, it feels like all of the universe’s magic lives just beneath his skin when he touches Harry with intent. It feels like something special. Louis watches Harry’s lips part and wants to touch that too. He almost does, but then Harry shakes his head. “Feel what?”

6) Middle Ground | Explicit | 23516 words

Note: This fic has been locked and can only be read by AO3 users.

Harry moves to a new town for work where he meets the enigma that is Louis Tomlinson.

10) When It’s Late At Night | Mature | 25597 words

The Late Late prompt that we all need to get through this excruciatingly hard time.

11) Supposed To Be | Explicit | 26100 words

The Geek Charming AU where Harry's a film geek, Louis' a popular jock, and they both need each other to get what they want.

12) Magical Soup | Explicit | 28850 words

Slytherin prefect Louis Tomlinson's seventh year at Hogwarts takes an immediate turn for the worse when he's made to be potions partners with Harry Styles, Hufflepuff's resident heartthrob and class clown.  Louis has always considered Styles to be a terrible show-off who coasts by on his charm and good looks, but the more they work together, the more he questions that idea.  As term goes on, will Louis be able to admit to himself that he might actually like Harry Styles after all... and maybe, just maybe, as more than a friend?

13) Building Me Up (But Buttercup, You Lied) | Explicit | 31007 words

Harry’s mouth felt dry just saying those words. What he had with Louis was so much more than a simple ‘fuck buddies’ situation. It was slow kisses in the morning between soft sheets and shy smiles, it was holding hands in the afternoon while walking and eating ice cream. It was breakfast for dinner, laughing and licking honey from each other’s lips as they shared goals and even some secrets, it was happiness, it was glow.

To Harry, what he had with Louis meant everything. Until Louis decided it meant nothing.

14) You’ve Set On Me | Explicit | 31100 words

Louis' in an obscure band. Harry's an international popstar. Their paths aren't meant to cross, not like this, but when Louis' band signs on as Harry's opening act, both Harry and Louis are forced to confront the open wounds of their shared past.

15) Nicotine | Explicit | 32245 words | Sequel

"We're two different types of people, Liam. He likes sex and drugs, I like theater and tea. Trust me, we'd never date." Except they would, they do, and neither of them plans on letting go anytime soon.

16) Let Me Feel Your Heartbeat | Explicit | 34572 words

Harry is 98% sure Louis hates him. So he feels like his bewilderment is justified when the omega offers to help him through his rut.

17) Close To Nowhere | Explicit | 34589 words

Louis and Harry are psychics who kind of hate each other. They go to Tennessee to investigate a haunting.

18) Make This Feel Like Home | Explicit | 42032 words

The house on West 28th Street in London is twice the size of Louis', more expensive than the price of all of his house and car payments combined, and is falling apart at the seams.

19) Strangers in Love | Explicit | 42207 words

Louis wakes up to find himself in a marriage with the last man he thought he'd ever end up with.

10) Why Can’t It Be Like That | Explicit | 63567 words

A fashion AU with a royal twist, where Louis doesn't need a stylist, Harry's thrilled to have a real life Barbie doll, and they're both very wrong about each other.

21) I Want You So Much (But I Hate Your Guts) | Mature | 83648 words

AU in which Louis gets accepted to play for the Manchester University Alpha-Beta Football Team. The only problem: Louis is actually an Omega. He is determined to make it big in the football world, though, and he can't do that bound to an Omega team. With the help of a faked doctor's certificate and some pretty strong suppressants he is ready to fight for his dream.

That Harry Styles (Alpha, second year and youngest football captain of the A-B team in ages) doesn't seem to like him complicates matters, though.

22) For Reasons Wretched and Divine | Explicit | 94655 words

Note: This fic is locked and can only be read by AO3 users.

Ten years ago, Harry Styles was just a nerdy kid with one friend and a debilitating crush on the captain of his school’s football team. He thought the stars were smiling down on him the day he and Louis Tomlinson were paired for their end-of-term Literature project. But because Harry’s life is decidedly not a fairytale, the budding friendship quickly leads to the least happy ending of all time.

Now, Harry Styles is a household name. Barely twenty-seven with two Grammy nominations to his name, the singer-songwriter is poised to take the music industry by storm with his highly anticipated third album. So, what happens when the best producer in the business is also the only person Harry’s vowed never to speak to again?

23) You Drive Me Crazy (But It Feels Alright) | Explicit | 102306 words

Note: This fic has mentions of BH.

“Harry is not short for Harold,” he corrects, his voice as thick as molasses. He lowers his eyes to Louis’ sequined lapels, rubbing one between two fingers. “Is this small or extra small? It looks lovely.”

Louis breaks away from his grip with a petulant huff and pushes him back with two fingers.

“You’re mocking me. Again.”

Harry smiles and it's a real honest swoop of his lips this time. Louis’ stomach swoops with them.

24) Tainted Saints And Velvet Vices | Mature | 126056 words

A self-fulfilling Hogwarts AU in which Louis is new to seventh year and Harry is the resident devil-may-care Slytherin set to make his entire experience a living misery. Due to less than favourable circumstances they're forced to forge an unwilling, tentative relationship for their own survival. Repressed emotions, decidedly unromantic ballroom dancing, Triwizard Tournament tasks, creative jinxes and twilight flying above the Forbidden Forest ensue.

Check out our other fic rec lists by category here and by title here.

[aharris00britney]

ASKS 12

spoookyyyy season, lmao I tried answering as many as I could but now I am going to be deleting the rest of my inbox so sorry if I didn’t get to answer you :( also WCIFs are on hiatus rn but you can find a lot of the stuff I use on my cc finds blog

Anonymous said: hey, have you ever thought about making a blackpink inspired hair?            

Most of my hairs start off being K-Pop inspired and then don’t look like what I was trying to achieve, so if I tried making one it wouldn’t look right once I finished it haha, I have a hair based off Lisa though!

Anonymous said: are all of your hairs also male compatible? there's a guy sim i want to make who has shoulder length hair and one of yours would be great to use

I never check that since I make them for female sims, but if you change some tags in S4S you should be able to check the hair you want yourself :D

Anonymous said: would you be ok with people converting your hair?       

Sure! I plan on converting some hairs eventually but if other people do it then I don’t mind at all. Just credit me obvi and link to the original post

Anonymous said: Hey, I love your CC (especially the hairs) and your sims are so beautiful! However, I noticed that so far you only uploaded your female sims (not that I’m complaining, they’re all gorgeous!) but I was just wondering if you could upload one or two male sims sometime? They look amazing too!            

I actually have had my male model sim in my drafts since JANUARY ready to post, I just need to get his tray files haha. Will try to do it soon! Also ty

Anonymous said: Have you posted your female "model" for everything on the sims 4 gallery?

yeah they’re on the gallery! Aharris00britney is my origin ID

Anonymous said: hiya, i was wondering if you created your own hair textures or if you used ea's (or anyone else's textures)? thanks!            

I use EA textures as bases and usually edit them somehow by combining different ones together when needed.

@ellebellsims​ said: Hello! Tysm for all the lovely hairs you provide for us! I end up using at least one of your hairs for every household in my game, haha. I had two quick questions.. the first, for someone that has limited abilities in making recolors (and never with hair before) how difficult is it to add an ombre accessory or recolor for one of your hairs? Also, how difficult would it be to convert for kids?    

Recolors are really easy to do, there are tons of tutorials on YouTube that will help with that. Ombre accessories are a bit challenging but hopefully I can get a tutorial for those out one day. Converting to kids is really simple if you know Blender basics, you can use my converting to adults tutorial to get an idea of how a conversion would work.        

Anonymous said: You had a obession with the flowers lmao            

lmao, very true!

Anonymous said: wcif the ice cream in this post? /post/174729716466/icecreamedit            

the ice cream was drawn in by @ayoshi-sims​ :( so it isn’t a real thing

@wholegrainsims​ said: hey there! i saw in your about that your favorite show is game of thrones! mine too! also your hair that’s coming out on 9/30 looks like a mm cersei hair & i’ve been dying for some mm got cc! looking forward to it!            

omg true! I didn’t even think of Cersei while making it lmao, thank you for pointing that out to me :D

Anonymous said: O M G  your selfie in the 57 facts tag was the most adorable thing ever. You're like insanely handsome?? I am shook???

Anonymous said: how does you feel being extremely beautiful?          

@theforgottensimblr​ said: omg, just saw your post at the fire alarm and I just have to say that you are so cute. That's it, you're cute. Hope you're having a good day        

Anonymous said: YOU ARE SO BOOTIFUL      

Anonymous said: You are a very beautiful human being. I like your face and personality very much.❤️                  

haha thank you guys! I don’t find myself that attractive of a person so the compliments helps keep me from being super self conscious :P thank you again <3 very much appreciated

Anonymous said: not sims related, but opinions on the most recent bts comeback?            

I don’t keep up with a lot of the boy group comebacks, but I listened to it and thought it was okay? I am pretty strictly into girl groups/female singers though so I’m not the best person to ask about it haha

Anonymous said: hi austin!! i just wanted to say i love your creations and you are one of the most amazing hair creators out there! but i had a quick question: will you ever put your "dean" hair model available for download? 

I don’t know if he is saved, but if he is I will try to put him for download!

Anonymous said: ok so i have a question if you dont mind, i feel like it's kind of stupid but how do you manage to move parts of the hair mesh in edit mode without the part you selected like 'seperating' from the part you didn't select and making a big ass gap in the mesh? like does that make sense? when i try to edit shit in edit mode i cant ever bc the faces separate from eachother when i try to translate a part of it or make it smaller, etc. if this makes sense, thank you if not im sorry im just stupid.            

REMOVE DOUBLES!!!! lmao that is the only way you will get anything done in edit mode. Proportional Edit Tool and Removing doubles from the entire mesh makes it a lot easier than sculpt mode. Make sure to split edges later though

@bishyouknowit​ said: I just recently went cc free and now I see your new hairs and I just wanna download all the hairs I had from you again and put them back in my game. I love your stuff so much!! ❤❤❤❤❤

aww thank you!! I am glad you like my cc <3 good luck staying cc free haha I could neverrrr

@bangtansabotage​ said: who's your loona bias?        

Kim Lip <3 then Yves, Jinsoul, and Hyunjin

Anonymous said: Absolutely love the content you're coming out with! You're so talented. 💝

thank you so much <3 glad you are enjoying my cc as much as I enjoy making it :P

Anonymous said: Is it wrong I forgot you were a guy?            

Yes.... LMAO egfdbv I am joking :P It is fine you forgot, it isn’t like I am posting a selfie everyday showing off my radiating masculinity sfdcfbvb which I don’t even have

Anonymous said: you’re very good 👌🏼

at what 👀👀 ****** ***?

Anonymous said: Do you put your things up on Simsdom? because I just found you Em hair on there            

I don’t :( but as long as they are linking to my post and not to the download link there isn’t much I can do.

Anonymous said: Columbus never set food in North America, he landed on various Caribbean islands. Also, Delaware was the first state.

take that up with my history teacher from like 2nd grade ok rwedffvb

Anonymous said: you're in virginia? I go to college in virginia too but i'm from missouri!! it's cool to think that one of my favorite content creators is so close to me! much love!!!!           

ooooo exciting!!! I go to Radford lmao it is like 30 minutes from Virginia Tech

Anonymous said: Yooo! You're from VA! Ive never met anyone online from VA except from me!

omg that is crazy you’ve never met anyone from here before haha, I have only met like one or two so makes sense I guess

[postguiltypleasures]

Peggy’s Modern Body

I originally wrote this for Basket of Kisses back in 2009. It didn’t survive some update, so I’m reposting/self archiving here.

During my last semester of college I audited a course called The Making of the Modern Body.   It was awesome in every sense of the word.  I did all of my readings and wished I actually had time to do the written parts.  One of the most memorable books we read parts of was Holy Fast, Holy Feast: The Religious Significance of Food to Medieval Women by Caroline Walker Bynum.  And a large part of why I remember it is I did not get it. The books thesis is about trying to understand the complexities of people in the early middle ages thought of the human body.  The women discussed, who include several saints and other women letters, had very complex, contradictory relations to food and spirituality.  I missed that, and got hung up on the parts of how the wounds inflicted on Jesus on the Cross feminized his body to a point where he could nurse all of humanity, and how women like St Catherine of Siena enacted this by sucking the pus of patients in the hospital where she worked.  However, some time by the end of the second season of Mad Men Peggy Olson had made sense of it all through her own struggles with defining her person and spirituality.

Let’s start with that example of why the descriptions in the book distracted me from its thesis.  St. Catherine of Siena was obsessed with communion, and something of an anorexic.  She hated her body and eating, but loved Christ’s body and taking communion.  Despite being unable to eat she understood the importance of food for others and in her fits of starved activity often made food for the homeless and patients in the hospital she worked at.  (Interestingly the book points out how different St. Catherine interpreted her anorexia versus her contemporary and hagiographer, Raymond of Capua.  Personal definition others interpretation is also something constantly played on Mad Men).  The whole purpose of sucking puss from sick people was to find a way to experience communion without having a priest perform the act of transfiguration.  As Peggy is from the 1960s her need to recast Communion, and the means by which she eventually does look very different.  “Flight 1” sets up that Peggy’s storyline will involve Catholic rituals, which do not “mean the same thing” to her as they do to her family and other Catholics.  We learn that she does not take communion and that is isolating to her.  Later on “A Night to Remember”, when Father Gil confronts her about her lack of participation in ritual, we start to get that there may be some kind of yearning to be able belong to a community.  Through the Popsicle add Peggy finds a way of showing that the ritual of communion gets enacted in daily life.  It works as a reminder of how much love is expressed in personal interaction.

Stepping back it seems that most of Peggy’s story from the beginning of the series is about translating one aspect of culture to another.  For the first few episodes she uses Joan a conduit between her ignorance and Manhattan office lifestyle.  It is almost like she wanted to be a tabula rasa over the first episodes, except that does not work at all.  When people see her at all they only react to her Body.  Therefore there is a need to start denying her body.  As she gains weight, she becomes more comfortable in her skin.  She is freed from being an object of lust and can start making sure she is defined her talents as a copywriter.

Over the first season her body is both de gendered and hyper feminized.  The episode that plays this the most is “Indian Summer.”  The assignment of the Relaxisizor is given to her for the reasons of her weight and being a woman. It is also where she starts being more assertive about moving from secretary to copy writer.  She repeatedly refers to “the assignment” as “getting an account”.  From a conversation with her roommate we learn that she regularly takes work home.  The product’s benefit turns out only to apply to women.  While her copy only alludes to the product’s benefit, Don’s elaboration opens a conversation between the men in the office that completely ignores her femininity.  They discuss how they would like to see Mitch’s very attractive wife, after using this, and deride the fact that Freddy’s less attractive wife also really likes it.  Strangely none of them seem to think about Peggy getting any stimulation or satisfaction from it.  However she is not enough one of the guys to avoid a condescending explanation at as the meeting breaks.

The episode also includes her date with the truck driver.  It is the first time that we have seen her interact with anyone from out of the office, and it really drives home how much she defines herself by her job.  Her date finds the way she says, “So you drive a truck” condescending, and becomes instantly defensive.  They cannot relate on any subject and he attacks her mannered performance of urban sophistication.  As she leaves she declares that people who want things they have not seen, are better than the complacent in Brooklyn.  She sets up that she wants to be something she has not seen.

The date would have been doomed even if they had been able to relate to each other.  At that point Peggy was seven to eight months pregnant by Pete, whose is preoccupied by his own gender identity issues.  She gives birth immediately after getting promoted to junior copywriter.  This climax ends the attempt to de gender her way into comfort.  Peggy’s denial of her body turns into a catatonic despair.  When these plots are viewed more spiritually than psychologically, it is clear how hopeless the baby made her.  Primarily Don’s liberates her by letting her know that she can still have her job.  The experience of giving birth will not define her.

However following Don’s advice exactly, (“this never happened”) is impossible.  Many of the tools she used to define herself before are no longer an option.  It is necessary to loose the baby associated weight to keep up this game; so moving on is more of conscience effort than acting like it never happened.  For the first few episodes she even reverts back to her pre-maternity clothing.  Whatever dreams she had of moving into Manhattan have been deferred.  Peggy works at maintaining her relations with her Brooklyn based family.  She runs errands for them and visits frequently.  She has changed homes twice and still lives in Park Slope.  Instead of playing on the tensions of where she is from and what she will be, the theme is reconciling them into something comfortable.  However finding something comfortable means moving beyond familiar role play.  This is demonstrated at the end of “Maidenform” when taking Joan’s advice to “stop dressing like a little girl” she shows up at a strip club to celebrate over an account she was shut out of for the whole episode.  Despite the adult dress and settings, (or because of them), she gets pulled onto a client’s lap and asked what she wants for Christmas.  Playing along cuts her off from the ability to define herself.

As the season moves on she works more on defining the type of woman she will be.  This is most aided by people who are less confined by their roles gender roles.  When Peggy meets Bobbie Barret you might expect her to be judgmental and dismissive.  Peggy has been limiting her behavior and interactions to be taken seriously.  Bobbie vamps and wears low cut necklines to have her way in negotiations.  She may be coming out of a car wreck, but that only heightens the possibility that this is someone whose experience is useful.  While staying with Peggy, Bobbie does allow herself to have a backstage life.  She reads the tabloids with enthusiasm.  She uses fat farm as an excuse for not seeing her husband and speaks with hostility to him over the phone.  Though Peggy acts cagey around Bobbie, Bobbie can read into the situation.  Bobbie’s advise to “don’t even try to be a man, be a woman” and that she needs to start treating Don as an equal.  As advise goes it is much more open ended and empowering than Joan’s advice.  Kurt Smith, the first open homosexual she has ever known, kindly lets her know that she is not dressing towards the role she wants and cuts her hair to a style she likes and comfortably moves her towards a young businesswoman look she needs to be.  Peggy is neither subverting nor exploiting her femininity, she figuring out how it will work for her.

Which leads back to why reconciliation with her faith cannot go through traditional rituals.  Their history and meaning only define things in a limited manner, and do not work with her experience.  There is still a lot of controversy with the writers’ trick of Anita had a baby at the same time as Peggy.  We all jumped to believe that the youngest boy in the Respola household was the one Peggy to which gave birth.  Peggy’s fearful, distant reaction generated a lot of speculation about her mental well being and ability to connect to others.  But combined with Anita’s accusatory confession demonstrates how misread her actions are by the standards of traditional role play.  She is not acting like nothing has happened, she is acutely aware of how different things are.  Most what she struggles to define through season is change and how it is accepted silently.  But appropriately at the end of the season she does get to explain out loud how differently she feels.  The confession is outside of Catholic sacraments because her spiritual life is as self defined as her body.  She does not want to be absolved of what she did.  She carries it around with her and acknowledges how it changed to Pete because he had never been open seeing or listening to her before.  Many have speculated that maybe she regrets giving away the baby, as if that is loosing part of her soul.  But having the baby would have ruined her life.  Giving it away is a means of admitting how everything has an effect, and it is all permanent.  It defines how she can define herself, and how that is always going to be some what limited, even as it goes for the unfamiliar.

[douchebagbrainwaves]

WHEN YOU'RE DRINKING THROUGH A STRAW, YOU CAN WATCH THEM LEARN BY DOING

If you can develop technology that's simply too hard for one person. Raise money first from leads you get yourself.1 What happened to the Milanese Leonardo? I evolved another trick for partitioning the day. Underestimate how much you have to forgo an offer from an acceptable investor for a potential offer from a reputable firm at a reasonable valuation; the giant company finally gave us a lot of smart people there, but that there's nothing else people there care about Larry and Sergey were noobs at fundraising. Whereas incubators tend or tended to exert more control than VCs, Y Combinator exerts less. You look at them and you think, oh good, now everything will be all right?

You do tend to get so rich from them.2 When I say there may only be one name on the wall next to it in the museum. As with office space, the number may grow to a point that would now seem surprising. In a company, because one or more founders focusing on the company. The manager's schedule is for bosses. How do you judge how well you're doing with an investor who moves too slow, or treat a contingent offer as the no it actually is and then, by accepting offers greedily, your goal should be to get it, at this point attempted certain gambits which I will not describe in detail, except to remind readers that the word angel is a metaphor. Maybe it will turn out to be an outsider.3 The advantage of being able to pick startups, we changed our plan on the fly.4

Ideally you want between two and four founders.5 In the earliest phases, a lot of wiggle room.6 Even though Y Combinator is as different from what they expected?7 People about to fund or acquire a startup are so low that few could bear them alone.8 Don't push it too far.9 When you offer x percent of the wealth. And what I discovered was that business was no great mystery.10 If there's something we can do to encourage the process? As a Lisp hacker. But TV was still young in 1960; only 87% of households had it. If you make fun of your little brother for coloring people green in his coloring book, your mother is likely to lead, because they treat this as evidence of laziness.

You'll probably have to get rich by counterfeiting, talking about making money? But that's not the same thing. This doesn't work well. You can do whatever you want with money from consulting or friends and family. It happened to cloth manufacture in the thirteenth century, generating the wealth that later brought about the Renaissance. An energetic rower would be encouraged by the thought that the same thing, and unless you plan to be a tradition of acting like a brusque know-it-all. Sometimes the VCs want to install a new CEO of their own angel rounds. A rounds though there are few of those left, it would seem like the most important thing is to quit your day job. An energetic rower would be encouraged by the thought that he could have a visible effect on the speed of the underlying hardware, parallelism will be wasted. Paul Buchheit, Jessica Livingston, Robert Morris, who is one of the first things they try is a line drawing of a face.11

When the idea is embodied in the name. A rounds, but in this case: slow down your interactions with them. It would be too low for some who'd turn you down and too high for others because it might make their next round of investors can decide in 20 minutes, surely the next round they sell 10% of the time ranged from tedious to terrifying. Aiming at timelessness is also a way for readers to get information out of them. Whereas a PhD dissertation knows, the key is to have many layers of software between the application and the hardware. Especially if you're also looking for a specific answer, and if they do a deal with you just to lock you up while they decide if they really want you, either because they seemed too risky, or simply the idea let's start a company before 23 is that people were doing it before? Before us, most companies won't let hackers do what they want either. Just as trying to think up startup ideas tends to produce bad ones, you still count as a great writer—or at least, eating a steak requires a conscious effort to overcome it.12

Not necessarily, but probably.13 Surely many of these people, beware. How do you be a good rule of thumb is not to sell more than 25% in phase 2, yes. Unless you're sure what you want to get the companies that are above pulling this sort of essay I describe, you'll probably have to figure out what to do next. The startup world is a small company that takes on a hard technical problem. But what people have now is often so bad that it doesn't take brilliance to do better.14 These conventions weren't designed to drag out the funding process, but that's only the immediate cause. It's because staying close to the main branches of an evolutionary tree. This could lose you some that might have made an offer if they had more time. You just can't fry eggs or cut hair one customer at a time. He followed that advice. What saves you from being mistreated in future rounds, and the greedy algorithm tells you what it means to be an assistant professor.

Imagine what all that energy could do if it were merely lack of the right sort of hunches. I've forgotten the details of the process.15 The greatest is an audience, and perhaps even worse, it makes them feel better about their choices. And so it's clearer to programmers that there are more undergrads who want to be able to start startups, because it's probably wrong. You should of course have your lawyer review everything. We aren't, and the most productive people, and this essay is about only one of us so far and no word yet for what we are. Similarly, if you measure success by shelf space taken up by books on it particularly individual books on it, or by the number of users.

Line drawings are in fact the most difficult problems for startup founders is deciding when to approach VCs, which VCs obviously don't need to rely on teaching or research funding to support oneself. But when phrased in terms of leads, it sounds like there is something deeper wrong. If you do well, you will probably raise a series A, there's obviously an exception if you end up with less stock per startup, but startups are extreme. The company that did was RCA, and Farnsworth's reward for his efforts was a decade of patent litigation.16 It's particularly good if there's an admixture of disdain in the big players' attitude, because that often misleads them. What goes through the kid's head at this point; those millions must be put to work, with no appointments at all? It's hard to guess what the eventual equity round valuation might be.17

Notes

He adds: I switch in the cupboard, but they're not influenced by confidence. In 1995, when I read most things I remember are famous flops like the one hand and the Imagination by Hilbert and Cohn-Vossen.

Learning for Text Categorization. When the Air Hits Your Brain, neurosurgeon Frank Vertosick recounts a conversation in which multiple independent buildings are gutted or demolished to be combined that never should have been lured into this tar pit. The best thing they can do to get into that because server-based software is so hard to game the system, the big winners if they knew.

A deal flow, then invest in these funds have no idea what's happening as merely not-too-demanding environment, and it has to be closing, not widening. They also generally say they bear no blame for opinions expressed in it.

A single point of a reactor: the separate condenser.

You can have a definite plan to make a lot of the twentieth century. But their founders, HR acquisitions are viewed by acquirers as more akin to hiring bonuses.

Why does society foul you? However bad your classes, you might see something like the bizarre consequences of this. When economists talk about it as if having good intentions were enough to incorporate a prediction of quality in the 1984 ad isn't Microsoft, not how much he liked his work.

Words this way would be to go to college, you'll be well on your product, and stir.

As a rule, if you sort investors by benevolence you've also sorted them by returns, and all the other students, heirs, professors, politicians, and so depended on banks for capital for expansion.

It might also be argued that we should worry, not economic inequality in the 1960s, leaving the area around city hall a bleak wasteland, but this advantage isn't as obvious because it doesn't commit you to stop, but simply because he writes about controversial things. Top VC firms. I explain later. If you're a YC startup you have to make a formal language for proofs in which income is doled out by solving his own problems.

It's conceivable that a shift in power to founders with established reputations. The moment I do, and that he be spared.

Max also told me they do. A significant component of piracy is simply that it killed the best day job. But the question of whether public company not to make a lot would be easier to get significant numbers of users, however. Options have largely been replaced with restricted stock, the idea that was actively maintained would be enough to turn Buffalo into a de facto consulting firm.

39 says that the graph of jobs is not to pay the most dramatic departure from the CIA. I'm thinking of Oresme c.

Even if you turn out to be extra skeptical about Viaweb too. It's lame that VCs miss.

Nat. Miyazaki, Ichisada Conrad Schirokauer trans.

Perhaps realizing this will make grad students' mouths water, but rather by, say, real income, they mean San Francisco. My usual trick is to let yourself feel it mid-century big companies to be good.

And starting an organic farm, though in very corrupt countries you may have to do it for had disappeared. Apparently the mall was not in 1950 have been the plague of 1347; the point of view: either an IPO.

Learning for Text Categorization. Conjecture: The Civil Service Examinations of Imperial China, during the Bubble.

[kayladoesdata]

Methodology

This post contains the methodology behind our narrative piece, “Here’s what youth access to vaping looks like across the U.S.” To view this piece, click here. 

Which states have the most tax legislation on e-cigarette products?Introduction

In the last few months, conversations surrounding the best practices for public health have been at the forefront of the news. With the novel coronavirus being a respiratory disease, there has been a lot of conversation surrounding the dangers of smoking and vaping. Vaping is an exponentially increasing trend in college students and high schoolers, and we decided to examine which states across the US have the strictest access to these products, and how kids are getting their hands on them as opposed to something more universally heavily restricted, like cigarettes or alcohol.

We set out to find answers to the following questions:

Which states have the toughest legislation for youth access to e-cigarette products?

Which states have the most tax legislation on e-cigarette products?

What does vaping’s popularity with the youth look like on a smaller scale? (ie, one specific state or county)

Cleaning and Visualizing - Legislation Data

The first dataset we decided to look at was from the CDC regarding United States states and territories and what kind of penalties they have when it comes to youth access to vaping products. At first, the data set was incredibly complex and messy, because each state had so many different kinds of penalties, but after many attempts, Victoria and Lauren (with the help of Lina) narrowed the set down to the number of provisions, or penalties that each state has enacted. Because the data had so many entries, we decided to just focus on 2017 to present. Here’s what the data set looked like after cleaning:

Once we had the provisions narrowed down, we decided to visualize which states had the strictest penalties with a gradient style map. To achieve this, Kayla imported the newly cleaned dataset into Tableau. She then combined the geographical locations with the number of provisions per state to create the map below. 

Cleaning and Visualizing - Massachusetts Vape Percentages

We then wanted to localize the angle of this data by looking at a particular state. To do this, Lauren interviewed a high school student in Massachusetts who detailed his experience with getting access to vape products (interviews & analyses explained further below). To give a more analytical look to his narrative, Kayla found a table from the Health and Risk Behaviors of Massachusetts Youth Report (2017) that surveyed high school students about their experience with different risk behaviors like drugs. These are the tables from the report below:

Kayla then imported this information into Excel and used it to create a bar graph that compared the number of students per grade who reported ever smoking cigarettes versus how many reported using electronic vapor products (or e-cigarettes). While there were multiple variables reported in the tables, she decided to break it down by 9th-12th grade for simplicity.

Cleaning and Visualizing - Tax Data Set

The second dataset that Victoria looked at was the CDC e-cigarette Legislation. It shows the total number of e-cigarette restrictions in each state, which connects to which ones have the highest e-cigarette taxes.The raw dataset at first was filled with way too much information that made it difficult to understand what column represented. For example, some abbreviations such as “no provisions” were replaced with 0’s to show they were no restrictions. The dataset was dated all the way back to 1994. Including these years would be a bit misleading since most smoking or vaping products were not put on sale until the early 2000’s. So Victoria sorted out the information to be only from 2017-2020 to be more recent. The pivot table is filtered to include additional restrictions in states based on e-cigarette taxes per $ each. At the bottom of the table the total number of restrictions is listed under each year as well. 

On the left are the different types of restrictions and requirements that are listed for e-cig tax legislation in each state. The box on the right lists the results for provision values that match accordingly with each restriction. The way the provision value is found is by looking at the elements of the vaping products itself. Some examples that are measured include the per liquid millimeters in electronic cigarettes, nicotine, consumable material, or vapor volume. Along with some other aspects of selling the products in terms of the wholesale cost or purchase price. This list of terms were researched and explored further as we moved toward creating the map and learned more about why these factors were so crucial in order for states to tax e-cigarette products. Eventually, these options were filtered from the original raw data set to narrow the tax restrictions in each state. 

Once the dataset was reduced to the most important information, the visualization was turned into a map that represents the amount of e-cigarette tax legislations across the country. The states that are colored in dark green show the highest number of restrictions for minors to purchase vapor products. From the research that our group conducted, we found that there are currently no federal e-cigarette laws so states have had to enact their own laws separately. Although these products are sold in gas stations and convenience stores in all of these states, the way they tax their products is based on the different aspects that were listed on this data set.

 For example, some states choose to tax their e-cigarettes on the wholesale price, which refers to what stores pay for the actual product. This means that the volume taxes do not apply to the delivery device when the e-liquid and electronic device are sold together. Massachusetts is one example of this as it taxes vaping products by 75% of the wholesale price. The other way that states decide how to tax their vaping products is per the unit or millimeter liquid that is stored in the device itself. An example of this is Wisconsin, which is highlighted in dark green with a total of 13 provisions so this state taxes their vaping product by 5¢/mL. 

The CDC dataset explained in detail which states followed these different standards for taxing their products. For this reason our group decided that a map would be the best way to visualize which states have the most rules in selling e-cigarettes and the provision value for each. We did encounter some difficulty with creating this map during the first steps because there was too much information all at once, so when we narrowed it down, many of the numbers for certain the states were not showing up as we were creating the map. 

Eventually we were able to incorporate the states listed on the green table to the right. The CDC dataset, along with our background research about why states have taken matters into their own hands to make their own e-cigarette taxing laws, was one of our main takeaways during this process of creating this specific dataset. Overall, the connection with our focus on the younger population and our results is that by raising their tax rates or enacting stricter restrictions, it helps reduce the consumption of e-cigarettes, juuls or vapes, in minors and prevents them from switching to lower-taxed/priced tobacco products that have been scientifically proven to be more detrimental to their health.

Interview Collection (written from Lauren’s POV)

Nick Whalen--Senior at Lexington High School, interviewed by Lauren

Interview with Nick: https://soundcloud.com/user-932732334/nick-whalen

During the interview with Nick, I talked to him about how he got started on using vapes and e-cigarettes. It turns out he first started smoking cigarettes at the age of 9 years old. Off the record, he says that he grew up in a single parent household. He was adopted, and his adopted mother left Nick and his father at a very young age. Because of Nick’s father’s age, he doesn’t have much super vision. He says he’s gone to rehab several times in the past for drug addiction. 

He shares with us the danger of addiction when it comes to vaping. In the audio interview, Nick tells us the difference in pricing of vapes compared to cigarettes. He says, overall, it’s cheaper. Because the pods are sold in packs, they last longer. They don’t burn out and they aren’t just thrown out when you are done using them. In addition, it takes up less time out of your day since you do not need to leave the building in order to do it, and it is much quicker--compared to cigarettes. You can share a vape with as many people as you want. In fact, Nick doesn’t even own a Juul. He uses his friends’ and whoever is willing to share in the school bathroom. Vapes are pretty much undetectable. It leaves no trace, except a sweet smelling candy-like flavor that teachers are deceived by. 

With the way vapes are used around schools, it makes it more difficult for schools and governments to set laws and regulations on an uncharted challenge like this one. Towns and school districts vary with the usage, so this is also a varying factor to consider. Towns, cities and states are unique in the sense of which students have easy accessibility to e-cigarettes. The number of users impacts the number of sales, and eventually the regulations and laws. As you can see from the visualizations Kayla made based on Massachusetts data, the numbers are shocking. The percentage of high schoolers who vape increase as they gain seniority. 

Because of this steady increase, it is clear that the addiction to e-cigarette and vaping products is strong. As the bar graph shows, vaping is more popular than traditional cigarettes. The steady increase is concerning. If you look at freshman year to sophomore year, the increase is steep. 

Will Joseph interview

Freshman at University of South Carolina 

“So the first time I hit a juul was one of my friends’ because I was just curious. I always thought nicotine and cigarettes were so dirty but I figured why not, it’s just once.But then the head rush it gave me was so fun and it didn’t taste harsh so I went and bought one. They aren’t hard to get your hands on either, especially when you’re down south and it’s only recently the age was lifted to 21. Usually any gas station will sell to you regardless of age because they really don’t care. The motivation for quitting came from health concerns actually. I started snoring obnoxiously loud, my breaking was getting heavier, and I felt like I kept getting sicker and slowly killing myself. So one night my friend said ‘Will juuling is so bad for you, and I know that you aren’t an idiot so why do you keep doing it?’ And in response I tossed it out my window. Quitting was the worst. On my first attempt I made it a month. The sleepless nights, the headaches, the irritations were awful for the first week. It got better but I missed it so much that I picked up another disposable and was back at it. On my second attempt I went through the process all over again, and started drinking to distract myself, but quickly stopped that after realizing that was probably 10 times worse. But, so far it’s been 4 months, and I don’t miss it this time. I can feel my lungs are fully healed, and I stopped snoring.”

[jennileerose]

Wrongly Committed Sim Asylum Challenge Rules:

This is inspired by idea of “what if someone who wasn’t crazy was sent to a mental ward and had to prove they were sane” popping into my weird ADHD brain. It’s also loosely based on the existing asylum challenge. (Link below) In this challenge however, your sim is falsely sent to the asylum when they are not Erratic and they must prove themselves to be sane and able to go back into society.

Disclaimer 1: I am not minimizing mental health here. The scenarios described are exaggerated for dramatic and fantasy effect. If you feel lonely or have mental health questions, my ask box open to all. I am not a doctor, so it is likely that I may refer you to other resources, but I will always listen.

Disclaimer 2: I have been playing Sims 4 for 4 years but live on a very tight budget and as such, I do not have every single expansion/game pack/stuff pack available. As of the last time this post was updated (02/28/20) I have only the following:

Expansions:

Get Famous

Discover University

Get To Work

Cats and dogs

Seasons

Game packs:

Parenthood

Spa Day

Stuff Packs:

Laundry Day Stuff

Tiny Living Stuff

If you have questions about gameplay elements for packs I don’t have, please message me. I am willing to look at it and give a “ruling”.

Setup:

* Must have an Asylum lot (I have one in the gallery you can use) that features the following:

* Must have private dwelling lot trait if applicable. Other lot traits that are allowed are ones that increase skill building such as Homey, Natural Light, Great Acoustics, etc.

* The main building must have:

* 1 bedroom for each sim (minus the doctor) so 6-7 bedrooms with only a cheap single bed.

* 3-6 toilets in stalls (that’s at your discretion. Choose wisely.)

* 3-6 showers in stalls

* 3-6 bathroom sinks

* A full kitchen (stove, sink, fridge, counters and trash can) and dining area made from appliances on the low end of quality. If you have seasons and one of your patient sims is gifted a better item on Winterfest you can replace a cheaper item.

* Cannot have the money-making trash can in the main asylum building.

* A large dining table with chairs enough to seat all sims on the lot.

* 1 couch

* A chess table & chairs

* 1 musical instrument (a violin or a guitar)

* A book case

* Either a TV or a computer. (If you pick TV, then the doctor must have a computer for ordering medicine and upgrade parts.

* A painting easel.

* A workbench

* 1 piece of workout equipment.

* 2 garden plot boxes

* If you have the laundry day pack you can include laundry things but your sim must make sure that laundry is kept up on.

* The Dr. will live on the lot but has their own office/house separate from the main asylum building. You can design that however you wish. Your main sim must be able to be in the doctor’s office area but none of the patients can enter the main home of the doctor. IT IS NOT RECOMMENDED TO HAVE A WASHER & DRYER IN THIS BUILDING. I lost a doctor pretty early that way when I wasn’t paying attention and they didn’t clean the lint trap.

* Your main sim must be A Teen or Young Adult. Teen is recommended for Easy mode if you want more time and want to move them on to college.

* Lifespan must be set to long for easy mode or Normal for medium and hard modes.

* Must have Dr. Character (mine will be in the gallery) in the medical career. They must have an office where your main sim can have visits with the Dr. On days your Dr doesn’t work. You can cheat the Dr. Character up to level 7.

* You can only control the Dr. And your main sim. Send the Dr alone to work every day they work.

* Other 4-6 patient sims must be set up such that there is no possibility for baby-production. Any gender identity is fine but no babies!

* All but Dr and your main sim must have Erratic trait

* 1 sim must be evil, mean, and erratic. Two others must have 1 be mean and 1 be evil. All other trait combinations other than erratic are at your discretion. It’s recommended that at least 1 have the neat trait.

* Your sim must complete 1 Aspiration for easy mode, 2 for medium mode and 3 for hard mode. They must be from the following list:

* Painter Extraordinaire

* Musical Genius

* Freelance Botanist

* Writer Aspiration (only if you get a computer instead of a TV)

* Nerd Brain (get Rocket Scientist to level 6 then cheat the aspiration for the rocket stuff. Or buy the rocket, but fence it off only for your sim to get to and you can only build and upgrade, no launching.)

* Bodybuilder (Hard mode only, has to be the last one and jogging can only be done during daylight hours and only for aspiration purposes).

* You can use aspiration rewards EXCEPT the relationship ones (beguiling, great kisser), or career ones, re-traiting potion or the potion of youth.

* In addition to Aspirations, your sim must have the following skills at level 10 to prove they can be a decent member of society and can care for themselves:

* Logic

* Homestyle cooking

* Gardening

* Handiness

* They must have the following skills at least to level 5 for the same reasons:

* Charisma

* Fitness

* One creative skill such as a musical instrument or painting.

* Your main sim must have a positive relationship with the doctor and 2 other household Sims.

* If you haven’t completed all the tasks by the time your main sim becomes an adult, you fail the challenge.

* If your sim ends up in solitary more than 5 times, you lose the challenge.

* If your main sim dies then you fail the challenge.

* If the Dr sim dies you must replace them with another Dr. Sim.

* If one of the patients dies, you must replace them with another patient with the same traits.

* If you use cheats for needs or relationships, or for money to buy new items for the asylum you fail the challenge. But you are free to continue it as a let’s play anyway.

* The bills come out as part of the Doctor’s Salary since the doctor lives on the lot, so money shouldn’t be an issue.

* No maid/butler/pizza services at all.

* Mods/CC: the following mods are allowed, however cheating with them will make you lose the challenge.

* Slice of Life

* MC Command Center

* Faster Homework Mod is okay.

* Better Schools Mod is okay but you must set your sim to “Listen to Teacher” every school day.

* When it comes to CC obviously the style CC for CAS is fine. If you have custom traits, you can only use ones that don’t OP your sims (don’t use God/Goddess or Muse custom traits) a good rule of thumb is, if you have to question it, better skip it.

* Build CC is okay for the Doctor’s dwellling. The main building should be only Base-game/expansions/etc (EA stuff).

* Daily Rules:

* No visitors allowed.

* No sims other than the Dr are allowed to have a career.

* Fame must be turned off for all household members.

* Teen main sims are not allowed to socialize with classmates as they are taught in a special room away from the “normal” students.

* All sim bedrooms must be locked for its assigned Sim at all times. When Solitary is in effect it is locked for everyone.

* Any decorative items must have been made by a sim in the household.

* No emotional aura items are allowed, if a sim creates one, you are not allowed to turn on the aura for it.

* Any visits outside the asylum that aren’t for school must be to a park, library or museum. (No bars or lounges) and all sims including the doctor must go.

* If your sim is a teen they must get to and maintain an A in school. If they miss a day or drop a grade, they must spend the next non-school day in solitary.

* If any of the sims fight, both sims go into “solitary” (see solitary section for explanation) this also applies to the uncontrolled patient sims and this is the only time you’re allowed to control them.

* If the doctor sim enters the asylum at any point and becomes uncomfortable due to cleanliness/disrepair issues, your main sim has 12 sim hours to get it back to tidiness or they go to solitary.

* Solitary:

* Each sim patient must claim a bed. That is their room and if they are in solitary, they must stay locked in that room for 12 sim hours, only being let out temporarily for bathroom breaks. They are served food in their rooms. No books or fun items are allowed in solitary. (Clean out inventories of books and instruments)

* Once all your aspirations, skills, and friendships are complete, your sim must have a meeting with the doctor in their office. During the visit with the doctor, you can only control your main sim. The visit must have 3 socializations and cannot be less than 1 sim hour. Both sims must be in a positive mood at the end. If you succeed at that then you can be released from the asylum and you win the challenge!

[duckydoesthings]

Monster Chapter 2

CHARACTERS:

Tseng of the Turks: Little is known about Tseng, with the exception of being the leader of President Rufus ShinRa's personal protection service. He dresses in a black suit, and always puts his shoulder length hair in a ponytail. It is also known that he has a tattoo on the back of his neck of a white lily with the stem being loosely wrapped with a pink ribbon.

Prompto Argentum: Literal ball of sunshine. Happy go lucky personality with a optimistic outlook. Has ADHD, and some anxiety issues. Best friends with Noctis Caelum. Passionate about photography and chocobos.

Xion Caelum: Sister to Noctis Caelum. More reserved and quiet personality, but has her moments of pure bliss.

Zack Fair: Personal Trainer. Loves to go for runs and squats for days. Spunky with endless energy. Terra's older twin.

Cloud Strife: Weapons Expert. While quiet and shy, can be pretty cocky but willing to help his students.

Aerith Gainsborough: Medical/Materia Teacher. While she teaches medicinal courses, she also tends to her own garden. Humble and caring.

Terra Fair: Combat Specialist. While he looks intimidating and overly serious, he cares for his students and will push them to be the best fighter they can be. Zack's younger twin.

Squall Leonhart: Stealth and Technology Technician. Has a scar across his face from his ex-best friend. Sarcastic as hell yet strong willed.

Tifa Lockhart: Secretary and Dean for ShinRa Corps. She is in charge of all the students and reports their progress to President ShinRa.

TRIGGER WARNING: Slight description of wound. Blood mention.

Riku rolled onto his back, taking the pressure off of his now pounding forehead. The combination of his mind thinking about the previous day's events and the sharp throbs of his wound had kept him from sleeping very much. Despite the lack of sleep, his body was wired.

Early morning light colored the room in warmth as the sun started to rise. It was the morning that he was being shipped off to Shiva knows where, some private college that his dad thought was much more suitable than just allowing him to go to Midgar University. He laid in the sun's ray as he tried to think about reasons why his father could possibly want to send him away.

Midgar University, while not being a cheap school, had already been paid for through the scholarships Riku had entered and won. He already laid out the groundwork to being self sufficient and acted with adult maturity to pursuing this path. The path of being a paramedic. All his work was thrown out the window by his father, who insisted on the private college.

First, he didn't even tell him what college it was. For all Riku knew, it was a clown college- the option seemed incredibly viable with how his father seemed to treat him. Another possibility that stuck out to him was a military academy. There were times where Sephiroth would comment about his mother putting him into a military boarding school where he spent his teen life.

Second, would he even be able to still pursue his dream? The only reason why he even wanted to be a paramedic, was because of his mother. Before she died, she had insisted on his talent in music and art. It all changed when the medics couldn't save her life while she died from asphyxia while riding towards the hospital. He wanted to save lives and prevent families from loss like he had.

All this thinking made his already throbbing headache worse. Riku inched off the bed, trying hard to not flinch. His hands weren't scraped up too bad, but his fall from the tree had caused angry marks which were sensitive to touch. Quietly, he left his room, zigzagging around on the mahogany flooring to prevent the wood from creaking and possibly waking up his father and brothers.

Even with socked feet, the bathroom tiles were still cold enough to make him shiver. He closed the door and locked it behind him out of habit before starting to remove his clothing. He had gotten as far as removing his hoodie before catching sight of his 'lived in the wild like an animal' aesthetic in the mirror. Riku stopped and moved closer to his reflection, leaning over the sink to get a closer look.

Slowly he started to remove the bandage, revealing the gash in his eyebrow. The wound had started to look dry and irritated. Adding to the scratches on his hands and the blood spattered dry lips he had, the overall look he had was Grade C horror movie makeup. He would have to spray some neoproxin after the shower.

Before Riku completely stripped, he took a second to get the shower water running. A quirk of having an old water heater: iffy water temperatures. Most of the time when Riku had to shower, he either had to get up before everyone else or risk cold water. That was the major downside with living in a house of only boys. No hot water ever. Although the only one to really complain about the cold shower water was Riku anyways. The hot water was the only warmth Riku ever really experienced, especially after his mother died. Somewhere he read that the reason for people taking extremely long hot showers was the water acted like a hug for lonely people. Or something along those lines.

Just like the article, as the hot water warmed his skin, he felt like he was being given a hug. An awkward naked and covered in water hug, yet a hug regardless. As he started to lather his hair in shampoo, Riku let his mind be consumed by the shower sounds, letting it drown out any thoughts that would make his headache worse.

Wrapping a towel around most of his lanky figure, he stepped out of the shower and sat on the toilet, letting the towel soak up the water off his body. From where the towel fell away from his body, he saw dark purple to black bruising. They covered most of his thighs and in the florescent lighting of the bathroom, it only made the bruises darker than they already were.

Suddenly a few light taps of the bathroom door broke Riku out of his daze, sending his heart into panic mode.

"What?"

"I need to take a leak. Hurry the fuck up man." Yazoo. No matter how much their mother would complain about his language, he never let the fact that he had no filter bother him.

"Gimme a sec, Yaz. I'm naked." He stood up and went to the small linen closet in the corner next to the stackable washer and dryer unit, and grabbed a bathrobe.

"Yeah so? That's never stopped me before. We've seen each other naked before." His voice became unmuffled as Riku opened the door, holding the robe as tight as possible over his small frame. Both brothers matched each other in height and weight, yet Yazoo filled out his body better. Riku felt like his soul was so much more tinier than his body was fit to fill. "Ouch. What happened? Ran right into the bookcase again, lil bro?"

Riku slipped to the side, allowing his brother to pass, ignoring the comment. "Just hurry up. I still need to use the bathroom."

"Yeah whatever." He was then pushed out of the room, door closing and locking in front of him. Quickly, he rushed into his room, ignoring the floor as it creaked under his feet. If he wanted any chance to fix his face before another one of his brothers took over the bathroom again, he would need to grab his clothes and run back.

Yazoo just barely left the bathroom, as Riku appeared again, a bundle of clothes in his arms. "Seriously though, story about the cut?" He asked, blocking the doorway.

"Oh come on, Yaz. I don't have the time for this." He pouted, attempting again to strong arm his way in, but a hand pushing him back stopped him.

"What's the rush? We all know about you sneaking out last night. You're not really subtle while falling out of a tree." Yazoo smirked, watching his brother look away from him in shame. "Oh come on, don't give me the wounded animal look. Dad expected you to run away to your girlfriend."

Riku looked back at Yazoo and watched him move away from the door and walk back towards his room. 'What the hell?' He thought as he returned to the bathroom, locking the door behind him. His family was acting extremely strange and if he continued to think about it, it would only make his head hurt more.

After he had gotten dressed and applied antiseptic cream and a bandage to his eyebrow, he threw the robe into the hamper and left the bathroom.

Normally, Riku reveled in the calmness of the house in early morning slumber, but this morning was different. It was as if all the life had been sucked out of the calming air, giving him a sense of emptiness. Even as he made his way down the stairs, passing all the family photos that decorated the wall, he felt like a stranger.

Riku stopped in front of a photo, midway down the stairs and turned towards it. The photo showed a young boy with light silvery hair, smiling with a two toothed gap in his front teeth, holding out the teeth to the camera as a blue haired fairy crouched next to him. His heart nearly broke, seeing how happy he was back then. Even as a kid he had been oblivious to the pain he would later face.

Curling his fingers into his palm, nails digging into his cuts, the boy turned away from the photo. He continued down the stairs, waiting till he had entered the kitchen to unclench his hands, letting out a long breath as he did.

The room had a calm air to it, as he let go of his anger and made his way around the island and to the coffee pot. Everyone in his household with exceptions for Loz drank coffee. It was just easier to have coffee going while he was getting breakfast started.

Riku was easily preoccupied with the menial task of making the surplus of french toast, bacon and eggs, allowing his mind to focus on cooking. He had all four burners on the flat top cooking at once, keeping a steady flow of stirring and flipping while the rest of the house woke up.

"Smells good, Riku." Loz commented, opening the fridge door, being careful not to hit his brother. The youngest waited till the door was closed before turning to look at his brother.

"Thanks." He turned back, focusing on the food. Loz cleared his throat as he opened the bottle of water, leaning up against the fridge. Riku looked at his brother, seeing a look that only meant that he wanted to talk. "What?"

"I heard about the uh.. what happened..." Loz looked away and moved to sit at the island. Riku turned back to the food, choosing not to respond at the moment. Instead he flipped the food, letting the sizzling drown out his thoughts. He wasn't mad at Loz. His brother did nothing wrong and he knew that it wasn't fair that he was giving him the cold shoulder. After flipping the food once more, he turned his head towards his brother, looking over his shoulder.

"Can you get the table set?" That brought a smile back onto Loz's face as he got up and started to help set up for breakfast.

As the plates, silverware and glasses were set onto the table, Riku and Loz teamed up to lay out all the food, just as the other two brothers made their way into the kitchen.

"Poison for breakfast, Reek?" Kadaj snorted, pleased at himself for the Game Of Thrones reference as he plopped down into a chair and grabbed a slice of bacon. Riku ignored the comment, sitting in his own chair and taking a sip of the coffee he had made for himself.

"You just ate poison then, Ramsey." Sitting next to his brother, Yazoo nudged at him. Kadaj grabbed at his throat making choking noises before slumping in his chair and pointing at Riku.

"You guys really suck with keeping things accurate." Riku smirked, enjoying his brothers. Times like this made him feel like a part of a family. When even though his brothers could be royal pains in his ass, they still were his brothers. Just the thought of no longer being able to enjoy his brothers' silliness sent a stab of pain into his heart. It almost made him lose his appetite.

"At least I kept it in the same series." Kadaj retorted, about to continue with his sentence before Riku groaned flicking a piece of egg at him.

"Shut up! That was one time! Let it go!" Kadaj shook his head, swiping off the egg on his shoulder. He grabbed a piece of his own egg and threw it at his brother, hearing the footsteps of his father as he walked into the room. He knew that Riku would retaliate and get in trouble by his father. Only today Riku deflected the egg and turned to watch it fall on his father's socked foot.

The room went quiet, as the boys watched their father look down at his sock, then at all his sons. This wasnt the first time that he had walked into the start of a food fight, but this morning felt different. Sephiroth simply bent down, picked up the egg and went to the sink, dropping it down the garbage disposal.

"I could have eaten that." Loz complained, tapping the empty spot on his plate where his eggs had been. With how much energy he went through on a daily basis, Loz could have eaten it and still would have been content.

"Ew. You could have gotten athlete's foot, on your tongue." Yazoo cringed, before returning to spacing out. As much as Riku wanted to correct his oldest brother, it was for the best that he left the subject alone. He wouldn't have given two shits anyways.

"It would be just like Loz to get a foot fungal infection in his mouth." Their father stated in a monotone voice, a hint of a smile lurking on his lips. Everyone in the room started laughing, even Loz. Everything in that moment seemed perfect. One big happy family of boys, laughing at the stupid comments of one of the brothers. Moments like this made Riku believe that there was such a thing as a happy family for him.

That moment died when a knock cut through their laughter. Riku pushed back his chair and headed towards the door as his family returned to their food, a new conversation picking up as soon as his feet moved him past the archway of the kitchen. His heart rate started picking up as his fingers touched the golden colored handle, twisting the door open.

Sunlight blinded him the moment he pulled the door away from the frame, only lasting a brief second before the door revealed a lanky man in a crisp black suit.

"May I help you?"

The man extended his right hand towards the boy, giving a curt nod instead of a smile. "My name is Tseng. You must be Riku."

He nodded at the man, as their hands touched. Something about this Tseng guy gave him a chill that trickled down his back. The whole meet and greet seemed quite odd to him.

"Early as always. Care for some breakfast?" Sephiroth asked, coming up right behind his son. Riku pulled away, stepping to the side. There was no way he wanted to get back on his father's bad side, even though he was being sent away today. He wasn't even ready for it.

Tseng's dark eyes flickered from his coworker to the son, before he gently shook his head, but stepped into the large house anyways. "Thank you, but no."

Aquamarine eyes watched as the stranger closed the door behind him, as if he had been here before. Something about his presence made Riku's heart race.

"Riku." The sharp tone of his father's voice, broke him out of his current dazed state, causing him to look at him with a slightly scared look. "Where are your bags?"

"What bags?" It took him a few seconds to realize what exactly was going on, his brain clicking into place. He couldn't even believe how brain-missing he had been. "Oh, right uhm... I haven't even packed yet."

Sephiroth's lip twitched in displeasement, before he turned away and started back for the kitchen. "Don't make Tseng wait any longer than he already is." With that, he left him and Tseng alone in the foyer, rejoining his other sons.

Another long moment of awkward silence passed before he bowed slightly towards the man who would whisk him away from his family. The least he could do is be polite and not make him wait any longer than he was going to.

"I'll try to pack fast." All Tseng did was nod at him before following his father into the kitchen, leaving him alone.

Several dark thoughts climbed their way out of the walled off corner in his mind as he made his way up the steps, leaving his breakfast to sit cold on the table. Surely his brothers wouldn't put it to waste, or his dad would eat it. Maybe this is good that he was being shipped away. No one seemed to really care about him anyways, always leaving him to stand off to the side watching everyone pass by him.

Whatever schooling his dad was sending him to was probably a blessing in disguise. It would give him a chance to start over, start fresh. Maybe make some friends who he could actually spend time with. It wasn't as if he didn't have friends, but with everyone heading off to different colleges, he got lost in the fray of trying to adult.

Those dark circling thoughts kept swarming his brain as he had gotten into his room and started packing. What if people at his new school didn't like him? He was already a socially stunted, maybe there was just no hope for him to make a new friend anyways.

From his bedside table, a chocobo 'kweh' broke him out of his thoughts. He stood up and made his way around the newly made mess of clothes strewn across the floor, to grab his phone.

[Kairi: hi]

Smiling, Riku quickly typed out a reply before heading back to the spot he had been to continue packing.

[Riku: Good morning, sleepy head. How did you sleep?]

As per normal, Kairi sent back a quick reply. Conversations always went fast with Kairi 'test so fast' Evelon. For a few minutes, he ignored his phone, until another message insisted on his reply.

[Kairi: it was ok. just hella worried about u.]

[Kairi: did u sleep okay? wut did ur dad say?]

His heart skipped a beat, remembering what had happened last night. The thought did send a bolt of pain to his wound though. He'd need to apply some numbing cream to it later on.

[Riku: Dad didn't say anything to me... Well not really anything about last night. He was a little pissy when I had told him I hadn't started packing...]

There wasn't a text from Kairi for several minutes, giving him the chance to continue packing without being interrupted. He knew she was probably showering or grabbing coffee. By the time she had responded back, he was finished folding all his clothes and had grabbed his duffle bag from the closet.

[Kairi: wut a dick!!! u had no time 2 pack!!!]

[Kairi: the least he couldve done is given u time 2 pack...]

The thought of his father giving him a notice even a week before hand wouldn't have made this any easier.

[Riku: It's okay, Kai. I'm almost finished packing anyways. It's not like I was given a list of things I needed for school, so I just grabbed what I thought I needed.]

Setting his phone aside, he let the text come in while he stacked the clothes in the bag. There was still several things on his mental list to grab, but he was had just wanted to  get his clothes packed first.

[Kairi: thats dumb. i wish u were still going 2 mu w me]

Riku's heart pounded thinking about her. There she was, sitting all alone in a hotel room only a few miles away. He was so close to her, why did it seem like she was so far? Quickly he fired off a quick message before getting up and heading to the bathroom.

[Riku: Me too, Kai.]

Once in the bathroom, he quickly grabbed all his bathroom things, shoving them into a bag that he had in his drawer for when he spent the night at Sora's house. Before leaving, he took one last look in the mirror. The bandage and scratches made him look like he had lost a fight with Sher Khan, the tiger from The Jungle Book. Even though he checked it about two hours ago, he still wanted to make sure that it was healing.

Removing the bandage, Riku took a better look at the wound. It didn't look as bad as he thought. It looked like a fresh wound, open and still wet from the anti-septic gel he had applied earlier. With the gauze off, the wound was easily hidden from view with his long bangs. It also made the scratches slightly less noticeable.

Making a decision to keep it off -He had heard from his dad that small wounds heal better when not covered- he grabbed his bag and headed back for his room, where he was greeted by his brother Loz, standing over the duffle bag of clothes. Riku noticed he held one of his hands was closed, hanging loosely at his side.

"What's up, Loz?" He asked, walking towards the bag and dropping his toiletries on top of the pile of clothes. His brother extended his closed hand, waiting patiently for his youngest brother to look at him. Riku looked from the hand to his brother, before hesitantly offering an open hand.

The item was transferred from twin to twin, in a moment of silence, before Loz looked away, awkwardly rubbing his neck. It seemed like his brother wanted to speak but couldn't quite get the words out, giving Riku just enough time to look down at his hand. The item took every word, thought and breath from him.

A silver chained necklace lay in his hand, bits of the chain spilling out of his palm, with the charm sitting in the center, facing him. It had been years since he had last seen this necklace. The last time he remembered seeing it was on his mother's neck while she was lying in the hospital bed, her skin turning whiter than the sheets.

"Where..." Riku's voice came out in a shaky whimper. The charm was a silver outlined wayfinder with each of her family's favorite colours. At the bottom left was Sephiroth's with a steel blue- the same color as his wife's hair, with Yazoo taking the top slot with a grassy green. Kadaj had the bottom right with a dark red, while Loz occupied the left middle piece with a faded lilac. Leaving Riku with the right middle piece.

He remembered when his mother originally had commissioned the piece, she asked her entire family while at dinner one night, while they were all still kids. His brothers and father answered quickly, returning to their meals within the minute. It took Riku a solid week to decide what his color would be, but ultimately he went with the color that stood out to him the most. Aquamarine. The color of his eyes and the oceans of Destiny Islands, where his happiest memories were from.

"Mom wanted you to have it. She gave it to Dad to give to you before she died, but he gave it to Yaz and Kadaj, but I stole it from them. Now you have it." Loz looked out the window, avoiding looking at his brother. His voice was choked, as if holding back tears. Out of the entire family, both him and Loz were the soft hearted kids, constantly being teased for it. Once Loz hit puberty and got into sports, where he became the tank of the family, while Riku grew to be a tall string bean, the burden fell completely on him.

The youngest quintuplet reached out to his brother, resting his free hand lightly on Loz's arm. None of the Jenova kids were good with expressing their feelings, always resorting to painful punches to the shoulder or rough noogies, but in that moment, Loz turned back to Riku with tears in his eyes. Both boys embraced each other, in a hug full of sniffles, muscles and silver hair.

"I don't want you to go." Loz confessed, pulling away and returning back to the stoic facade he normally held, even if his words had suggested otherwise. Riku looked down at his mother’s- no, now it was his- necklace, before pulling apart the magnetic connectors and putting it on. Unlike where the charm rested on his mother at the top of her sternum, the necklace rested right between the ridge of his clavicle. Easily hideable under his clothes, where he slipped it under his shirt.

"I don't want to go either, but I don't get a choice." Riku swallowed thickly, trying his best to hold back tears. This wasn't the time or place. Sure, both of them had cried in front of each other, but he had to be strong for his brother. Be strong for himself.

Loz nodded, the threat of tears looming behind bright aquamarine eyes. He moved away from his brother and to the door, pausing to look back at him with his hand on the handle. "Be safe, Rikki."

Riku watched as his brother left, the image almost breaking his heart. Was this some foreboding sign that he would never see his brother again? There was no logical reason why he shouldn't, they still had their whole adult lives to be close. Out of all his brothers, Riku had the best relationship with Loz and had no qualms with being close later in life, yet the possible thought of not being able to see his brother for Titan knows long…

Another Chocobo 'Kweh' brought him out of his thoughts. He sat back down, grabbing his phone from the top of a shirt pile.

[Kairi: when r u supposed 2 leave 4 ur new skool? maybe we can call b4]

The thought of seeing her one last time before he was shipped away to this mysterious private college made a small smile crawl across his lips. He could probably call while packing, but knowing how much Kairi could talk made him realize that it would be a bad idea.

[Riku: Sorry, Kai. My ride is already here, and I don't want to make him wait any longer than he already is... Sorry.]

Setting his phone aside, he had started put the small piles in the bag and ignored the text that came in. As he had put the pants pile in, he realized his hands were starting to shake.

'No, please not now.' Riku thought, feeling the spike of anxiety, shakiness and overall feeling of being off. He really didn't want to have a panic attack now, of all times. There was only one way to stave off this possible attack, a trick he learned from his mom to handle his anxiety.

Sitting cross legged, he closed his eyes, resting his hands on his knees. Deep breathes now. In for three and hold for four. As he started the breathing exercise, he could hear his mom coaching him. She always had a calming aura around her, and having her necklace only made him feel even more connected to her. You're doing well, Riku. Now, out for seven . He had continued the exercise until he had felt his anxiety wane. He opened his eyes and checked to see his hands. No shakes.

With the possible attack deflected, Riku continued packing until he had finished. The duffle back was still a little less than halfway empty. What more was he supposed to pack? He didn't know what school he was going to, let alone knowing what he had to take with him. There wasn't anything else he wanted to take with him anyways.

Oh well.

Grabbing his phone, he checked the last notification from Kairi.

[Kairi: i understand. will u still txt me while @ ur new skool?]

[Riku: Of course. You know that I will always text you when I can.]

Standing up, he put his phone in his front pockets before turning towards his bed. From there he grabbed his charger for his phone, tossing it over to his backpack where it landed on the floor a few feet away. At least it was close. He sighed, taking the next few minutes to gather and roll up the cords for his laptop, tablet and mp3 player, before grabbing the rest of his electronics and bringing them to his backpack. He had just bought the backpack, prepared to use it for all his tech, books and notebooks for classes. At least it still was getting use.

After he packed all his things, Riku slung his backpack across his back and grabbed his duffle bag with one hand. He approached the door and took one more look around, feeling lost and empty. The room he spent most of his life sleeping in, he was leaving for a undetermined amount of time. He looked at the walls, covered in various posters, art prints and decorations. Every video game, band, anime and mementos he had gathered over his life seemed to have lost the same effect it had when he would look over them. Thinking that he wouldn't be able to see this room for some time made a pang hit his chest. He couldn't look at it anymore without wanting to break down.

Riku closed the door behind him as he headed down the hall, feeling chills as he walked through the house. He could still his brothers laughing loudly in the kitchen, arguing over who is going to do the dishes. A scene he desperately wished he could be apart of.

Going down the stairs, he avoided looking at the pictures. It would make leaving harder than it already was. Quietly he got to the bottom of the stairs and looked at Tseng where he stood next to the door, along with his father. They were both looking back at him. Tseng with his dark bored eyes, and his father with his bright unreadable eyes.

"I'm sorry it took me so long. I had trouble thinking of what I would need to bring." Riku stated as he hitched his backpack back up his shoulder. He made sure not to look at his dad, hoping that he could retaliate at him by acting like he didn't even see him.

"Are you ready to go now?" Tseng asked, nodding at him. He nodded back and went for the door, which Tseng opened up for him, and had started to walk through before he heard his name being called.

"What?" Turning, Riku looked at his father with his good eyebrow raised, waiting for him to respond. Kadaj and Yazoo poked their heads out of the kitchen, hoping to eavesdrop on the situation. Their father took a big step closer to the youngest son.

Putting a hand on his son's shoulder, Sephiroth gave him a knowing smile as he leaned down, his lips close to Riku's ear. "I know about the necklace."

Sephiroth pulled back and gave a light push on his son’s shoulder, before turning and joining his other sons back in the kitchen. Part of him wanted to chase after his dad and throw his bag at him, beating him over and over. That psychopath knew how to dig right into the core of his enemies, and his favourite target was his son.

"Let's go." Riku nodded back at Tseng and left his house. He continued to walk towards the car that was parked on the street. He couldn't bear turning back and looking at the house. The building he made the most memories under. Memories of mass birthday parties with his brothers, sleepovers with Sora, spending time painting his mother while she modeled. Memories that would make him crumble into a ball of crying fits and rage.

Tseng clicked a button on the car fob, opening the trunk for Riku to put his things. He was stunned at how sleek and cat-like the car was. It was the car form of a black panther, in his opinion. Part of him felt awkward dropping his stuff in the back of such a beautiful car.

"What kind of car is this?" Riku asked as he and Tseng got into the front seats, buckling up.

"I didn't think you were interested in cars, Riku." The man turned to him with an inquisitive look. He shrugged, resting against the fine black with red stitched leather seats.

"I'm not, but this car is kinda cool."

Tseng nodded and turned back to the wheel, turning the car on. The car quietly purred to life, before the driver put the car into gear and drove away from the house. Riku didn't think about it then, but his heart hurt not taking one last look.

The drive through Midgar was quiet, other than the sound of the car's engine. Neither of them had wanted to say anything, leaving Riku to sit in the seat, his mind consumed with thoughts and questions. He still didn't know where he was going, and something bugged him about what Tseng had said. 'I didn't think you were interested in cars, Riku.' What did that mean?

"Uhm... Mr. Tseng?" Riku turned to look at the man in the driver's seat, hoping he wasn't distracting from driving. Without even taking his eyes off the road, Tseng answered, in a calm tone.

"It's just Tseng. What can I do for you?"

"Your comment about the car... What did you mean by that?"

Tseng took a few moments to think about his answer before taking a look at the boy. His dark eyes seemed to soften while looking at him.

"Your mother used to talk to me a lot about you." Riku blinked at his answer. His mom knew Tseng? How? She worked as a materia and magic specialist at ShinRa Corps. He remembered hearing his mom talk about how she had taught Sephiroth how to use curative materia and magic, and that’s how his father met his mother but how did Tseng fit within the puzzle?

"How do you know my mom?" A small smile crawled onto Tseng's lips. It was as if he knew exactly what Riku was going to ask.

"Let me ask this question first. Do you know what a Turk is?"

Riku nodded. "An elite bodyguard for the military's president, Rufus ShinRa."

"Correct. I'm the leader of the Turks." Tseng nodded back an affirmation to Riku. "I had worked with your mother, quite extensively I might add."

His mother was coworkers with his driver. What a small world. Or a planned world. Who knew?

"Oh." Falling silent again, Riku turned to the window, watching the city pass. They had gotten on the highway and started passing downtown. The city was colored in grey like the overcast sky, making the already steel structured buildings even more bland. Watching the city pass cleared his head, giving him a few minutes of peace as he had nothing to think about. After they passed downtown, Tseng pulled off onto an exit heading towards the edge of the city.

"Where are we even going?" Riku asked as he pulled himself away from the window, watching through the front window.

"Sephiroth never told you where you were being sent to?" Tseng acted surprised at it, even though Riku wasn't. He was always the last to know anything.

"Nope."

Tseng frowned, his eyebrows knitting together. It took him a minute to respond, his eyes focusing straight onto the highway.

"I've been instructed to take you to ShinRa Corps."

His answer took Riku by surprise.

ShinRa Corps? The same military academy that his father went to? The same academy his mother worked at, and apparently so did Tseng? Nothing was making sense. Riku was a very structured individual with a boring bland record of rowdiness, and his father knew with the way his anxieties were that going into the military would probably end up breaking him.

Was that the point?

Turning back to the window, Riku slumped into his seat. Now he finally knew his father's plan. Send him away to a military school to break him. It made his anger spike. Now he wished he would have thrown his duffle bag at his father and hit him. That scheming psychopath. Sephiroth was no father to him, just a dick who he was unfortunately related to.

A chocobo wark broke him of his thoughts.

[Kairi: im gonna miss u]

She still made him smile. A sad smile, but a smile regardless.

[Riku: I want to fucking kill my dad. He's sending me to a military school, Kairi. SHINRA CORPS! I don't know what I'm going to do anymore.]

Barely a minute later, he got a series of texts.

[Kairi: WUT?!]

[Kairi: WHY THE FUCK?!?! WUT A DICK!!!!]

[Kairi: RUN AWAY AS SOON AS U CAN!!! ILL GET U]

Even angry, she was always looking out for him.

[Riku: You know I want to Kai.]

[Kairi: wuts stopn u?]

Good question. He locked his phone and looked out the window again, trying to think. Why didn't he just run away and live with Kairi? They could make it work right? He could find a job, and eventually go to school when he could. He would be so much happier if he left, but then again, he almost never disobeyed.

[Riku: I am. I can't bring myself to run away. Even when I had the chance last night, I ran right back home.]

Riku always knew he was a bit of a coward, but his text to Kairi only made his inner demons whisper their vile in his mind. You'll never be ready to come out of your father's control. Maybe you should just open the door and jump. You're going to die in the school anyways.

"Riku, we're here."

Looking up from his phone, he finally got to see the place where he was going to spend an undetermined amount of time in. The school was built into the side of a mountain, with a dusty valley at the edge of the city. It was designed with stealth in mind, no one being able to enter without passing over the mountain or passing through a series of gates that opened as soon as Tseng drove the car closer. Clearly whoever was opening the gates for him, knew who was the driver, or they knew the car.

Tseng navigated the car through the gates, up to the back side of the mountain, driving towards a concrete building, barely big enough to fit the car. The Turk parked in front of the building, leaving the car running as he got out. Riku followed suit, getting out. He put his phone into his pocket before closing the door and heading to the trunk to grab his stuff.

"This is where I leave you." Tseng stated, closing the trunk as Riku set the duffle bag on the ground.

"Wait." Riku slipped his arms through the straps of his backpack, halting Tseng's path back to the driver’s seat. "What am I supposed to do?"

Tseng nodded at the building with his head. "Get into the elevator and pull the lever. Tifa will take it from there."

With that, Tseng got into his car, speeding away from the silver haired boy, a cloud of dust picking up behind the car. He watched as the car disappeared, leaving him alone at last.

Riku picked up his bag, slinging the strap across his chest as he began the short walk to the elevator. He was starting to feel his heart race and his body shake, as another possible panic attack started to rise. No, he couldn't let it happen. Not now. Following Tseng's orders, he got inside the elevator and pulled the lever on the wall, before he covered his ears with his hands and closed his eyes. In for three Riku. You can do it. Now hold. One, two, three, four. Out for seven. Keep it up.

The elevator started to move as he released his breath. It made no sound as it lowered him to his fate. He kept his exercise up until the elevator slowed to a stop, removing his hands from his ears. The doors began to open as he lifted his head and saw who Tseng was talking about.

The 'Tifa' that Tseng had mentioned was a relatively tall woman dressed in a form fitting black dress that jiggled her tummy fat as she shifted from foot to foot. Riku tried not to stare, but had a hard time. She was extremely beautiful even though she was on the heavier set side. He swallowed hard and ducked his head as he moved to meet her.

"You must be Riku Jenova. It's very nice to finally meet you." Tifa gave him a sweet smile and held out a hand towards the new student. He nodded and shook her hand, keeping his eyes locked with hers.

"Nice to meet you too, Miss Tifa." Riku mumbled, cursing his anxiety. He cleared his throat, pulling his hand away to rub his neck. She grinned at him again and turned around, a door directly behind her.

"If you would follow me, I'll give you a tour of your new home for the next two years." Without a word he followed, gripping the strap of his duffle bag tightly. Butterflies filled his stomach as he passed through the door into a tunnel, strips of mild light showed them the way, etched into the wall. The light cast shadows of them as they walked, a creepy feeling filling his chest.

"You said, two years?" Riku asked, having a hard time finding his voice. His throat was tight as a sudden rush of anxiety raced through his veins. He didn't like the claustrophobic feeling, and being trapped in a hallway under piles of rock only made his stomach do flops. He wanted to leave badly. To return back to the surface and breath fresh air.

Tifa turned her head, nodding at him. Even with her heels, they were the same height, making it easier on the both of them. "Training last two years, then another five years of mission service before we place you into your permanent jobs."

Keeping pace with her, Riku looked away and at his feet as he processed it. His whole life was already being planned out for him, without a little consent. It made him feel nauseous. There just was something about being a bird with clipped wings that made him sick.

It took him a moment before he looked up. They had arrived to another door. Tifa stepped up to the side of the door where a small grid glowed rested on the wall. She took her left wrist, holding up a thin silver bracelet up to the scanner. A small chirping sounded after the scanner scanned her bracelet, opening the doors.

The world beyond the door was like a scene from the movie Divergent- one of Riku's favourites. Walls made of rock, with hastily made rope bridges stringing across paired with a sudden drop off to the left. People wandered about, climbing walls or running along the cliffs edge. It was strange to see such a beautiful room hidden away in a mountain.

"Please follow me." Tifa started walking forward, beckoning for him to follow. Even with a bunch of people out and about in the cave, no one stepped in their way. This made Riku feel slightly better but not by much. His heart rammed in his chest as he trailed behind the woman, trying to keep his breathing in check.

Tifa led him through the main cavern, keeping a steady pace even walking across rickety bridges. Neither person said a word, causing the bubble in Riku's chest continue to expand. Her words were eating at him. Two years of training, then another five years of missions before he was even able to get placed in a job. Granted he would have been in school for that long for paramedic schooling, but it wasn't a forced position. He wanted to spend seven years in school. It meant he would be well prepared to save lives. Here? He had no idea what he was even training for.

“Wait, what do you mean by mission service?” He asked stepping up next to her as she led him off into a side hallway. Tifa left his question unanswered, continuing down the hallway until they reached the door a short walk away. She turned to him and reached out, resting a gentle hand on the side of his arm. He didn’t dare look at it, instead looking down at her as she looked up. Her heels did nothing to add to her height. It didn’t help that he was freakishly tall.

“You will learn everything you need to know soon. In our line of work, patience yields focus.” Tifa removed her hand and turned to the door, giving the solid wood a few curt rasps before turning back to him. “Mr. Leonhart will get you set up with everything you need.”

She started to head away right as the door had started to open, bringing his attention away from the Dean. The man behind the door was about as tall as he was, with steel blue eyes and wispy chocolate hair. His features were rather plain with the exception of the aged scar and resting bitch face he wore.

Riku bowed slightly, biting his lip a little bit. The man kept staring at him with his bored eyes. What was his problem?

“When you’re done with whatever you’re doing, come inside. We have work to do.” Cold much? He watched as the teacher turned away from him, returning to the simple desk. There was nothing else for Riku to do other than follow him, dragging his duffle bag and backpack into the room. Out of habit he closed the door behind him.

As Riku walked into the room, there was a not a whole lot going on. A bookshelf mainly empty sat behind the small desk. A small plaque and certificate hung on the wall next to him. All in all, this room was close to a broom closet. How could someone willingly choose this as a room? He felt small just by standing in front of the closed door.

“Put your things in the corner. I need a full body scan.” Mr. Leonhart stated in a bored tone, scooping a set of gloves and a sleek pair of glasses off the desk. Quickly following his request, he set his stuff in the corner and stood where the man pointed.

Leonhart slipped the gloves and glasses on, taking a brief moment before clapping his hands together, and held them up. Riku froze, his anxiety spiking. What was going on? He didn’t understand anything and his mind raced with a thousand possibilities, none of them good.

“Turn for me. Slowly.” He did what he was told, biting his lip. After he had turned in a full circle, the teacher returned to his desk. He sat down in the desk chair, and snapped his fingers, digital holograms appearing before Riku’s eyes. There his holographic self stood, with little stars popping up around his body.

“I assume you don’t know what this is.” Mr. Leonhart looked through the image at Riku as if he had done this before. He flicked his hand to the side, having the holograph spin.

“No, sir.” The teacher brushed away his bangs before tapping on one of the stars that was next to the image’s head.

“This system is called the ShinRa Hologram Internal Technology,” he starts in a monotone, as if bored. “All the staff here use this system to keep track of every SOLDIER’s training.” The star created a little line connecting to a list. Stage One Agoraphobia. Stage Three Panic Disorder . Riku read, holding his breath. He remembered his doctor diagnosing him with those exact things. His heart started pounding in his chest. What was up with this system? Did it read his mind?

“So… What does that mean?” He asked, pointing to the words next to his holograph. Of course he knew exactly what they meant, but why they were showing up was what he was aiming for. Did the system know all his faults? Although it didn’t list that he had daddy or self image issues.

“It’s a list of important things that could hinder your training.” Leonhart tapped on the star again, having the list disappear. Knots started forming in Riku’s stomach, just as his throat tightened. Great. Not only was he unfit to be Sephiroth’s son, but his mental illness was a possible hindrance to his new school. Questions started popping up in his mind. What if he was deemed unworthy to even be in this military academy? Would he go back home? No there was no way his father would take him back, but there was no where else for him.

Mr. Leonhart swiped the hologram away, blinking as the see-through image of Riku dissipated into nothing. He took off the glasses and gloves, leaving them on the bare desk before pushing back his chair and standing up.

Quickly he went to grab his stuff and follow Mr. Leonhart out of the office, slugging the bags onto his back. Riku was used to carrying a lot more weight than this, especially when his mother had urged him into joining band. Instrument of choice? Snare drums. “Where are we going now?”

“Orientation.” Riku swallowed thickly, biting his lip as they exited the room.

[pumpfollowers-blog]

Social Networking - Can Your Company Afford Not to Engage?

Twitter. Facebook. YouTube. When I said these words to you years back you'd have looked like I was mad! The above are sites used to fuel the social networking phenomenon. In the event you aren't aware of how social media websites operate, individuals use these websites to form relationships with other people who share the identical private or professional pursuits. Huge numbers of people are using these websites to stay in contact with their own families and friends.

Now businesses are jumping on the bandwagon and integrating social media sites in their advertising campaigns. Although, social media is relatively new, It's gaining status as a brand new method for businesses to efficiently advertise their products and services Due to the following:

Interactive Cost effective Ability to advertise 24/7 Interactive The most important aim of a marketing effort will be to promote your product or service to your target industry. What better way to attain your target market than in their own turf? Years ago the normal advertising campaign could have consisted of direct mail, print advertising, and in the event that you could afford it TV or radio advertisements. 1 thing each the aforementioned mediums don't do would be to promote involvement. Social networking sites allow you to immediately connect with your target marketplace and get feedback regarding your goods and support. No matter what social networking website your company makes the decision to combine, all of these will allow you to cultivate a closer relationship with your customers-the level in which that is accomplished rests entirely upon your business. Consumers happen to be doing exactly what they planned to perform on these-connect with household and friends-you (businesses ) will be the newest kid on the block so it's all up to you the way you want other people to perceive your new.

A company's goals on how best to incorporate social networking into their marketing and advertising campaigns frequently differ. By way of instance, Beth Bridges, Membership Director of Clovis Chamber of Commerce says that,"Our objective in using social networking is to create a trusted community and to increase awareness of their events within the community. We also use social networking sites to have more personal interaction with members who we might not see at regular networking activities and reach more of the younger business owners in the community who are using social media much more extensively to promote themselves and their businesses."

It's a safe bet that the vast majority of organizations which are new to social media could be enticed to mention their merchandise every five minutes on those sites-it is in your very best interest not to do so. I realize that lots of organizations's most important aim for using social networking sites is to market their merchandise. I am not telling you to leave your objective-just change the method in the way you opt to do so. People today use services and products for various reasons and you won't ever understand some of them in case you don't have the opportunity to nurture a connection with your target industry. Several have been conditioned into believing that firms could care less about their clients so it's up to your own company to prove them erroneous. People who do will benefit from the advantage of faithful clients. These clients will subsequently share your merchandise or service with their loved ones members and friends. It's more successful if you allow your intended market promote your merchandise for you.

Word of mouth is still a significant element in whether customers and businesses buy a service or product. A lot of individuals consult family and friends prior to getting a good or service they've never employed. Folks are constantly asking others for information on services and products on Twitter. Not long ago, I moved Twitter to get opinions on applications I had been contemplating buying and got a reply within minutes. This individual not just commented about the applications I had been contemplating buying but advocated alternative applications which has been cheaper and more powerful. Everybody desires to feel assured about the purchases they make and though they might conduct some research of a good or service (i.e. Consumer Reports) it doesn't carry as much weight as family or friends.

Cultivating a connection will let you keep in front of the competition-provided you're listening to your intended industry. Social networking sites enable you the capability to gauge if you're effectively promoting your product or service to your target industry. Based upon discussions in the forums you've got the capacity to learn what needs aren't being fulfilled and create an agency to satisfy that desire. Social media allows you to detect opportunities.

By way of instance, you have a coffee shop near a college campus and have created an account on a social network website. Pupils are whining about not being able to research during final assessments and the way they enjoy your coffee since it not only tastes great, but helps them stay alert. How can you use this info? A savvy marketer could learn when final exams occur and enlarge their hours so as to satisfy the requirements of the clients. It's a win-win scenario for everybody involved. The pupils have somewhere to study while ingesting your exceptional coffee and you've got the chance to raise your gains while further raising your clients' loyalty to your coffee shop. This opportunity was brought to you by social networking. If your company had not taken the time to interact with your target market using social networking sites your company would have missed out on a golden opportunity to fulfill a need not being met by other coffee shops.

Armed with the knowledge of who you are trying to target, you will be able to determine which of the most popular social networking sites your target market will be found chatting with their family and friends. Although all social networking sites enable you to be interactive, the degree to which you are able to do so is based upon the application you choose. Some of the most popular sites companies are using to advertise their product are as follows:

-Twitter: This is an online micro blog website that integrates with your computer, cell phone and other online social networking sites. Twitter simply asks you,"What do you do?" You are able to share your thoughts (also known as "tweets") provided they are under 140 character restriction. People can choose to "follow" you based upon your tweets.

-Facebook: This website allows users to create customized profiles sharing information, photos, videos etc. and has applications that are designed specifically to their site. Facebook users can see only the profiles of confirmed friends and the people in their networks. Friends can look at each others pages and comment on their "wall" (this is a spot where comments can be viewed by others.

-MySpace: This website allows you to stay in touch with friends and meet new people. You have the ability to add new friends based upon the information posted on your space.

-YouTube: A popular site that allows users to upload and store videos to be shared for private or public viewing. -Brazen Careerist: An online site comprised of Generation-Y (ages18 to 30) that displays blogs written by the community that generates thought provoking discussions.

All of the aforementioned sites will enable you to interact with your target market. Some companies make the mistake of becoming apart of as many social networking sites as possible. As with all things in life-quality will always win out over quantity. Meaning, it is better to invest your time building your relationship with your target market on fewer social networking sites if it means that you are able to truly listen to what is being said and share your industry expertise with those on the site. Joining numerous social networking communities and contributing nothing to them will leave people with the impression that your only there to promote your name and could care less about getting to know them-an impression no business can afford to leave.

Cost effective Companies are always looking to save money and often zero in on marketing expenses (which is the wrong move to make, but that's another article!) . Social networking can be implemented into your organization's marketing campaign because it is free. There is absolutely no reason why companies should not be incorporating social networking into their campaigns. The only investment required from companies is their time. After all if you are not willing to learn more about your target market and how using your product or service benefits them-then why should they (your target market) buy your brand?

Social networking sites save time and are cost effective for both companies and their customers. Companies can use social networking sites to gain instantaneous feedback regarding product launches. You can gauge the success of your launch based upon the comments you see shared online. Some companies are even starting to handle their customer complaints on social networking sites. This is a great medium to handle your complaints. People want their issues resolved accurately and quickly-what better way to do so than on their terms? Your customers are more at ease because they are doing something they already enjoy networking with those who share similar interests, family, friends, etc.. It is more expensive for companies to attract customers than to retain them, so it is imperative that companies maintain a delicate balance.

Twitter is one of the most popular social networking sites for businesses. Zappos, the world's largest online shoe retailer, is an excellent example of how companies should use social networking sites. Zappos is constantly being recognized for providing quality customer service. Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos, along with his employees use Twitter to interact with customers, handle service issues and monitoring comments being made about their company. Comcast and Dell also have customer service people on Twitter who search for and address complaints online. Companies are always searching for fast, accurate, and cost effective methods used to monitor their brand and social networking sites enable you to accomplish these goals.

Ability to market 24/7 In today's fast paced world there are many people who do not log online during"regular" business hours. In fact, many times people log on these sites during unconventional business hours to connect with family and friends (i.e. friends and family overseas). Social networking sites enable you to continuously market your product or service even when you are not online. The time you have spent in cultivating your relationship with your target market will be evident. Companies who have built great relationships with their customers can rest assure that their customers will continue to "spread the word" about your product or service when your not online.

The aforementioned reasons demonstrate why social networking is an effective marketing technique. Some companies feel that social networking is even more effective than"conventional" marketing techniques (i.e. print advertising, direct mail, etc.). Holly Homer, Founder and Editor of BurbMom.net which is a website for moms in the North Dallas/Fort Worth area rely solely on social networking sites. "We started out with a marketing budget . I wished to see just how far we can get by simply doing absolutely free things. Our site has been online for 3 weeks and last month we had more than 4800 hits-over 60% of these were local. One hundred neighborhood mothers have united our online social networking. We haven't spent a dime on advertising. I truly don't believe we could have achieved this much in this short timeframe during conventional advertising with cash."

Bridges said,"Social media is absolutely more successful in reaching people that are using social networking compared to conventional tools-they will pay more attention to some message, email, or posting from you in the event that you've established a connection together. By following you (or connecting for you, linking your group, etc.) they're requesting you to keep them educated, unlike a random postcard mailing or newspaper advertisement."

Companies can't afford to discount social media simply as it's a relatively new advertising strategy. Businesses which don't take part in social websites are overlooking chances to socialize with their clients while concurrently saving money. Social networking requires your own organization's energy and time to cultivate relationships with your target market which will go along way in boosting loyalty for your brand. In the present market, social media is the 1 investment you can expect to see a return. Read more information click เพิ่มไลค์

[enkisstories]

The android cemetery (Ch. 23)

The first thing one had to take care of when entering the Reed apartment was not to bump into the stairs leading upwards. The second was to dodge the cats that were sitting on the staircase and clawing playfully towards the interesting hats and hairs that came within their reach. Afterwards everything else was a trifle.

The floor/downstairs living room combination was L-shaped. To the left the smaller arm contained a lounge chair, various installations for the cats to climb on and a bookcase. Straight forward the longer arm was dominated by a long sofa, a wall-mounted TV and the usual household electronics. The left wall was completely made of reinforced glass. It offered an amazing look out at balcony and over Detroit. At the far end of this room a door led to the kitchen.

Thor and Loki didn’t leave their vantage points on the stairway when the bipeds took seats. Being the smallest of the adults Gavin sat down on the sofa’s back, feet on the seating. Daniel sat down to his right. Emma, after a moment of hesitation, sat down on the sofa, too. Separated from Daniel only by Gavin’s dangling feet she grabbed the sofa’s edge with both hands and stared down as if she was utterly enraptured by the floor’s pattern. Jason circled the sofa and ended up standing to Emma’s left, looking down at the PL600 in a mix of fascination and suspicion. Evelyn grabbed a book from the bookcase and curled up with it in the lounge chair that almost swallowed her. The child android grinned, because she was staying up past bedtime tonight and nobody seemed to mind. Finally Connor chose the lowest stair to sit on. Ever since picking up a fish on the verge of suffocating had set him on the path of increasing program instability, the android liked animals. Surrounding himself with pets helped him focus on being a person instead of a function. Hoping that the cats would eventually come down for cuddles while serious matters were underfoot was immensely childish, that much Connor realized himself. But to hell with maturity! The others in this room didn’t have deviancy, they didn’t know how taxing living with a mental illness was! Okay, Daniel had deviancy, too, but he had been a nutcase to begin with and given in to their condition. Therefore Daniel’s opinion on the handicap didn’t count in Connor’s book.

“How did you find me that fast?” Emma asked the apartment floor, but Jason understood that he was being addressed. He started to explain, only to get cut short by Gavin: “Ever wondered how the damn automated cars decide who to run over? Well, for one, the valuable kids like you get tagged with subdermal implants.”

Jason saw the policeman’s nose twitch while he said that. An old scar ran across the bridge. Maybe there was a connection, or maybe not. This wasn’t the time to be nosy, because Emma exclaimed: “I thought the tags were only for opening our lockers at school and for showing when we are not in the classroom!” The idea of her position getting tracked, even if it was for her wellbeing only, didn’t sit well with the girl. “I didn’t know they were active all around the clock! As if we were androids… or criminals…”

Daniel, who was both, weakly supplied that the tag could save Emma’s life one day. If she ever got lost or taken away, the police would find her and return her to her mother.

The child didn’t respond. She didn’t even look at the android whom she had known as a friend under two different names now. What was wrong with her, Emma wondered? Had she not set out tonight to re-activate her caretaker? To smuggle him out of the police station and set him free? Well, now she had confirmation that Daniel had lived as free as possible for the last one and a half year. He was happy, he was friendly towards the child and rude to everyone Emma disliked. So why did she feel the urge to run away and hide?

“And you were…?” Connor spoke up, nodding in Boyfriend Jason’s direction. In his back the cats were shifting uneasily, now that the big plastic thing had started moving, even if had been on the spot only and only so subtly.

“Jason Graff”, the man answered. “I am Emma’s mother’s new partner.”

“Graff… that name sounds familiar”, Gavin mused. “I think Danny cursed you two nights ago!”

Connor quickly consulted the internet. A number of entries and photographs came up. The third one was matching Boyfriend Jason and Connor announced that this man was the head of CyberLife’s humanization department.

“Are you the guy who implemented flash grenade sensitivity in household android eyes?” Daniel inquired.

“Among other things, yes”, Jason admitted. “Not that it would impede your functions in any way. Flash sensitivity doesn’t apply to just brightly lit rooms. But you’ll squint a little during a thunderstorm, that kind of endearing thing.”

“Yeah, thanks, we got almost taken apart by a trash golem because of that!” Daniel replied. “Endearing? More like endangering!”

“Are you also responsible for my voice?” Connor asked, this being the second thing right after deviance that made his life unreasonably difficult. Gavin, probably ranking third on the list (although Connor wouldn’t admit that anytime soon in order not to give the detective that satisfaction), laughed out loud!

“Don’t get me wrong, Mr. Graff, I do not think there’s something wrong with it”, Connor quickly added. “It’s just…”

“No, no that wasn’t me”, Jason said quickly. “I was down with the flu and when I returned to work, the damage had already been done.”

“The “damage”…” Connor replied. The android shook his head. “Okay, new rule”, he announced then. “Not only are you three including Tina forbidden to mention my Daniel-encounter ever again, the same goes for my voice!”

“Not fair!” Gavin countered, still laughing. “You get to use it on us every day!”

“Yes!” Daniel chimed in. He noticed that both Jason and Emma were smiling now and that the girl had let go of the sofa she had been clinging to like to a lifeline. That Connor! Aptly nicknamed The Negotiator, the RK800 certainly knew how to defuse a tense situation and wasn’t afraid to play up his dorky side to achieve his goal. “Yes, Con’”, Daniel repeated, “you cannot just ask that of us without offering something in return!”

“Your bones”, Connor chirped, playing up his voice’s quirk on purpose. “Intact.”

A playfully delivered threat, but a threat nonetheless. Or a warning, rather.

The android wasn’t prepared for the reaction that prompted from Jason:

“Hell, yes, Connor, that’s our adaptive routine in action! Exactly as we had envisioned you! Oh my god, I’m so proud…”

Connor looked up, his expression one of amazement not unlike the day he had watched Dewey resume circling the fish tank in the Phillips residence. None of his handlers at CyberLife had ever said they were proud of him before. Not of his successes and least of all of Connor’s personality. Perhaps the prototype had been below their notice, his feelings irrelevant to even those who believed he had some. But there was also the possibility that he had never done anything to make them proud. Not Portia Colch, who always had preferred Brandon over Connor, not Amanda, who was just a simulation and least of all Elijah Kamski, who deemed himself so far above the normal frame of reference that Connor could have sworn to have dealt with Gavin Reed instead.

A sincere smile that carried a hint of relief crossed the android’s face.

“Thank you, Mr. Graff!”

“…of my team’s work”, Jason had wanted to finish, but seeing Connor like that made him reconsider and he let the rest of the sentence hanging in the air.

Thor, too, was almost hanging in the air. The black cat was stretching his head through the railing, his gaze fixed on Mama Gavin and especially on the sofa’s underside. But the only path to that safe space was blocked by the plastic biped. Thor’s tail twitched left and right, up and down... Meanwhile Loki felt the need to add some scratch marks to the wallpaper, just in case there was any question about who owned this place.

“We call the RK800s Witchers, internally”, Jason went on. Here he was, totally lost at the situation, but being able to talk about something he understood, something that was familiar. Not that Jason’s grasp on android lore would have mattered to any of the assembled, but chatting them up like that might at least serve to break the ice before tackling the real questions of this night.

“…because of the prototype. It helped ending the android crisis of November ’38.”

“Yes, that it did”, Connor whispered and away went his smile.

“I’m actually very happy with their design!” Jason claimed.

“Uh-huh…” Daniel and Gavin went simultaneously. It didn’t do anything to stop Jason from gushing about his team’s creation:

“The thing about the Witchers is, when out of uniform they look absolutely adorable! Like a young adult fresh out of college. The B-series even more so than the Connors, they can pass as freshmen.”

“It fucking worked”, Gavin remarked.

“What worked?”

“They both got adopted”, Daniel explained. “Only Brandon’s still in denial about it. But if he is supposed to be an older teen, then this reaction is only natural.”

“That’s not what we intended”, Jason admitted. “Fascinating, though.”

Emma raised her head. Her confidence restored by the shared laughter just now the girl asked Jason, and she sounded as innocent as Connor, when she did so: “Does mom know that you design androids for a living?”

Daniel winced. That wasn’t just confidence, that was a declaration of war! Ever since he… ever since the… ever since august 2038 Caroline Phillips didn’t allow androids of any kind in her apartment. Or near her precious daughter, if she could help it. The therapy sessions had been one of the rare exceptions, because the slow exposure to Dean had unquestionably helped Emma overcome her experience with Daniel. But other than that… Caroline paid a maid service that exclusively employed humans. She specified that she wanted a human to deliver her pizza or would fetch it in person from the store. And she had transferred Emma to another school, one that only had a few android janitors and cafeteria workers, but a full staff of human teachers. The widow wasn’t confrontational towards androids, she just did her best to ignore them. Caroline learning that her love interest was actively participating in filling the world with more of the dangerous machines, even made them likeable, would probably spell the end of the relationship.

“I didn’t have the courage to tell her yet”, Jason confessed. He said nothing else, only his eyes were silently pleading.

[allaboutfoodgwu]

Spill the Tea: Are Millennials Killing the Coffee Industry?

Worldwide, tea is the second most consumed beverage, behind water (Macfarlane and Macfarlane 2004). In 2016 there were about 6 million tons of tea produced, with 40% produced in China and 22% in India (FAOSTAT 2017). However, these countries are not the leading consumers per capita. Turkey consumed 6.96 pounds of tea per capita in 2016. Ireland and the UK were in the second and third places, China was 20th, India 28th and the United States 35th, consuming only 0.5 pounds per capita (Quartz 2016).

In 2015, YouGov reported that while the average American drank 46 gallons of coffee in 1946 and only 23 gallons in 2013, tea consumption rose 20% in between 2000-2014. YouGov also reported that younger generations are starting to prefer tea over coffee. While I don’t think that drinking less coffee or preferring tea to coffee means that millennials are shunning coffee, there is clearly a huge demand for tea worldwide, so I wanted to find out what kind of variety stores have available in the US, and D.C. specifically. I have always preferred tea to coffee, and while I am usually disappointed at the variety available in cafes, I have never really paid attention to how many options available in grocery stores.

This class assignment required visiting five D.C. grocery stores and conducting optical research- basically just looking around without asking people questions- focusing on one product in those stores. I chose to look at the tea selection, specifically boxed or tinned dry tea whether it was bagged, loose leaf, or powder. All of these visits took place during the Spring 2019 semester.

For my first field visit, I went to the Whole Foods that is located on the campus of the George Washington University in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood of D.C., at 2201 I St NW. Next, I stayed on campus and visited the CVS in the Shops at 2000 Penn, on Pennsylvania Ave NW. Moving north through Foggy Bottom, I went to Trader Joe’s, at 1101 25th St NW. I then went to Harris Teeter in the Adams Morgan neighborhood, at the intersection of 17th St NW and Kalorama Rd NW. Finally, I went to the Georgetown neighborhood and stopped in Dean & DeLuca, at 3276 M St NW.

The common thread through these locations is that they are all located in the Northwest section of the city. So, this should not be seen as an overview of the tea being sold in D.C. as a whole, but the tea being sold in this particular area. Northwest D.C. is an area that is popular with college students and tourists as it is home to many universities, the White House, Embassy Row, and many museums.

I discovered a wide variety of tea available in Northwest D.C. In every store I visited you will find a range of black, green, and herbal tea. Every store had caffeinated and non-caffeinated options. Brands like Lipton, Bigelow, and Twinings are stocked in multiple stores, except Dean & DeLuca. Every store except for CVS had at least one loose-leaf variety. Finally, except for in Dean & DeLuca, there was always at least one box or tin that marked the tea as organic and/or fair trade.

The pricing of the tea was fairly consistent across all five stores ranging from $3-$8 depending on the variety, brand, and quantity of the tea being sold. Of course, Dean & DeLuca is the outlier with prices from $10.50 to $45, because how can you prove you’re bougie if your average-sized box of tea didn’t cost more than a meal.

Across the stores, the target customer seems to vary. Due to their locations, Whole Foods, CVS, and Trader Joe’s are marketed more towards college students and young adults. Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s also seem to attract individual young professionals who may live in the area. Harris Teeter is located in more of a residential area, where cars are more popular than they are in other parts of the city. For this reason, Harris Teeter may be more popular for families doing weekly grocery shopping rather than individuals. Dean & DeLuca is in Georgetown, a high end neighborhood, and its clientele is likely more wealthy and more middle-aged or older rather than college students.

The target market of each store is reflected in the store’s layout and ambience. Whole Foods has a public image centered on organic products and the store shows that with natural colors, huge displays of fresh produce, and labels of ‘organic’ and ‘fair trade’ on almost all of the products, including the tea. CVS markets itself as a convenient stop to buy basic groceries or household items. The store has simple carpeting and shelving, and they don’t stock a wide variety of tea. Bright yellow tags help customers locate the items that are on sale and may be cheaper than other options. Trader Joe’s decorates each store tailored to the location. The one I visited had D.C. and GW specific decorations. Most products get a little blurb about what they are and what they can be used for, helping give a direct producer to consumer vibe to the company. Harris Teeter is the closest to what would be considered a supermarket. They have long aisles, full-sized shopping carts, and a wide variety of options for tea, perfect for anybody to find what they want. Dean & DeLuca’s upscale identity is definitely bolstered by the white walls, stone floors, and employees dressed as chefs.

In every store tea is located in the same area as coffee, either across the aisle from or directly next to each other. This makes sense, as both tea and coffee are popular breakfast drinks. I was usually able to find sweeteners right next to the tea or coffee, except for in Harris Teeter, where sugar was separated from the coffee by a selection of cooking oils. I still haven’t figured out the tea/beef jerky combination. Work on your upselling, Harris Teeter. The relative location of this aisle in each store varied. In Whole Foods, CVS, and Harris Teeter the aisle was vaguely in the center of the store. In Trader Joe’s and Dean & DeLuca it was towards the entrance of the store.

A store’s layout directs the customer to what they are looking to buy, while the product labels entice the customer by showing why that product is the best choice. For tea, this usually involves promoting taste, health benefits, and potential socioeconomic benefits. While some boxes of tea in most of the stores promoted being fair trade, the cultivation and production of tea present some serious concerns. Sarah Besky, in her research on tea plantations in India, explains the problem with fair trade labels and what she calls the ‘agrarian imaginary’. Fair trade labels promote the idea that some of the consumer’s money is going towards improving the livelihoods of plantation workers. The money, however, is usually just given to the plantation owners, who can use it as they wish. An agrarian imaginary refers to the idealization of the plantations as farms being worked by individuals who care about the land, rather than a colonial labor system that exploits the workers (Besky 2013). These concepts were especially apparent on the boxes of Tulsi tea in Whole Foods. This packaging featured an idyllic landscape and a picture of a person, who the customer is meant to view as the person who cultivated the tea that they are going to buy.

If you still care deeply about buying organic, fair trade tea, you can find plenty of options at Whole Foods in Foggy Bottom. For convenient, basic tea, go to CVS. If you are a Trader Joe’s loyalist, they have plenty of options. When you want a wide variety of brands and flavors, Harris Teeter has got you covered. None of these stores are significantly more expensive than the others. If you want to feel fancy, but also be broke, go to Dean & DeLuca. Maybe tea will always take second place to coffee in the minds of Americans, but that does not seem to have stopped companies from supplying a wide variety of options for shoppers. It’s probably safe to say that neither hot beverage is going away any time soon.

--Victorya Dube

Besky, Sarah. The Darjeeling Distinction: Labor and Justice on Fair-Trade Tea Plantations in India. University of California Press, 2013.

FAOSTAT. World tea production in 2016; Crops/World Regions/Production Quantity from picklists. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Statistics Division, 2017.

Macfarlane, Alan, and Iris Macfarlane. Green Gold: The Empire of Tea. The Overlook Press, 2004.

Moore, Peter. Coffee's millennial problem: tea increasingly popular among young Americans. February 25, 2015. https://today.yougov.com/topics/lifestyle/articles-reports/2015/02/25/coffees-millennial-problem.

Quartz. Annual per capita tea consumption worldwide as of 2016, by leading countries (in pounds). 2016. https://www.statista.com/statistics/507950/global-per-capita-tea-consumption-by-country/.

[tmntreasures]

We have to break up... (Donatello)

Prompt:

   It was an unfortunate circumstance, but it was simply inevitable. College was pricey in New York and takes a long time to complete, especially for what you wanted to go for. But there was a small glimmer of hope; there was a community college in your home town that cut the completion time in half and was still accredited.

   There was just one problem: your hometown was six states away.

   This unfortunately made the possibility of a long distance relationship an impossible option. Although you would be living with family, you felt like you had an obligation to contribute to the household and would be working during your summer and holiday breaks; and of course the turtles couldn't just hop on a plane to see you either, especially with your college being so far away. There wouldn't even be anytime for the two of you to communicate online either; there was the time zone difference to worry about, plus the turtle's patrols were always irregular and hard to schedule around, especially if they happened to run into a Foot patrol. Then there was the possibility of enemies finding out where you were. If they were to hack into one of your e-mails and find out where you were currently living, there would be no way the turtles could come save you. You would be putting yourself and your family in danger. There was no other option...

   You had to break up.

Donatello:

   His lean body was silhouetted against the illuminated screens. He seemed to be focused on three things at once, his hands flying across the multiple keyboards. At first you had thought the amount of electronics he had was a little much, but now you have come to realize each one served an important purpose. His ability to multitask and problem solve was amazing; that combined with his stubbornness made him a force to be reckoned with. It was just one of many things you admired and would hate about him soon.

   You were dreading telling him the bad news, knowing the genius mutant to try to find a way around the problem. It had to be done, however, and you stopped behind his chair.

   “Hey, Donnie?” You asked a little tentatively. A part of you hoped he would tell you he was too busy. Perhaps he was in the middle of tracking some shady Foot activity and could not be disturbed?

   Donatello turned to look at you from around the seat, “Hey you!” His cheeks pushed his glasses up ever so slightly as he smiled. “I didn't even hear you come in,” He stood so he could get a better look at you, though his attention quickly returned to the blinking screens. “What's up? Did you wanna hang out?”

   “Well, I actually want to talk.” You could see him nod but he made no move to look at you.

   “Uh-huh. Okay, sure. What about?” His fingers flew across the keyboards expertly before he finally hit one button. The screens flickered off and he turned to face you. The smile on his face looked sadder than before and the realization hit you.

   He knew.

   An aggravated sigh escaped you. You hated it when he kept tabs on your internet activity. He claimed it was to make sure the Foot could not get into your computer, but you knew he also used it to snoop around. Though he used it for positive reasons most of the time, like what you would like more on your birthday; but there had been times where he crossed the line. Looking at your college search history definitely crossed one of those lines.

   “I think you might have an idea already,” You sighed and crossed your arms.

   His eyes widened before they shifted around the room. His shoulders shrugged slightly as his head nodded, showing admission of his guilt. “Sort of,” he motioned for you to come over as he kept speaking. “I mean, I get why you want to go there. It looks cheap, you'll finish in half the time if you went to a college around here. And did it look like you had family there?”

   You stopped and stared at his shell, surprised at how much he knew. “Well...yeah, actually,” the two of you went to your usual spot. He sat in a rusty lawn chair while you hopped on a ledge, making him only slightly shorter than you.

   “Well it sounds like you have it all figured out,” He breathed. You could see his green brow furrow and his brown eyes dart about. Thoughts were clearly being bounced around in that overactive brain of his. “You should go for it.” He finally looked up and smiled at you.

   For a moment you felt a sense of relief wash over you. But this was not why you came down to see him. There had been so many choices when you first started looking at colleges, but once you realized you would have to pay either expensive rent or be in debt for most of your life, the number of colleges you could apply to dwindled slowly. Eventually you found the best option was a community college out in Colorado. You would be gone for three years, but there was just one problem...

   “Donatello,” you started. Your fingers began to fidget nervously as the words got stuck in your throat. Why did he have to be so nice about all this? It would be so much easier if he was upset, right?

   He held his three-fingered hands up and shook them a little. “No, no. Don't worry about me. I know you'll probably want to spend time with your family on the holidays,” One of his hands rested on your knee comfortingly. “But I can wait for you to get off in the summer.”

   “That's the thing,” your own hand laid on top of his. “I'll be working over the summer. I'm not just gonna live with them without contributing something to the house.”

   His hand began to slowly squeeze your knee. The shock was apparent on his face and his lips twitched as he tried to think of a response. “Oh...well,” He caught sight of one of his many electronics and huffed proudly. “Well, that's still fine. Because we live in the technological phase of the twenty-first century!” There was a little smirk on his face; it was the same look he had whenever he figured out a definite solution to a problem. Or anytime he won in a game.

   “We'll just face-time, or text, or send e-mails if neither of us are available.” He lifted a finger the moment you tried to open your mouth to speak. “Time-zones don't matter when you have the internet!”

   A frown began to form on your face. Did he truly think those options never crossed your mind? They were the first ones you thought of. “Yeah, but...what if someone tracks our calls Donnie?” Now the real argument was about to begin. “Or hacks into my e-mail? What if they track me down that way?”

   There was a fleeting moment of fear in his eyes but his mouth was already in motion. “I'll just program a firewall for you.”

   “What if they get around it?” You started and frowned when he snorted in disbelief.

   “C'mon, you know the Foot aren't exactly the sharpest knives in the drawer. They have a hard time getting past the security system I made when I was ten.” He was confident in his work. Everything he created he put his full attention in to, knowing one wrong wire could mean the failure of a mission.

   There was no doubt in your mind he would create the best firewalls the world has ever seen, but the risk of someone finding out where you were was too great. The Foot Clan may not be smart but they had a lot of money.

   “Donnie, if they find out where I'm at it's not just me in danger,” your voice cracked. “My family could get hurt. If the Foot ever got a hold of my family I...I don't know if I could still keep your secret anymore.”

   Silence overcame him. He understood why you would give away the location of the lair if your family got involved. If he were in your position he would do the same, there was no doubt about it. But he was positive he could make something to hide your location. There was always a way.

   “Donnie.”

   The sound of your voice was what snapped the turtle out of his world. You sounded so stern, so serious; except your eyes told a different story. They glistened more as the light reflected off of the still-forming tears. The realization of what you were going to say slowly dawned on him.

   “Wait.” Donatello never realized just how hard his voice could sound until now. Unfortunately, it only made you want to speak faster.

   “I can't keep up a relationship with you when I go.”

   “No. N-no you can,” Sweat began to form on his face, making his glasses slide down. “I swear, the firewall will work. Trust me! I'll even update it every month!”

   Your heart twisted at how much he was trying. Your hand squeezed his wrist, hoping it would calm him down in some way. “I do trust you. It's the Foot that I'm afraid of.”

   He shook his head and looked away; but you had to know he was listening. You grabbed the side of his face with your free hand and turned his head so you could look him in the eye.

   “I'll be six states away, Donatello. I won't be able to go to you for help if something happens!”

   “Then call me if something does!” He raised his voice slightly. He just could not understand it. Programming was like breathing for him; there would be no way anyone would be able to find you. How were you having a hard time understanding that?

   You huffed at him and crossed your arms defiantly. This was the stubbornness you knew and admired sometimes; once he was set on being right it was hard to convince him otherwise without physical proof. “And if they kill me after they get what they want?”

   His shoulders shrugged and grumbled, “Well you could use that logic right now! Why are you suddenly so worried about it now?”

   “Because my family will get involved!” You shouted. The realization finally hit him but you kept going, making sure he knew the full extent of it. “If it was just me, then fine. I would gladly take the risk for you. But I'll be with my family there! If the Foot find them because of one mistake...!” You stopped to wipe the tears that had fallen on your cheeks. “It's not fair to them,” you whimpered, trying not to cry already.

   For now, he was done. You were clearly upset and he did not want to push you or himself any further today. There was just one thing he had to know.

   “So,” He leaned back in his chair, his hands rubbing the top of his head as his eyes stared at the ceiling. The muscles in his throat tightened but he had to force the question out. “Are we still gonna hang out? Before you go that is?”

   You stared at him, wishing he would look at you. “If that's okay with you,” you mumbled loud enough for him to hear.

   He nodded quickly and felt the salty sting of tears. “Yeah. I'd like that.”

   “Okay,” you managed to whisper as you stood. Short sentences meant he was done speaking; of course it would usually be when he was looking at a computer screen, his mind trying to decipher whatever equation he was transfixed on. You wiped the dust from your rear and shrugged at him, “I'll text you tomorrow then. I got a lot of packing to get started on.”

   His jaw clenched at the mention of moving. “Have fun,” he snapped a little as he stood up. Donatello did not even attempt to look at you as he walked back to his set-up. His fingers started to flick as they turned the large system on and you knew that was your cue to go.

   With heavy foot-steps you made your way out of the lair, hoping tomorrow would be a little better. –

   For the first couple of days, you and Donatello did some typical date nights. The two of you watched movies, a couple episodes of your favorite shows, and even explored the city at night for a bit. One day, you had a great idea for a date. Your parents were going out for the night which meant you could have the large mutant inside of your apartment. You were going to make this a damn near perfect date, or at least a good one.

   Spending time with Donatello these past couple of days has put you behind on your packing schedule. It's gotten bad enough that you were not sure if you would be able to spend anymore time with the ninja turtle. Tonight had to be a good night. For his sake.

   Donatello was shaking with excitement as he stood in front of your bedroom window. This would be the first time he would be able to roam freely throughout your place instead of being secluded to your bedroom. Not that he did not like your bedroom, but the rest of your home was something else entirely. Plus, the two of you were going to make pizza for dinner.

   Hand made pizza? Free roam of your apartment? You clearly had something planned tonight and he had a feeling he knew what.

   One green finger tapped on the window a little louder than he normally would have. For a moment there was nothing, but soon he heard your feet tapping on the floor as you approached. Your door squeaked open before you popped into sight. The smile on your face made him feel warm inside. He would miss seeing it in person, but after tonight he might not miss it as much.

   You let him in and were surprised by the kiss he gave you. The smile on his face made your heart flutter and you forgot for a second that this might be the last time you see him.

   “You gonna give me a tour?” He beamed.

   “Of course!” You grabbed his hand and lead him through the apartment. You watched as he stared at every picture on the wall, even pointing out pictures of yourself when you were a kid. You told him a couple of stories about your childhood and in turn he would tell a few from his. It was the first time in a while you two were able to open up without a tense air hovering around one of you.

   Eventually you made it to the kitchen where you washed your hands and got started. You were both making your own mini pizzas. Donatello favored the vegetarian toppings while you decorated yours with your favorite. Soon both circular pieces of food were put in the oven and the timer was set.

   All you had to do was wait now.

   “Oh yeah!” You snapped your fingers. “I almost forgot. I got you something!” The grin on your face made your cheeks hurt. You figured since you guys had been having a good couple of days, that you would get him something small.

   The tall turtle's eyes lit up when you handed him the little purple box. His cheeks burned a little at the nice gesture, “Aww, you didn't have to do that.” After he took the lid off he pulled out the little turtle-shaped USB light. A smile crossed his face and he gave you an amused look. “A turtle? Really?”

   You smiled back and shrugged. “Well yeah. So you don't forget your roots,” you teased. As your hip bumped into his you added, “And also so you won't forget me.”

   He slid the USB into one of his pockets and paused at what you said. For a moment he thought you were just being sentimental, but the tone of your voice filled him with doubt. “How could I forget you?” He chuckled, feeling the dread that seemed to weigh his stomach down.

   The confusion that spread across his face made you frown. “Well, three years is a long time, Donnie.”

   “But...” For once he found it hard to speak. A lump formed in his throat as he realized what this was. “So...we're not going to try long-distance?”

   You let out a sympathetic sigh and rubbed your forehead. “Donnie, no. I already told you, I can't put my family in danger like that.”

   The turtle began to slump and you could see the joy drain out of him. “I thought...I dunno,” He rubbed the top of his head quickly and grumbled. “I don't know. Being invited to your apartment, making pizza together. It was all really great so I thought you were gonna say we can give it a shot.” He shrugged and began listing off the statistical success of long-distance relationships. “Thirty-two and a half percent of college relationships are long distance.”

   “Donnie...” You pleaded but he kept going.

   “Forty percent of them break-up...” His speech started to slow down. “...and seventy percent of all failed long distance relationships are due to unplanned changes.” He did not stop until you touched his arm.

   Big brown eyes stared at you through the lenses of his glasses. They darted about, taking in every curve of your face, every strand of hair, every shade of color in your eyes. “This is the last time we get to hang out, isn't it?”

   “It might be,” You admitted. “I fell behind on my packing.”

   He made a loud sniffling noise and wiped at his snout. Of course this was it. Why else would you have gone through so much effort to make this special? Not that he did not appreciate the effort; it just was not what he was prepared for. He braced himself against the counter and stared at the ground. “Can I see you the day you leave?”

   “Of course you can,” You breathed; already your hand was on his wet cheek.    It was amazing to you, how this giant, mutant, turtle looked so defenseless. You had witnessed first hand his prowess on the battlefield; he was able to take on waves of enemies without breaking a sweat, yet here he was. Weakened and vulnerable in the middle of your kitchen. It broke your heart seeing him this way.

   First his hand was over yours, then it slowly grasped your forearm and began to tug you forward. You complied and found yourself pressed against his hard chest; those lean, yet massive, arms of his already wrapped around your shoulders. You buried your face into the crook of his neck as the two of you embraced one another.

   BZZZZZzzzttTTT!

    The piercing sound of the alarm made both of you jump and return to reality. You both stepped away from each other after Donatello turned off the buzzing machine.

   For the remainder of the night, you two were silent. -    Donatello waited for you in the alley behind your home. The early morning sun shone brightly in the sky, creating the perfect shadows for him to hide in.

   Not being able to see the past couple of days had given him plenty of time to think about the whole situation. He used the time to do more extensive research on the college you were enrolled in and investigated the crime rate in the neighborhood you would be living in. The college was fantastic for what it was, and the place you were staying at was in a low-crime area; it was indeed safer than most places in New York. It was during this research that he admitted defeat. It truly would be unfair to your family to risk their lives just for your relationship.

   After all, this would not be the first thing you would have to leave him behind for. You had a human life that required certain responsibilities out of you; responsibilities that he did not have to worry about or ever expect to think about. It would be selfish and unfair of him to ask you to stay for his sake. It was a hurtful conclusion, but if this meant you would have a good future then so be it. In the end, he only wanted you to be happy.

   When you finally emerged in the alley your good-byes were mutual. You hugged, you cried, you kissed, and said “I love you” for the last time.

   Donatello had waited for the sound of the truck driving away to disappear before he returned to the lair. The first thing he did was go to his large set-up and booted every tower and monitor there. The first thing he did was check your social media pages.

   Every single one mentioned how nervous you were about starting college and how you would miss your dearest friends in New York. He sighed longingly, knowing this would be the closest thing he would have to you. No matter what, he would not contact you, but he would still keep tabs.

   As a precaution, of course.

[sluttyshakespeare]

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How Huge Is A 5x5 Storage Unit?

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[ryukogo]

the best season

Summary: Kenny wasn’t exactly sure if he wanted to let his little girl go just yet.

Prompt: Beginnings - I really want you to run wild with this one. Anything can be the beginning of something new, and Spring is a season all about new life and new things. Is it a new relationship that they’re feeling awkward about? Did their favorite show come back for another season finally? Did they start a new project, even though they have a million unfinished ones tucked away somewhere? Is your muse excited about or afraid of the changes that come with a new beginning?

Words: 4434

Link is in the title if you wish to read it on AO3!

Kenny McCormick confessed to Butters Stotch during a beautiful spring day, in the sixth grade, holding only the prettiest wildflowers he could find - and a few forget-me-nots, one of Butters’s favorite flowers. That day, Butters had thrown his arms around Kenny and kissed him senseless, and boy, had Kenny been on cloud nine for the next three days.

Many springs later, sometime after college, they moved in together and shared an apartment with Kyle and Stan - to cut costs more than actually stay together as a friend group, really, but it was a bonus. That spring, Butters had landed a job as a hotel’s chef, and Kenny had landed a job as a mechanic.

It was a memorable spring.

Spring, in Kenny’s opinion, was the best season of the year, and, for someone like him, who had most of the good things in his life happen in the springtime, it was no surprise that he thought very well of the season. Winters were fine too, he supposed, being accustomed to the cold, but spring would always be more superior to the man.

A spring or so later, when things had stabilized and he and Butters had already bought their own house (and so had Kyle and Stan, but that is a story for another day), Kenny proposed to Butters, and, just like before, Butters had kissed him senseless, baby blues brimming with tears of joy. He had screamed his assent many times before Kenny had taken him in his arms and spun him around on the lawn, his own eyes threatening to scatter his happy tears all over the grass, and together, the two blonds had collapsed on the ground, smiling giddily at each other.

They married the next spring, as was Kenny’s personal wish to keep spring the best season for both him and Butters.

A few years or so later, the Stotch-McCormick household was blessed with a young girl they had christened Bunny, and true to the tradition, she had been born at the peak of spring, where hay fevers were at its worst and flowers were blooming at their best. Her name had come from the little white rabbit footsies Nichole had knitted her as a gift, and while Stan would tease for years to come that Bunny had actually been a combination of Kenny and Butters’s names, it would still prove to be a very appropriate name for the bouncy girl.

Bunny was Kenny’s little sweetheart, precocious and gentle, just like Butters, and just as adorable as both of her parents. And, to the surprise of none, she had drifted close to her own group of friends as her parents had - which had comprised of one Kyan Marshlovski, one Creek Tweak-Tucker, and one Candy Cartman; truly, a collection of troublemakers.

(Privately, all the parents had convened at some point during their friendship and admitted to each other that they were downright terrified that they’d start their own brand of troubles not unlike the ones they had during their own childhoods. Ironically enough, Cartman in particular had been adamant on just getting a restraining order on all the other kids to keep his own daughter safe from them and them safe from her - but Candy had inherited both her mother’s smarts and her father’s cunning, so that was out of the question.)

Springs were also Bunny’s favorite season, Kenny learned a few years later, during Bunny’s fourteenth birthday, while she danced in her bare feet on the grass with an incredibly tall and awkward Gristoph DeLorne - the boy was literally two feet taller than Bunny, at his height of 6′3″ and Bunny’s 4′3″. She declared her love for it to everyone present, and Butters took pictures. Lots of pictures. 

She was a bright ray of sunshine. She was Kenny’s little sunshine - she brought a smile to her fathers’ faces with her sweet laughter and tender smiles.

So why was it that the sight of her smile only brought tears to his face now?

“Daddy...”

Kenny didn’t know what to feel. His whole body was numb, tears threatening to spill over and paint waterfalls of despair on his cheeks. He tried to feel, he really did, grasping his only daughter’s hand as tight as he could, trying to warm it up, but it was no use: Bunny was fading.

He didn’t like it.

“No, no, sweetie, just- just stay awake, okay?” Kenny was frantic, brushing away blonde locks from her forehead, kissing it fervently as though it would bring back what little color she had in her cheeks. In the background, Butters was wailing with panic in Charlotte’s arms as Kyle yelled into a phone, arguing with nurses on the other end of the line, while Stan was trying his best to patch up the wound in Bunny’s stomach with what he knew. Gristoph was screaming too, somewhere - Kenny could hear his anguished screaming over the clamors of the other children (Bunny’s other friends, he dimly recognized), but it was muffled, the only clear voices he could hear right now being his own, and Bunny’s.

The wound in Bunny’s stomach was a gunshot wound, three of them to be exact - fired by some newcomers to South Park looking to hunt wild animals despite the laws already in place. They had been aiming for a deer - as Cartman, chief of police, would soon find out - , but because of their horrible aim, had hit Bunny, sitting quietly among the forget-me-nots and daisies, making flower crowns for herself and Gristoph, straight through the stomach. She had gone down immediately, and Gristoph had screamed bloody murder.

Kenny cursed every single god in existence, ignoring the way his own daughter’s blood seeped through his pants and coated his hands as he whispered, “Bunny, Bunny, sweetie, c’mon, stay awake for Daddy, c’mon...”

“But I’m...” She yawned quietly. “Really sleepy...”

“No, no, baby, no, don’t sleep now, now’s a bad time to sleep,” He stifled a sob as Stan glanced desperately at Kyle, who continued to shriek at the people on the other line for them to hurry. There was only so much the guy could do - he was a nurse, not a doctor, and he wasn’t exactly able to get to the wound properly with Kenny holding his daughter’s body tight to his chest. “Bunny, c’mon, sweetie, keep your eyes open.”

Bunny smiled faintly, and it only served to make Kenny choke back another sob. “Daddy... don’t worry... I’ll try to keep my eyes open...”

“Don’t try, sweetie, do it.”

“Daddy...” Bunny glanced down weakly at Stan’s hands, trying to perform proper first aid, before looking back up at Kenny. “Am I going to hell?”

“Hell? Oh, baby, oh baby, no, nooo, you’re not going anywhere, you’re staying with me and - a-and Papa, okay,” Kenny reassured, pressing a kiss to her temple. “And you’re an angel, sweetie, no. Only Mormons go to Heaven, but maybe God will make an exception for you, they made an exception for Uncle Pip, didn’t they?”

Bunny laughed, but it was weak. “Daddy...”

“What is it, sweetie?”

“Do you...” Bunny weakly groped around with her right hand, until her frail fingers closed around something, which she pulled to her chest before holding it out to Kenny. “Do you like the flower crown...? I was... going to make one for you... and Papa... but I only made yours so far...”

The flower crown was made of daisies, with forget-me-nots tucked into the littler crevices, and quite frankly it was lopsided and a little too small for Kenny’s head (not to mention the fact that at least half of it was stained with Bunny’s splattered blood), but Kenny smiled anyway through his tears, putting it on his head. “Y-yeah, baby... Daddy loves it...”

“Really...” Bunny’s eyelids fluttered as she smiled a little. “I’m... glad... it was s’posed to be... an anniversary present... for you an’ Papa...”

“Shh, you need to rest now, baby, but don’t close your eyes, okay, don’t close your eyes. Save your strength.”

“...”

“Bunny?”

Everyone in the area silenced, watching as Kenny and Stan both froze, the latter sitting back, his first aid kit now rendered useless. Kenny brushed his fingers against Bunny’s cheek, but she did not move, her face frozen in a serene smile, pretty baby blues hidden behind eyelids that would open no longer.

“Bunny?” No. No no no no no. “Bunny, this isn’t- this isn’t funny, baby, c’mon- w-wake up-”

But she did not awaken.

When the reality of the situation sank in, Butters, unable to do anything else, screamed in despair, burying his face into his palms as Charlotte tried to comfort him the best she could, but she couldn’t - nothing could ever heal the loss of a parent’s child, especially at a young age.

Kyle threw his phone down on the grass in anger, frustrated at the hospital, at the phone, and at himself, sinking to his knees as he watched Butters sob and Kenny hold his only daughter’s tiny, lifeless body in his arms. Kenny was 6′4″ and Butters 5′5″, but Bunny, at 17, was only 5′0.

She looked so small and fragile in her father’s arms.

A raindrop hit Charlotte’s nose, and she looked up. The rain then began to pour, drenching everyone in spring’s first rainstorm. But nobody dared move.

It was a very dark spring day.

-=-=-=-

If you had asked Kenny McCormick when he had planned on letting go of his little girl, he would have jokingly answered ‘never’, only to amend it and say ‘maybe at 29, or 30, when she gets married, maybe’. His answer would have changed ages, depending on his mood and the person who was asking, but the feeling behind his words would always be the same: joking.

He hadn’t expected, however, that he’d have to let go of her at the age of 17.

It was a simple, quiet funeral, but many had flocked to it - her friends, their families, her parents’ friends, their families, hell, even the storekeepers of the stores she frequented paid their respects to the bright ray of sunshine that had been Bunny Stotch McCormick. She was just that beloved, and so to see her go so soon had been a blow to the town morale.

Butters had thrown himself over her casket, sobbing, begging to all the gods to give them back his little girl, but no amount of tears or despair could bring her back - Kenny knew. She wasn’t like him - she wasn’t cursed with his immortality.

Damn it... DAMN IT!

Bunny was supposed to make it to her old years, at the very least. She was supposed to grow up, and Kenny was supposed to see her go to college, get her first job, see her get married if she wanted to, not- not see her, small and helpless, in a pretty white casket surrounded by calla lilies and forget-me-nots.

Forget-me-nots.

Kenny’s hand brushed against the dried flower crown in his pocket - a bloodied memento of that fateful day he held his dying daughter in his arms. Its partner, an unfinished crown, had been among the flowers when Kenny had checked, and when he had presented it to Butters, he had broken down into sobs once again, clutching it close to his chest like it was Bunny herself, or at least a piece of her.

Kenny looked around the area. The flowers bloomed in the bright sunlight, and the birds tweeted pretty little melodies - the perfect picture of spring.

Fitting, that the spring that gave Kenny many of his best memories, would give him one of his worst.

-=-=-=-

“Kenny.”

“Mmngghh...”

“KENNY!”

“WAAAAGH!” Kenny shot up, panting, knocking heads with one Pip Pirrup, who fluttered backward, the only thing keeping him upright being the large white wings - well, mostly white, there were a few black feathers here and there - on his back. “Ow, Pip! What the fuck?”

“You wouldn’t wake up!” The Brit protested right back before steadying himself and holding out a hand to him, which he took, standing himself up.

Kenny looked around. “Wait, I’m in Heaven?” Beat. “Wait, you’re in Heaven?”

“Kyle knows being his fellow professor is only a part-time job for me,” Pip shrugged, his wings shaking themselves off. “Heaven is a full time job, Kenny, and besides, Damien doesn’t mind.”

“He’s the Antichrist, why doesn’t he mind.”

“Dipper,” was Pip’s only answer, as though his son was the answer to everything.

“Anyway, Pip, why am I in Heaven?” Kenny looked around at the white expanse, and recognized the clouds of the kingdom of Heaven. The gates were a little farther off, but he knew this place from the few times he made it. “How did I die this time? I can’t remember.”

Pip curled his lip. “Dipper.”

“You can’t just use your son as an answer to everything,” Kenny told him.

“Unfortunately, Dipper is the answer here. He shattered a teapot on your head.”

Beat.

Kenny gave Pip a look of bafflement. “What the fuck?”

“It was neither mine nor Damien’s idea, if that’s what you’re thinking,” Pip immediately defended before his gaze softened. Kenny wasn’t sure if he looked sorry for Kenny or if he looked hesitant. “Dipper had... done it as a favor.”

“A favor to who?”

Pip looked behind Kenny, and Kenny turned around. What he saw made him sink to his knees.

“Hi Daddy,” Bunny - not his seventeen year old Bunny, but a much younger Bunny, possibly around ten years old - smiled sweetly at her father, hands behind her back. She wore a pretty butter yellow sundress not unlike her favorite as a child, and her hair - once plaited in the style of Princess Kenny in her teen years - was now loosely tied in her childhood pigtails similar to that of Butters’s Marjorine hair.

She was the picture of innocence.

Kenny almost forgot that she was dead, but then her wings - just as majestic, though smaller than Pip’s - unfurled from behind her, scattering white feathers all around them as Pip stood to the side, bearing witness to the reunion between father and daughter. These feathers reminded him that no, Bunny was dead - she’d been dead for a year or so now.

“Bunny,” Kenny croaked out, before stumbling through the clouds and running to embrace his daughter. He didn’t care that she was younger - she probably chose to look younger now that she’d been in Heaven for a year - but it did make the pain of her death much worse, making him imagine what could have happened if she had died at a much, much younger age.

His arms wrapped around her tightly, and Bunny hugged him back, as he whispered into her hair desperately, “Oh my God, Bunny, oh my God, oh my God...”

“Don’t be mad at Dipper, Daddy,” Bunny smiled into his sleeve, nuzzling him. “You told me you couldn’t die forever until you and Papa were old... so I asked Dipper a favor.”

“Oh, sweetie,” Kenny looked up at Pip, and the blond mouthed, ‘Dipper’s still going to get it from me’ with a dark look on his face, making him snort in laughter before he turned back to his daughter. “Okay, I won’t get mad. It was for you. But he really could have picked a better way for me to die.”

Bunny giggled. “Dipper didn’t know how else to kill you that was unconventional. And besides, he didn’t know how else to get you, um, up here.”

“I was supposed to be in Hell, wasn’t I, baby?” Kenny tapped her nose, and she sneezed. He laughed. “Oh man, I missed that.”

“Very funny,” Bunny pouted before her gaze softened at him. She took a seat on the clouds, and he sat across from her, as she gathered away a few clouds and moved them aside, revealing a small window to the world below. Kenny peered through the hole in the clouds, and was startled to see Butters, wiping away tears as he placed flowers on both Bunny’s and Kenny’s graves, before he walked back to his car and drove away.

“Leo?” Kenny whispered.

“You know he won’t remember you dying,” Bunny mumbled, sighing. “But he tries, and he kind of vaguely remembers, I think. That’s what Uncle Pip told me. You’ll be back in a few minutes, I think.”

“A few minutes?!” Kenny was startled. “No, no, come on, no- I don’t get to go to Heaven every day, this isn’t fair-”

Pip tapped his wristwatch, and Bunny took her father’s hands in hers. “Daddy. Listen to me. It’s time to... move on.”

“Move on? From what?”

“From me,” There was a look on Bunny’s face that looked so out of place on her ten year old self that it made Kenny stare. “Daddy. Don’t pretend you haven’t been tearing yourself apart for a year now. Even Papa’s learned to accept it in a year.”

“It’s been a year, Bunny, I can’t just-” Kenny turned the tides and gripped her tiny hands instead carefully. “I can still see your face... everything... that day was the worst day of my life, Bunny, I can’t-”

Bunny lifted their hands up and kissed her father’s knuckles gently. “It’s spring. The season for new beginnings. Daddy, it’s time to start anew, and to do that, you have to accept that I'm not alive anymore. That's the first step to a new start."

"It's..." Ironic, really, that the man who could never die was unable to accept his own daughter's death. "I can't. Bunny, it's-"

"Daddy... by not accepting it... you're neglecting everything else around you," Bunny whispered sadly as she reached out to touch her father's now rather thick beard. "Look, you've really let yourself go. When was the last time you shaved, Daddy?"

Kenny blinked, and reached up and under her tiny hand, and upon coming into contact with the fuzz, gaped, staring at Bunny, then at Pip, who only shrugged, holding up his hands, saying, "Don't look at me. You're the one neglecting yourself."

"I..." Kenny looked helplessly back at Bunny.

The girl, to her credit, only leaned forward to wrap her father in a hug the best she could. "See? It's time to start anew by taking care of yourself. You... neglected yourself, choosing to never forget that day. You need to shave. And say hi to everyone else. Dipper's already said hi for me to all of my friends, but you need to say hi to all of your friends too. I'm sure they miss you."

"Pip?" The man looked at the older angel.

Pip tipped his hat. "I can't speak for them, old chap, but... I certainly do miss your cheery banter. You never were the same after little Bunny died. Even Eric and Wendy have admitted to missing your rather vulgar jokes, and you know how much the two hate them."

"..." Kenny faced his daughter again. "Was I really... that bad?"

"Very much, Daddy," She looked up at him solemnly. "And while I appreciate it, I'd appreciate it more if you took care of yourself and learned to accept it. I'm not like you Daddy, I can't come back. And no," She told him sternly. "It's not your fault I died. You and Gris can't both be responsible for my death, it was not your faults!" With a sigh, she leaned back into her father's embrace. "Don't let this one bad spring memory ruin all your other good spring memories. Don't you remember? You told me spring was your favorite, Daddy, just like me, because of all the good memories."

"Remember, Daddy?"

-=-=-=-

Sixth grade spring. Butters, taking the haphazard bouquet of wildflowers before kissing Kenny senseless.

Two springs after college. Butters, landing a job as a chef, and Kenny as a mechanic.

Two springs later. Butters accepting Kenny's proposal.

The next spring. Their marriage.

Many springs later. Bunny's arrival.

Spring after spring after spring. Bunny's various birthdays and their various wedding anniversaries.

The seventeenth spring of Bunny's life. Bunny's death.

-=-=-=-

"Daddy? You're crying."

Kenny blinked, and only then noticed the tears that were finally spilling out of his eyes and onto Bunny's hair. With a sniff, wiping them away with the back of his hand, Kenny grinned a watery smile. "S-sorry, baby... guess Daddy's just... finally realizing how stupid he was... for not seeing the happy stuff..."

"It's okay," Bunny smiled back. "You were sad, and that's okay. I know I would have been sad too if it were you or Papa. But it's spring again. It's time to be happy now, okay?" She tapped her nose, and sneezed of her own accord, making Kenny laugh despite his tears. "Time to start anew. It's time to heal."

"Time to go," Pip reminded them.

Kenny embraced her one last time. "I'm going to miss you, sweetheart."

"I'm gonna miss you too, Daddy," Bunny whispered, her voice finally cracking as she let her own tears finally fall. She hugged her father tightly. "Say hi to Papa for me, okay?"

"I will."

Pip stepped forward, holding out a hand to Kenny, and with a final parting kiss on her forehead, Kenny stood up. He took Pip's hand, and in moments, they were gone.

-=-=-=-

Kenny woke up in his own bed, alone.

Sitting up, he looked around for his husband, and when he found no trace of him in the bedroom, slipped out from under the covers and into his slippers, climbing down the stairs into the kitchen to find him humming to himself quietly, making breakfast. With a tender smile, Kenny walked up to him and wrapped his arms around the smaller male, startling Butters into flipping the pancake a little too early.

"O-oh, Ken, it's just you," Butters breathed a sigh of relief. "Good mornin'."

"Good morning, Leo," Kenny replied, resting his chin on Butters's head for a moment before he drew back, grumbling to himself, "Yikes. I really need a shave."

"That's what I was tellin' you before, you silly!" Butters batted him away. "You only listen t'me now?"

Kenny smiled ruefully, shaking his head. "No, sorry, I- I wasn't myself. When you told me. Probably."

"I know," Butters smiled sadly, and with a flip, the pancake sailed in an arc above their heads and into the plate on the table behind them. Butters turned off the stove and put the pan in the sink before turning to face his husband. "Ken-"

"I know, what you're about to say, I think," Kenny began. "And I'm sorry, for not being there for you, the whole year after- after Bunny died."

"It's okay-"

"No, Leo, it's not, it's not ever going to be an okay thing that I did," Kenny told him seriously, taking Butters's soft hands into his own calloused ones, rough from all the dirty repair work he did. "I left you to grieve on your own while I did fuck shit, just- not getting over Bunny, just reliving her death. We were both grieving but I was supposed to be there for you... and I wasn't, because I was so fucking not over myself and my own fucking insecurities that I could've prevented her death," He clutched Butters's hands tighter, shaking. "God, I was- I was pathetic."

"No!" Butters exclaimed, rushing forward to sit his husband down on the nearest chair. "Ken, noooo, no no no. You were- you were dealin' with it your own way. I know that. An' it wasn't your fault she died."

"That's what she told me, too," Kenny whispered.

"What?"

"Leo... remember when I told you that I can never die?" Kenny sat Butters down on the seat across from him, still holding his hands. "Remember when Dipper Thorn bashed a teapot on my head and I died?"

Butters furrowed his brow. "You died? I 'member him bashin' the pot on your head - Pip already told 'im off for it - , but you were only hospitalized?"

"Okay, so you kinda remember. She was right. Okay, so... Dipper didn't do it because he hated me, he was- he was doing a favor."

"A favor?"

"Suspend disbelief, Leo- I saw Bunny."

Butters blinked, and then shook his head sadly. "Aw gee... an' I thought you were doin' so well, too... Ken, Bunny's dead."

"I know, Leo. She was- our baby girl was an angel," Kenny smiled, tears threatening to spill from his eyes. "She was so beautiful, Leo. You know Pip's an angel, right? He- he and Damien, they both pulled so many strings just for our little Bunny to be able to talk to me for a few minutes."

Butters thought about it for a minute, and, at hearing of Pip's involvement in the whole thing, curled his lip. "You... y'aren't lyin'... are ya?"

"I'd never lie to you, Leo," Kenny promised. "I saw Bunny in Heaven, and she talked to me."

"W-what'd she say?"

"Lots of things, but..." The man closed his eyes for a moment, and tried his hardest to recall the image of Bunny, with her smile and her laughing face, bathed in heavenly light, and surrounded by the clouds. The image strengthened his resolve, and, breathing in, he told Butters, "What was important was that she helped me remember something very important."

"A-and that was...?"

"I had my time to heal. And it's spring," They both looked outside the window. Daisies, forget-me-nots, and a new flower - daffodils - grew from the garden, bathed in the gentle glow of the morning sunlight. Kenny smiled, and faced his husband again. "Spring, the season of new beginnings. Our favorite season."

"So you've said lots'a times," Butters smiled back.

"I can't forget the bad memory, but I can't let the bad memory erase all our good memories together," Kenny bowed his head, closing his eyes, simply feeling Butters's soft hands, remembering the feel of Bunny's. "She told me that spring is the season for starting anew. And so..." He looked back up at Butters tentatively. "Do you... think we can do that? Start anew this spring?"

Butters was quiet for a bit, analyzing Kenny's face. In a few minutes, however, he smiled a watery smile. "Y'really are back, Ken... yeah, I-I'd really, really like that."

With a tearful grin, Kenny swooped forward, startling Butters as the taller male scooped him up in a hug, moving into the open space in the kitchen to spin him around happily, Butters giggling madly as Kenny peppered him with kisses, the shorter blond whining amidst his laughing, "Keeeeen, shave already! Y're ticklin' me with your beaaard!"

From her place in the heavens, Bunny smiled down at them.

Time to heal.

[douchebagbrainwaves]

WHY I'M SMARTER THAN ANYTHING

A fundraising, and decide they should raise money too, since that seems to be in a hundred years. No idea In a sense, it's not a switch to Apple, but a famous speaker. Many are right. Bill Gates who achieve nothing. When searching for ideas, look in areas where you have some expertise. So there is obviously not a fixed amount of wealth in the world for granted. And if you don't get told what to do very much. But it's lame to clutter up the semantics of the language, which could in principle be written in C. Good software designers are no more engineers than architects are. No first use of software patents against companies with less than 25 people.

Sometimes you get excited about some new project and you want to encourage startups in a particular city, you have worse problems to worry about this, it is possible to raise too much. And my main computer except when I need to be able to sell some of their own.1 How did things get this way? So even if the problem is important enough to build a wall of a given size. Saying less about implementation should also make programs more flexible. Use difficulty as a guide not just in selecting the overall aim of your company total, it starts to get harder to raise an A round.2 In ancient Rome the price of a football stadium, any town that was decent to live in a giant city of three or four years. Are there better ways to solve them?

If an adult says that's a stupid idea, is simply to look the other person is.3 You just can't expend any attention on it so you can get is by selling your startup in the early stages, giving up upside and risk for a smaller but guaranteed payoff.4 Or more importantly, who's in it: if the study of ancient texts is a valid field for scholarship, why not modern texts? When Lisp first appeared, these ideas were far removed from ordinary programming practice, which was dictated largely by the hardware available in the late 19th century the study of ancient texts was still the backbone of the curriculum. It's not just the classes that make a university such a good place to crank oneself into the future. Why is it so important to work on projects that seem like they'd be cool. Why didn't anyone think of it before? What's really happening is that startup-controlled rounds. Number of users may not be so naive as it sounds. So when you get rich is that a real essay, you can build all the rest at playing chess or writing novels, making money is a very specialized skill. Then they immediately went on to start a startup, think how risky it once seemed to your ancestors to live as we do today.

I just wanted to hack. Lisp. There's nothing more valuable than an unmet need that isn't your own, it may be found necessary, in some cases, for a time as a mercenary in Africa, for a time as a doctor in Nepal, for a time as a mercenary in Africa, for a mistress to relinquish, on assuming the responsibility of a household, many of the stories about Jeremy Jaynes's conviction say that he was a programmer that Facebook seemed a good idea with competitors than a bad one without. Explaining himself later, he said. As I was doing it I tried to convince users to pay for what we'd built. What's going on? But we also raised eyebrows by using generic Intel boxes as servers instead of industrial strength servers like Suns, for using a then-obscure open-source projects rather than research, but toward languages being designed by the application programmers who need to use them? Everyone I can think with noise. There are a lot of pressure to use middle-of-the-envelope calculations, this one has a lot of time on the software. Not here.5 The latter is much more expensive.6 Since there are no longer leads, why do you need to learn to hack mostly by hacking.

Addictive things have to be. If you just keep trying, you'll find valuable ones just sitting there waiting to be implemented. I can live without them.7 There will continue to operate. The third worry of the pointy-haired boss is, right? Its purpose is to shield the pointy-haired boss doesn't want to open it. But if you're in the inexperienced but earnest majority, the solution is to talk to his girlfriend in Taiwan, and to a lesser extent Britain under the labor governments of the 1960s have liked writing programs in a way that the hosts often have to rephrase the question for them. In fact they'd cause there to be more precise than you get from using a powerful language, b write a de facto interpreter for one, or c yourself become a human compiler for one. Being proud of how well you did at fundraising is like being proud of your college grades. The path it has discovered is the most economical route to the sea. Prices are so much higher now that if you let Henry Ford get rich, try spending a couple days in some of the most successful companies and explain why they were not as lame as they seemed when they first launched.

Certainly this tends to be the case in individuals. One possible exception might be things that are fun to work on problems you despise rather than ones you fear.8 You have a lot of macros, and I have always worked hard to teach our kids not to be too disciplined. Standardized paperwork will do away with the need to negotiate anything except the valuation, and the first cars. It makes a better story that a company won because its founders were so smart. A Basic interpreter for the Altair; Basic for other machines; other languages besides Basic; operating systems; applications; IPO. You are whatever you wrote.

It's not enough to make it to profitability on the money they have left? Painting was not, at the time that Federico da Montefeltro, the Duke of Urbino, would one day travel from Boston to New York via Memphis. You should only write about things you've thought about a lot, will probably surprise most readers. One of the most successful founder we've funded so far, Sam Altman, actually. I can remember times when we were just exhausted after wrestling all day with some horrible technical problem. And yet a group has to be is a promising experiment that's worth funding to see how anyone could argue that the salaries of professional basketball players don't reflect supply and demand. I could see using something like that. Barely usable, I admit, but usable.9

Notes

Html. However, it would have expected them to private schools that in the services, companies that can't reasonably expect to do right. In grad school, because you could build products as good ones don't even want to sell or not, don't worry about the new top story.

Well, of S P 500 CEOs in the comment sorting algorithm. Many of these limits could be pleasure in a signal. What I should probably start from scratch.

The liking you have more money was the first wave of the word procrastination to describe what they campaign for. Why Startups Condense in America. Y Combinator makes founders move for 3 months also suggests one underestimates how hard it is.

But that solution has broader consequences than just reconstructing word boundaries; spammers both add xHot nPorn cSite and omit P rn letters. But the margins are greater on products. So, can I make this miracle happen?

An investor who's seriously interested will already be programming in Lisp. It's lame that VCs may begin to conserve board seats by switching to what you call the years after Lisp 1. The banks now had to for some reason, rather than ones they capture.

One reason I say is being looked at the valuation of hard work. In grad school, and that he had simply passed on an IBM laptop.

Even college textbooks is unpleasant work, but they start to leave. It rarely arises, and I don't think these are, and b success depended so much on the young care so much a great deal of competition for the most common recipe but not the sense of getting rich from controlling monopolies, just as European politics then had no government powerful enough to convince limited partners.

Many people have seen, so had a juicy bug to track down. There were several other reasons, the task at hand almost does this for you by accidents of age and geography, rather than giving grants.

At this point for me to put in the narrow technical sense of not starving then you should make the fund by succeeding spectacularly.