#hopefully the prices go back up a little when the hype wears off

[acraftedmistake]

A Person Who Has Never Played MCSM Writes A Story About MCSM Chp. 15

CHP 15!!!!! Some good times and bad times lie ahead...... 

Enjoy!

“Everything okay?” Jess asked. Aiden was about to leave the house but had stopped halfway out the door, turned back around, and scanned the first floor while Jess and Olivia waited for him.

“Yeah.” Aiden said slowly as he began to close the door, twisting the knob to make sure he wouldn’t accidentally lock the three of them out, “Just thought I heard something.” He walked away from the house and patted his hair down. “You two ready to go?”

“Mhm!” Olivia finished zipping up the olive green jacket Stella had lent her. She was hiding her face with the hood of the gray sweatshirt Cassie gave her the day before as well. She knew there weren’t too many people out at this hour, but better safe than sorry.

Jess was wearing the leather jacket and beanie again, but he wasn’t too concerned about hiding his face this time. Earlier, he made a minor complaint that his clothes felt rather stiff after wearing them for a few days straight, to which Aiden promised that once they got back home he would throw their clothes in the washer.

“Let’s get going!” Jess said, adjusting the beanie on his head. Originally, Jess wasn’t too thrilled at the idea of going out at this hour. Knowing there might be Awakening members roaming around, or his alternate self--who had no problem beating Radar in broad daylight--made Jess uncertain over the safety of Obsidian Town’s streets. Aiden assured him that they’d be alright, it’d be three against one, and--in his words--he ‘Wants to do somethin’ nice for Olivia after last night’.

Jess appreciated the thoughtfulness, and in the end, visiting Olivia’s grave was up to… Well, Olivia, but he’d still be ready in case a creep tried to pull something.  

Jess couldn’t really blame Olivia for wanting to check out her grave. It’s her place of death. When would you ever get an opportunity to visit a place like that again? Not to mention, Jess had been wanting to get a better look at Obsidian Town rather than getting glimpses or constantly staring at the ground.

The three walked to the left and started their journey to the cemetery. Aiden and Olivia were making small talk, so Jess took this time to absorb his surroundings.

Up ahead, he could spot a tall, crooked, ivory colored tower in the distance. That must’ve been the library Olivia mentioned before. Even from all the way over here Jess could see how ruined the place was. Cracks stretched across it, it was riddled with holes, and it looked moments away from collapsing.

Jess scanned the streets. The long, thin black lamp posts on each side had thin string-lights tied to their tops that stretched across the streets in a zig-zag like manner. It’s a shame they weren’t on at the moment, they must’ve been wonderful when lit.

There were empty stalls they’d pass by occasionally. Colorful, patterned tents protected the bare tables, empty boxes, and scraps sitting underneath. Jess noticed each stall had string lights, small lanterns, or candles for light. He’d catch quick glimpses at folded signs tucked away and papers taped onto poles advertising items and prices. Seeing all of this reminded him of the farmer markets Beacon Town. Jess would always act so crabby when he woke up early for them, but it wouldn’t take long for him to get hyped up and dashing around the place until closing time.

The stalls and all were nice, but Jess couldn’t help but find Obsidian Town’s buildings to be… Underwhelming.

Many of the buildings, from what he could see, were constructed with the same materials: stone, wood, bricks, concrete, the occasional polished granite and diorite, and the rare terracotta. There were variations with the colors, but seeing the same materials got real tiring real fast.

And most structures here were just shapes. That’s all that could really be said. Squared, rectangled, plain shapes to fit the equally-plain materials. Even the sizes of the buildings felt plain. Many were one to two stories, a large handful reached three, and hardly any were four.

Jess was so used to Beacon Town’s monstrous structures, giant jungle trees sprouting from windows, walls of colored glass creating magnificent designs, and bridges stretching from roof to roof that connected the town together. The fun types of builds! It might sound chaotic but that’s what made Beacon Town feel like home. Obsidian Town was just that. A town.

‘Don’t think the people here can risk being experimental, to be fair.’ Jess told himself as he remembered how often quakes struck. He thought back to his town again. He thought about how so many homes would quickly collapse the moment a strong-enough quake would hit. Beacon Town was fun, but it wasn’t built with ‘sturdiness’ in mind, unlike Obsidian Town.

While the construction and sizes of these buildings were on the more ‘basic’ side, the way the citizens decorated the exteriors of their homes and stores was magnificent. Oh, how he loved their decorations. From markets using barrels, wagons, and carefully stacked crates to advertise their fresh fruit and flowers, to cafes that’d have their furniture with their own color schemes and accessories to make them stand out from one another. Some places had porches decorated with flowers and swinging benches, while others had balconies with tiny lights.

Jess would get a second to peer into windows they’d pass by, catching glimpses of interiors that’d tempt him to come closer and press his face against the glass to get a better look. Actually, he hadn’t noticed it right away, but so many windows in Obsidian Town were colored. They didn’t have any intricate designs--a majority of them were one solid color--unlike the stained glass back at the Order Hall, but they were still charming. He pictured in his head how vibrant the streets must be when night comes… The lights from the inside mixing with the colors of the glass must be magnificent.

One place that REALLY caught Jess’ attention was a stone gray building tucked between two larger ones. It had a simple square base, but had a noticeable tilt to it. It had a staircase that wrapped around it’s walls and led to the roof, where a smaller room sat atop, equally slanted. A wooden sign hung from above the door and had the words “Glass Art” on it. Purple, pink, and blue glass shards and chimes were held by opaque strings from the overhang; there was a large, round, beautiful stained glass window with the same colors beside the door.  

The glass art reminded Jess of Ivor and his potions. Man… How is Ivor? Is he doing alright? Is he worried? Hopefully he’s not working himself to the bone trying to find a way to save him and Olivia. Jess couldn’t wait to get back home and give that old man a big ol’ hug.

Come to think of it, has anyone mentioned anything about potions while they’ve been here? He doesn’t remember Olivia’s book talking about them, nor any of Aiden’s friends bringing them up… Are there no potions here? Or maybe there’s a lack of materials? They couldn’t go to the Nether or mine without a license--which STILL boggles Jess’ mind--so that probably made gathering resources hard. How would Ivor react to this? He’d probably say: ‘Pah! A universe without potions is a miserable one. Back in my day, we’d travel hundreds of miles to find the finest ingredients for our--’

“Jess!” He heard Olivia call his name. He spun around and saw her and Aiden standing under a stone arch. Olivia had her hands on her hips.

“You done dreamin’?” Aiden asked.

Jess didn’t realize how far he had strayed from the two. He hurried over and joined them at the arch.

“Sorry, sorry, I was busy thinking.” He skidded to a halt and fixed his beanie.

“Just glad nobody saw you.” Aiden said, “I almost stopped her from calling you cause I wanted to see how far you’d walk off.”

“Could you imagine if he got caught like that?” Olivia asked, “One moment he’s strolling through the streets, and the next he’s being pounced on by guards all because he was too busy sightseeing.” Her and Aiden chuckled at the thought.

“Oh, so it’s a crime to appreciate a town now?” Jess dramatically placed his hands on his hips, mimicking Olivia’s posture.

“It's illegal for you.” Aiden said, “Now come on, there’s a shortcut through the park.”

Aiden walked through the moss-covered stone arch. On each side of the arch were thick, green hedges that boxed in the park. Olivia noticed that, unlike the buildings in this town, the hedges didn’t form an actual shape; it would jut in and out at random, creating odd angles and corners. It was strange but charming.

A path that started under the arch and looped around the area, creating a horseshoe-like shape. Aiden ignored the path and continued walking straight through the grass. Olivia saw the usual things most parks had: Benches, lampposts, a sign telling people not to litter. She also noticed leftover chalk on the sidewalk, laying right beside children’s drawings of stick figures and hopscotch.

Obsidian Town’s park was small, nice, simple, and… Honestly a little dark. The thick clouds were already blocking most of the sun’s light, but the few, tall, thick trees had branches that hid nearly every inch of the sky. Despite how dim it was, Olivia could still spot wild flowers sprinkled around the grass, along with the bugs buzzing around them.

Honestly--and Olivia felt bad thinking this--she preferred this sort of park over whatever the heck Beacon Town had going on. Yes, Beacon Town was great in it’s own way. People could build whatever they wanted, and that’s wonderful, but sometimes she’d just like to take a walk without a constant ruckus surrounding her. Sometimes she just wanted peace and quiet--

“That guy’s missing his entire head!” Jess suddenly whisper-shouted as he lightly shook Olivia. Her heart started beating frantically as she hurriedly spun her head around. Her mind was going all over the place. Was it a decapitated corpse? A strange, alternate-universe monster? Or--or--

It was a statue.

“Jess, you nearly gave me a heart attack.” She sighed with relief.

“Sorry,” He took his hands off of her and pointed, “check it out though!”

Both Olivia and Aiden were looking at the statue now. It was a man frozen midrun, an axe held back--stuck in a swinging motion--while the other hand held up his battered shield, which covered his face. If he had a face, that is. It had to be The Impossible Man. Olivia wasn’t sure who else it could’ve been.

“He’s definitely seen better days.” She said under her breath. Besides his entire head missing, a majority of his body was covered in dirt, children’s chalk, and other strange stains. Cracks started from his broken neck and traveled to his chest, his armor was chipped and scratched, and a good portion of his axe had broken off as well.

“Yeah, I think there’s a couple more statues around here?” Aiden mentioned as they continued walking, “They’re all in pretty bad shape. The kids like to mess with them.”

Aiden scanned the park. “There’s one,” He pointed to the upper corner on the left side of the park. A statue was placed on a podium right in front of a tree. Despite the fact one of his legs was missing, he appeared to be sitting comfortably, gazing at the tree tops peacefully.

“Annnndddd…” Aiden kept turning his head in different directions, “I’m pretty sure there was a head somewhere… Oh!” He spun around, walking backwards now as he pointed to the direction of the entrance. Jess and Olivia followed his finger, their eyes landed on a wooden bench--and right beside it was a small column with a broken bust of the man on top. Olivia couldn’t make out much of the man’s face from here, but she kept getting the eerie feeling that his fractured eyes were somehow watching her. Constantly. Unblinking. She shuddered.

“You think the quakes are the reason they’re missing some parts?” She heard Jess ask aloud.

“I find it really hard to believe they somehow stood through all of those quakes and just lost a head or a leg. They might've been stolen.” Olivia theorized.

Jess put his hand on his chin, stroking an imaginary beard, “I think I remember seeing Hadrian have a couple of statue parts at his place…”

“What? You think old people just like to steal random body parts during their free time?” She grinned.

“That’s what I’d like to do when I retire!” He chuckled. Olivia rolled her eyes playfully.

The three came to a stop in front of a wall of hedge that stood a couple inches taller than Aiden. Unlike the rest of the hedges, this one probably hasn’t been trimmed in months. The surface was extremely uneven; hundreds of tiny branches and leaves stuck out and got tangled with one another. This hedge was also covered in flowers. Tons of them. Clusters of fluffy-looking, light pink flowers were scattered throughout, and were nearly as big as Olivia’s face. The ground was covered in old petals.

Olivia made sure that every strand of hair was tucked inside her hood. There was no way she wanted to spend the rest of the day picking out the twigs, leaves, and petals that’d get stuck in there.

Aiden walked to the right, staring into the bush and running his hand over it as he mumbled to himself, trying to remember where the shortcut was. Olivia and Jess awkwardly shuffled along. Aiden soon stopped, crouched down, then put his hand into the bush. He then took it out, huffed, scooched over a couple more inches, and repeated the process.

After a minute of searching, Aiden started talking to himself. “Maybe it’s on the left side? I could’ve sworn we--!” Aiden suddenly fell forward and into a large hole in the hedge.

Man, if Aiden hadn’t fell through, Olivia would’ve also thought he’d forgotten where the entrance was. The branches hid the hole well.

Jess helped Aiden to his feet. Aiden thanked him as he moved aside, motioning towards the hole.

“You guys go ahead.” Aiden said, “I’ll wait for you to go through.”

Jess and Olivia glanced at each other before Jess gave her a little bow, “After you.”

“How kind.” Olivia curtsied. She crouched and crawled through. The dirt was already making her pants a little damp.

Luckily, despite a few scratches, the crawl only lasted a few seconds.

She got up, cleaned herself off, and waited for the boys.

Jess’ head soon popped out from the hole. Leaves and tiny branches were caught in his hair. He wriggled himself out and brushed off his clothes.

“Here, let me help with your hair.” Olivia started plucking the sticks out.

“Thanks!” Jess said happily as he took off and shook the leaves off his beanie.

It was quiet for a couple of moments as they cleaned themselves up. Olivia felt her smile twitch.

“Hey, Jess,” She started slowly, “I’m… I’m sorry.”

Jess put his hat back on, “What for?”

“I know you don’t have the best feelings towards Aiden right now,” She stared at her feet, “I hope it doesn’t feel like I’m dragging you along.”

“What? No, no, no!” Jess exclaimed, “Look, I was real mad last night, but I wanted to go with you!”

Olivia brought her head back up to Jess, a tiny smile of relief on her face.

“And I’m sticking to my word. We’ll stick together no matter what.” Jess shoved his hands into his pockets. “And uh… We don’t really have a choice when it comes to trusting Aiden and his friends, but things aren’t gonna get better if I keep blowing up like I did yesterday--” A sudden grunt interrupted Jess and caused both of them to jump.

They turned to see Aiden struggling to get out of the bush. How much did he hear? Hopefully not too much. Hopefully.

Aiden tries to use his free arm to pull the rest of his body out, but after a few more seconds he stopped fighting and let his face fall to the ground.

“... I’m stuck again.” He could hear Olivia and Jess snicker as they grabbed his hand and began to pull. They were able to pull him out in no time.

“Thanks.” Aiden said as he shook off the dirt--and the embarrassment. “The memorials are on the other side of the cemetery. Should only take a minute to get there.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

When they entered the cemetery, Jess kept his eyes peeled for any familiar names on the gravestones. A few graves had rather unusual colors to them. There was a dusty red one, an uncommon shade, but not odd. Then he’d walk by a blue one; he’s never seen a grave that color before--well, Reuben’s memorial had bits of blue in it, does that count?--Then he walked by a purple grave, a green one, an orange one?

“This is… The happiest looking cemetery I’ve ever seen.” Olivia said as she beheld the rest of the graveyard.

“Is that a compliment?” Aiden asked.

Olivia kept staring at tombstones until she finally said “I don’t know, I’ve just never seen a place for the dead look so… Lively.”

Taking in the rest of the graveyard, Jess had to agree . What was usually a dark, gloomy, dreary place was so, so vibrant. Even under this cloudy, dull weather, the many colors still popped. This was more like a miniature festival than a cemetery! Many tombstone tops looked like roofs with their pointed tops and little overhangs. Their heights and widths would range from short and broad to tall and scrawny. Heck, Jess could spot a couple of graves as tall as him.

“What the heck are your cemeteries like?” Aiden glanced back at them.

“Plainer colors, I guess?” Jess shrugged, “You know, blacks, grays, browns, nothing too flashy.” The only exception Jess could think of was, once again, Reuben's memorial.

“Really?” Aiden sounded genuinely baffled by this. “We hardly got any of those. What do they mean?”

Olivia and Jess exchanged confused expressions with each other before Jess faced Aiden again, “Sadness? Loss? I don’t think there’s any real meaning behind those colors, honestly.”

“Right, we don’t typically associate bright colors with the dead.” Olivia added in, viewing the cemetery again. Scrawny trees and tiny flowers with stems that reached her knees that were peppered around the area; most were in between the graves. She thought about Aiden’s question, “I’m assuming the colors here represent something specific?”

“Yeah, buncha things. Too many for me to keep track of, but I remember the important ones.” Aiden started as they continued walking down the damp dirt path. “When a person dies, their friends and family can choose the color of their grave. It’s usually… Like… Hm. It’s supposed to show what the person was like when they were alive, ya know? Yellow for the happy people,” He explained while pointing to a shorter grave of said-color, “orange for determination, that sorta stuff. Stella’s memorized ‘em all. If you ever wanna know more, she’s the person to ask.”

As Aiden kept talking, Olivia and Jess kept taking in their surroundings. Jess had noticed something. Every single grave they passed was decorated with gems. The gems were placed close by the names and dates of those who passed, and seeing so many of them in various shapes, colors, and sizes made him curious…

“Hey, uh, what’s with the gems?” Jess spoke up, “Are they real?” He was wondering if maybe they were regular stones that were carved and painted. There was no way Obsidian Town could have an overabundance of minerals, especially since the citizens needed a mining license.

“Nah, they’re glass.” Aiden replied, “I thought they were real myself until we had to choose some gems for Lukas--” He suddenly stopped in his tracks. Jess and Olivia peered over and saw a lit redstone torch placed in front of a grave. Aiden plucked the torch from its place, a scowl on his face as he blew out the flame then chucked the burnt wood across the cemetery.

“Anyways, what was I sayin’?” He began walking again, as if nothing out of the ordinary happened.

‘What was that about?’ Jess thought to himself. It must’ve been linked to the cult, right? Why else would Aiden have done that?

“Right!” He snapped his fingers,” So the gems are basically like the colors of the graves. We had to go to this special place where the people there pulled out huge chests filled with those things. Took us forever to pick ‘em out.”

“Each color chosen means something for the person that passed…” Jess whispered to himself as Aiden’s words from earlier echoed through his mind. He was rather fond of how Obsidian Town remembered their dead. It was more uplifting than what he was used to. Maybe he could make some changes to the graveyards once they get back to Beacon Town.

Aiden was quiet for a minute before he added, “Gill took the longest. He was real worried his gem wouldn’t be good enough.” He paused. “He… he ended up crying.”

His voice got quieter, “I hated seeing him like that.”

Jess and Olivia both tried to think of what to say, what ‘s the next best thing to do, but Aiden immediately changed the subject.

“What do you guys put on your graves?” Aiden asked, he sounded ‘normal’ again, but kept facing away from the two.

Jess hesitated, “Names. Dates.”

“A description of the person who passed.” Olivia added.

“Just words? Doesn’t that get a little… Depressing?” Aiden narrowed his eyes.

“Oh, you think that’s sad? We once wrote out an entire dictionary on a guy’s grave back in our universe.” Jess answered jokingly. Olivia let out a little giggle, and they even heard a chuckle out of Aiden.

That small chuckle was all Jess needed to hear to continue telling quips and share short, funny stories at Aiden’s way to try and lighten the mood. Aiden was soon sharing his own experiences mixed in with his own humor. Aiden and Jess were bouncing off of each other, making fun of their own universes while Olivia would throw in her commentary every now and then.

‘This is so weird…’ Olivia thought to herself. The three of them laughing while walking through a cemetery… it’s something that’d usually feel inappropriate to do, but here she wasn’t all that bothered.

This whole experience has been surreal. Entering a rainbow of a cemetery through a bush felt like something that’d only happen in her dreams, yet here she was. Honestly, it was a nice change of pace to not feel worried for her and her friend’s life for a moment.

She had nearly forgotten the dread she felt when she originally suggested coming here.

And then Aiden spoke up.

“Okay, okay, we’re finally--” Aiden stopped. “Here.” All happiness in his tone had left.

That didn’t sound good. That didn’t sound good at all. Olivia grabbed onto the string of her hoodie and began to pull on it as she slowly peered over Aiden. Standing before him were two graves. Olivia’s eyes were drawn to the shorter one. She trailed down the grave, the coral color fading into a deep shade of red until she stopped at the flowers laying beside a lit, redstone torch.

Olivia held her breath. Jess got close to her as Aiden approached the torch. He grabbed it by it’s barely-scorched base and brought it to his face to blow out the flame. Instead of throwing it away like the last one, he just placed it to the side, only a few feet away from the grave. He wore an expression neither of them have ever seen on him before. Fear? Heartache? Pain.

“We’re here.” He said again. His voice completely devoid of energy. His body was stiff as he walked to the side of the grave, with his hands curled into tight fists and placed at his sides. There was another redstone torch placed in front of the grave to the right, but Aiden didn’t say anything. Olivia took a few small steps forward and gave him a small nod.

As she knelt down in front of the grave--in front of her grave--she heard Aiden tell Jess ‘Come on’, followed by the sound of footsteps growing distant.

She sat alone at her grave.

She didn’t want to read the text. She really didn’t. Isn’t that funny? That was one of the main reasons she wanted to come here. To see if there was a chance she could read about her death, what happened to her, but now that she was here, she was terrified. She looked everywhere else but the epitaph before her. She stared at the small bouquet of flowers on the dirt--the dirt… She noticed it seemed… Messier compared to the other graves. Like someone tried digging through it. The bouquet, though! There was a mix of flowers held together by a red ribbon. Clusters of tiny, magenta flowers, a few pointed, white flowers with many petals, and a type of flower she actually knew the name of: Lilys.

She then brought her gaze up, catching a quick glimpse of her name written in gold, to observe the gems placed into the tombstone. Two orange gems, one yellow, one gold, another maroon, and the gem in the center was amber. They formed an arch around the words in the center.

‘Stop avoiding it.’ She told herself, but she didn’t listen. She turned to Lukas’ grave. She had to see his. She had to. It was right here and--and he’s her friend.

His grave was turquoise and had thin, white stripes that stretched across the top, and seven gems instead of six. Three on each side, and the last gem placed above his epitaph. He was given flowers as well.

The words engraved in the stone read: “LUKAS: Courageous and loyal. An inspiring leader and a brilliant friend.”

Short but wonderful. It was perfect. Reading it over and over again, she thought about just how lucky she and Jess were with having their friend still around. He’s done so much for them. Constantly helping Jess run Beacon Town, aiding the citizens, always visiting her and Axel whenever he got the chance… He could’ve left them during that Witherstorm. He could’ve ditched them at any moment when things got too rough, but he never did.

‘I need to give Lukas a hug when I get back.’ Olivia thought to herself. Lukas could still leave them one day without warning. He could finally get sick of them, die in a brutal fight, or--or end up being kidnapped like this Lukas--Olivia squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head, trying to get those awful thoughts out. Don’t think about that. He’s still alive. He still cares about them. He loves them.

Olivia kept her eyes closed for a moment longer before finally bringing her attention back to her own grave. She forced herself to read the words written for her; “OLIVIA: An intelligent, creative, and hardworking engineer. A bright spark of joy even during the darkest of days.”

Olivia stared at her words. A weird sense of reassurance was arising. She’s never thought highly of herself. She’d sometimes convince herself that others couldn’t tolerate her, and that she was one mistake away from ruining everything. She wondered if this Olivia ever felt a similar way. Was she constantly trying to make sure she said and did the right things? Try to fix any issue immediately so her friends didn’t think she was useless? Always second guessing her own thoughts?

Did this Olivia know her friends always loved her? Or was she riddled with fears and doubts until her sudden end?

‘She died a couple of years ago, didn’t she?’ Olivia tried to recall any mention of her death from Aiden. She wasn’t certain, but whether it was a few years ago, or a few months ago, didn’t change the fact that she died so soon.

She was young.

Younger than her.

To have her life end on an abrupt note… It scared her. It scared her so much. Everything could be taken away one day.

As she sat over her body, she felt her fingers begin to dig into the dirt, like they were trying to reach in and find the other Olivia’s hand. A sick form of curiosity made her want to know more. More about this Olivia. Her life. Her mind. To have a connection with her. It was her body she was sitting over, afterall. Her corpse. Her--

“Olivia?” Jess placed his hand on her shoulder. “Are you doing okay?”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“Come on.” Aiden gave Jess a light tap with his hand. He started walking away from Olivia. Jess hesitated. He looked at his friend for a second more before leaving with Aiden.

“We just needa give her some space.” Aiden said.

“Right, totally understand.” Jess wanted to stick around for a few minutes longer to study his friends’ graves, but that could wait. He didn’t want to make Olivia feel like he was breathing down her neck.

Jess thought back to the many instances where his friends’ lives were in danger, when they were so close to being taken away from him. He hated seeing his friends’ lives at stake more than anything; he’d go through Hell and back to protect them, and to be in a place where their deaths became a reality was so hard to wrap his head around.

Lukas left without a trace. No familiar faces to comfort him during his last moments, only enemies looming over him while he was in an unknown place. Just thinking about his fate made Jess worry sick about his Lukas back at home.

It was silent for a few minutes. Only their footsteps filled the void.

“So…” Jess started, wanting to make small talk, “What do the colors for Olivia and Lukas’ graves mean?”

“Olivia’s creativity.” Aiden replied, sounding short. “And Lukas’--” He paused and scanned the cemetery. He took a left turn and continued walking between the graves. “He’s…Don’t make fun of us, but his color stands for friendship.”

“Friendship?” Jess perked up at the word.

“I know, it’s probably super cheesy or whatever, but it fits him. It really does.” Aiden said.

“No, no, I completely agree! He’s a great friend--one of the best! If I had to recount all the times he’s been there for me, we’d be here all day.”

“Right. Same here.” They stopped at another grave with another redstone torch in front of it. This grave was short and purple, with many cool-colored gems placed in it. Jess didn’t recognize the name.

Aiden grabbed the torch and blew out the flame. Jess decided to ask another question.

“Any idea why The Awakening puts those torches there?”

“Probably for no good reason.” Aiden answered through gritted teeth as he chucked the wood as hard as he could across the cemetery.

There was something unnerving about the torches left at the grave. Their red glow would take over the colors of the graves, and their light under a thick, cloudy sky would claim your attention and make it hard to pull away. Their soft crackling would fill in the silence whenever he and Aiden didn’t talk; the occasional loud snaps from the flames would make Jess believe there was a threat following them.

Jess stopped at a tombstone and picked up a vase of flowers that had fallen aside. “The gems on their graves, what do they mean? Do you remember ‘em?”

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure I’d remember what the gems on my own friends’ graves would mean!” Aiden snapped.

“No, I didn’t mean it like that!” Jess held the vase tighter. “I was just--I wanted to know more about them.” Great. Now they’re both feeling terrible.

Aiden’s demeanor softened when he saw Jess’ reaction. “No, it’s okay. I’m sorry. I’ve been--” He hesitated, “I’ve just been thinking about someone is all.”

“No, it’s no problem.” Jess carefully placed the small vase back upright. He folded his arms and joined Aiden’s side.

“I’m uh, still interested to hear bout those gems if you’re wanting to share.” He said.

“Yeah. I can do that for ya.” Aiden answered.

“For Lukas,” Aiden began, walking through the grass. “Gill chose blue. I remember that one’s loyalty. Gold for compassion. White for safety--he’d always double check our belongings every time to make sure we were prepared.”

Aiden stopped and grabbed a torch, “It was kinda annoying, but I miss it now.” He blew it out and threw the wood.

They kept moving.

“Rose picked pink.” Aiden started running his fingers over the grave tops, “She was real embarrassed when she chose it. Kept refusing to show us cause she thought we’d laugh at her.”

“I’m guessing pink’s for love?” Jess said, trying to make sure he wouldn’t trample any flowers.

“Yeah, and--” Aiden chuckled, “Rose wanted his description to be: Pretty blond dork with a decent sense of style. All of us were actually on board with it.”

“Did you end up pulling through with it?” Jess asked.

“Nah, the guys making the grave wouldn’t allow it.” Aiden spotted a couple of gravestones with torches by them. They were already burnt out. He grabbed two of the torches while Jess grabbed the last.

“What a bunch of killjoys.” Jess joked. Aiden laughed as he prepared to throw the burnt wood. Jess mimicked each step of Aiden’s. Hold, aim, then throw. Once they lost sight of the rubbish, they followed the dirt path to the entrance of the cemetery.

The cemetery wasn’t boxed in by hedges like the park, instead, it had a stone wall.

Aiden leaned against the wall. It didn’t look like the most comfortable surface--the rocks were jagged and would probably fall apart in moments--but he seemed unaffected by it. Jess stood nearby and took a peek through the gate beside them. Unlike the rough, uneven walls, the black fence was tall, sturdy, and had a huge, elegantly curved arch.

“Olivia’s got a few similar gems,” Aiden started, putting his hands in his pocket, “Two golds, yellow… She’s got amber--Man, I always mix those three up. They sound different enough but when they’re placed by each other, they all look the same. Amber’s slightly darker than yellow, but not as dark as gold. Amber’s positivity.”

“Lotta happy ones for her.” Jess commented. He’d been staring at the decorated buildings through the gate’s bars as he listened. He could spot bits of pots filled with flowers on the other side of the wall, their colors as eye-catching as the cemetery.

“Always made us happy.” Aiden said with a shrug. “She also had… Ah…” He pressed his lips together, “Orange! She had that one too. And then there’s…” He had to stop to think again.

“It’s not… Well, it looks like red, but it’s darker… Ah, shoot.” Aiden cursed to himself.

“Carmine? Maroon?” Jess tilted his head.

Aiden snapped his fingers, “Maroon! Right! Creativity; same thing as her grave. Picked it myself.” He said rather proudly.

“You guys really cared about her.” Jess mumbled. He tilted his head towards Aiden, “And I’m sure Olivia loved you guys all the same.”

Aiden stared back at him.

A small smile spread across his face, “Thanks.”

The two became quiet and looked over the array of colorful graves before them. The clouds slowly began to part; gems glistened as the rays of sun shone down on them.

“Should we check on Olivia now?” Jess asked after a few minutes of silence.

Aiden got off the stone wall and stretched his back, “Yeah, let’s go.”

~ ~ ~ ~

When the two returned to Olivia, the last thing they wanted to see was to see her in distress. The tips of her fingers were shoved into the dirt below, her eyes were stuck on the golden words in front of her, her mouth was parted--barely moving--with no voice to match. Jess couldn’t tell if she was trembling or not, but she was scared. Very scared.

Jess bit his lip and approached his friend. Aiden was right behind.

“Olivia?” Jess placed his hand on her shoulder, “Are you doing okay?”

Olivia jumped and jerked her hands out of the dirt.

“Yes--! Yeah, no, no don’t worry, I’m fine. Thanks--thank you for checking on me.” She replied frantically. She took deep breaths.

Before Jess could question anything, Olivia spoke up.

“Aiden, this uh--the substance mixed into the stone,” Her fingers trailed down the tombstone, “is it redstone dust?”

Her voice was shaky.

Aiden glanced at Jess, who was equally nervous as him, then said, “Actually, it is.”

He took a step closer to Olivia, “They don’t usually allow people to mix stuff like redstone or glowstone dust with the colors--especially cause they’re hard to find--but they made an exception for us.”

Olivia nodded along, blinking back tears.

Jess read her epitaph, “Guess all Olivia’s are just the greatest engineers out there, huh?”

“Damn right. She didn’t have a bunch of dust to work with, but she’d still crank out machine after machine like no tomorrow.” Aiden said, “Man, I remember every year for her birthday that’d be all she’d ever ask for. Not weapons, not new journals, not even a dang cake, just redstone dust. Course, the only places you could find ‘em were in caves or old shrines, right?” He asked while facing Lukas’ grave and grabbing the lit redstone torch below.

“Yup, we found a bunch of it yesterday.” Jess said, sitting besides Olivia.

“Right, and since it was so dangerous, she told us to not worry bout gettin’ it because ‘It’d be stupid to risk your life for some red powder’.” Aiden gestured with the torch, the flame getting frighteningly close to his hair.

“Well, I’d always lose track of dates and forget to get her a gift, so one of the other guys would back me up and tell Olivia we bought a gift ‘together’, and I felt so bad.” He thankfully blew out the fire after saying that.

“So then guess what I did one day?” Aiden said.

“Walked out and found a bag of redstone on the ground?” Jess asked sarcastically.

Aiden laughed, “I wish.”  

Aiden began pacing, the trail of smoke whirling around him, “But I decided I’d bust into one of those dumb shrine and find some dust for her, and I didn’t tell anyone bout it besides Jesse. He was on board with the plan, he was great at findin’ stuff, plus two people finding dust was much easier than one.” Aiden fiddled with the burnt wood, “We headed off to the nearest shrine and actually found enough dust to fill up a bag and a half, but cause of the state of that dump, some rooms would collapse after you opened the door!”

“You two ended up getting hurt, didn’t you?” Olivia had her hand on her head, already concerned over the direction of this story.

“Course we did!” Aiden threw his arms up. “I swear anytime the two of us were together, things would fall apart or we’d break a bone--” Aiden stopped his talking to quickly chuck the wood away. “Anyways, anyways, we got back home right on time for Olivia’s birthday and man did we look awful. Clothes were all dirty, got some real bad scrapes on my knees, Jesse grabbed so much dust it looked like his fingers were covered in blood, and I somehow got a black eye? I think the top of a chest smacked me...”

Olivia rubbed her temples, “You two really shouldn’t have risked your lives over a birthday present--”

“That’s exactly what she said!” Aiden exclaimed, “Went through all that trouble, and you know how she reacted?”

“Panicked?” Olivia asked.

“Bet she loved it.” Jess said, giving Olivia a nudge.

“She did--but Hero did she freak out! Dropped her cake and rushed over to get us cleaned up. Olivia was wrapping up one of Jesse’s arms--” Aiden thought to himself for a second, “--I think a big rock landed on it? But she was going off on us. Raising her voice and lecturing us like she was our mom, telling us it’s a miracle we were still in one piece, and why in Hero’s name we did something so stupid.”

“I mean, it wasn’t stupid if things worked out for you.” Jess pointed out.

“Yeah, but still.” Aiden chuckled, “It was stupid. It was so, so stupid. But after that, she loved our present. I’d never seen her smile so much. She was working on her machinery, telling me and Jesse how everything worked while we pretended to understand.”

Aiden carefully leaned on Olivia’s grave, “Hero knows I didn’t understand a single thing she was sayin’, but seeing her so happy…” His smile grew as his voice softened, “It was great.”

“That’s all so sweet…” Olivia spoke softly. “I love it.”

She was shaking again.

Jess turned to his friend to mention something, but stopped when he saw Olivia staring at the ground, fingers picking at the dirt just like she was when they came back. That same, terrified expression on her face.

“Liv--?” Jess mumbled, but Olivia started rambling nonsense.

“I don’t know if my words mean much to you--I know I’m not her--but you’re a good friend, Aiden.” Her nails started to dig into the ground, “All of this, all that you’ve done for Olivia--you--you--Even when I just--” She kept stumbling over her words, “Even when she died one day you kept being so kind to me--”

The more she kept talking, the more concerned--the more scared--Aiden and Jess became.

“Hey, hey are you alright?” Jess reached out to hold her, but Olivia shot her head back up.

“I’m under here.” She whispered. Her voice was so unsteady.

Jess was taken aback, “What?”

“I’m under here.” She said again. “I’m so close.”

Her hand began to claw at the dirt, “I’m so close. My body’s all mangled up in that box below, and--and my hair’s so long now.” She felt sick talking about this, she felt sick thinking about it. “It’d be so easy to just dig myself up. For Aiden to see her again. Jesse--Jess, we’re so close. I could look at myself. Look at my body. I’m--”

“Olivia!” Jess shook her, “Do you want to get out of here?”

Aiden wanted to offer his support, but Olivia instantly got on her feet.

“Yes. Yes I want to leave. I want to go home.” She kept repeating that last sentence while she hugged herself, breathing heavily. She was freezing.

“Right, we need to head back anyways.” Aiden’s stomach was in knots seeing Olivia like this. His hands turned to fists, “I should’ve known better. I shouldn’t have taken you here. I’m sorry--”

“Don’t.” Olivia cut in. “I wanted to go. You took me. I saw--I saw what I needed to. I appreciate it. Thank you.” She was stiff as a board.

Olivia took one last deep breath, “Let’s go home.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Damn them.

Damn them all.

Locked every damn door and window in this house. They’re hiding her, he knows they’re hiding her.

Did they really think locking themselves in would stop him? He used to live in this Hero forsaken house; he knows every nail, screw, and plank that makes up this despicable place.

He still remembers that trapdoor on the roof. He knows how to claw his way up there. He’ll pry it open with his own bare hands.

He’ll find her.

He will.

#mcsm #minecraft story mode #mcsm aiden #mcsm jesse #mcsm olivia #THANK U ENORMOUS THIC THANK U TO FRIEND IVY!!! #for reading this over and helping...... appreciate it all VERY much.... #HOPE YOU ENJOY!!! #will add more tags in later!!!!! in rush right now dhfgnfdgfngd

[moonraccoon-exe]

Hopefully tumblr doesnt eat this p.1 again! Its been so long since Ive dropped by and said hello to one of my favorite people so hello Coon! I feel like Ive been so busy I dont have time to drop bye and say hello these days How are you? Are you doing well? I hope you are bc you deserve so much happiness. I also wanted to do a status update on the fact that Im now writing again! I took a longer break than I thought I would but hey Im now more motivated than ever so I guess it all worked out ^^

I AM 

A HORRIBLE, ULTIMATELY TERRIBLE RACCOON.

JAZ.

IT’S BEEN SO LONG SINCE YOU LAST DROPPED THIS IN MY INBOX AND I’M JUST REPLYING NOW.

AND YOU WANNA KNOW WHY? IT’S NOT EVEN THAT I DIDN’T HAVE TIME.

I JUST. I PUT THIS IN MY DRAFTS SO THAT THE SECOND ASK, THE BIT IN THE IMAGE, WOULD BE SAFE EVEN IF DELETED FROM THE COMPUTER (LIKE IT HAPPENED TO MY OTHER ASKS)

AND SINCE THEN I DIDN’T BOTHER GOING TO MY DRAFTS.

AND I FORGOT THIS WAS HERE.

JAZ.

JAZ OMG

JAZ PLEASE HIT ME WITH A NEWSPAPER I’M A HORRIBLE CREATURE HOW IN THE W O R L D COULD I FORGET TO REPLY TO YOU!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

*PUNCHES THROUGH THE WALL*

*SHRIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEKKKKKKKKKKKK*

*EXPLODES*

ALKSJDALKFJGADLKGJAGLKAGJAD

Okay you let me add a keep reading right here aaah ;A;

Oh my god, Jaz….Jaz I’m so sorry, I don’t even know where to start apologizing, I’m so sorry. I honestly forgot and that’s the worst part. If I had been busy for real I would have had an excuse at least, but the truth was just that; I put this in my drafts and then forgot it was there. I rarely check my drafts because that’s where I put stuff that I want to reblog at some point but don’t know when because it’s not FFXV related so I just wait until I’m done with the XV reblogs but I never am, and I just assumed everything in drafts was stuff to reblog, I totally forgot there was an ask here that I hadn’t replied to and that it was yours, I’m so sorry, so, so, so sorry, Jaz… :(

I don’t offer an excuse and if you’re upset you have all the rights to be, I understand. Jesus, it’s been a while since Ir eplied this and I mean, there are asks in my inbox that are like a year old but those are prompts or requests and it’s fine, but yours was a personal and it’s been so long for me to answer to it aklsdjalkgjadklgja omg Jaz I’m so sorry….

I’m sorry, Jaz, very sincerely. Zomg…I’m sorry OTL

Well. Still answering ahah ;w;

HEWWO JAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAZ!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Akjdlsafdgalkfjaklhj hhhnnnngnggg. HEWWO JAZ!!! ;w; I’m sorry OTL

Don’t worry about being busy. Real life is already super busy as it is and then we get here and it can get sort of ‘busy’ in its own non-serious way too! I hope that whatever’s been keeping you /kept you busy has given you a break from time to time and that it’s something you enjoy.

I’m doing well! A little ‘busy’ in the non-serious way trying to nail down all my PMs and asks (I’ve lately had a quite excited anon flooding me ahahahah! It’s lovely but keeps me super busy because each I answer gets drowned by another incoming 5 ;w;) and the reblogs and the fics. I’m having funa nd take my breaks to make it enjoyable and not turn it into something I dislike, but hence it goes slower. And out of Tumblr I’m doing okay too! 

How have you been, dear Jaz? Besides WAITING FOR MY ASK OTLHave  yuo been alright? And happy? I wonder what else you’ve been up to since you last wrote to me!! Hoping sincerely that it’s been okay with you too because you too deserve SO MUCH HAPPINES LIKE LOADS OF IT!!!!!!! You’re such a nice and good person that does no harm to others, you deserve all em happy things and events. U HAVE ALL IT GOOD KARMA, MY FRIEND!!!

GASPS

YOU’VE BEEN WRITING AGAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! JAZ, THAT’S PHENOMENAL! THAT’S ABOSLUTELY WONDERFUL, AMAZING, BEAUTIFUL NEWS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH, JAZ, I’M SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO SOOOOOOOOOOO HAPPY FOR YOU AND ABOUT IT, I’M SO HAPPY AND SO PROUD TO KNOW THAT YOU’VE TAKEN UP ON SOMETHING SO BEAUTIFUL LIKE WRITING, AND MORE THAN TAKING UP, RETAKING BECAUSE IT MEANS YOU USED TO ENJOY IT, LEFT IT FOR SOME REASON, AND YOU RETOOK IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (ﾉ´ヮ`)ﾉ

*SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM*

*EXPLODES*

Jaz, that’s WONDERFUL NEWS!!!! Omg buddy that’s fantastic, you have no idea how happy it makes me when someone says they’ve taken up/retaking a form of art. It’s so beautiful and so exciting, and you’re a friend so that adds a lot to the hype!! Jaz, that’s AMAZING! CONGRATS, BUDDY, I’M SO HAPPY FOR YOU!!!! ( ˙꒳​˙ )

It’s okay that you took a longer break than you had first expected. Be it because you were busy or just lacking the motivation, it’s okay! What matters is that you went back to it and you must have felt so refreshed and welcomed back. The warmest welcoming is the one given after a long wait (but thankfully it wasn’t THAT long either!!). Plus, you took all the time that you needed to get back to it so it means you’re not forcing a single bit of it and that’s PHENOMENAL!!

I’m so happy to know that you’re motivated now, Jaz, all of this is honestly SO GODDAMN BEAUTIFUL I DON’T KNOW WHAT TO SAY :’3 AKLSJDLAKDGJADLKGJAGLKAJGA AAAAAAAHHHHHH, I’M SO HAPPY FOR YOU!!!

I guess the first time you sent the first part you were telling me what you were writing, so I don’t know for sure what you meant with hoping that one day I can read ‘it’, but I’d love to! I’m very slow at reading things because of the massive updates I do to my fics, but I think that I’d love to. Is it XV related? Original content? I’d get lost if it’s from something that I don’t know, but I can still try if you want me to

Aaah, thank you for asking about the laptop! Lamentably I’m nowhere close to getting a new one. They’re pretty expensive. I’m fine with one of the cheapest because all I want is basic internet access and MS Word lmao, but they’re still quite a price number and I have no job >

I thought about using the money that I’ve saved up from my kofis, but…to be honest, I’m being consciously selfish there, because I don’t want to waste my kofi money in ¼ of the price of the laptop… ;n; I want the kofi money to be mine for games or books, it’s money I’ve earned from doing what I love and I wanted it to go to selfish things, but I’m still debating with myself as to maybe having to put it for the laptop ahaha ;w;

Again, don’t feel bad for being busy!! Real life stuff is more important, and Tumblr isn’t going anywhere (not without a long time warning that we’ve never had, thankfully!), so don’t you stress. I for sure am going nowhere, so you take the time that you need and want :3

And don’t say you’re ‘not keeping me for longer’, because it’s not like you’re taking my time by force, dear Jaz!! You texting to me is a kind gift to me so you’re not taking any time off me, you’re taking YOUR time!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH, JAZ, I’VE MISSED YOU TOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

*sQUEEZES U*

Sweet precious wonderful dear Jaz, thank you soooooooooooooooo LIKE SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO SO SO SO SOOOOOOOOOOOO MUCH FOR DROPPING BY TO SAY HELLO AND SHARE ALL OF THIS WITH ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Aaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh, I don’t even know where to start, I’m sorry for taking so long, and thank you immensely for dropping by, my friend!! ;A;

Thank you for the time you dedicated to writing to me and the one to read me. It sounds like you’ve been very busy and I really appreciate that you’ve taken some time to write to me, you have no idea :’(

Thank you for updating me on what you’ve been up to, and thank you for sharing with me that you’ve retaken your writing!! Those news made me so happy, and re reading still makes me feel shivers out of the joy askldjfdaklgjaklgjadglkj

Thank you for being as kind and as gentle as you always are with me. You’re so precious and I hope you know that. You’re always so nice and patient and so good with me, I don’t know how to express it enough or how to let you know or how to thank you properly :’3 Thank you so much for being the sweet and warm creature that you are, Jaz. You’re truly phenomenal and I’m very happy that you exist. The world can very easily wear me out, and it’s creatures like you that relieve it off my shoulders. Thank you

I’ve missed you SO MUCH TOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Every time I re fave both your artworks I think about you and I was wondering what you were doing and if you were okay. And there I was, forgetting that it was me who never replied... :’D Really, seriously, I’m so sorry, Jaz, I didn’t mean to take this long... OTL 

I hope that you’ve been okay, Jaz! Have you been okay and doing better? How’s the writing going? I’m eager to hear about you again, buddy!! :3

I WUV U TOO, JAAAAAAAAAAZ!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ALKSDJAKLGDJDAKLGJDAGLKDAJ AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH, LOTS OF HUGS FOR MAH BUDDY JAZ!! (ﾉ´ヮ`)ﾉ

Dear Jaz, I hope you’re having a FANTASTIC weekend, and do receive lots of raccoonie hugs and sparkles!! HUGZ

#sashinia2000 #coonreplies

[ephemerally--yours]

N O V E M B E R 2 9 , 2 0 1 8

Who is ready for another overdue haul post? Hopefully, this is the last catch up post before everything is truly back in order. I would like to promise that I will have everything in order, but who really knows at this point. Hahaha. I can only say that I will definitely try to keep it together as much as I possibly can.

Anyway, September was a pretty great month! I made a lot of fun purchases, but also a lot of necessary ones:

For months, I thought about these shoes, and I am SOOO glad I decided to pull the trigger on them. These are probably the most comfortable shoes I own aside from my Nike Free Runs. Originally, I was not sure if they would fit with my wardrobe, but as soon as I tried them on, I knew I had to have them. I originally tried to buy these in June or something, but they showed up in a navy even though the retailer listed them as black. I took that as a sign to not buy them, but I never stopped thinking about them. Also, if you’re wondering why I used a picture with the bottoms so crusty looking, it is because I have been getting my money’s worth! I’m so happy I bought these and they are currently available in a wide range of colors. If you are having any qualms, I honestly suggest them.

This studded belt was not something that I had on radar, but when I saw it, I simply could not resist. I went into Hot Topic to buy my friend’s birthday present and ended up leaving with a gift for both of us. I had one of these in middle school with the silver toned studs. I thought about buying that version to live my best 2008 life, but I felt like the matte black studs gave this nostalgic piece a modern touch for 2018. My only issue with this belt is that the matte paint on the studs gets scratched super easily. 

I decided to take a solo trip to the Gucci outlet store just to see what the hype was all about, and before I knew it, I was leaving the store with this jacket in hand. Like many of my purchases, this denim jacket from Gucci’s Cruise collection sneak attacked me. I went in with no expectations but was notified that everything in the outlet was 50% off the retail price, and I could feel my heart grow twice as big. Hahaha! I was 100% taken aback by the jacket when it was presented to me because there was so much going on; it is quite a polarizing statement with the leopard printed calf hair on top of the doodles. However, as soon as I put it on I fell in L.O.V.E. and could not bear to walk away!

Let’s be real for a minute. When AirPods first came out, I was utterly disgusted by their appearance. They still weird me out a little bit, but they were a great investment. Honestly, I have never been the type of person to wear headphones or earbuds all day. The only time I ever really use my AirPods is when I am at the gym with the need for freedom and mobility, but I can see them being EXTREMELY useful if you like to listen to music, podcasts, etc. throughout the day.

Even though I made a lot of fun and impulsive purchases, my most important purchase of September was a new laptop battery! My laptop battery had been in THE WORST condition for a while now, but my priorities were always skewed toward the shiny and the luxe. The other thing that stopped me was every time I took it in for a consultation I was told that it would take a few days to fix and I never really had that kind of time. However, I took it in this time and they told me they could have it done by the end of the next day, so I went for it. To put things into perspective, when the technician ran my diagnostic, he was SHOOKETH to his core. My battery’s full charge was equivalent to a new battery’s 35%.

That wraps up my favorite purchases for the month of September! If you guys have been enjoying this type of content (or not), please let me know. For those of you who do, I have a few more posts just like this one that you can check out.

Ephemerally yours,

The Mess:

Shoes – Balenciaga

Belt – Hot Topic

Jacket – Gucci

AirPods – Apple

Laptop Battery – Apple

#personal #September haul #fashion haul #luxury haul #shopping haul #menswear #mens fashion #street wear #street style #mens streetwear #mens street style #fashion blog #style blog #lifestyle blog #Vietnamese blogger #Viet blogger #Gucci #Balenciaga #Apple #Hot Topic #San Jose #Bay Area #Norcal #west coast #cali vibes #cali living

[abadoodlesss]

More Than A Prisoner - Chapter Five

Sorry SPN fans, I usually alternate between my Voltron and SPN fics but ah I got more inspiration to write this instead (mostly because of the amazingly sweet feedback @serana-spring gave me, still not over it! It got me so hyped to write!!)

I want to give a quick apology to those who keep up with my stories. I’ve had a HUGE lack of motivation and time (and a whirlwind of other excuses) this past month and haven’t been producing my best, or any, work but I started feeling really guilty about not posting so here’s chapter five and hopefully, it doesn’t suck too bad! 

Summary: This story is highkey becoming Cinderella

Read the previous chapters here.

Next: Chapter Six 

Hide.

There was no use in it, but it’s the only thing Bella could think of. She ducked behind the control panel at the head of the ship, trying to make her body as small as it could be.

Alarms were blaring, casting the room in a flashing red light. Everyone was yelling, scrambling to find a solution, but there didn’t seem to be one. Bella clutched her ears, trying to block out the sounds swarming her brain.

She felt an arm grasp onto her shoulder. A bearded man crouched beside her. He was trying to mask the worry he felt by forcing a smile but Bella looked into his blue eyes and saw the true panic he was feeling.

“Stay here, Belle.” A man said, his voice sounding miles away. She did as she was told as she watched the man disappear. The entire ship jostled as it landed. Bella stayed put. Everyone stopped what they were doing, becoming live statues for a moment as the doors slid open. Bella stayed put, but her curiosity was piqued. She heard distinct footsteps echoing as they crossed the metal floor.

Bella couldn’t help it, she had to peak out. There was a figure, silhouetted as bright purple lights shone from behind him. As the doors closed, Bella could make out two other figures accompanying the first. She stared intently, trying to figure out what they looked like with each flash of the red warning lights.

There was something man-like about the figure, but also something unnatural. She could make out pointed ears and she could tell his skin was not a normal hue, but rather something on the cooler spectrum of colors. When he opened his mouth to address the others on the ship, Bella took note of his pointed teeth, though she was too focused to hear what he was saying.

The two figures behind the first looked similar but had more animalistic features, with their larger ears and strange hairstyles. They all shared yellow eyes, the very yellow eyes that met Bella’s as she was caught staring.

“Well, hello there.”

Bella woke with a start, scrambling as she heard a banging on her cell door. Her heart was racing as fast as whatever was crashing against the metal door. The vibrations rattled her body as she scurried to cower in the corner, just as she did in her dream.

She clutched onto the posts of her “bed” as the doors slid open. To her relief, the man who stood in the doorway wasn’t the monster she knew in her dream, but instead Shiro. She almost cried for joy when she saw the black paladin, but she was too preoccupied with getting out of her cowardly position. Shiro’s eyebrow was quirked in slight confusion, or maybe intrigue, as Bella stumbled before standing straight before him.

“Morning.” Bella greeted, raking her fingers through her wild hair, trying to seem nonchalant.  

Shiro opened his mouth as if he was about to question what he witnessed, but he couldn't find the right words. Instead, he just muttered, “Follow me.”

He promptly turned and started walking down the hall. Bella hesitantly peaked her head out of the doorway, watching as Shiro stopped, looking back at her expectantly.

She was suspicious about what he was planning, but she chose to follow nonetheless. Last time he acted like this, Bella got a shower, so she wasn’t really complaining. She knew by now that Shiro wasn’t going to kill her, but she was nervous about what he had planned.

She hoisted up the pajama pants Lance gave her that were just a size or four too big. If she wasn’t careful the ends would cover her feet, leaving her to trip as she had before in the privacy of her cell, (public embarrassment avoided).

She and Shiro walked in tandem, silent as always, though Bella didn’t really mind anymore. It wasn’t like they had anything to talk about, nothing in common. Besides, Bella didn’t have anything positive to say to the paladin anyways.

They came to a door she recognized; the door to the kitchen, where Lance took her last night.

She looked back up at Shiro, uncertain. She knew she wasn’t about to get a meal, so what were they doing there?

The door slid open and Shiro allowed Bella to walk in first. Upon the countertop was an array of cleaning products, rubber gloves and sponges and a small pile of folded clothes. Leaned against the counter were a mop and a broom beside two buckets of water.

“You’ll be needing these if you don’t want your regular clothes to get dirty.” Shiro said as he grabbed the pile of clothes and dropped them in Bella’s arms. Unraveling the garments she found one to be a plain brown dress, reaching almost to the floor. It was tattered, and a bit dusty as if it were put away for a very long time. Accompanying the dress was a white apron.

Before Bella could even utter a question, Shiro was plopping a rag into her hand.

“Get cleaning.” He said before passing Bella to leave.

“Wait.” She called. He turned to look back at her. Bella wanted to ask what the hell was going on but she felt she wasn’t in a position where she could. Thankfully Shiro knew what was on her mind.

“I need a clean kitchen and you don’t seem to be busy with anything else.” He said before turning to leave once more, but Bella stopped him again.

“Shiro.” She called.

He turned, rolling his eyes as he awaited sass and disobedience.

“Thank you.”

He paused, surprised. “This isn’t a favor.” He muttered as he composed himself again.

Bella knew deep down it was. He was allowing her to be let out of her cell unsupervised. It was either a favor or he lost his mind. True she had to clean, but she could never expect to just be set free around the castle without paying some price, and cleaning was a cheap price to pay if it meant she could see something besides the four walls of her cell that were beginning to drive her mad.

Shiro could deny it all he wanted but he was granting her this small favor, this small test and Bella intended to prove herself.

“Right.” She said. “Well, if you don’t mind, I’d like to change. And this time I‘d appreciate it if you’d try not to peak.” Bella said, making Shiro’s cheeks redden as he recalled the debacle in the bathroom a few days before.

He recovered from his embarrassment quickly, though, the red tint stayed in cheeks

“Just get to work.”

“Aye aye, Captain.” She said, giving his a two-fingered salute as he grumbled something, taking his leave.

Bella smiled as he retreated out of the room. She was thankful to him but that didn’t mean she wouldn’t mess around with him. Have to stay on his bad side somehow.

She glanced around the kitchen, noticing the grime coating almost everything. There were stains from food ingrained into the countertops, some even managing to coat the walls.

We’re they all raised in barns? Bella wondered as she began changing into the dress Shiro gave her. She was glad to have something that fit a little better than Lance’s pajamas. It wasn’t flattering by any means, but it at least it was something she could get dirty and not worry about wearing for days on end.

Once changed, she tied the apron around her waist, her hair on the base of her neck.

Time to get to work.

A few hours later, muscles aching and forehead damp with either sweat or dirty water from the bucket, Bella found herself scrubbing a stain off the counter. It was a stubborn ring of what looked to be coffee, but then she wasn’t sure coffee existed outside of earth.

Whatever the substance was it took all her strength and then some to finally get off. Bella moved onto filling a bucket with clean water before getting ready to mop.

Almost done.

Gliding the mop across the floor, Bella felt a bit like Cinderella. She mindlessly dragged the mop across the floor, wondering who would be which character if her life were the story? Shiro no doubt was her evil stepmother, while Keith definitely fit the role of both ugly stepsisters. She giggled at the thought of Hunk, Pidge, and Lance being her mice friends. The mop became stagnant in her hand as she wondered who her prince charming would be, who would rescue her.

Her thoughts were halted by a complaining voice behind her.

“Who let you out here?” It asked, almost sounding disgusted. Bella whirled around to face Keith. He looked genuinely offended that she was in his presence.

Bella hated the phrasing he used, “let you out”, like she was some sort of dog in a cage, waiting for her owner to let her run around. She had no owner. She wasn’t some mutt.

Bella slammed the mop into the bucket of water, maintaining the intense staredown happening between the two.

“For your information, Shiro did.”

Keith obviously didn’t believe her.

He shifted his feet a bit farther apart, ready to move at the drop of a pin. Bella took notice of the way he straightened his back slightly, puffing his chest out. He was trying to intimidate her. He was trying to appear larger like a predator does when they find their prey. Bella no longer felt like a mutt but instead a small rabbit being cornered by a beast. She refused to be prey to Keith. She challenged him, standing up straighter too, balling her hands into fists by her side.

“Are you serious?” She barked. He seemed a bit taken aback by her outburst. “What? You think I escaped my little cell? Because it makes sense that instead of running and trying to find a way to escape, I’d be in the kitchen cleaning your mess. Give me a break.”

And with that, she returned to mopping up the floor, ignoring how Keith’s shocked expression turn to one of anger.

She could feel him taking a step forward but the sound of the kitchen’s door sliding open interrupted any movement. Both Keith and Bella turned to find Shiro at the door.

He was hesitant. “Is… Is everything alright in here?”

“Have you lost your mind?” Keith asked, practically attacking Shiro.  “She’s with them, Shiro. You can’t just trust her to walk around here like she owns the damn place.”

“It looks like I can.” He said, matter-of-factly. “She stayed here all day and did as I asked.”

Bella’s heart swelled for just a moment. Shiro just defended her. Her moment of gratitude ended swiftly as her instinct took over and she stuck her tongue out at Keith.

“Shiro.” Keith whined.

“That’s enough, Keith.” Shiro silenced the red paladin.

Bella stood triumphantly, a smirk gracing her lips as she saw the irritation etched on Keith’s face. Keith grumbled before making the most dramatic of exits.

“That’s enough from you, too. If you cannot manage to be civil with everybody on this ship, then I’ll have no choice but to minimize your interactions. Do you understand?”

“Yes.” She murmured. It took all her willpower to not fight Shiro on this, but she knew her life would be made much easier if she were to just agree.

“Good work today, though.” Shiro said after a moment. He seemed a bit awkward, like someone trying to make small talk, but Bella appreciated his effort. He was softening up, much to Keith’s dismay. “I half expected you to give up by now.”

“Glad you think so highly of me.” Bella joked, testing the waters a bit by letting her sarcasm slip through the cracks.

He gave a short chuckle.

That was progress.

Shiro quickly reverted to his straight-faced self, though. He glanced at the half cleaned floor. “You’ve done enough work for today.” He said. “I’ll see what I have for you tomorrow.”

Bella couldn’t help but smile as he walked her back to her cell.

She passed.

#voltron #vld #voltron fanfic #voltron fanfiction #voltron imagines #shiro #Lance #keith #Pidge #hunk #shiro x reader #lance x reader #prince lotor #lotor x reader #cinderella #so sorry it's been so long #sorry people who came here for #supernatural fanfiction

[etharismail]

It’s All Relative

How many times have you walked into a clothing store, picked up a pair of jeans in your “usual size” and headed straight to the cashier without even bothering to try it on because: 

1) The line up for the fitting room was ridiculous.

2) You’ve shopped at this store so many times you can walk in there blindfolded and still pick up what you need.

3) Try it on? Ain’t no body got time for that, my size hasn’t changed since 2008.

Only to take it home, attempt to put it on, and realise that it won’t go past your thighs (no matter how many times you’ve jumped up and down).

Even worse, you actually manage to pull it all the way up, zip it up, and THEN realise that it was made for rectangular shaped creatures that have absolutely no waist. 

For some reason, there seems to be some fierce rivalry between sizing and denim.  Not only does each brand/designer have their own measurements and size charts, where a size small in one brand can be a medium in another, for example. But the actual fit, such as the hip-to-waist ratio, can also be very different. Even within the same brand, different styles can have very different fit and sizing measurements. In fact, two identical pairs of jeans in the same style and size can still fit differently because the of the 1/2” tolerance used in manufacturing. 

(Seriously, they make denim like they are out to get you!)

In spite of all this, finding the perfect pair of jeans is not a complete lost cause. The trick is to forget the ‘I’m the same size in all stores’ lie you tell yourself, do some research, and take your time to find the right size and fit:

1) Try on different styles until you find the one you’re most comfortable with.

2) Try on that same style from different brands.

3) Try different sizes from that style. 

Yes, that’s a lot of time and effort for a pair of jeans and it can get pretty frustrating, but when you’ve found that just-right pair, trust me, it will be soooo worth it. 

How do I know? Because I tried it myself. I recently set out on a mission to find out what my jeans size is in different brands and to, hopefully, find a fit that suits me. Being on the curvy side, jeans tend to either fit at the hips, or the waist, but never both. Since I was pretty sure that I can’t be the only one with those proportions, I knew that there was a pair out there for me. 

I started off at a well-established department store and picked up different sized skinny jeans from the following brands: 

Levi’s 

Topshop

Noisy May

Guess Jeans

I chose to try on skinny jeans in particular because they have become such a staple and can be so flattering when the right fit is found. 

1) Levi’s 

Style: 711

This was the first pair I tried on. I already had a general idea of what my size was in Levi’s so I picked that up first. The size was fine and the fit was as expected: fitting well in the legs and thighs but slightly loose around the waist. As a mid-rise, it was loose enough to know that it would bother me when sitting down (I hate being forced to wear belts with jeans and refuse to do it).  This pair had some good stretch to it and was comfortable, but too long for my taste. I also didn’t find it particularly flattering. 

Verdict: It’s a pass for me. 

2) Levi’s

Style: 721

Next were the high-waisted 721’s. I tried on the same size as the 711’s and was pleasantly surprised when the waist fit better than the 711’s. Still slightly loose but definitely better. It had no stretch at all and was pretty stiff, which kind of gave a slight slimming/smoothing effect. In spite of that, I found the no stretch a bit too uncomfortable to be worth it. It was also way too long for my liking. Overall, this pair definitely has potential but it wouldn’t be my go-to choice in terms of comfort. 

Verdict: Maybe.

3) Levi’s

Style: 311

Oh boy.

This mid-rise pair was labelled “Levi’s sculpt / soft”, so I expected it to have a good hold and to actually, well, sculpt. Unfortunately, this pair had just way too much stretch and was way too loose all over - very unflattering and definitely not sculpting material. In fact, it became even more relaxed in those few minutes that I tried them on for!

I went down a size to see if it would fit better but it didn’t fit at all. So It was either this loose fit or nothing. It was, however, very soft and light, so at least that part was true.

This pair also had a loose fit around the ankles and a bit too short for me, so would probably only look good rolled up.

Verdict: Nope.

Worth to note: I do have to give Levi’s credit for being pretty consistent with their sizing across the different styles (I wore the same size in all three styles).

4) Topshop

Style: Jamie - High Waist Ankle Grazer

I next tried on the high waist ankle grazer Jamie jeans from Topshop in the same size as the Levi’s and it fit like a glove! I couldn’t believe it! The size was spot on and the waist was perfect: no back gaps, no tummy pinching. The waistband and hemline hit me in all the right spots and it had a good, tight stretch that was flattering yet comfortable at the same time. I also really liked the ankle grazer length and could definitely see myself wearing this all the time. 

Could it be that my search is over and I have found “the one”? Perhaps. 

Even though this pair had everything I was looking for, I decided to be a little greedy and see if I can find another pair that could somehow, possibly, outdo this one. I mean, this was only the 4th pair I try on, after all. 

If I wanted to be super picky, I could say it wasn’t particularly soft (especially after trying the 311’s) so I thought maybe I can find one that hits all the criteria, and then some. 

Verdict: Could this be the one?!  

5 & 6) Noisy May “Lexi” and Guess “Sexy Curve”

Both Noisy May and Guess had different sizing measurements than Levi’s and Topshop and I went up a size in both. Lexi was labelled as high-waist but it was not as high waisted as the Jamie. The waist was also a bit loose, and even though the jeans had a bit of a stretch, the pair wasn’t really flattering especially around the waist and hip area. Guess’s mid-rise “sexy curve” also felt the same, was on the longer side, and I felt that it made me look a bit heavier. 

Verdict: Not for me.

Since I was done trying on what’s available at this department store, I visited another one to try on some higher-end jeans to see if the higher price point translates into better size and fit. 

7) Adriano Goldschmied

I tried AG’s The Farrah Skinny in my usual size and it fit pretty similar to the Levi’s 721s. The only difference is that it was a bit more comfy and had a good stretch. Not sure if that’s worth the higher price point, though. 

Verdict: Meh.

8 & 9) Citizen of Humanity & Fidelity

With all the hype around these two brands, I was particularly excited to try them on. To my utter disappointment, however, both the CoH and Fidelity had incredibly wide waists! I had to go up a size in both so that my legs could fit into them and the waists were huge (remember the aforementioned 1:1 box sizing?). 

The sizing and fit were so off that it was enough for me to immediately dismiss them both. 

Verdict: Never.

10) Madewell

I’ve been a fan of Madewell’s sustainability and fair trade policies for quite some time now, so I was curious to find out how their jeans would fit me. I tried their 10” High-Rise Skinny in my usual size and guess what? They were actually a good fit! The hip-to-waist ratio was great, the waistline hit the right spot, nice stretch, comfortable, and flattering. The length was ok - maybe an inch too long. The fabric also felt slightly softer than Topshop’s Jamie but still substantial (i.e. not too thin).

Verdict: Jamie, you’ve got competition!

Topshop vs. Madewell Sizing Comparison: 

As a final sizing test, I tried several of the same size in both the Topshop and Madewell jeans. I wanted to see if there was a significant sizing difference due to the manufacturing 1/2” seam allowance. I am happy to report that there was not that much of a difference, especially with the Topshop jeans, which I assume is because of the stretchy material. 

Conclusion: 

After tallying up the points, my top 3 contenders were the Levi’s 721s, the Topshop Jamie, and the Madewell 10” High-Rise Skinny. They were all flattering, fit pretty well, and surprisingly had the same size number. They mainly differed in length and the amount of stretch in them.  

Deciding on a winner was tricky. If I was looking for absolutely no stretch, then the 721s definitely win. I personally prefer some stretch in my jeans, as I feel they tend to hug the body better while still giving some room to breathe and eat in for a day. So that meant that the Topshop and Madewell pairs were a better option for me. I felt the Jamie was the most flattering of them all, and was a great length. Madewell’s pair was also of great quality and had a slightly higher rise than the Topshop ones - which I liked. The Madewells were also almost double the price of the Topshop pair. 

Decision: 

If I had to choose I would probably go with the Topshop Jamie for my every day wear, and the Madewell ones for when I want to splurge a little. 

Final Thoughts: 

Because of how differently brands size their clothes, size really is just a number.  Not only that, but how they interpret a style, such as skinny jeans or mom jeans, can also make a big difference in fit.  With all the pressures around us about being a certain size, my research makes me wonder if there really is such a thing called size? A brand’s size 0 is another’s size 4, a medium here is an x-small there. Trying to figure out your “size” with the purpose of always using that number sounds pretty pointless to me.

Instead of stressing over the numbers, I believe it’s more important to focus on feeling great in your own skin and finding the fit that suit you best.  Take the time to try on different styles and don’t just blindly follow a trend. Forget size, because after it’s all said and done, it really is all relative. 

[tcobeauty]

United In Beauty Instagram Challenge - Week 1

So this month I’m finally doing a big Kbeauty Instagram challenge in an effort to become a true #influencer and maybe get some momentum into setting up a separate social account for all my beauty/skincare #content instead of bombarding all my friends with my thirsty-ass brand bait in an effort to try to get some free stuff. I will fully admit it: brands, send me stuff! I’m tired of spending all my own hard-earned money on all this shit, help me out here! 

The United in Beauty Challenge is being hosted all month long by three international skincare and beauty ‘Grammers: skinbeyondborders, missteasa, and beautyinhanguk, which is apparently a bespoke Kbeauty box that I’m going to have to find a way to get my mitts on, immediately.  I’ll be the first to admit that I’ve been somewhat selective about which days I post, and combining some of the themes into single posts has been more efficient as well. Here’s a rundown of Week 1!

Day 2: Time Savers

Burt’s Bees Facial Cleansing Towelettes have been the unsung heroes of my skincare regimen for the better part of at least a decade now. Literally every day, sometimes as soon as I get home from work, I relish the sensation of wiping off the day’s stress and doom and pollution and smudges and the satisfaction of seeing it all on that little piece of cloth(? I’m not 100% sure what they’re made of, tbh). After some especially long days, sometimes it takes two to get rid of it all, and after that I feel refreshed and renewed, if not slightly more relaxed in knowing that I could pass out from exhaustion and not worry about having to take my makeup off beforehand.

But then I read that makeup remover wipes aren’t necessarily enough to truly get all the shit off your face at the end of the day, so I’ve been adding a cleansing water into the mix right before bedtime if I haven’t already done a nighttime routine (which is more often than not, these days). Dr Jart’s Dermaclear Microwater had been my favorite there for a while, but I had to try out some of this Son & Park Beauty Water to see if it lives up to all the hype. I don’t know that I’ve really seen all that much of a difference, frankly, and I might switch down to a less expensive drugstore cleansing water to save some $$, especially given that I tend to run through them pretty quickly. 

Day 3-4: Biggest Disappointment / Pleasant Surprise

I got this Dr. Jart Dermaclear Micro Milk Peel a little while ago in a Birchbox buying binge, and have been sadly underwhelmed by it. When I get a peel, I expect to fucking PEEL, but in hindsight, I guess it was somewhat unwise of me to expect a professional-strength peel in an at-home product. One day hopefully soon I will be financially able to get back into my regularly-scheduled aesthetician appointments to get my peel power back on, but until then, this particular peel does not do the trick.

The Graymelin Double-Strength Natural Eye Serum came into my life a year ago in a Mishibox, and it’s been a favorite of mine ever since. It layers so nicely under other serums and products for daytime wear, and it always feels fresh and cooling and soothing any time of year.

Day 5: Changed My Mind

When I first got this Earth’s Recipe Waterful Sun Gel I didn't really understand just how "waterful" it actually is, and I discovered (the hard way) that it didn't layer very well under makeup, which is kind of a must-have for any regular daily SPF for me. It’s HIGHLY emollient, which doesn’t bode well for combination skin and makeup. Lately, however, I've been trying to stop wearing makeup on the weekends, and I've discovered that this is a really great sun gel for no-makeup days. It absorbs nicely and doesn't have a heavy scent, but it also is really moisturizing and leaves a nice, plump glow without being too heavy or clogging my pores all up. And of course, you get that lovely SPF 50+ PA+++ UVA/UVB that pretty much every sun product, kbeauty or otherwise, should have.

Day 8: Worth the Hardship

I’m not sure if “worth the hardship,” is really the right way to define my love and obsession with The Lotus on general principle, but it’s definitely the most expensive line of Kbeauty products I’ve ever purchased, and they so far have definitely been worth the overall cost. And honestly, compared to some other luxury brands, the price point for The Lotus is not all that exorbitant. The sheet masks are a little more than I would usually spend on a sheet mask, but they’re high-quality enough to for me to rationalize, especially since The Lotus Essence is one of my definitive HG products, always and forever, and I’ve definitely been appreciating the simplicity and efficiacy of the Sleeping Pack.

Coming up in Week 2 of the United in Beauty Instagram Challenge: I went HAM on cleansers, exfoliators, toners, moisturizers, sunscreen and makeup!

#united in beauty #uibchallenge #instagram #beauty bloggers #kbeauty #skincare #beauty products #instabeauty #burt's bees #cleansing wipes #son & park #beauty water #cleansing water #dr. jart #dermaclear #facial peel #milk peel #graymelin #eye serum #earth's recipe #sun gel #SPF #the lotus #essence #sleeping pack #sheet mask #worth the hardship #changed my mind #biggest disappointment #pleasant surprise

[troublemakerfiction]

06.

Darnell

Pulling up in front of Millz’ house I beeped my horn for her to come out before I changed my mind about going to handle these bitches. I already didn’t feel like going but I know how Millz is, she doesn’t need anybody with her to pull up somewhere and I’ll be damned If Benadryl and whoever the hell she be around, jumps my cousin. I’m only going to make sure nobody does some stupid shit; if extra bitches wanna jump bad they can get this work. I aint slapped a bitch in a minute.

When Millz came outside I chuckled at what she had on. This bitch had on some black and white Nike basketball shorts, with a matching sports bra and some Jordan’s were on her feet. I found it funny because we damn near had on the same thing I just had on leggings instead of shorts. We both had on no makeup, no jewelry with our hair pulled back into buns. When she got in the car she put her seat belt on then looked at me.

“They’re at Lincoln Park, some family cookout or some shit.”

“How do you know?”

“Facebook, and before you say something about it being a lot of them I am not worried about it because it’s her baby father’s cookout and they can’t stand her ass. You know I’m cool with that nigga, he be telling me all the time they hate the bitch. She just doesn’t catch the hint and still comes around.”

“Boat is with her?’

“Yeah, so leggo.” I pulled off and sped down the street. “You really want to pull up on this bitch?”

“Yes because her old ass is petty as fuck for posting that bullshit picture then don’t even get me started on that caption. I was going to let the shit go then I’m getting tagged in shit with this bitch still running her mouth about me like I did something to her. I messaged her and asked what the fuck her problem was this bitch wrote pull up. So now that’s what I’m doing.”

“You know Leah is just mad that nigga Rich be on your bumper so heavy.” I told her. Leah is Trouble’s girlfriend older cousin. I can’t stand her stupid ass either; all she does is run her mouth like she can’t get punched in it.

“Something she and her wack ass cousin got in common, mad at me because their niggas like me or some shit. They better stop worrying about me and step their pussy game up or something.”

Laughing I shook my head. “Just beat her ass and we bouncin’ after that. Hopefully I don’t have to get involved. I will kill one of those bitches.”

“Just get me there and I’ll handle the rest.” The whole ride to Lincoln Park she was blasting Eve. As soon as Double R What came on I knew it was going to have Millz getting hype. That song made you wanna slap a couple of bitches.

When we pulled up to the park I made sure my car was good before we both got out and went walking around looking for their little family picnic. It took us five minutes of walking before we finally spotted them. This brainless bitch was sitting at a table with just Bengay sitting with her. Her baby father wasn’t even over there with them. He was talking to some of his people. One of his cousins spotted us then pointed to where we were, Rich looked at us then came over.

“What y’all doing down this way?”

“What’s good, tell your baby mama to come over here.” Millz told him.

“For what?”

“You’ll see when she comes over here. She knows why I’m here.”

He shrugged then turned around. “Aye Leah!” He shouted her name. When she looked up and saw us right there I swear to God it’s like she saw a ghost. I had to laugh because she was about to get her ass rocked. I’ve never seen her fight, I assumed she could do something because she talks a good game but the fear that flashed in her eyes when she saw Millz told me everything I needed to know. This bitch is weak and has no hands.  “Come here ma!” She and her raggedy ass cousin got up and came over to us.

“What’s good Leah? You told me to pull up, what’s poppin’?” Millz asked her.

“You came down here to fight? My son is around here I’m not doing this with you Millz.”

“You told me to pull up, the fuck you thought I was going to do with that piece of information my nigga? I’m not about this talking bullshit so you got five seconds to put your hands up. I’m slapping you either way but I’m going to be nice and give you an opportunity to defend yourself. Five seconds.” I got to three and backed up some because I already knew she was dead serious about doing it. As soon as I hit five in my head Millz rocked the shit out of her and this bitch went falling to the floor with her mouth bloody as fuck.

Leah didn’t bother getting up to defend herself but for whatever reason Botox decided to get hype and hit Millz from the side. I was about to step in but I think my cousin expected that shit because she hit that bitch so quick if you blinked you would’ve missed it.

Unlike her punk ass cousin this girl was actually trying yo fight Millz back. She wasn’t really doing too good of a job but she was trying, I’ll give her that.

They were fighting for a little while and of course everybody that was in the park was trying to watch and record the shit.

Millz grabbed two handfuls of the girl’s hair and threw her to the ground so hard you could hear that shit. After she hit the ground Millz picked her foot up and kicked the bitch right in the face. “Oh shit Millz damn!” I shouted at her. She went to do it again but I pulled her back. “Alright you made your point, let it go.”

“Stupid bitches, stop poppin shit on the books when you can’t back the shit up.” We walked away from them and went back to my car. When we were inside I looked at her sitting in my passenger seat breathing like a damn dragon.

“Look at you, fat ass can’t even breathe.” I laughed as I pulled away from the park.

“Man shut the fuck up. Let’s go to Checkers I’m hungry.”

“Fine but after that I’m dropping you off. I gotta go change and actually show up to my place of business.”

“Cool with me, I just needed to handle that.” I took Millz to get her food then dropped her off at home before going back to my place and getting myself together. Once I was dressed I left and went to the nail bar I owned.

Forever a Diamond is my baby, I started it five years ago and it’s been doing great since we opened. If you wanted your nails, eyebrows, eyelashes, makeup or waxes slayed then my salon was where you wanted to go. We weren’t cheap at all but if you wanted the best you had to pay for it, and I wasn’t about lower my prices for anybody.

When I first opened I used to work on the salon floor with everybody else and sometimes I still do but nine times out of ten I was doing my clients in my own area. I knew all of my clients on a personal level so it was better for me to be somewhere they could talk to me without everybody being in their business.

As soon as I walked in my salon everybody waved and greeted me. “What’s up y’all,” I told them before waving for my client Gia to follow me back to my station. When we got inside I put my bag down then looked at her. “My bad for being late, I was handling something.”

“It’s no problem.” We both sat down and I started on her nails. I was about to fill her nails in when it was a knock on my door.

“Come in,” When the door opened the girl who worked as a receptionist for me came in. “What’s up Ashley?”

“Xavier is outside waiting on you, he said he wanted to talk to you right now.”

“Ugh, alright. Gia I’ll be right back alright. I’ll take off half for this bullshit.” I got up and walked outside of my nail bar where this nigga was parked and leaning on the side of his car.

“Come here,” He said so I went over to him. “So you out here fighting and shit?”

“What? The fuck are you talking about?”

“I was told that you was out here fighting with Millz and shit. What did I tell you about that fighting in public shit. It’s nothing cute about being out here on that ratchet bullshit.”

“Yo,” I shook my head. He was really pushing it right now. “First of all I didn’t fight, Millz did but if I did so the fuck what? That’s my cousin you damn skippy I’m going to be there to make sure all is good. I don’t say shit about you being out here blowing niggas brains out so don’t come at me for being with my cousin. You’re going to stop talking to me like I’m your child my nigga, I got one daddy and he aint here so correct that shit.” Xavier really knew how to irk the shit out of me.

He’s my man so out of respect I listen to him when he says certain shit but he really knows how to stretch shit. No nigga will be out here checking me like I’m a kid. “Who the fuck you think you talking to Darnell and why the fuck are you even wearing what the fuck you’re wearing. You’re a business owner but you look like a thot.”

I looked down at my outfit then sucked my teeth. He was really reaching, I looked cute. I had on a Miu Miu Floral-print silk-faille mini shorts, a T by Alexander Wang Silk Satin Bralette and a white Pure Color Slim Blazer with Zipper Details and a pair of black heels. My legs were thick as hell and they were on full display but fuck that, it’s nothing wrong with it.

“I don’t look like a thot, I’m grown I can do whatever the fuck it is I want. You’re my man not my dad Xavier, relax with the bullshit.” I wasn’t even dressed inappropriately, he just wanted a reason to bitch because he feels stupid coming his ass all the way down here when I wasn’t even the one getting into a fight. “Is that all you came here for? To question me about some shit that you could’ve just called and asked me.”

“Man go ahead with this back talking bullshit.”

“Back talking? Nigga,” I really had to stop myself and take a deep breath because he was really about to blow my shit. “You need to get your attitude right, so you do that and I’ll talk to you when that shit is handled.”

***

“Hey mama,” I greeted my mother when she opened her front to let me in. I kissed her on the cheek then walked inside. “I don’t smell anything cooking, you’re not cooking?” I looked at her with a sad expression on my face. I thought I was about come over here and chow down.

“No I’m not cooking, it’s my date night with Michael tonight. We do this all the time you know that.”

“Oh yeah, I forgot. I got a lot of stuff on my mind I’m not even thinking straight.”

“What’s wrong with you Darnell?” We walked into the living room and I sat on the couch while she sat right next to me.

“Nothing bad I got into it with Xavier yesterday.”

“About what?”

“He’s getting on my nerves. He talks to me like I’m a child or like I’m supposed to be beneath him or something.”

“I thought you said you liked that he was assertive.”

“He just does too much sometimes. It’s irritating as hell, I’m grown. I don’t need to chastised like a child.”

“I get exactly what you mean. I had the same problem with your father. He was like that, always getting too aggressive with his words. You have to do what I did, talk to him. Let him know you’re not going to tolerate being talked to like that. I do think it’s something you can work through, he’s a good man.”

“I know but he has to do some changing with that attitude and mouth of his. Enough about me, you’re looking mighty fine. Where are y’all going?”

“I don’t know, he said to get dressed so I did.”

“Where is big Mike anyway?”

“I’m right here, how are you doing Darnell.” Michael smiled at me when he came in the living room. I liked Michael for my mother. He was respectful, he loved her to death plus he has his own trucking company so he has his own money.

“I’m fine, what about you?”

“I’m doing well. You know we’re having a bbq for our anniversary next week. You’re coming right?”

“Of course I’ll be there. How long have y’all been married again?”

“Three years, we want to keep it simple and sweet. The bbq was my idea of course.” My mother smiled making a smile break out on my face too. “Of course everybody is invited. Tell your uncle please.”

“I got you,” I kissed her on the cheek then stood up. “Well I need to go get me some food, I’ll see y’all later.” I gave both of them a quick hug before I left the house.

I was about to head home so I could take a nap or something when a text message from Millz came through my phone that I needed to come over because she just got jumped. Immediately I switched my route and headed towards her house. if somebody really had the balls to jump my cousin, it was going to be some problems for real.

Amilia

“I’m going to need for your fine ass to get up and put some clothes. I’m about to head out that way to scoop you.” Trouble said to me on the phone. He insisted on picking me up but I really wasn’t in the mood to go anywhere. I woke up at seven this morning after being up damn near all night so I could go get my hair done, I was tired and lazy as hell right now.

“You can come over here but I don’t feel like going anywhere. It’s Sunday, I have to deal with those bad ass kids tomorrow. I had to get up early as hell to get my hair done; I just wanna kick it here.”

I worked at a day care center about twenty minutes away from my house. I don’t mean to sound like evil witch but I really don’t like kids. They get on my nerves; don’t get me wrong I’m not an abuser of children. I don’t put my hands on the little demons or call them names to their faces but I really can’t stand the constant questions and whining about nothing. I’m not a kid person so I know for a fact having some is nowhere in my future.

Some of them are the sweetest little people you would ever want but the other ones spawns of Satan himself. The only reason I’m working here is because my aunt owns the place and she wanted me here. Plus I’m off by six, paid holiday vacations, and weekends off. Not too bad in my book, plus my aunt is one of the few people I could take orders from without going off.

“Why are you still working there if you don’t like it?”

“It’s a job; I can’t sit around and do nothing.”

“I really gotta get you in touch with my people so you can complain less. I hope your mean ass lets that you don’t like kids shit when we have ours.”

“Nigga please, the last thing I’m doing is having a baby especially not by a nigga with a girlfriend.”

“Here you go,” He sucked his teeth. “I told you I was going to handle it didn’t I?”

“Yeah well I don’t see no effort my nigga. Drop the bitch or drop those dreams you over there having about me.”

This nigga is always acting like him having a girlfriend is not a problem when he’s poppin’ all this shit about being with me. I don’t mind chillin’ with Trouble’s he’s cool as hell and I like him. I like him a lot but I like myself way more so I’m not reducing myself to being second place, especially not to a basic bitch like whatever the fuck his girlfriend’s name is.

“I’m going to handle it, I’m telling you that so shut the fuck and get up. For real, put some clothes on.”

“Nigga, no I’m not going anywhere I’m tired.”

“I will come over there and drag yo ass out the house. I’ll apologize to your mama later but I’ll do the shit and you know it. Stop playing with me and get yo fat ass up man.” He laughed at me.

“Fuck you, you can kiss my fat ass.”

“I would if you would stop playing and shit. Get up man, for real I’m not far away from you. I’m in Patterson right now.”

“Why are you in Patterson?”

“Had to go see somebody, get up Fat Mama. I’ll see you in a minute.”

“Didn’t I tell your big headed ass to stop calling me that?” Instead of answering me he started laughing. He really thought it was funny calling me fat mama. Of course I’m not here for it, that shit is not cute.

“I’m calling you that; I don’t care what you say. Get up.”

“I don’t feel like it man.”

“I’ll take you to get something to eat. You hungry?” When he said eat I sat up in my bed.

“Where?”

“Look now you ready to get up, greedy ass. Where ever you wanna go, just pick a chill place aint nobody dressing up and shit.”

“Shut the fuck up, I like food nigga so what. I’ll see you in a minute fat mama.”

I rolled my eyes. “Alright Trouble whatever.” I ended the call then got up going to my closet. I was going to keep it simple since I was just chillin’ with him. I grabbed a pair of ripped jeans, a white cropped tank top and my green army style jacket.

Since I was already showered for the day because I went out earlier I just threw my clothes on then put on a pair of Adidas. I grabbed my purse and was about to head out of my bedroom when my mother came in. “Who are these girls in front of the house?”

“What are you talking about?”

“It’s a group of bitches out there dressed like they’re ready to fight.” Before I could get the ‘what the fuck’ out of my mouth my phone buzzed in my hand. I unlocked it to see Leah sent me a message on Facebook. I went to it and the shit said come outside.

“Oh hell no,” I went over to my window and looked outside. Sure enough this bitch was outside my house with a group of bitches, one of them being Trouble’s little pet. “They got me fucked up.”

“Who is that outside?” My mother asked me again but I ignored her and took my jacket off after dropping my bag on the bed. I walked right past her and out my room going downstairs. Before I could get to the door she moved in front of it.

“Come on, why are you blocking the door?”

“I want to know what’s going on.”

“That’s Leah’s punk ass, I had to beat her ass yesterday for talking shit.”

“Why are you always in something Amil? Damn, you are your father’s child.”

“We’ve established that a long time ago, I need you to move out the way.”

“Call Darnell.”

“For what?”

“You see how many girls there are?”

“I do and I don’t care. Ma if you don’t let me out this door I swear to God you’re going to want to fight me next for pushing you out of my way.” I told my mother.

The fact that this bitch is at my front door with this bullshit has me pissed off. Why do bitches always have to do the most? Just take your L and move on, what’s hard about that? Not a damn thing, but this bitch can’t do that so now she’s about to get that ass beat two days in a row.

“You’re not pushing me, I know that much. You need to go sit down, you’re not going out there until Darnell comes because nobody is jumping you and I’m too old to be out here fighting but I will.”

“You’re 36.” She’s always acting like she’s so old, when she’s only 15 years older than me. It’s like she wants to hurry up and be 40 or something.

“That’s not the point Amil. I need to know why you fought that girl.”

“We fought because she told me to pull up, I did and she got that ass beat. She doesn’t like me because her baby father is always trying to talk to me.”

“These girls always want to fight you over a nigga like you don’t have one of your own. You better not be out here whoring out.”

“First of all I’m not whoring out, my daddy taught me better than that. Second of all I don’t have a boyfriend. We broke up and I’ll explain later but for right now, you need to move so I can slide these bitches. I’m already tight they want to do when I’m about to go eat and I just got my hair done.” I ran my hands through my 28 inch blue ombre hair extensions. I just got this shit installed today and these broads wanna run down. Now I gotta slap them just off GP.

“Girl,” My mother shook her head at me.

“What? I’m dead serious ma move.” I threw my hair up in a bun and looked at her. She just stood in front of the door like she didn’t believe I would push her out of my way. I gave her another look and she still didn’t budge. I shrugged and pushed her out of my way, I didn’t do it hard but enough to get the door opened.

When I walked outside I crossed my arms over my chest smiling. “What’s good Leah?” I sent a head nod her way then looked at Trouble’s bitch. “Bread sticks, what’s up? Why you out here like we didn’t just do this yesterday? You got yo ass beat, makeup isn’t going to help you. I still see that shit.”

This girl had to be the dumbest bird on the planet. She and her cousin are both standing out here with fucked up faces trying to fight me like I’m not the one who did it. That makes no sense. “Y’all really on some other shit, what are you going to do? Jump me?” I started laughing at the thought. When I got my laughing down I let my arms down. “Alright I know y’all planned this, who’s running up first? Come on, I got shit to do.”

Of course little beanstalk ran up first. She ran up and got popped right in her face. One thing I will say is even though the bird can’t beat me she actually tries. She just doesn’t lie down and get her ass beat. I give her a little bit of respect for that, but she still getting that ass thrashed for coming to my door.

We were on the ground and she had a grip on my fresh bundles while I sending shots straight to her face. I don’t even know how long we were fighting; it felt like a good minute. I was landing punch after punch to her face until I felt her finally let go of my hair. I tried to get up but one of them birds snuck me from the side. I guess she thought I was supposed to fall over but that didn’t happen. I looked up to the see the girl coming up to me again and I hopped up and sent my face right to the middle of her face. I know I broke her shit because I heard a crack. I wanted to get the bitch again but somebody lifting me off my feet stopped me.

“Chill Millz,” Hearing Trouble’s voice made me laugh.  I forgot he was even on his way.

“Get off me, go check on your bitch. She’s the one out here trying to jump people.” I snatched away from him then fixed my hair back into a bun.

“Trouble really? The fuck is you even doing here?” His girlfriend shouted at him.

“I could ask you the same thing, the fuck you think you doing? Jumping people Bianca? That’s where you at with it?” He questioned her. I could tell she was pissed off, I laughed at that shit. That’s what he stupid ass gets.

“She snuck me yesterday!”

“No we both know that’s a lie. I don’t have to sneak no bitch. You bold as fuck for even coming over here like you don’t know I can get you touched. Bitch, are you dumb?”

“I don’t give a fuck about who your uncle is, I got people to bitch.”

“That’s your word?”

“Yes that’s my word you wack ass bitch.”

“Wack? I could never be that, that’s your dumb ass over there looking stupid. Get your broke ass outta here.”

“I’m not broke bitch, I got more than you. Working at a fuckin’ day care!”

“My purse cost more than your life. Shut the fuck up. I’m not about to be out counting coins with you. Just because I’m not suckin dicks for tips don’t mean I’m broke hoe.”

“Whatever just know I got somebody for your wack ass.”

“Oh word? That’s how you feel? Alright,” I chuckled then looked at my mother. “You heard that right ma,”

“Yeah I heard it, little girl get your friends and get from in front of my door before I start dialing numbers. You really don’t want that.” My mother said while holding her cell phone in one hand and her other one planted on her hip.

“Trouble you’re going to stand there and not say anything to them about threatening me?” She looked at him like she was ready to cry.

“Bianca, just go home. You came over here; if you got your ass beat so what. Take that shit and move on, you don’t bring that bullshit to somebody’s front door. Especially not this one, you know better. Go home.” She sucked her teeth but walked over to the busted ass car they came over in while Leah and the rest of the broke bitch followed suit. Once they pulled off I looked at Trouble and crossed my arms over my chest.

“What? Why are you looking at me like that?”

“This is the bullshit I’m not trying to deal with Trouble.”

“You acting like I set this shit up or something.”

“You didn’t but that’s your bitch, I don’t feel like dealing with the drama. I’m good with that shit, I got enough of my own bull shit to worry about, I don’t need your bitch adding to it.”

“I’m going to handle it.”

“You could’ve done that shit just now, what the fuck is you waiting for?” He was really blowing me at this point. I already got beef with the bitch because her and her dumb ass cousin can’t stay out of my business now we got beef about a nigga I aint even fucking. “I’m not doing this shit man, I’m not. Don’t fuck with me until you’re done with that hoe.”

“That’s how you feel?”

“That’s what the fuck I said I right?” I rolled my eyes then went back in the house closing the door. I went to the kitchen and got me a bottle of water before going to my bedroom. I picked my phone up and sent Darnell a text telling her what happened and to come over.

Thirty minutes went by before she came busting in my bedroom. “What the fuck happened? Who jumped you?”

“Leah came around here with the broke bunch.” I told her the full story and she was fuming by the time I got done.

“I’m slicing that bitch, see I been being fair with these hoes lately but they fuckin’ up. Now she gotta get scarred for that shit, weak ass bitches.”

“Then this nigga Trouble is blowing my shit. Him and his retarded ass girlfriend. I need a drink.”

“Ooh let’s go somewhere.” A big smile formed on Darnell’s face.

“Bitch I gotta work,”

“Oh please, my mother will let your ass miss a week. Let’s go to Miami.”

“Miami?”

“Hell yes Miami, I need a change of scenery. It’ll be fine, come on I need to get my mind off Xavier because he’s irking my damn nerves.”

“It’s probably some fine ass niggas down there.” I smirked.

“Yes bitch, I know that look. We’re going to Miami! Let me book these tickets, we’re taking our asses down there as soon as possible. It’s about to be turn up time for real.” She pulled her phone out and started booking all of our stuff while I went and looked through my closet to figure out what I was going to wear down there. I was ready to go shopping if I needed to too. Nothing was going to keep me from getting my ass out of here for a couple of days. I needed a break from these jealous ass bitches and these hoe ass niggas.

#heather sanders #heather sanders fanfic #heather sanders fan fic #chris brown #chris brown fan fiction #chris brown fanfiction #chris brown fan fic

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Change of Plans

Pairing: Thor x Reader (Pretty platonic)

Warnings: Mentions of enslavement, Horribly written fight scenes (barely), Probably WAY off canon.

Words: 1,915

A/n: After long decades of no inspo, the new teaser trailer sparked a lil’ ounce of it. This is also in no way accurate. I just really liked the trailer and wanted to write something about it. P.s. Yooo... My summaries suck ass guys. I apologize for it. Y’know what? Lemme apologize in advance for whatever I did wrong in this fic.

Summary: The last fight you’ll take part in in the arena decides the fate of your freedom. Little did you know, the only person who’s paired with you has other things in mind.

“I’m having to fight with someone? Who’s merely a rookie? Do you want me to die out there?!” You yelled at Valkyrie. You were elated until an hour ago. You’d learnt yesterday that Valkyrie had finally secured a fight with the Incredible Hulk -the only one in the way of your potential freedom- but now she tells you your paired with a novice.

“You won’t die! The man looks like he is of substance.”

“Substance? What in the worlds does that mean?”

“Nothing just- Just trust me on this okay? You guys will meet right before the cages open. So you can’t plan anything out together.”

“Great.” You sighed as you pinched the bridge of your nose. Finally calming yourself and resigning to the idea of possibly fighting with an imbecile. “Fine. But he better be able to take care of himself. I will not go out of my way to help him.”

Valkyrie smirked at you. “I’m sure he knows that. See you in the arena.” she bid as she left you in your room -more like a cell- alone.

“I don’t have a good feeling about his.” You said out loud to no one in particular.

“Hello.” The man in front of you says after a long period of you assessing his situation. He seems to be built strongly so he might fare well. His voice screams authority and nobility. You were no expert but you’re sure this man was of honorable repute. You nodded in greeting.

“I’m not going to waste too much time. We’re facing the greatest of all gladiators to have existed today. I’m sorry to say but you kinda drew the short end of the stick. First day, big opponent an all. But listen, he’s my guy okay? You do as I say because I will not have this screwed up for me.” You paused glaring at his slightly overwhelmed features. “Do you understand?” You edged your voice with a threatening tone.

He nods timidly as he faces away to mind his own business, slightly smirking at your intense attitude. “So this man-”

“Monster”

“Okay... This monster. Is he powerful?”

You scoff slightly at his redundant question. “Why do you think I’m so wound up? He’s defeated his enemies faster than I have. Albeit, it was a slight difference. But a second makes all the difference.”

“Any more details about our guy then?”

“Well, he’s larger than the average person. He’s barbaric and he has no impulse. Almost as if he has no control. Then again... Maybe he doesn’t. All you need to make sure is to not make him more angry than he already is. It makes him stronger.”

“Huh...” He thought out loud. You looked at him from the gates both of you were now standing in front of.

“What?” you asked, your curiosity getting the better of you.

“That sounds like a friend of mine.” He trailed off, deep in thought.

“Any chance that friend can make an appearance today?”

“Is that a joke I hear on your behalf?”

“Hear what you may. I was only asking.”

“Has anyone ever told you that you’re a very strong minded person. Maybe even slightly stubborn?” You glared at his taller frame from where you were standing, but didn’t say a word. “Alright th-”

Suddenly, the loud trumpet blares through the gates, announcing your fight was soon to start and the both of you would be entering the arena shortly. “Hold your chin up. Look arrogant and confident, as if you know what you’re doing, otherwise the crowd will boo you. And remember, do not make the beast more angrier than he already is.” You spoke the last instruction as you adjusted your armor and tightened your hand around your swords. One in each hand. Before Thor could get a word in, the gates to the arena started to open.

The arena was lit brightly and the entire place was packed with people vying for the sight of blood. This is to end in at least one death after all. You slowly led the way closer to the middle of the arena. Looking back at the man, you kept watch over him as he examined the crowd. You couldn’t read his emotions just yet but you were sure a novice like him would definitely be scared. Maybe he’s just good at hiding it.

You tune out the vile announcer hyping the audience for the fight that will soon follow. Your eyes only concentrate on the door that will open to reveal your opponent. Suddenly, you’re not sure if this was a good idea. No one knows how to subdue the beast and you weren’t sure if your ideas were any original really. 

Knock him out? Can’t do that. He’s too powerful to overcome. He can’t be knocked out. His skin is like the armor you’re wearing itself. Your swords will definitely not be effective. The only thing that you haven’t seen tried out is getting him tired. Many gladiators before you would get too impatient and will the match to end early. They succeed in doing so, but only for the price of their defeat. 

The announcer’s suspenseful voice brought you back from your thoughts and you realized the doors to your probable doom were opening. You quickly get into a fighting stance and take a quick glance at your partner beside, sighing in relief as you realized he might know more about fighting than you originally thought. His fighting stance was that of a warrior.

“And now, I give you, The Incredible-” The announcer’s unnecessary stretched out introduction of your opponent was cut short by the Hulk breaking through the door, too impatient to wait again. The whole arena arose in loud cheers as they chanted his name. He was indeed more popular than you were. You were about to lead the way to your opponent until an over enthusiastic man yelled out in delight.

“YES!” You whirled around in disbelief. The entire arena hushed, confused by this man’s reaction. This is not really how people react when they see the Hulk.

“What are you doing?” You gasped. At this rate, the crowds will not be pleased.

“He uh- Wait.” He held his hand up, signalling for you to wait. He turned towards the Grandmaster and Loki a little too happy. “We know each other! We’re friends from work!” you stared at him in disbelief. He was going to get both of you killed.

The crowd was still quite and it looked like even the beast was slightly thrown off by this man’s amusement. you walked up to him and grabbed his arm, turning his attention to you. “This is not what I meant by ‘not making him angry’! Stop this!” 

“But I know him! H-”

“It doesn’t matter! We either fight him or we lose you imbecile!”

“We don’t have to! He and I are very close.” the both of you bicker back and forth and you’re too heated to realize the Hulk has shaken off his confusion and quickly advanced towards you. Far too quick for the man to warn you, you get throw aside by the Hulk’s hammer, causing you to collide with the wall. “Oh Lords! That hurt.” You heaved out. 

The Hulk then dropped his weapons and brought his fist upon your partner’s much smaller frame. He likes melee then. You braced yourself for his crushing death until the Hulk was stopped by him. He held the Hulk’s fist with his own two hands as if it was a mere heavy object. You limped your way towards the fight and grabbed one of the swords you’d lost on the way. “Hey!” You drew attention to yourself. 

The Hulk’s raging eyes switched their concentration to you and without hesitation, he charged at you again. As soon as he reached three feet from you, lit your body on fire. “Let’s see how you like this!” You lift yourself off the ground and loom above him to throw him off his kilter and then you bring yourself down on his shoulders, still engulfed in flames. 

He starts screaming and writhing but you hold onto his back like your life depended on it. Well, it kinda did. “Take a hit Rook!” You scream out, you hadn’t learned his name and that’s all you could come up with in the heat of the moment.

“No! Wait! Get off him and circle around! He feels pains but we can’t pierce his skin!” Without arguing you flew off the giant and circled around the arena, almost burning the banners hanging from the Grandmaster’s terrace. Your Rook on the other hand, jumped back on where you had left off of. An orb of fire is already forming in your hands. “Don’t shoot yet! Not ‘til I say so!” He screams, and then he proceeds to -what seems like- whisper into the green beast’s ears. ‘What is he doing? Does he have a death wish?’ 

You let your guard down as your Rook kept whispering into the beast’s ears and it actually looked like it was calming him down. You stared in confusion and the flames engulfing you were still licking at your skin but you tried to fathom what the Rook was possibly saying to the Hulk. “What in the worlds?” You muttered.

Just as you thought the Hulk had been subdued by your Rook, he jumped at you. It was so sudden you actually got scared and your heart beat out of your chest, but you couldn’t react fast enough for him to grab you in one of his fist and land back down. He jumped again and this time, landed on the Grandmaster’s veranda. 

“Rook! Do something!” You freaked out. You tried to wiggle out of the Hulk’s fist but to no avail.

“Loki, brother, I suppose this didn’t work out for you. Hopefully we don’t meet again. Let’s go Bruce.” Your Rook patted Hulk’s shoulder and the green man took it at his cue to leave again, placing you on his shoulder right beside your partner. Which meant we were escaping. 

“Wait... They’re letting us leave? What?” You asked as you tried to turn to face your Rook better. Wait... Your Rook is Loki’s brother... He’s Thor.

“I feel with our combined forces, they have no choice but to. But I think they will send people after us pretty soon. My friend here will make sure we out run them.”

“I uh- Thank you.” You said sheepishly. Suddenly being painfully aware of his status. “I must apologize for how I treated you earlier. It wasn’t ri-”

“No, I didn’t mind. I quite enjoyed your behavior really. Made me feel as if I was back in Asgard. Back when times were simpler. I appreciate that you treated me like you would any other person.” He smiled at you graciously. 

You really couldn’t believe it. You wanted your freedom and that’s what you got. Sure, not in the most conventional way but really... What part of fighting in a stadium for your freedom from slavery is conventional? “I’m still calling you Rook though. Since you wanna be treated as any other person.” You smirked at him.

Then, he gave you a smile that made his eyes do so as well. That smile really made you feel endearing towards him. Maybe this was just the start of something new. Just newly freed and you were already enjoying it. Hopefully it lasts.

#Thor x Reader #Thor Odinson x Reader #Thor Imagines #Thor Imagine #Thor Odinson Imagines #Thor Odinson Imagine #Thor Odinson #Bruce Banner #Thor Odinson Fanfiction #Why do I never know how to end fics?

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Hey - Pat from StarterStory.com here with another interview.Today's interview is with Kelly Belknap of Adventurist Backpack Co., a brand that makes minimalist travel backpacksSome stats:Product: Minimalist Travel BackpacksRevenue/mo: $15,000Started: September 2017Location: DenverFounders: 2Employees: 0Hello! Who are you and what business did you start?My name is Kelly Belknap, and I co-founded Adventurist Backpack Co. along with my wife Matilda Sandstrom.We design minimalist backpacks for travel, and for every backpack purchased, 25 meals are provided to families in need across the U.S. (We do this through our partner Feeding America, providing meals to over 200 food banks across the country.)Our flagship product is our Adventurist Classic backpack, which is made as a daypack for travelers, hikers, students, and everyday use. It’s padded front/back for electronics and completely weather-resistant for any adventure - and also fits perfectly underneath the seat of an airplane. We have the Adventurist Classic available in 6 colors, and have 2 new designs on the way which will be available on our website starting at the end of August.Since our launch 22 months ago, we have been able to provide nearly 100,000 meals to families in need. We currently have our backpacks sold in Urban Outfitters and eBags.com, as well as on our website and over 50 universities and boutique retailers across the country.imageCo-founders Kelly Belknap (right) and Matilda Sandstrom (left) traveling by train through Belgium.What's your backstory and how did you come up with the idea?We came up with the idea for Adventurist about 3 years ago when Matilda and I were 21 and 24 years old, respectively. Since Matilda is from Sweden, and I’m from the U.S., we spend a lot of time traveling back and forth from North America to Europe (not to mention that we love to travel anywhere whenever we get a chance.) This means that a good backpack for us is an essential.We are both fans of Scandinavian minimalist design, and I loved the style of all of the backpacks we saw people wearing in Sweden, as well as Denmark, Finland, and Norway. They weren’t just a tool to carry your stuff around in, but also a fashion accessory in which you could accentuate your personal style - and most importantly make your outfit look even better by wearing a backpack, not worse.Sometimes you just don’t need 2 million zippers/pockets and bright neon colors.After returning to the U.S. from one of our trips abroad, we decided that we wanted to make a backpack that we couldn’t seem to find anywhere across the country. We wanted to design a fashionable, high-quality, and affordable backpack for less than $100. Since most of the fashionable/well-built backpacks we found were upwards of $150-$300, we knew that there had to be other people like us that wanted something good looking and with high quality, weather-resistant fabric, that wouldn’t cost the same amount as a plane ticket itself.This is when we started sketching out our designs for the first Adventurist Classic, a backpack that would blend the styles of Sweden (Matilda’s home) and Colorado (my home). It would be a simple and high-quality backpack with 2 pockets, 2 zippers, and a laptop sleeve. We had no prior experience in design, being fresh out of high-school (Matilda) and college (me) but we sat down with a piece of graph paper and a little pencil from IKEA, and started drawing away. The design that you can find on our website and at Urban Outfitters is the same as the one that we drew on that graph paper, before we even knew that we would start a company.We also knew that if we were going to start a company, we wanted to integrate giving back as a key pillar of our business model. On one of our early trips abroad, we would go by the grocery store each morning and buy food to pack into individual meals, and then stuff them into our backpacks. While we were out exploring each day, we would then hand these meals out to anyone that we saw who was in need. We wanted to spread kindness and thought that sharing a meal would be a good way to let others know that there are people out there who care about them.When we came up with the idea for our backpacks, we thought back to this trip and thought that we could continue providing meals from our backpacks even while we weren’t traveling. During our trip we were able to fit about 25 individually packed meals in our big backpacking backpacks, and today we still provide 25 meals for every backpack sold.At this time, our financial situation was basically that of college graduates scraping by while we were figuring out what we wanted to do with our lives. We had just gotten married and our budget was basically non-existent. I worked in the receiving warehouse for Barnes and Noble and Matilda worked as a retail employee for Banana Republic. We had about $3000 that we had saved up that went towards starting the company, as well as a $4000 investment from my parents. This $7000 total we ended up using to set up a website and order our first round of several hundred backpacks. We had no idea what we were doing and how we were going to get the word out about our new company, let alone if anyone would even like our backpack designs. But we decided to move forward with the idea and start an Instagram account, the only free way we could think of advertising our new brand.Take us through the process of designing, prototyping, and manufacturing your first product.As mentioned above, we had no previous product design experience, so everything was pretty “learn-as-we-go”.We’re not the kind of people who feel that everything has to be planned out perfectly - I personally feel that you kind of have to jump into things before you’re ready because the only way to truly learn something is by actually doing it.After our designs were completed, we sent them around to about 4 or 5 different manufacturers that we found via Alibaba.com, which is a great place to start for anyone looking to manufacture a product.After getting back a few samples, we settled on one factory that had a similar vision as us, was able to provide us with high-quality materials, and also upheld the highest certifications and standards for working conditions and environmental impact.imageAs soon as we had a final sample made that we were completely satisfied with, we went ahead and placed an order for several hundred backpacks of our first design.We soon realized that an order of this size would not be delivered straight to our doorstep (a.k.a. The moment we learned about sea-freight, customs agents, freight forwarding, etc.) This was a really big learning moment for us, and having to work through all of this ourselves better educated us on the entire process from design and production, to shipping and receiving.We were in awe the first time a huge 18-wheel semi-truck stopped in front of my parents house to drop off our first shipment of backpacks.Describe the process of launching the business.Besides designing our product and figuring out logistics, creating our website was the biggest process for us. Since we were planning to start out with only web sales, this was to be our main method of selling backpacks and showing our new brand off to the world.We opted to use Shopify, a great resource for any business selling things online, to design our own website. Shopify’s basic plan costs only $30 or so a month, and provides you with everything you need to print shipping labels, accept all kinds of payment, and track metrics regarding users and sales.We had our Instagram set up about 2 months before launching our company, and tried our best to “hype up” our new brand and the backpacks that we still didn’t even have photos of. We did this by taking photos of the sample backpack that we did have along our travels through South America and Europe prior to officially launching the business. We wanted to create an Instagram account that inspired the love of travel and adventure, and were able to gain about 500 loyal followers by the time we launched on Sept. 1, 2017.The day that we launched, we were happily surprised to see that along with our friends and family who ordered backpacks as soon as the website went live, we were also getting a few orders from people we didn’t know - real customers. We attributed this to our social media presence on Instagram and decided that we would double down on this method of free marketing to hopefully gain a continuous stream of customers. This was also exciting because it was starting to validate our vision as well as our product, which we had not pre-tested in the market before launching. It was definitely a relief and a big motivator that we were on the right track.About a week into being a company, we received a message on Instagram from a retailer in Montana with 6 locations that wanted to order 100 of our backpacks. As this was a big percentage of all of the backpacks we currently had on hand, we were super excited, and even a little skeptical about this actually happening. We had not previously thought at all about having our backpacks IN store, as we planned to sell only via our website. After a few seconds of disbelief, we decided that we would absolutely sell them 100 backpacks at wholesale price, and ended up driving a car full of backpacks up to Montana from Colorado the following weekend. The experience left us excited, and proved to be a useful lesson in staying flexible, and being able to say “yes” to opportunities that pop up. Without much of a game plan, it allowed us to be fluid in our decision making for the company and figure out along the way what works and what doesn’t.Since launch, what has worked to attract and retain customers?We have bootstrapped our entire first 2 years, and plan on continuing to do this for the foreseeable future.We have doubled down on social media and free press to gain attention and market our company. We spend a good amount of time creating high quality content on Instagram to share with followers, as well as doing giveaways and other contests. We also try to send out a monthly email newsletter that’s actually fun to read - not just touting the deal of the day.Besides Instagram and our email newsletter, we’ve been fortunate enough to gain press and feature articles from Forbes, Travel Channel, Fast Company, ABC, CBS, etc. This has really helped in our search for retailers, as they know that we are doing our best to get our name out there. The name of the game is email, email, email. Send emails to everyone (read: send very well written, conscientious, and to-the-point emails).Since we have nothing to lose, we have emailed writers from TIME Magazine, USA Today, New York Times, and other world class publications in order to gain press or gain contact with someone that we can pitch ideas to in the future. We have also emailed buyers of national and international retailers such as REI, Nordstrom, Urban Outfitters, Journeys, etc. - which is how we eventually ended up getting our backpacks into Urban Outfitters.The moral of the story is that there are tons of creative ways to advertise and market your business without spending much money at all - you just have to be open to possibility and look in the places that others aren’t.How are you doing today and what does the future look like?Though we don’t give out specific financial details, we can say that our company has been profitable since day one. This is due to bootstrapping, and not spending money that we don’t have. Our only costs are the backpacks themselves (along with customs, taxes, etc.), our website, shipping costs, minimal FB and IG advertisements, and a MailChimp subscription. Everything else we do “by hand”.We still sell mainly on our website (about 50%), but accounts with Urban Outfitters, boutique retailers, as well as universities such as the University of Oregon, Colorado State University, University of Wisconsin, etc. have grown our sales on the retail side of things lately (40%). We also occasionally sell backpacks for large corporate events (4-5 a year), such as for Google’s International Women’s Day conference this year, which accounted for several hundred backpacks in one order (10%).We plan on keeping a healthy balance of web sales, retail, and event sales in the future, and hope to expand to even more states and countries in the coming months. We would love to have our backpacks in every state by the end of our 3rd year in business, as well as in my wife’s home country of Sweden.Through starting the business, have you learned anything particularly helpful or advantageous?In starting a business, especially with no prior experience, the entire process is a learning opportunity. The biggest general tips that I have learned and can give are to take calculated risks, be flexible, and be friendly.We have found a lot of luck in simply reaching out to people that we think we have no chance of ever actually talking to. If you have something of good value to offer someone else (especially if you can do it without asking for anything in return) - even if they are busy, high-up, famous, etc. - they will want to hear from you.I also believe that grit is the name of the game. If you’ve come up with an idea that people like, and that can help people, while making the world a better place - you’ve already won half the battle. All that’s needed is to wake up, get creative, get to work, and keep on going. There have been so many stressful times in our first 22 months, as well as plenty of mistakes; but as long as you learn from each setback, and grind it out through the rough patches, there’s no reason why a business can’t be successful. That’s our plan at least, and we’re certain it will work out in the long run.What platform/tools do you use for your business?We use Shopify for all of our website, analytics, shipping, and selling needs.We do everything from scratch on social media (Instagram and Facebook), and use MailChimp for our email newsletter creation.We believe in a DIY approach to cut down on costs at the beginning, while possible. Of course there are different scenarios for every business, but if at all possible, it’s great to be able to know how to run everything yourself in case of emergency - and let’s be honest - most companies aren’t so busy in their first few months that you HAVE to automate or delegate every single task. Learn to do it yourself, so that when the time comes, you can more responsibly pass off certain tasks.What have been the most influential books, podcasts, or other resources?The podcast How I Built This is a super inspirational show that takes a look at how the founders of the world’s largest brands created their companies. You can learn what it took to build these brands, as well as the setbacks and problems the founders had to endure to make it to the top.Another podcast Masters of Scale is a similar idea, but done in a slightly different, more story-telling approach. The host of this podcast is Reid Hoffman, the founder of LinkedIn, so he has tons of experience and knowledge himself on what it takes to build a company and succeed.My 3 favorite books (that I would suggest for aspiring business owners) are:Shoe Dog by Phil Knight,The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, andTrust Me I’m Lying by Ryan Holiday.Shoe Dog is the autobiography by Phil Knight, the founder of Nike. This story is valuable in the information he provides about everything from how he got started selling another brand’s shoes, to designing his own, and the making of Nike’s iconic “Swoosh” logo. It’s also possibly the most inspiring book that I’ve read thus far regarding business.The Alchemist might not be for everyone - but it’s my favorite book of all time, and I think it’s an incredible story about following your dreams and your heart, and not letting anything get in the way of your ultimate goal and fulfilling your true purpose in life. I might make it sound more hippy-dippy than it really is, so just go find a copy and check it out for yourself. It’s super famous for a good reason.Trust Me I’m Lying by Ryan Holiday is the book that has impacted me the most as far a concrete value and steps that you can take to get media exposure for your business. Contrary to the name, this book is not actually about lying, but about becoming a great storyteller, and learning how to get in contact with people that are able to spread your story far and wide across the expanse of the internet (and other more old-fashioned mediums). For anyone that has just started a company and is looking to get the word out, do yourself a favor and read this.Advice for other entrepreneurs who want to get started or are just starting out?Just do it. There’s never a perfect time to start a business, so best to just jump in and start swimming. The worst that can happen is a learning experience, a great story, and an even better adventure.Are you looking to hire for certain positions right now?At the moment, we are not hiring for any specific positions, but we encourage anyone who is interested in joining the Adventurist team to send an email/resume to hello (at) adventuristbackpacks.com. Thanks guys!Where can we go to learn more?www.adventuristbackpacks.comInstagram - @adventuristbackpacksFacebookIf you have any questions or comments, drop a comment below!Liked this text interview? Check out the full interview with photos, tools, books, and other data.For more interviews, check out r/starter_story - I post new stories there daily.Interested in sharing your own story? Send me a PM

#/r/entrepreneur #reddit

[vrdeals-co]

This Haptic Suit Lets You Touch and Feel Virtual Reality - Teslasuit

so quite a while ago I got the opportunity to try the Tesla suit at a meet-up in Hamburg Germany and I can tell you it was truly amazing today I'm going to share my story with you of what happened that day and yeah I hope you are going to enjoy it this meetup was organized by the VRA our association it's a global member community that connects businesses with brands and customers they are pretty much trying to bring the VR and AR community closer together by you know doing these meetups it's it's very cool and if you want to be a member too then you can I will make sure there is a link in the description B hello but let's go back to the adventure itself so yeah I booked a session with the Tesla suit folks that for this occasion traveled all the way from Belarus to Germany to give a couple of private demos and I was very eager to try it since I heard many good stories about their haptic clothing many people refer to it as the first ready player one suit and when I heard that I got even more enthusiastic I'm sure you all remember the x1 haptic boot suit right that weight Watts is wearing in the movie it gives him the ability to feel the interaction he has with other avatars in the Oasis and also lets him experience the impact of getting hit honestly you would think that a haptic suit like this wouldn't exist right now RPO is set in the Year 2045 so we have a long way to go but turns out we have already arrived in this era the Tesla suit is very similar to the boot suit because it lets you experience heat and cold but also lets you feel something like getting hit or getting touched by a person it's funny that when I mentioned all of this to the team they were well aware of the fact that all the hype surrounding their product had everything to do with ready player one yes co2 expanse youth and if you if you noticed they the moment where a wildly possible opening the box with X once youth was like very similar render it associated with our all drained us on our like all these prototypes of this you all this privilege yes it's not all this like that it's kind of yeah so yeah there you go that's the answer we were all waiting for but anyways we're traveling a little bit too fast through time because before I could hop into VR I first had to get into one of the suits I had to email them upfront what my size was so they were well prepared on location Tesla suit comes in many sizes from an extra small to an extra extra-large so for everyone out there there is a suit available sadly I only got to wear the vest they do have trousers too you can combine them pretty much with the vest itself and go for a more immersive experience so hopefully later down the road I will be able to try that to the overall comfort level of the vest alone was great by the way my first impressions were that the suit was stretchy enough durable and was properly breeding too although I do have to say that it was a little bit on the heavy side that does make sense since the suit is jam-packed with 60 electro sensors plus it's completely wireless the team told me the battery gives juice for around ten hours and communicates through Bluetooth or Wi-Fi before we could get started they first had to do a test to find out how my body would respond to their te and s system this stands for transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation in other words it gives force feedback to your muscles by using electroshocks the suit can accurately simulate this through 260 haptic channels it has well they were doing all of this they could go as far as taking control over my muscles by using software crazy okay that was a lien trust me but there was even more that they wanted to show me because they were also able to pool in data with the biometry trackers that are built inside the vest with this system they can monitor your emotional state and stress levels but also scan your vitals with life health data such as your heart rate after this quick setup I finally got to go into virtual reality and they had a serious game ready and where I had to escape a building that was on fire and about to collapse at first I was a bit excited and scared too I mean this was this was just right after the moment they showed me that they can control my muscles with software so I was like I don't know what to expect anymore but the adrenaline was pumping for sure I can't share any gameplay footage here since I wasn't able to record the laptop its screen so instead I will just describe what the experience was like so here we go first of all I got thrown into a hallway that was completely filled with smoke I can tell you that I could barely see anything and that's where the tesla suit came in action because while I was standing there people started running around in an attempt to find the exit I could feel them yes I could feel them rushing right past me and I could even sense the speed they were moving in and even how close they were to my physical body that was completely blowing my mind but I had no time to waste I had to find a way to escape before it was too late so navigating with a fission of zero I was able to make my way to a door the moment I grabbed the steel knob of this door I could feel that something was wrong since it gave me a light shock my first response was nope I'm not going in there it's it's just too dangerous but the tesla team told me there was a switch inside that would turn on the power and also the sprinkler system so I had no other choice than to just enter this room that was already swimming in a sea of flames the suit I was wearing here did not use thermal feedback so I didn't feel a sensation of heat but with the newer versions you would be able to sense exactly how close you are to the flames how hot they are and where it's safe to go throughout the entire demo the te NS system was active sometimes I could feel it lightly and sometimes it got more intense but this all depended on what was happening in game but I can confirm that it was physics based it's so strange that you can feel every interaction you are having from you know grabbing the power switch to pressing a bunch of buttons it's impressive that it can let you experience all of this without a pair of pants or gloves although being able to gear yourself up with a complete package wouldn't be a bad thing so yeah I turned on the sprinkler system and then I started to feel the water hitting me at that moment I really thought I was getting wet I'm not joking little drips big ones I could indentify them all and with the terminal feedback system you would even be able to feel the transition of going from hot to cold or even a mix of the two finally the smoke disappeared and I was able to walk through the hallway without having to use the walls for guidance the last challenge I had to face was crouching under a part of the ceiling that was still on fire while I ducked under it I could sense that it was about to collapse and the flames that were coming off this ceiling slowly came more and more to life again super realistic and accurate it really made me hurry up in a way where I thought there was danger coming closer and closer the moment I took off that hat said I realized that haptic suits are going to be the future and that ready player one is slowly becoming a reality this was definitely one of the most awesome things I tried so far I just love how physical your adventures in VR can become with a haptic suit like that after the VR a our meetup was over I got told that the Tesla suit can also be used for motion tracking and that if you want to you can wash it by simply pulling out the power bank and that's where I'm going to end today's video I'm sure a lot of you now want to buy a suit like that and you are wondering how much it is well if you want to know its price you gotta go to the Tesla suit website and ask for a quote but you can only do that when you are running a business at this very moment this haptic suit is for enterprises only it's mainly getting used in healthcare and military sector it's for training purposes don't worry though there is still hope because haptic suits like the one I tried are going to come to the consumer market they will make their way to the gamers out there but for now it's too early it's not the right time just yet so let's say you are interested in this in this Tesla suit make sure to you know check out the website there is a bunch of information on there and you can also find locations where the Tesla suit is getting demoed because the team is traveling around the world to preach the potential of haptic suits and that's where I'm going to end today's video I want to thank you all for watching and now it's time for me to sign up and as I always say and I see a guys next time see you in the metaphors imagine that in the near future you can go to a virtual store and buy a haptic suit there and moments later it arrives on your doorstep in real life stay tuned

  https://youtu.be/OEMa2-IVfyw

#Teslasuit #vr deal

[vrsdeals-com]

This Haptic Suit Lets You Touch and Feel Virtual Reality - Teslasuit

so quite a while ago I got the opportunity to try the Tesla suit at a meet-up in Hamburg Germany and I can tell you it was truly amazing today I'm going to share my story with you of what happened that day and yeah I hope you are going to enjoy it this meetup was organized by the VRA our association it's a global member community that connects businesses with brands and customers they are pretty much trying to bring the VR and AR community closer together by you know doing these meetups it's it's very cool and if you want to be a member too then you can I will make sure there is a link in the description B hello but let's go back to the adventure itself so yeah I booked a session with the Tesla suit folks that for this occasion traveled all the way from Belarus to Germany to give a couple of private demos and I was very eager to try it since I heard many good stories about their haptic clothing many people refer to it as the first ready player one suit and when I heard that I got even more enthusiastic I'm sure you all remember the x1 haptic boot suit right that weight Watts is wearing in the movie it gives him the ability to feel the interaction he has with other avatars in the Oasis and also lets him experience the impact of getting hit honestly you would think that a haptic suit like this wouldn't exist right now RPO is set in the Year 2045 so we have a long way to go but turns out we have already arrived in this era the Tesla suit is very similar to the boot suit because it lets you experience heat and cold but also lets you feel something like getting hit or getting touched by a person it's funny that when I mentioned all of this to the team they were well aware of the fact that all the hype surrounding their product had everything to do with ready player one yes co2 expanse youth and if you if you noticed they the moment where a wildly possible opening the box with X once youth was like very similar render it associated with our all drained us on our like all these prototypes of this you all this privilege yes it's not all this like that it's kind of yeah so yeah there you go that's the answer we were all waiting for but anyways we're traveling a little bit too fast through time because before I could hop into VR I first had to get into one of the suits I had to email them upfront what my size was so they were well prepared on location Tesla suit comes in many sizes from an extra small to an extra extra-large so for everyone out there there is a suit available sadly I only got to wear the vest they do have trousers too you can combine them pretty much with the vest itself and go for a more immersive experience so hopefully later down the road I will be able to try that to the overall comfort level of the vest alone was great by the way my first impressions were that the suit was stretchy enough durable and was properly breeding too although I do have to say that it was a little bit on the heavy side that does make sense since the suit is jam-packed with 60 electro sensors plus it's completely wireless the team told me the battery gives juice for around ten hours and communicates through Bluetooth or Wi-Fi before we could get started they first had to do a test to find out how my body would respond to their te and s system this stands for transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation in other words it gives force feedback to your muscles by using electroshocks the suit can accurately simulate this through 260 haptic channels it has well they were doing all of this they could go as far as taking control over my muscles by using software crazy okay that was a lien trust me but there was even more that they wanted to show me because they were also able to pool in data with the biometry trackers that are built inside the vest with this system they can monitor your emotional state and stress levels but also scan your vitals with life health data such as your heart rate after this quick setup I finally got to go into virtual reality and they had a serious game ready and where I had to escape a building that was on fire and about to collapse at first I was a bit excited and scared too I mean this was this was just right after the moment they showed me that they can control my muscles with software so I was like I don't know what to expect anymore but the adrenaline was pumping for sure I can't share any gameplay footage here since I wasn't able to record the laptop its screen so instead I will just describe what the experience was like so here we go first of all I got thrown into a hallway that was completely filled with smoke I can tell you that I could barely see anything and that's where the tesla suit came in action because while I was standing there people started running around in an attempt to find the exit I could feel them yes I could feel them rushing right past me and I could even sense the speed they were moving in and even how close they were to my physical body that was completely blowing my mind but I had no time to waste I had to find a way to escape before it was too late so navigating with a fission of zero I was able to make my way to a door the moment I grabbed the steel knob of this door I could feel that something was wrong since it gave me a light shock my first response was nope I'm not going in there it's it's just too dangerous but the tesla team told me there was a switch inside that would turn on the power and also the sprinkler system so I had no other choice than to just enter this room that was already swimming in a sea of flames the suit I was wearing here did not use thermal feedback so I didn't feel a sensation of heat but with the newer versions you would be able to sense exactly how close you are to the flames how hot they are and where it's safe to go throughout the entire demo the te NS system was active sometimes I could feel it lightly and sometimes it got more intense but this all depended on what was happening in game but I can confirm that it was physics based it's so strange that you can feel every interaction you are having from you know grabbing the power switch to pressing a bunch of buttons it's impressive that it can let you experience all of this without a pair of pants or gloves although being able to gear yourself up with a complete package wouldn't be a bad thing so yeah I turned on the sprinkler system and then I started to feel the water hitting me at that moment I really thought I was getting wet I'm not joking little drips big ones I could indentify them all and with the terminal feedback system you would even be able to feel the transition of going from hot to cold or even a mix of the two finally the smoke disappeared and I was able to walk through the hallway without having to use the walls for guidance the last challenge I had to face was crouching under a part of the ceiling that was still on fire while I ducked under it I could sense that it was about to collapse and the flames that were coming off this ceiling slowly came more and more to life again super realistic and accurate it really made me hurry up in a way where I thought there was danger coming closer and closer the moment I took off that hat said I realized that haptic suits are going to be the future and that ready player one is slowly becoming a reality this was definitely one of the most awesome things I tried so far I just love how physical your adventures in VR can become with a haptic suit like that after the VR a our meetup was over I got told that the Tesla suit can also be used for motion tracking and that if you want to you can wash it by simply pulling out the power bank and that's where I'm going to end today's video I'm sure a lot of you now want to buy a suit like that and you are wondering how much it is well if you want to know its price you gotta go to the Tesla suit website and ask for a quote but you can only do that when you are running a business at this very moment this haptic suit is for enterprises only it's mainly getting used in healthcare and military sector it's for training purposes don't worry though there is still hope because haptic suits like the one I tried are going to come to the consumer market they will make their way to the gamers out there but for now it's too early it's not the right time just yet so let's say you are interested in this in this Tesla suit make sure to you know check out the website there is a bunch of information on there and you can also find locations where the Tesla suit is getting demoed because the team is traveling around the world to preach the potential of haptic suits and that's where I'm going to end today's video I want to thank you all for watching and now it's time for me to sign up and as I always say and I see a guys next time see you in the metaphors imagine that in the near future you can go to a virtual store and buy a haptic suit there and moments later it arrives on your doorstep in real life stay tuned

  https://youtu.be/OEMa2-IVfyw

#teslasuit #vr deal

[vrsdeal-com]

This Haptic Suit Lets You Touch and Feel Virtual Reality - Teslasuit

so quite a while ago I got the opportunity to try the Tesla suit at a meet-up in Hamburg Germany and I can tell you it was truly amazing today I'm going to share my story with you of what happened that day and yeah I hope you are going to enjoy it this meetup was organized by the VRA our association it's a global member community that connects businesses with brands and customers they are pretty much trying to bring the VR and AR community closer together by you know doing these meetups it's it's very cool and if you want to be a member too then you can I will make sure there is a link in the description B hello but let's go back to the adventure itself so yeah I booked a session with the Tesla suit folks that for this occasion traveled all the way from Belarus to Germany to give a couple of private demos and I was very eager to try it since I heard many good stories about their haptic clothing many people refer to it as the first ready player one suit and when I heard that I got even more enthusiastic I'm sure you all remember the x1 haptic boot suit right that weight Watts is wearing in the movie it gives him the ability to feel the interaction he has with other avatars in the Oasis and also lets him experience the impact of getting hit honestly you would think that a haptic suit like this wouldn't exist right now RPO is set in the Year 2045 so we have a long way to go but turns out we have already arrived in this era the Tesla suit is very similar to the boot suit because it lets you experience heat and cold but also lets you feel something like getting hit or getting touched by a person it's funny that when I mentioned all of this to the team they were well aware of the fact that all the hype surrounding their product had everything to do with ready player one yes co2 expanse youth and if you if you noticed they the moment where a wildly possible opening the box with X once youth was like very similar render it associated with our all drained us on our like all these prototypes of this you all this privilege yes it's not all this like that it's kind of yeah so yeah there you go that's the answer we were all waiting for but anyways we're traveling a little bit too fast through time because before I could hop into VR I first had to get into one of the suits I had to email them upfront what my size was so they were well prepared on location Tesla suit comes in many sizes from an extra small to an extra extra-large so for everyone out there there is a suit available sadly I only got to wear the vest they do have trousers too you can combine them pretty much with the vest itself and go for a more immersive experience so hopefully later down the road I will be able to try that to the overall comfort level of the vest alone was great by the way my first impressions were that the suit was stretchy enough durable and was properly breeding too although I do have to say that it was a little bit on the heavy side that does make sense since the suit is jam-packed with 60 electro sensors plus it's completely wireless the team told me the battery gives juice for around ten hours and communicates through Bluetooth or Wi-Fi before we could get started they first had to do a test to find out how my body would respond to their te and s system this stands for transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation in other words it gives force feedback to your muscles by using electroshocks the suit can accurately simulate this through 260 haptic channels it has well they were doing all of this they could go as far as taking control over my muscles by using software crazy okay that was a lien trust me but there was even more that they wanted to show me because they were also able to pool in data with the biometry trackers that are built inside the vest with this system they can monitor your emotional state and stress levels but also scan your vitals with life health data such as your heart rate after this quick setup I finally got to go into virtual reality and they had a serious game ready and where I had to escape a building that was on fire and about to collapse at first I was a bit excited and scared too I mean this was this was just right after the moment they showed me that they can control my muscles with software so I was like I don't know what to expect anymore but the adrenaline was pumping for sure I can't share any gameplay footage here since I wasn't able to record the laptop its screen so instead I will just describe what the experience was like so here we go first of all I got thrown into a hallway that was completely filled with smoke I can tell you that I could barely see anything and that's where the tesla suit came in action because while I was standing there people started running around in an attempt to find the exit I could feel them yes I could feel them rushing right past me and I could even sense the speed they were moving in and even how close they were to my physical body that was completely blowing my mind but I had no time to waste I had to find a way to escape before it was too late so navigating with a fission of zero I was able to make my way to a door the moment I grabbed the steel knob of this door I could feel that something was wrong since it gave me a light shock my first response was nope I'm not going in there it's it's just too dangerous but the tesla team told me there was a switch inside that would turn on the power and also the sprinkler system so I had no other choice than to just enter this room that was already swimming in a sea of flames the suit I was wearing here did not use thermal feedback so I didn't feel a sensation of heat but with the newer versions you would be able to sense exactly how close you are to the flames how hot they are and where it's safe to go throughout the entire demo the te NS system was active sometimes I could feel it lightly and sometimes it got more intense but this all depended on what was happening in game but I can confirm that it was physics based it's so strange that you can feel every interaction you are having from you know grabbing the power switch to pressing a bunch of buttons it's impressive that it can let you experience all of this without a pair of pants or gloves although being able to gear yourself up with a complete package wouldn't be a bad thing so yeah I turned on the sprinkler system and then I started to feel the water hitting me at that moment I really thought I was getting wet I'm not joking little drips big ones I could indentify them all and with the terminal feedback system you would even be able to feel the transition of going from hot to cold or even a mix of the two finally the smoke disappeared and I was able to walk through the hallway without having to use the walls for guidance the last challenge I had to face was crouching under a part of the ceiling that was still on fire while I ducked under it I could sense that it was about to collapse and the flames that were coming off this ceiling slowly came more and more to life again super realistic and accurate it really made me hurry up in a way where I thought there was danger coming closer and closer the moment I took off that hat said I realized that haptic suits are going to be the future and that ready player one is slowly becoming a reality this was definitely one of the most awesome things I tried so far I just love how physical your adventures in VR can become with a haptic suit like that after the VR a our meetup was over I got told that the Tesla suit can also be used for motion tracking and that if you want to you can wash it by simply pulling out the power bank and that's where I'm going to end today's video I'm sure a lot of you now want to buy a suit like that and you are wondering how much it is well if you want to know its price you gotta go to the Tesla suit website and ask for a quote but you can only do that when you are running a business at this very moment this haptic suit is for enterprises only it's mainly getting used in healthcare and military sector it's for training purposes don't worry though there is still hope because haptic suits like the one I tried are going to come to the consumer market they will make their way to the gamers out there but for now it's too early it's not the right time just yet so let's say you are interested in this in this Tesla suit make sure to you know check out the website there is a bunch of information on there and you can also find locations where the Tesla suit is getting demoed because the team is traveling around the world to preach the potential of haptic suits and that's where I'm going to end today's video I want to thank you all for watching and now it's time for me to sign up and as I always say and I see a guys next time see you in the metaphors imagine that in the near future you can go to a virtual store and buy a haptic suit there and moments later it arrives on your doorstep in real life stay tuned

  https://youtu.be/OEMa2-IVfyw

#Teslasuit #vr deal

[joshuasm28]

Outsiders Revolution | Hands-On Watch Review

Outsiders Revolution

Today, we are going to veer off the normal review path a little. I am sure many know that Baselworld is almost over at the time of publication and Outsiders Watches apparently made a spectacle at the watch fair, or so they have said. Their first watch, the Outsiders Revolution diver is a $500 Swiss Made Submariner style homage and there is a lot to delve into when it comes to this brand and their marketing tactics. Now, let me get this out of the way. Business, in general, is hard and at this price in the watch world is a very competitive game and you need all the edge you can get. There is nothing wrong with that, but the issue usually is the product does not live up to to the hype. I will comment at the end of this review if I think it does, in fact, live up to the hype or not, but l am going to lay out some of their most recent events and they happened to coincide when I am writing this review.

Outsiders Revolution Specifications:

43mm Case Width

22mm Bracelet

13.5mm thick

51mm Lug to Lug

Stainless Steel Case

Blue or Black Dial

Ceramic Bezel Insert

Screw Down Crown

Sapphire Crystal

ETA 2824-2 Automatic Movement

300 Meters Water Resistant

BGW9 Superluminova

Price $499 USD 

https://outsiderswatches.com/#

If you have been buying and collecting microbrand watches for a good few years, have bought off Kickstarter or even just watched a good old fashion infomercial, you have seen the style of marketing that Outsiders Watches employs. It’s over the top, it is usually too good to be true and it is what it is-audacious marketing. That is what I am witnessing with Outsiders. When I first came across the brand on Instagram, I somewhat overlooked the marketing tag lines because I have seen it before, so I decided to hold judgment on the watch until I got it in hand. I always try and stay as objective as possible. The watch itself, nothing really wrong with it and I would not put it in the category of cheap trash either, far from it. Doing research through while getting ready to do the review, it was hard to overlook just how over the top they are going being though. I mean, let’s be perfectly clear here, this is not the first watch to be marked Swiss Made and sold for $500. Hell, Invicta used to do it all the time, and they had very similar marketing lingo to go along with it.

If you read and watch our reviews here at Watchreport frequently (and hopefully are subscribed to our Youtube channel), you know that most of the time the video is recorded before the written article is done. This is done for many reasons, but mostly just how it is organized with the volume of watches that come in for review and how we have set it up. Normally, that really does not matter, but in this case, in the time between the video was done and today, the brand appeared at Baselworld. Posts on their Instagram feed were showing that they were giving out free watches to Baselworld attendees and I even saw a member of one of the Facebook watch groups I frequent post that he was one of the recipients. They legit were giving away their watches. I do not how many they allotted o give way, but I imagine a decent amount of people were game for it if nothing else than just sheer curiosity. I imagine it put some eyes on the Outsider Revolution.

Well, apparently, someone at Baselworld did not like this and called the police to escort the team out of the building and out of Baselworld. Now, I was not at Basel, so I am not sure how much of this is true and how much of this is more over the top marketing. I have not reached out to the brand for clarification and have not really seen anyone else posting about it online, save for the one individual who said he got a free watch. Giving out free watches at a massive fair such as Baselworld when you are a new brand is not such a bad idea at all. You have press there, watch journalists, watch enthusiasts etc. That is not bad marketing at all. How true it is that they were thrown out of the building? I am not sure. Maybe more will come out about this in the following days.

If you haven’t head over to their website yet, let me copy and paste some of what is posted on the Outsiders website about their company and the Outsiders Revolution diver:

” THE TRUTH.

Did you know that the $2,500 “Brand Name” watch you’ve seen in that fancy magazine ad didn’t cost more than $250 to make?

THE TEAM.

We’re a group of Swiss watchmakers and entrepreneurs who are fed up with the way things are.

We’re not paying a cent to all of the greedy middlemen who take their cut before you can get your hands on a Swiss made watch.

We are selling directly to you, and we’re taking all of those savings and passing them right on back to the person that deserves it the most.  “

That was just a snippet of what the Outsiders Website is filled with. Here’s the thing, the majority of us watch enthusiasts will laugh at most of that copy and I believe it is geared to the uninformed. Now again, from a business standpoint, it is a good strategy. Some folks may just find it insulting though. Hows the watch you ask? Well, if you have not watched the video yet, it is a nice watch. It is attractive, has some heft to it, a good movement, decent lume, and functions as it should. I do not like the proprietary bracelet and feel they are shooting themselves in the foot with that as I know many who love to wear and change out watch straps and that, of course, is a no go with the Outsiders Revolution. I imagine they wanted to do something just a little bit different, but I think that was the wrong choice.

So who are the guys behind the Outsiders brand? I am not sure, but I guess some of the attendees at Baselworld found out recently.  Are they starting a revolution? Are they upsetting the watch industry?  No. No, they are not. Are they making a nice watch at an affordable price? Yes. I know that might not be the catchiest slogan, but it is grounded in truth. Checking their website currently, it seems that you can get the Revolution for even cheaper, 20% off, in fact, using the code BaselPolice at checkout. Looks like they will ride that one as long as they can. That would bring the price down much closer to the $400 mark, making it a nice option for someone wanting a solid ETA based dive watch.

The post Outsiders Revolution | Hands-On Watch Review appeared first on WatchReport.com.

[atakportal]

dumbbell routines and exercises

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Day 2: Already felt kinda sore, so didn’t workout as intensively as Day 1. Didn’t accomplish much when I got back to work.

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[neytinintransit]

the o.g. six-two-six (tbc.)

“gonna be a short one because not n’uff time and nothing too profound happened”

- Me

---

I have a confession. During my travels, I really did not have n’uff time to write out these long-winded rambles about the shit I was doing everyday. Instead of cooping myself up in some cafe or room for 2 hours a trip to cook up some moody soul-talk (taipeing in taipei amirite), I chose to stack up on experiences. Most these words you’re reading were spun from the tips of my fingers in sunny California, but I did write little footnotes to capture the important parts. I knew I wouldn’t be able to rely on my memory bank to accurately share my experiences- Eric and I killed of too many of our braincells for that type of work. 

That quote up top is word-for-word all I had down for Taipei, and originally, that’s what this post was going to be about. Just some hyped-up, elongated Instagram post with not-so-clever captions. Four weeks out and looking back, I think I want to steer the post in a slightly different direction. Instead, I wanted to focus on this concept of brotherhood. I do have a brother that I care for and love very much, but this is for another type of brotha. That’s right, Eric, this one’s for you- think of it as some amped-up, bromantic version of the Adventures of Erthan Slohng. You know that thing where you start syncing up with someone if you spend too much time with them? Well that happened to us a lot, but I’ll save that for later. 

After landing in Taiwan, I managed to use the remnants of my broken Chinese to get us to our Airbnb. Surprisingly, the place we booked in Taiwan ended up being the nicest place we stayed at throughout our entire trip. Skipping over the fact that I’m wearing a tank-top hoodie and wiping my sweat with my shirt, you’ll notice the wide, spacious bedroom we had. Not pictured but also a positive addition to the dopeness of the location was the living room, kitchen, and in-house washer-dryer. 

Luckily, we landed with plans set to meet up with some friends that were working in Taipei for the summer. Before that, though, Eric and I decided to put a little rocking to the large bed we were blessed with. You guessed it: intense, hardcore ab workouts. After sharing my summer goals with Eric, he pulled out this little ab-workout app and set it to max-difficulty. That was probably the first and last time we worked out that entire trip, but I promise you I felt it in my core long enough to justify all the food we ate in the following weeks. 

To negate the whole workout, we had our friends take us out to grab some bomb munchies at the night markets nearby. Luckily, the spot we booked out was in the Zhongshan district, which was pretty central and close to Taipei 101. In a few minutes, I was able to down a solid dinner and some more. Unfortunately, my phone was dying so I couldn’t take too many pictures, but my man Eric here was able to capture this little gem.

It’s a sausage wrapped in another sausage. Like a turducken, but sausage style. Of all things, leave it up to Eric to pick out something like this. No lie, that shit was dank. Looking at that monstrosity of a hotdog makes me crave one right now. Among other things, we had some good egg tart (蛋挞), stinky tofu (臭豆腐), and 驴肉饭 (sorry idk the english translation but it’s some braised pork over rice thing that I love). We then skipped on home and food coma’d shortly after.

Besides being a place where the number one attraction revolves around eating everything (in)edible, Taiwan is apparently also known for its sulfuric hot springs scattered throughout the mountains. As per recommendation of the (now) homie James Chen, Eric and I made a trip up to Xinbeitou (新北投), where a majority of the major communal hot springs are located. Even though we weren’t far into our trip, travel took a lot out of us, and some communal bathing in a 100°F tub of relaxation did not sound like something to pass up on (though I was reluctant to make a public display of the disaster of a belly I grew over the trip). Looking back, we probably could’ve used a hot spring treatment or two at all of our destinations.

As you can see from the not-so-inconspicuous bead of sweat on Eric’s forehead, these springs were hot. You can see the steam, and the place was littered with large, red “DO NOT FALL” signs. On top of that, the whole place smelled of sulfur, since sulfur is the source of the spring’s healing factors. Just in case you didn’t know, sulfur is also what makes your farts smell bad.

Since Xinbeitou is a spot where both tourists and locals go to bathe and relax, the whole area is modeled as a sort of exhibit about the history of hot springs and how they this and that and that and this and ye. Eric and I probably fall into the bucket of basic tourists that travel for the gram and don’t really dig deep into the culture of each place because we’re only there for a few days; but hey, at least we’re in that bucket together. And we do try, sometimes. After exploring whatever there was to explore, we set a goal to find a hot spring to hop into. Unfortunately, we managed to time our trip during some Taiwanese holiday, so most of the hot springs were closed. We walked past a few of the ones we read about that had good reviews, but those were the ones you had to go in with a birthday suit. Luckily, we stumbled across Millennium Hot Springs on the way back. Even though we prepared (for once!) and wore swim trunks, they still made us purchase speedos for the hot springs. It’s probably how they make all their money, since the entrance fee was pretty cheap. I was pretty reluctant at first, but we reasoned out the purchase as a little souvenir, which means that I now own a much-too-tight, way-too-small speedo that I hopefully won’t ever have a reason to wear again. Before we went in, Eric snapped this photo of me in the little dojo/museum/gallery section of the hot spring:

To be honest, I thought it was a pretty shitty photo, but Eric wouldn’t stop raving about how “badass I looked in my dojo,” so I’m putting it here in his honor. I got you broseff.

As expected, the majority of the population was made up of older, retired locals who probably came here to relax and pass time. And to our surprise, the community was very kind and trustworthy. When we went in, one of the old men told us that it was fine to leave all of our belongings in one of the open cubbies, and then encouraged us to hurry into the hot springs before we ran out of time. You’d expect a few naive tourists to be easy targets in a highly touristed spot with plenty of locals, and to be honest, I was extremely skeptical. But like the idiots we are, we left ALLLLLL our shit there. I mean, we still kept an eye on it while we were in the springs, but it was still all our shit. And when we got out, it was still there. The old man said he had been watching over it, and he was glad we were able to enjoy our time there.

Rewinding it back to the important part, sitting in that spring was really something else. You’d think that you’d feel just as nice if you cranked up the hot water in a bathtub and slipped in, but trust me- there’s something intangible about the sense of comfort and warmth you get from the hot springs. Man, if only I had my camera out to snap a few photos of Eric’s face when he was relaxing in the water. It’s a different level in relaxation. In fact, there were exactly three levels, increasing in temperature the further up you went. I think the top pool hit around 104°F, which apparently isn’t even that hot to the locals. You’re supposed to spend a little bit of time in the previous spring before moving up to get your body acclimated to the temperature, but I legit saw some people hop right in. They also had a cold pool for people who wanted to bring their body temperature back to a more stable state. Eric and I loved hopping between the hot and cold springs. It’s sort of like going between the jacuzzi and pool back in the day when we had those pool parties. 

Part-way through our bath, it started raining. The contrast between the hot spring water and the cool rain also felt unreal. It was like taking that first bite into that perfect pizookie you ordered at BJs, fresh out of the oven. Anyway, both the rain and the fact that Millennium was closing was a clear sign for us to pack our bags (which were still there!!!) and leave.

If you know me well-enough, meaning somewhere in between the stranger and the best friend, you’ll know that I love large bodies of water. Even though it was raining, Eric and I decided to move from one pool to another, slightly bigger pool. We headed up to Tamsui, a coastal region of Taipei with a pretty massive boardwalk and a number of small shops and street vendors nearby. The whole place was mad cute, and the views were nice. 

You can’t really see it, but the ocean was even more beautiful in the rain. There’s something about large bodies of water that place me in a sort of meditative state. And while I was off, deep in thought about whether or not I should trust the cuttlefish vendor selling fried snacks on the sidewalk, Eric was doing this:

Also, doesn’t he look kind of weird here: 

Cuttlefish was a little sketch, but nonetheless, I purchased and devoured a generous amount only to regret it a few hours later. Since we had our fair share of snacking and exploration, we figured that the next logical move was obviously to hit up another night market and eat some more. And that’s exactly what we did.

We went to the Shihlin district, which supposedly housed one of the bigger night markets in Taipei. A few eventful things happened that night: Eric got another one of those sausage things, I had so many egg tarts that I lost count, and Eric tried his first durian that was way over-priced and totally not worth it. But it was still low-key worth it, since I got him to understand a bit more of what I grew up with. Here’s my pug-ass face biting into the $10 dolla piece of gold:

After eating our fill, our better judgment took us to this hotpot joint. The line was pretty long, but the food was mad cheap. It was like Boiling Point, but legit in all the ways Boiling Point wasn’t. If you can ignore Eric’s massive swol and focus on the pot, you’ll know what I mean:

And with that, we finally decided we were at our limit and headed home for the night. Here’s Eric regretting his decisions:

I’m not sure if I mentioned this, but when we were in Japan, I met Eric’s friends Lucy and Yi who also happened to be on a post-grad Asia trip. After leaving Japan, they were both signed up for this teaching program in Taiwan, and their stay in Taipei happened to overlap with ours. Surprisingly, one of my friends from home was also at the same program. One thing I’ve learned from traveling through the past few years is that circles do run incredibly small. There was even a time in Barcelona where I ran into a few high school friends in the middle of the beach. If you’ve ever been to a crowded beach in Barcelona during the summer, you’ll understand how crazy that is.

Anyway, Eric and I couldn’t really pass up on so many familiar faces, so we made sure to slot them into our plans. I forgot the name of the school, but the campus was pretty spacious and scenic. Lucy and Yi seemed happy, but my friend mentioned that she felt like a bit of a prisoner there. I was really worried for her, but I was glad to find out later that the rest of the program went pretty well. Partway through my conversation with her, one of her roommates urged us to climb up to the rooftop with her. And you know how I am with rooftops.

Needless to say, the view was breath-taking. After talking a bit more, we said our goodbyes and headed off on our way. 

Taiwan summer-time heat is hot. Being the smart travelers we are, Eric and I completely disregarded this fact and decided to walk to the nearest subway stop even though it was over half an hour away. I remember moments I genuinely believed that we wouldn’t make it. It reminded me a bit of the time where Eric and I went on the “Bridge to Nowhere” hike in California. Shit was rough.

In case you were wondering, we did make it. And of course, what came next was a necessity for anybody who steps foot in Taipei: some BOMBASS 鼎泰丰 (Ding Tai Feng) from its hometown. For those of you who don’t know, Ding Tai Feng is a relatively famous restaurant that originated in Taiwan, and they’re known for soup dumplings:

We ordered about six or seven orders of the soup dumps and some beef noods soup before topping it all off with some milk tea from 春水堂, the O.G. creator of boba itself. Here’s a poorly shot photo of the well made drank:

In Taiwan, you’re not allowed to bring opened drinks or food onto public transportation. Since Eric and I clearly prioritized our boba above all else, we decided to do some quick shopping in the area before moving onto our next destination. Staying true to the theme of this post, I decided to purchase a Mickey shirt from Uniqlo to match Eric’s current outfit. All cringe and bromance aside, it was a good thing I purchased a second shirt. What came next was an hour-long, humid, summer-heated hike up Elephant mountain, and anyone who knows me knows how much I sweat. 

Out of everything we did in Asia, hiking always felt incredibly rewarding. It was more than the panoramic view you got once you hit the top (which by no means was anything short of amazing). Even though it was definitely unsanitary, we played with a number of stray dogs that, like all dogs, seemed to long for human interaction (and food). We joked about how we’d probably end up as cicada food every time these invisible bugs filled the otherwise rigid silence of the forest with the sharp, deafening sounds of their hiss. And, when we had a moment to breathe, we spoke about how this would be the last time in a while that we’d be able to take a trip like this. We were living without obligation, free to go wherever and do whatever we wanted. Free-spirited. I think that’s what they call it.

For me, that feeling was so wonderfully liberating, and it is one that will always remain embedded in the person I am. Nowadays, whenever Eric and I catch up, the nine-to-five (or in my case, eleven-to-seven) life rarely ever carries any excitement, but we always light up when we talk about our next adventure. If I ever do pack up my bags and wander somewhere, you best bet Eric’s the first person I’m taking along with me.

After wrapping up our photoshoot at the peak, we made our way over to Taipei 101. There, we met up with Michelle Yeh for dinner before going out for the night. One thing I learned from traveling in college is that it’s crazy how international my classmates were. From Europe to Asia, I was pretty much always able to find a friend in the city I was in. I wonder if that statement still holds true, or if the bulk of them are, like me, off in SF/NYC working their shiny new office jobs.

After dinner, we met up with James and Co. for a night out. The rest of the night wasn’t too eventful- just kind of weird. Somehow, Eric knew a promoter that was able to get us into Omni, one of the most popular clubs in Taipei which apparently doubled as a church on Sundays. Yep- after a Saturday night of drinking and dancing, the club kicks everyone out, cleans up, and opens the doors for Jesus. It was probably a combination of crab girl (lol), the crowd we were with, and that particular night we were out, but Omni was mad OK. It was our last night in Taiwan, though, so we tried to make the best of it and stayed out until the club was practically empty.

There were many things Eric and I overlooked when planning this trip. One of these many things included the discrepancy between checkout and flight times. For Taiwan, we were intelligent enough to book an Airbnb with an early checkout time and a flight that departed at night. That left a full day of crawling and walking around the city with our fifty-pound bags.

Welcome to suitcase hell*. If you look closely at our faces, you can tell that we’re absolutely ravaged. I don’t know if I made it clear before, but summer in Taiwan (and most of Asia) is hot. Add about half your body weight, a list of errands that took us all over Taipei, and a predisposition to sweating profusely, and you’ve got yourself a pretty rough day. 

The first leg of our trial had us trek back up to the international school. Long story short, I had to drop off a sim card for Brenda before leaving because she felt a bit trapped and had no consistent way of contacting the outside world. Next, we had to trip down to the southern of Taipei to return this metrocard that I borrowed from James. Now that I’m writing all this out, I guess a good number of these errands were because of me. Whoops.

<Draw a map of the journey so people get the pain>

Though painful, we did have some pretty interesting experiences while running around city. On the way up to Brenda, we somehow ended up in this abandoned underground mall. In these wide-open basements, there were several dance teams rehearsing and training- it looked like a scene out of some movie. I feel like if I ever lived in Taiwan, I would definitely find some way to get involved in this scene. After making all that distance with weight on our backs, we were starving. Luckily, we stumbled upon the most famous 卤肉饭 joint in the city and ended up eating three large bowls each. Finally, we accidentally stumbled upon this gem right here:

You know that thing about how you start syncing up with someone if you’re around them too often? Well if you hadn’t already noticed, Eric and I are once again matching, but this time it was unintentional. We definitely experienced turbulence, but the trip would not have been nearly as fun and fulfilling without him (and all the stupid shit we laughed at). The memories I have from this trip will probably be some of the happiest of my life, and I’m glad I was able to share it with him.

(tbt to high school).

If there’s one thing I’ve learned in the past few months of “adulthood,” it’s that making and maintaining close relationships becomes much more difficult as you age. Even though we’re living pretty different lives in different cities across the country, I’m still able consider Eric as one of my closest friends, and I’m grateful for that. 

* We later discovered that the host would have been fine with us leaving our bags at the place, but we were already in too deep to turn back.

[executiveice]

So, you found a keeper – you like it and now you need to put a ring on it. With all the hype surrounding engagement and marriage in our culture, it’s a decision that can feel pretty overwhelming.

But with our help, it won’t be that bad.

(Looking for the best place to buy engagement rings?)

In this complete and total guide on how to buy an engagement ring, we’re going to help you buy the PERFECT ring specifically for your partner.

From figuring out how much to spend to choosing a style, cut and color and even tips on how to find the right ring size, we’ll help you along every step of the way.

How to Use this Guide:

Read through the entire guide once. That will help give you a birds-eye-view of the whole process. Then keep it handy (bookmark this page) and refer back to it when you’re actually shopping/buying. That will be the most effective way to get value from this guide.

So, grab some coffee and dig in… This is a looonnnggg guide.

Table of Contents:

How Much Should You Spend

Determining Your Partner’s Perfect Ring Style

Choosing the Perfect Metal for Her Engagement Ring

Choosing the Perfect Gemstone

Ready-Made vs. Custom Rings vs. Antiques

Finding Her Ring Size

Finding the Best Place to Buy an Engagement Ring

Only One Thing Left To Do

How Much Should You Spend

So many things to consider, but we’re going to start with money. Why? Because that’s often a huge deciding factor in the ring you end up purchasing.

And before you go on the hunt, you want to set a budget.

Truth be told, there’s no right answer to how much you should be spending on an engagement ring. Old adages like “3 months’ salary” are probably creations of the diamond industry, so don’t put much stock in that.

But there are several factors to consider when you’re setting your budget to buy an engagement ring, like:

How much money you make

How much savings you have (if any)

How many other expenses you have

Are you willing to take out debt for the ring? If so how much can you actually afford and for how long?

How much are you going to have to spend on the wedding + honeymoon (and other events)

The Most Important Factor in Determining Your Budget

One of the most important factors that will play into your budget is actually your soon-to-be fiancée’s fashion style.

Since you’re picking out a ring for them, it’s going to have to match their style (and expectations!). Really taking the time to think about this and examine your partner’s sense of style will help immensely in setting your budget.

Are they simple with their style or flashier? Have they always dreamed of a huge rock on their finger?

If you think they’re going to expect a something big and flashy, unfortunately you’re going to need a big budget. Big diamonds are usually pretty expensive.

Since your partner’s style will determine your budget, let’s get into that.

Determining Your Partner’s Perfect Ring Style

This can be a bit tricky at first – how do you tell the perfect ring style without reading your partner’s mind?

Well, you don’t have to read their mind. You just have to pay attention.

From now on make it a conscious decision to pay more attention to EVERYTHING about your significant other. The trick is to notice the details about their style and fashion sense.

Here are a few questions to keep in mind as you spend time together:

What kind of clothes do they wear/buy typically? Flashy stuff that draws attention or more toned down?

What kind of colors do they love to sport? Mostly shades or lots of different colors?

What kind of shoes do they love? Stuff that’s unique with lots of metal or, again, toned down and simple?

Is she more into vintage gear or modern looks?

Take them out window shopping one day and just pay attention to the kinds of things that draw her eye. Whether it’s a clothing store or a furniture and homewares store, pay attention to the things she takes a closer look at or buys. Even better, go to a jewelry store and pay attention to what she looks at and says.

If you need an excuse, you can always say you’re thinking of getting your mom/aunt a present or even just looking for some new accessories for yourself.

Art is another great way to judge a person’s tastes/styles/preferences, so take her on a date to an art gallery sometime.

Whatever you end up doing, be as subtle as possible as you don’t want to give the surprise away.

Another thing you can do is raid her existing jewelry collection to see the kinds of jewelry she wears regularly. Pay attention to the type of metal, color and how big the stones are (if any).

Finally, reach out to one of her friends and ask their opinion. Girlfriends can always help guide you in the right direction – just make sure it’s a friend that is relatively close to your partner.

Finally, if all else fails, ask her some questions directly. Of course, you don’t want to just blurt out “What kind of engagement ring do you want?” But you can always say something a little more subtle like “What kind of jewelry do you like?”

Aside from overall style (vintage vs. modern vs. flashy vs. sleek, etc.) there are 3 main things you need to find out as well:

What kind of metal she likes

What color of metal she prefers (i.e. yellow/white/rose gold, etc.)

What kind of stones she prefers (diamonds, sapphires, etc.)

Let’s get into each of these separately.

Choosing the Perfect Metal for Her Engagement Ring

When picking the type of precious metal for her engagement ring you’ve got a few types to work with.

Hopefully you used the tips in the last section to come to a reasonable conclusion about what your partner would prefer.

In this section, you’ll be making the choice.

You’ve got a few different choices in terms of ring metal, depending on the jeweler you choose to go with:

Silver

Gold

Platinum

Palladium

Silver

Right off the bat, we can tell you unless budget is REALLY an issue, don’t go for silver. When it comes to an engagement ring, it screams cheap. And that’s not the impression you want to leave on someone you’re asking to marry you.

Gold

Next up is the traditional gold metal. Within gold itself there are several options available to you – you can get either 14, 18 or 24 carat gold depending on your jeweler.

You can also choose between white gold, rose gold and the traditional yellow. This all depends on the style of your bride-to-be, so make sure you pay attention to what she already wears if you think gold is the right choice.

Here are some basic characteristics of gold engagement rings:

18k gold is a solid metal for an engagement ring. It’s got a high gold purity (not as high as 24k, but also not as expensive) and is the classic choice for an engagement ring. If you’re looking for great value at a better price, though, 14k gold offers a good alternative.

18k is made up of 75% pure gold, while 14k is around 60%. Both metals will be resistant to tarnish and rust and are very easy to repair and polish.

The main differences between the two are that 18-carat gold is softer and more malleable than the stronger, more durable 14-carat. That’s because of the higher pure gold amount in 18-carat gold. Also, 18k gold will have a deeper color than 14k.

Platinum

Platinum is a great choice for an engagement ring. It looks like white gold, but is much stronger and valued higher in terms of dollars. It’s about 50% more expensive than its gold counterparts.

Usually platinum rings are about 95% pure platinum, and the metal will last a lifetime. But you’re going to pay a premium for the strongest metal in the world – platinum is very rare and precious.

If your budget is a bit on the tighter side, we’d recommend going for 18 or 24 carat gold. If your partner just loves platinum, then don’t skimp – spend a few extra months saving up the extra cash and spring for this shiny metal.

Platinum rings look beautiful, fosters awe and doesn’t wear away or damage. Once the ring has been made it takes on a satin finish and the ring is hypoallergenic, making it the ideal choice for some.

Palladium

If you (or your lady) are really into the strength and purity of platinum, but hate the price tag it carries along with it, palladium may be the right metal for you. Similar to platinum, it has a 95% purity rating, is a rare metal but is cheaper than platinum.

It is also lighter than platinum so if weight is an issue it may be the better choice. Palladium is easy to polish and repair and is very resistant to scratching, corrosion, oxidation and tarnishing. The hypoallergenic metal also features a natural and permanent color.

Although it’s far from a traditional choice for an engagement ring, palladium is being used more and more for the ring metal.

Keep in mind, though, because it’s not the traditional choice it may not be the best choice for you. Don’t pick palladium as a metal for a ring unless you know for sure your partner will like it.

Picking the Metal

Really the only way to pick the metal is to base your decision on what your partner already wears when it comes to jewelry.

If they don’t wear any jewelry then it’s fine to pick whatever metal you think is best or would look best on her finger.

But unless that’s the case, don’t just choose a metal based on YOUR preferences. Sure a palladium ring sounds cool, but maybe she loves platinum. A platinum ring sounds baller, but maybe she really likes the color of 18k rose gold.

Don’t make a wild guess here. And don’t base it on your assumptions of what’s best. Find out what her choice would be and go with it.

Choosing the Perfect Gemstone

Now the obvious choice here is a diamond. I mean isn’t that the only choice?

Nope.

Times have changed, and although the industry wants you to think the only stone fit for an engagement ring is a diamond, it’s not.

Let’s be real for a second, though. 90% of engagement rings out there still feature diamonds as the center stone. But the runner-up in terms of popularity is a sapphire.

If your soon-to-be fiancée has a unique and distinct style of her own, a diamond may be “too classic” for her. Consider a sapphire – which can come in blue, yellow, pink and a variety of other colors, as well.

Both sapphires and diamonds are very strong. Diamonds are a 10 and sapphires a 9 on the gemstone hardness scale (yes that’s a thing). That means either-or will be suitable for the everyday wear an engagement ring will go through.

One other thing we should mention is that sapphires are cheaper than diamonds, meaning you’ll get a bigger stone for the same amount of money.

Of course, as with everything, don’t just base the decision on the money. Also, don’t just guess or assume anything. Find out what your partner likes and prefers and then deliver it.

Gemstone Cut, Color, Clarity and Carat (the 4 C’s)

If you’re choosing a diamond for the engagement ring there is a lot you want to be aware of when making the choice.

You’ve got a few different choices to make, in fact – the diamond’s cut, color, clarity and carat weight.

Diamonds can be cut into 10 different shapes, round being the most common cut for engagement rings. In fact, 75% of diamonds cut overall are round. What’s interesting is that the popularity of the round cut also makes it more expensive than other diamond cuts.

If you choose a non-round diamond cut you can save quite a bit of money. The two most popular cuts for engagement rings outside of a purely round diamond are the square princess cut and the cushion cut (somewhere between square and round)

The next thing you need to decide on is the color and clarity of the diamond. These two characteristics will determine how bright and shimmery that rock on her finger is going to be.

In terms of color, diamonds come in colorless, near colorless, and 3 shades of yellow. Each of these is given a letter which represents what color grading it gets.

Clarity is similar to color ratings. Clarity relates to the amount of blemish that can be noticed in a diamond. It ranges from flawless, meaning impeccable clarity, to eye-visible inclusions, meaning you can see some blemishes within the stone with the naked eye.

Of course, the more clear and colorless you want the diamond to be, the more you’ll end up paying.

To learn more about all of these and see which is best for you, read our full guide on how to buy a diamond.

Ready-Made vs. Custom Rings vs. Antiques

Now that you know what kind of metal and gemstone you’ll be getting, it’s time to decide on what type of ring you want.

Wait, what?

When it comes to engagement rings, options can be endless even when it doesn’t seem so to the casual observer.

Many people visit a jeweler or jeweler website and buy a ring from the existing collections the store carries. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with this and it is what a majority of people likely do.

But others prefer to design a completely custom ring for their partner. There are many pros and cons to doing this, including price and time, but consider it an option. Not many stores will offer this as an option, but shop around if this is really something you set your mind to. It can be a very romantic gesture.

Then there is also the option of an antique engagement ring. These types of rings often have a different look and character than modern rings, and may be the right choice for certain people. These types of rings are often one-of-a-kind and have some type of romantic history behind them.

But again, this would come down to personal preference, so make sure you know your partner’s taste and style. Does she like to wear vintage gear, etc.? If so, an antique may be the choice for you.

Finding Her Ring Size

So, you’ve made all the choices – budget, metal, gemstone and style. Now it’s time to buy the ring.

Before you can do that, though, you need to find out your fiancée’s ring size. And unfortunately, there’s no really easy way to do this.

But in this section, we’ll give you a few tips on how to sneakily find her ring size, without giving away the surprise.

You can also download our free ring sizing guide which will help a lot.

Let’s start here – the most common women’s ring size in the world is 6 or 6.5. It’s always a safe bet to lean to the larger size, just in case.

But don’t assume your lady will have the same finger size as the most common – you’re going to have to find HERS. Unfortunately, you can’t just ask without pretty much ruining the surprise, and luckily you don’t have to.

While you’re taking her window-shopping to find out her style and preferences, stop into a jewelry store and look at some necklaces, bracelets and rings (but not engagement rings). See what fancies her eye and tell her to try it on. If you’re lucky, the sales rep will ask what her size is and she’ll be obliged to say it. Make sure you pay attention and remember what she says.

Or you could ask one of her friends to “borrow” a ring for a day, while you take it to get sized. If your partner’s friend is very close to your to-be fiancée, she may even know what her exact ring size is. If you don’t know any of her friends, then you can “steal” a ring from her jewelry box while she’s not looking. Make sure you return it promptly when you’re done so you don’t arouse suspicion.

Of course, those are not the most efficient ways to find the info you need. And there’s a healthy chance you won’t get her to volunteer her ring-size if the circumstances aren’t right.

The Easiest Way to Find Her Ring Size

So instead, consider stealing a piece of her jewelry while she’s at work/school and take it to a jeweler to have it sized.

Better yet, don’t even leave home. Grab a piece of paper and a pen. While she’s out (or even in the shower, cooking, etc.), take a ring of hers and put it flat on the paper. Use the pen to trace around the inside of the ring. Make sure your trace/outline is as accurate as possible. The tip of the pen should be touching the side of the ring metal.

Once you’ve got that traced to a piece of paper, return the ring so she’s none-the-wiser, and compare what you traced to our free ring sizing guide (download here).

Voila, you’ve got yourself her exact ring size, and you didn’t even have to put on pants to do it.

Finding the Best Place to Buy an Engagement Ring

You’ve made it this far, so you must really love this girl. Time to make the actual purchase and get the ring of her dreams.

There are a couple of options available to you – physical retail stores and online diamond retailers.

Personally, we prefer buying things online because of the convenience and value the internet brings to all things retail.

There’s no denying that traditionally, the great thing about physical retail jewelers was you got to see and feel the ring you were buying. But nowadays, that’s only half-true.

Online retailers like James Allen have REAL 360-degree interactive images of all their diamonds and rings, giving you an exact idea of what you’ll be getting. Couple that with standard 30-day return policies and you don’t have to worry about making a choice you’ll regret later.

The other reason you should consider buying online vs. in person is the amount of money you’ll save. It’s no secret physical retail stores have huge overhead costs, and they have to pass those on to the consumer. Online retailers have much less because of their limited (if any) physical locations. Those savings, likewise, often get passed to the customer.

They also have wider selections online than you will see in most stores. You can browse their various collections and take as much time as you need to make the final decision. Some retailers will even allow you to design a custom ring, instead of purchasing a ready-made one.

Technology… Am I Right?

We highly recommend checking out our complete guide on the best places to buy engagement rings online before making your decision.

Only One Thing Left To Do

Once you have made your decision it’s time to pull out that credit card and make it official. Order the ring and make her the happiest person on the planet.

When you purchase your ring, make sure there’s no trace for her to find. Once you get the ring, hide it until you’re ready to pop that question.

Congratulations and Good luck! We hope you found this guide helpful.

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