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inevitably-johnlocked · 4 years

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any recs for old!Johnlock? (Preferably not retired) Thanks!

Hi Nonny!

Ohhh, hmm. You know, I have absolutely READ older-couple Johnlock fics, but the only ones I’m remembering are when they’re retired or “not together but have got together when they old and dying” LOL.

I did a list last year for Retirementlock fics, and I do have new stuff but not a lot, so is it okay if I do “Retirement and Older Johnlock” fics for you? I hope so!! I tag them retirement if it’s retirement, so you can skip those ones

Feel free, my friends, to add your own!!

RETIREMENT and OLDER JOHNLOCK (Jan 2020)

Our Bodies Bend Light by lovetincture (G, 1,211 w., 1 Ch. || Established Relationship, Fluff, Domestic Fluff, Beekeeping, Retirement) – They got married. Of course they got married. Snapshots in a relationship. There’s a jar of bees in the bookstore and a cottage in Sussex. Sherlock’s not the marrying kind, and John’s tried this once before, but they’re Sherlock and John. Of course.

Fine Print by mistyzeo (E, 4,224 w., 1 Ch. || ACD Holmes || Est. Rel, Retirementlock, Glasses, Oral, Hand Jobs, Bees) – Holmes needs glasses, but he’s too much of a stubborn arse to go get his eyes checked. Watson is used to bullying him for his own good. The glasses have unexpected but not unwelcome consequences for everyone.

a very soft epilogue (my love) by darcylindbergh (E, 5,395 w., 3 Ch. || Retirement, Domestic Fluff, Dancing, Dogs, Grumpy Old Men) – Across the pillows, Sherlock shifts and hums, the creases of his face deepening and then smoothing before settling. John watches him wake up, his chest swelling with affection and fondness, and thinks he’ll never get tired of Sherlock in the mornings, sleepy and soft. It’s been some forty-odd years, and John hasn’t gotten tired of it yet. Part 5 of things fairy tales are made of

Second Waltz by Atiki (T, 6,685 w. 1 Ch. || Magical Realism, Missed Chances, Retirement, Sussex, Bees, MCD, Angst with Happy Ending, Fluff, Cancer) – “The night I died, you wished I could wait for you.”

Abatement by WhimsicalEthnographies (E, 6,816 w., 1 Ch. || Est. Rel., Retirementlock, Fluff, Sherlock’s Self Esteem, Grumpy Sherlock, Idiots in Love, PWP, Fluff and Smut, Bottomlock) – “What’s wrong with you? You love the cottage,” John glances over to the passenger seat, then quickly turns his eyes back to the road. Driving was still not his forte, but considering Sherlock still couldn’t properly bend and lift his new knee enough to press and release the clutch, he had to make do. Not that Sherlock hadn’t tried to argue his way into the driver’s seat. “I love the cottage for a week or two, John. Don’t be deliberately obstuse,” Sherlock grumbles, sinking further in his seat. Well, as best he can with a four-week-old knee replacement. “And that’s all we’re going for, love,” John says out loud. But what he’s thinking is, shit. He knows.

A Lifetime Together by LondonGypsy (M, 8,886 w., 1 Ch. || Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Falling in Love, Friends to Lovers, Slow Burn, Pining Idiots, Alternating POVs, Domestics, Retirement) – John and Sherlock falling in love.

Five Times Sherlock Realized He Was Getting Older by Mildred Graves (T, 9,215 w., 6 Ch. || Five and Ones, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, Getting Old) – … And one time it didn’t matter.

In The End by whitchry9 (K+, 9,677 w. || Memento Fusion || Amnesia, Growing Old, Hurt / Comfort, Friendship, Heavy Angst) – When a brain injury leaves Sherlock unable to make new memories, John wonders how Sherlock will cope, and what it will mean for The Work and their life. Because after all, how can you live if you can’t feel time passing?

Through the Clouds by Mazarin221b (E, 20,004 w., 6 Ch. || Retirement, Sussex, Bees, Home Improvement, First Time, Romance) – Sherlock takes a remarkably early retirement at 47, and convinces John that a change of pace would do them both good. They buy an old cottage on the South Downs, and exchange their nonstop life in Baker Street for quiet contemplation, bee studies, and book writing. They might go completely insane, but sometimes it takes stepping outside of the life you’re living to find the life you want. Part 1 of Through The Clouds

echoes through time by chellefic (E, 21,619 w. || First Time, Romance, ACD & BBC, Epistolary) – Mummy sends a trunk from the Holmes cottage in Sussex to 221B. Its contents alter the way John and Sherlock see themselves and one another.

A Shipless Ocean by myswordfishmind (M, 22,135 w., 4 Ch. || Post-TRF, John has a Kid, Angst, Reunion, Falling in Love, Open Ending) – Ten years after the fall Sherlock goes back to London to find that John no longer lives there. Instead, he resides in a seaside town, a widower, and the father of a seven year old son. Now, Sherlock must struggle with the fact that there may no longer be a place for him in this new world.

The Wisteria Tree by SilentAuror (E, 29,773 w., 1 Ch. || Post-S3, Emotional Love Making, Amnesia/Memory Loss, Sherlock Loves John So Much, Sherlock POV, Romance, Angst with Happy Ending, First Times, Hurt/Comfort, Est. Rel., Retirement) – Sherlock wakes up from a month-long coma only to discover that he has no memory of the previous six years to his own shock as well as John’s…

The Winter Garden by Callie4180 (T, 31,213 w., 13 Ch. || Post-S4, Retirement, Christmas, Slow Burn, Grown-Up Rosie, Parenthood, Rosie’s Cat, Angst with Happy Ending, Holidays, Beekeeping, Magical Realism, Sherlock POV, Sherlock’s Violin, Future Fic, Sussex, Honey, Magical Healing Honey, Love Confessions, Sherlock’s Scar, First Kiss, Touching, Mycroft is Dying) – As Sherlock nears the end of his career, he’s given the gift of a cottage in Sussex. The honey from the beehives out back is amazing. Almost…magical.

Chaperones by MissDavis (T, 34,114 w., 7 Ch. || 11 Years Post-S4, Fake Relationship, Parentlock, Disney World, Bed / Room Sharing, Friends to Lovers, Fluff, First Kiss, Obsessive Sherlock, Insecure John) – Right. Of course. Everyone assumed they were a couple and no one would question it. John put his elbows up on the table so he could rest his head in his hands. “You want to pretend to be a couple so we can chaperone a trip to Disney World with Rosie’s class and you won’t have to share a room with a stranger?” “Exactly.” Sherlock beamed at him. “Don’t worry about the cost. The Birmingham case last month paid more than enough to cover expenses for all three of us.”

Where Else Would I Be? by cwb (E, 34,910 w., 10 Ch. || Retirementlock, Domestic Fluff, Falling in Love, Parentlock, Fluff and Smut, Reminiscing) – John and Sherlock’s five-year-old granddaughter spends the weekend with them in Sussex. Sherlock happily indulges her whims, and John takes care of them while quietly revisiting the past thirty years of their lives together.

Only To Be With You by SinceWhenDoYouCallMe_John (M, 40,768 w., 4 Ch. || Black Mirror / Future AU || Character Death, Future Technology, Sickness/Cancer/Illness, Heavy Angst with Happy Ending, First Person POV John, Pining John, Heart-Wrenching Angst) – I tell myself that next time I’ll come near this same place again. Wait around for the mysterious stranger in his coat to dash past me, hot on the heels of a new criminal in black. I think this all the way back to my Exit, planning where I’ll wait and what I’ll say when I see him. Scheming on how to get his name. It’s only once I reach the Exit Point door that I realize two hours and forty-five minutes have passed, and I realize that this won’t be the last time I Visit. It won’t be the last time at all.

between each beat are words unsaid by darcylindbergh, hudders-and-hiddles (T, 107,998 w., 215 Ch. || Epistolary, Slow Burn, Friends to Lovers, Angst, Happy Ending) – On their wedding night, John and Sherlock gift each other with the things they each said when the other could not hear, the things they each put down where the other could not see: a collection of writings that illustrate the way their love for one another has grown over the years. Part 1 of between each beat

Unkissed Series by 221b_hound (T to E, 184,100 w. across 45 works || Established Relationship, Ace Sherlock) – Sherlock returned from the dead a year ago. John returned to Baker Street six months ago. They’ve been in a couple since then. or at least, not NOT a couple. For two smart men, they sure can be dumb. Luckily, an art thief tries to drown Sherlock, Sherlock has a fever dream and things are about to change.

Sketchy by serpentynka (E, 184,053 w., 83 Ch. || Post-TRF, Post-Mary, John Whump, Slow Burn Love Story, Case Fic, Art, Porn With Feelings, Switchlock, Travelling, Career Change, Family Secrets, Illness / Health) – What (and who) will be left when nobody cares about your Work? A slow-burn fic with cases, places, mistaken identities, unfair choices, essential changes, violent feels, blatant lies, fearless portraiture, family secrets, high-risk bespoke gifts, durable friendships, bedtime stories, foreign travel and tongues, sickness (and health), and the significance of things which are slow to unfurl – but cannot be ignored. Oh, and…porn. Part 1: Sherlock takes on an obvious case (barely a 4) and meets someone who will force him to re-examine what it means to see. Part 1 of Sketchy

MARKED FOR LATER

The Last of the Honey Bees by what_alchemy (T, 2,000 w., 1 Ch. || Apocalypse, Retirement) – “When we’re all space dust… when all of this is gone? My molecules will find yours.”

A One-Track Life by JennLynn77 (E, 13,526 w., 7 Ch. || Post S4/TFP, Parentlock, Est. Rel., Medical Procedures, Anal, Cuddling/Snuggling, Bed Sharing, Surgery, Physical Therapy, Retirement, Sherlock Whump, Caring John, Bottomlock, Endearments, Drug Addiction, Triggers) – A medical situation threatens to derail the plans Sherlock had for his life with John and Rosie.

Deck the Halls by itsalwaysyou_jw (T, 31,018 w., 24 Ch. || Advent Fic / Multiple One-Shots, Assorted Tags) – One Johnlock ficlet for every day leading up to Christmas. Who is ready for pining, first kisses, established Johnlock, and everything in between? This collection of stand-alone ficlets will have it all. (Ch. 7 is the Retirement Fic)

FictoberLock 2018 by FinAmour & unicornpoe (M, 60,875 w., 31 Ch. || Halloween, Protective John, Smitten Sherlock, Fluff, First Kiss, Injured Sherlock, Various Prompts) – 31 different prompts, 31 Johnlock fics: one every day for the month of October! Each chapter is a stand-alone story. Some are written by unicornpoe, some by FinAmour, and some are written by us both! They range in length from ~500 words to ~3500 words, and there’s something in here for everyone. (Ch. 23 is the Retirement Chapter)

#steph replies #johnlock fic recs #retirement #older johnlock #retirementlock #Anonymous #fic rec sunday #my fic recs

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somedayonbroadway · 4 years

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A Newsie Carol Ought To Take The Time For Doin’ Right

#Newsies #newsies live #1992 newsies #joseph pulitzer #Katherine Plumber #a christmas carol #newsies fanfiction #much love #ghost of christmas past

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wishthefish916 · 5 years

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What Is Anti?

Holy fucking shit, I’ve literally had this saved as a draft on this site for MONTHS and just haven’t posted it out of spite, but if ever there was a call to action this is is. I published this theory a while ago, but I wasn’t completely happy with how I’d written it at the time so I took it down a few minutes later. I’d originally planned on never revisiting this again, but while developing a different theory which will probably be coming out soon, I was forced to revisit this work, so here we are. The science of Antisepticeye. What he is, where he came from and how to stop him. It’s a long one lads, so buckle the fuckle up.

If we’re ever gonna stop Anti, which is kinda the point of all this theorizing anyways, we have to know what exactly he is. To figure that out, we need to look into what effect he has on the world around him. Looking back at the ever expanding collection of Anti moments ((thank the heavens for his wiki and a whole lotta spare time)), the only thing that tied them all together is that the person in the webcam felt a sense of danger, be it from a jump scare or high suspense or even from hearing Anti’s name, the brain of the person who was recording sensed danger, which triggered a hormonal fight-or-flight response in their body in the moment Anti presents himself to us, and it’s usually preceded with a long gap in symptoms surfacing. What else do we know of that lies dormant for a long period of time before something triggers it to wake up which usually leads to chaos for whatever system it’s in? Jack A virus!

So what kind of virus is he? Well, in bigger videos like Say Goodbye and Kill JSE the person on the screen communicated that they felt physical effects of his presence, like nausea, aches, delirium and twitching and in some cases bleeding from the eyes. This tells me that if Anti is a virus he’s a biological one.

However I cannot ignore the biggest telltale sign of Anti showing up which is the game or webcam ((and sometimes the person)) glitching, audio disturbances, and corrupted html text((Zalgo)), which would tell me that he is a computer virus.

So lads, correct me if I’m wrong in saying that if Anti is indeed a virus, he wouldn’t be exclusively biological or the technological, but rather a biomechanical virus((I totally didn’t make up the term shush)).

Being made up of both biological and technological components mean infection could have happened just about anywhere. For the sake of clarity I’ll be breaking it up into biological and technological components as I’m fairly certain the two are symbiotically dependent on each other, considering the physical effects coincide almost completely with the technological ones.

If infection was controlled by the biological aspects, that would mean he was infected by contact with the virus. Either he touched it, breathed it in, ate or drank it, kissed it, or bled on it. For all the other egos who’ve been infected, this makes perfect sense. JJ cutting his finger right before the glitching shows up, Henrik almost never wearing his surgical mask when handling his infected patients, Chase heavily drinking in the moments leading up to Dark Silence, but Jack is a different story. The first time we saw Anti was in FNAF Sister Location, and that video had none of the above in it. That tells me he was infected well before he first showed himself, which makes sense logically. People don’t show flu symptoms as soon as they come into contact with the flu virus. It has to fester for a little bit before showing any symptoms, so why should Anti be any different?

So where did Jack get infected? If he did physically come into contact with the virus, it would have been in a live action video. From a storytelling perspective, it wouldn’t make sense to not showcase an important plot point clearly, and live action is the best medium to do such. That brought me to the 2015 pumpkin carving video, but nothing too suspicious happened. There was no bleeding, he didn’t eat anything, while he did kiss the pumpkin no bodily fluids were exchanged, and breathing it in or touching it seems implausible, because it would mean the virus already existed in his house, which means he would have been infected long before that video.

The only other live action videos he’s done, and correct me if I’m wrong, were the 700,000 subscriber ghost pepper challenge, the ALS Ice bucket challenge, and his regular vlogs. Sean is incredible at blurring the line between normal video and ego video, but these videos all had an underlying sincerity to them, where he was trying to communicate to us his appreciation or with the ALS video trying to get us to donate to charity, and I find it highly improbable for him to try and undermine the meaning behind them with an ego clue.

That leads me to believe that it were the technological aspects of the virus that infected him, and that’s where things get kinda tricky. Now, computer viruses are actually relatively easy to come into contact with, the problem definitely isn’t there. Maybe Jack was sent it in an email, maybe he went to a sketchy website, maybe he downloaded a game that had a little something extra up it’s sleeve. No biggie, it happens. The logic leap is when the computer virus starts affecting his real life person, even when he’s not using the computer, a la Say Goodbye.

I believe immersion is the answer. Immersion in game play is something a large portion of game developers strive for, making the player feel like they were actually inside their game. This is one of the hardest and most important things a story driven game developer can do, and also one of Jack’s key defining features in games he tends to really enjoy.

I think, in the story that Sean has created for us with the egos, when Jack is doing a lets play and he gets really immersed in the game, he actually does exist inside that game. That feeling of total immersion, those moments when his brain is unable to separate the game from reality, they happen because of him actually being inside the game on his computer. If Jack were to download a game that had Anti’s virus on it, and then became immersed in the game play experience long enough to come into contact with said virus, it’s entirely possible that the virus stayed with him when he left the game/no longer was immersed.

Well, if we’re going to find out how to cure the thing, we’ve first got to find the location of patient zero, i.e. the video that started it all. If we know where it came from, we’ll know how it works and that’ll make it immensely easier to stop it. Are there any games out there that Jack played that 1) truly immersed him as a player into it’s world, 2) share a strong resemblance to what we already see in Anti, and 3) was uploaded some time before the release of Sister Location. There are two bigguns that spring to mind.

Undertale is probably the most well known and well liked series on Jack’s entire channel. While he was playing he became heavily invested in each of the characters, even the baddies, and so did we. We grew to care for them all as if they were our closest friends. When they were hurt, we screamed in protest. When they were comforted, we felt all warm and fuzzy. When we reached the true ending, we all cried. I would most certainly consider that immersion, wouldn’t you?

Not only did Undertale immerse the player and viewer, it messed with your actual computer files. If you do a genocide route even once, uninstalling and reinstalling the game won’t wipe it’s memory of the route. You have to dig through your computer to find and delete the file that tells steam what route you chose if you want to play the game brand new again. Not to mention the game frequently closing itself unprompted, which has a well known history for corrupting recording footage. Potential for corruption? Check.

New paragraph for new point because oh my god, there’s a lot. Several people have already pointed out the similarities between Flowey and Anti, but just in case you haven’t seen it yet or wanted a nice recap, here we go.The voice acting Jack chose for Flowey sounds just like a higher pitched Anti voice. This was the first time he ever layered audio files to achieve a more sinister voice effect. The thumbnails following his fight with Flowey all hold trademark characteristics of Anti video thumbnails. Our first ever interaction with him ends with him attempting to murder Jack. Their laughs are one in the same. At certain points in the game, you can find Flowey following you, keeping an eye on things, if you will. His boss fight, oh my g o d. He kills the dude in charge, everything cuts to black, and next thing we know there’s a glitchy face laughing at us through a screen, telling us about how he’s the one in charge and how this is his world and how everything he’s done was all our faults, after which his eyes turn red and green and he starts puppeteering controlling six different souls, using their different skills to his own personal advantage so he can fulfill some unspoken objective. Gee, sound familiar?

However, despite all of this, Undertale was not patient zero. Why I still listed all the game’s similarities despite this, I promise was not to waste your time, I’m getting to that. There was a game that came just before this one, the first of it’s kind, the actual patient zero. That game, is The Visitor.

Many of you may not remember this game, but The Visitor (and The Visitor Returns) was a little flash game that was posted way back on March 1st, 2015, and you played as an alien creature that came to Earth on a meteorite who’s only objective was to kill any creature it came into contact with to gain it’s powers. It was a video that kind of took the channel by storm, landing it’s place as the fifth most watched video on Jack’s channel even though nobody really knew how. This was patient zero.

As for the checklist? It was posted March 1st, 2015, a full year and seven months before Sister Location. Jack is certainly immersed in the gameplay, so much so he forgets about the menu screen and accidentally restarts the game in an attempt to do more stuff. Does it show a similarity to what we already see in Anti? More than you’d see at first glance. Yes, his mouse is kind of glitching through the entire video. Yes, his webcam goes dark for a single frame towards the five minute mark. Yes, there’s multiple severe neck wounds throughout the game. But that’s not what sold me on this. It’s the premise of the game itself.

I was struggling for months trying to figure out which game was patient zero. I jumped between Undertale, Fran Bow, Vee is Calling, and even the other Five Nights At Freddy’s videos more times than I could count, because all of them seemed like plausible answers. Fran Bow was the first series ever to adopt Anti’s traditional thumbnails, with lens flares and glowing eyes and blood everywhere(seriously, I took a good ten minutes and scrolled through every single video on his channel and Fran Bow was where it all started), not to mention a dark shadow creature who feeds on suffering being the main antagonist. Vee is Calling had an actual virus as a main character who actually glitches out and actually takes control of the main character’s in game computer. One of the glitches in SIster Location #1 showed a frame from the first ever FNAF game, and many of the sounds were pulled from the series at different points. I’ve already written paragraphs about Undertale. All of these things show a direct tie to Anti.

Then remember what The Visitor is all about. It’s an alien who kills things around him to gain it’s powers. It takes aspects from each creature it comes into contact with and uses them for his own personal gain. That seems to be exactly what Anti has done ever since we’ve known him as a physical entity on the channel rather than an idea with a name.

I mean, look back at May 2k18. Every single skit, either ego themed or not, was pulled directly from whatever the game he played was about. Hell, just look at the egos! I’ve talked about this before, but in every single ego video, there is always a theme of character decay, where the person they were at the start of the video erodes away leaving nothing but a shell of who they were by the end, and this is especially apparent in their debut. JBM, the courageous hero giving into cowardice. Marvin the Magician, throwing away his career. Henrik the wise doctor, killing his patients and forgetting a comedic amount about human nature. Chase the bubbly dad, pulling a gun on himself. JJ the mute actor, cutting his finger and immediately getting possessed. I’d tied them back to Anti before, but I never really knew why. In hindsight, this was clearly Anti’s attempt at stealing their strengths. Each and every one of them had some advantage that Anti wanted, and their slow decay was evidence of Anti trying to take control so he could have it. That’s why each new video showed him getting stronger, going from making them kind of afraid to full on suicide and possession. He was stronger because he’d taken more attributes and was able to use them more effectively with each passing video. For each game that Sean got immersed in that fit his agenda, Anti adopted different aspects for himself. There is no one video where Anti came from because he came from every video.

Okay. Alien biomechanical virus. How do we treat it? Well, that is heavily reliant on it’s sources. Anti adopted both some benefits and some defects from every game he pulled from. He gained both strengths and weaknesses, so if you want to “beat” him, the answer would lie in those games. The Visitor had no happy ending. Fran Bow won by giving up on reality and living with tree people, a demon, and an oversized axolotl. Undertale got a good ending by befriending everyone including the bad guys and hopefully not dying too much in the process. FNAF was finished by getting fired or burning everything to the ground and praying you’re not sent to purgatory. Vee is Calling was saved by focusing on your love life more than your computer files. Maybe it’s one of those answers. Maybe it’s all of them. Maybe it’s none of them. It seems not even Sean knows the answer to that question, but now we have a great place to start looking.

I wasn’t able to attend PAX, which means I didn’t know about the Anti “hint” until just now. When I heard it I wanted to scream, I think I actually might have, because I’ve been sitting on this work for literal months and just not gotten around to posting it. “We still haven’t figured out what Anti is yet.”

So, @therealjacksepticeye, are my answers to your satisfaction?

#therealjacksepticeye #jacksepticeye #jackieboy man #marvin the magnificent #dr henrik von schneeplestein #Dr Schneeplestein #antisepticeye #anti theory #jse theory #chase brody #jameson jackson #dapper jack #pax east #wish speaks

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kentremendousblog · 6 years

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Tom and Lin-Manuel: An Appreciation/Jealous Rant

Every writer has a golden period – a chunk of time when her brain is ripest, when the veins he is tapping are the richest, when the ideas, big and small, spill out over the sides of the bucket instead of having to be patiently collected like drops of rain off a leaf. This is true for songwriters, playwrights, novelists, screenwriters, anyone who writes anything in any genre. Go look at John Hughes’s IMDb page and marvel at his golden period, which I would bookend as 1983-1990. It’s outrageous. He wrote Vacation, Mr. Mom, Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, Weird Science, Pretty in Pink, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Some Kind of Wonderful, Planes, Trains, and Automobiles, Uncle Buck, and Home Alone in eight years. Eight years?! That’s absurd.

But then look at his next 20 years. You won’t find one movie that is better than the worst one he wrote in those seven years. The vein ran dry. It always does. That’s just the deal.

Tom Petty’s golden period never ended. Or, at least, the silver periods on either side of his golden period were seemingly infinite. No matter where you think he peaked -- Full Moon Fever, or Wildflowers, or Damn the Torpedoes -- the decades on either side were wonderful. He was great from the moment he released his first album in 1977 to the day he died last month. For forty years he wrote, and wrote, and wrote, and the songs he wrote were good or great or amazing.

Tom Petty wrote “Breakdown” and “American Girl” in 1977. He wrote “You Don’t Know How it Feels” seventeen years later, in 1994. He wrote “You Got Lucky” in 1982, “King’s Highway” in 1992, “The Last DJ” in 2002. He wrote “I Won’t Back Down,” “Runnin’ Down a Dream,” Free Fallin’,” “Love is a Long Road,” “A Face in the Crowd,” Yer So Bad,” and “The Apartment Song,” and “Depending on You,” all in 1989, and they were all on the same album, and that’s absurd.

He wrote “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around” in 1981 and “Big Weekend” in 2006. He wrote every song on Wildflowers – and they are all great – in or around 1994. He wrote fifty other great songs I haven’t named yet, like “Don’t Come Around Here No More” and “Jammin Me.” He wrote great songs you've heard a million times, and great songs you've maybe never heard, like "Billy the Kid" (1999) and "Walls" (1996) which was buried on the soundtrack to She's the One. He took a break from the Heartbreakers and casually released “End of the Line” and “Handle With Care” and “She’s My Baby” with the Traveling Wilburys in 1989-90. He wrote “Refugee” in 1980 and “I Should Have Known It” in 2010. Is there any rock and roll songwriter alive who wrote two songs that good, 30 years apart? (Paul McCartney wrote “Hey Jude” in 1968, and only 12 years later he wrote “Wonderful Christmas Time,” which is so bad it nearly retroactively undid “Hey Jude.”)

He wrote about rock and roll things, like ’62 Cadillacs, getting out of this town, and dancing with Mary Jane. He wrote about love and loss and heartbreak. He wrote legitimately funny jokes, and moribund memories, and personal narratives, and imaginative flights of fancy. One of his characters calls his father his “old man” and it somehow isn’t cheesy. He was from Florida and California and wrote about both of them, and every time I’m on Ventura Boulevard I think of vampires, because the images he wrote are indelible.

Petty didn’t just write songs directed at women, like most rock stars. He wrote about women, and he wrote for women, and he wrote with women. He treated the women in his songs as lovingly and respectfully as he treated the men. He cared about them as much, he spent as much time thinking about them, and he liked them as much, and all of that is rare.

He wrote simply, but not boringly. He made his characters three-dimensional, somehow, in a matter of seconds. There’s a famous (probably apocryphal) story about Hemingway bragging he could write an entire novel in six words, then writing: “For sale: baby shoes, never worn.” I prefer the 18-word novel Petty wrote as the first verse to “Down South” –

Headed back down south Gonna see my daddy's mistress Gonna buy back her forgiveness Pay off every witness

When I was working on Parks and Recreation, whenever we needed a song to score an important moment in Leslie Knope’s life, we chose a Tom Petty song. It started with “American Girl,” when her biggest career project came to fruition. It was “Wildflowers” when she said goodbye to her best friend. It was “End of the Line” at the moment the show ended. For the seven seasons of our show, Tom Petty was the writer we trusted to explain how our main character was feeling, because he wrote so much, so well, for so long.

*******

It seems like a joke, Hamilton -- a joke in a TV show where one of the characters is a struggling New York actor, and is always dragging his friends to his terrible plays. Like Joey in Friends. There’s an episode of Friends where Joey is in a terrible musical called like Freud!, about Sigmund Freud, and you get to see some of it, and it’s predictably terrible. Freud! the musical is arguably a better idea than Hamilton the musical.

I’m far from the first person to say this -- I’m probably somewhere around the millionth person to write about Hamilton, and the maybe 500,000th to make this particular point, but it needs to be said -- a hip-hop Broadway musical about the founding fathers is an astoundingly terrible idea. Lin-Manuel Miranda should never have written it. As soon as he started to write it, he should’ve said to himself, “What the fuck am I doing?!” and stopped. And after he got halfway through, he should’ve junked it, gotten really drunk, and moved on with his life, and made his wife and friends swear to never mention the weird six months where he was trying to write a hip-hop musical about Alexander Hamilton. I literally guarantee you that when Lin-Manuel Miranda first told his friends what he was writing, every one of them reacted with at best a frozen smile, and at worst a horrified recoiling. Some of them might have been outwardly encouraging – “sounds awesome bud! Go get 'em!” But then later, alone, they would call each other and say What the fuck is he doing?

There is a moment, in Hamilton, when what you are watching overwhelms you. (It’s not the same moment for everyone, but most everyone has one, I suspect.) It’s the moment when the enormity, the complexity, the meaning of it, the entirety of it, overpowers you, and you realize that what you are experiencing is new – new both in your specific life, and new, like, on Earth. The first time I saw it, that moment was a line in the middle of “Yorktown.” Hamilton sang the line And so the American experiment begins / With my friends all scattered to the winds, and I burst into tears in a way I hadn’t since I was 10 and a baseball went through a guy’s legs in the World Series. Something about how casually he says that – And so the American experiment begins – just settled over me, like a collapsing tent, and this thing I was watching wasn’t in front of me, it was everywhere around me, and it was exhilarating and transformative.

(If I could put this part in a footnote, I would, but I don’t know how to, so: I should mention that I am very far from a musical theater aficionado. I have seen maybe eight musicals in my life. Not only did I not expect to cry, hard, during Hamilton, I did not expect to enjoy it. I saw it like a week after it opened on Broadway, kind of on a whim, knew nothing about it, and the last thing I said to my wife, as the lights went down, was: “We’ll leave at intermission.”)

The second time I saw it, that moment came much earlier (I knew what I was getting into, this time, so I was more ready to be subsumed). It came barely three minutes in, when the entire cast of the show, in a piece of choreography that can best be referred to as “badass,” all walk down to the very front of the stage and stand, shoulder to shoulder, and sing very loudly about how Alexander Hamilton never learned to take his time. The cast has, to this point, trickled on stage, slowly, one by one, telling you Hamilton’s origin story, and then suddenly there they all are, all of them -- maybe 20? 50? It seems like 1000? – as close to the audience as they can get, and they are every size and ethnicity and gender, and their voices are loud, and I thought to myself, oh my God, this is a cast of people descended from every nation on Earth, all singing about the foundations of the American experience, and yes I “knew” that, intellectually, but holy shit, now that I see them all, I know it, like in my stomach, I understand it, and what a thing that is.

The third time I saw Hamilton, that moment was during “It’s Quiet Uptown,” when this enormous, sprawling, improbable, otherworldly, multi-ethnic, historical, art tornado presses pause on all of its historical-cultural-ethno-sociological-artistic investigations, and spends four and a half spare minutes with a couple who are grieving an unimaginable tragedy. Specifically, it was the lines

Forgiveness Can you imagine? Forgiveness Can you imagine?

What a thing to do, for your characters -- to give them four and a half minutes in the middle of an enormous, sprawling, historical swirl, to just be sad. What a piece of writing that is.

(Again, should be a footnote, but: as long as I’m talking about writers here, I should point out that if the late Harris Wittels were alive, he would, at this moment, text me and hit me with a “humblebrag” for writing about how I have seen Hamilton three times, and he would be right. Miss you Harris!)

In the hundreds of hours of my life I have spent thinking about Hamilton since I first saw it – far more hours than any other single piece of art I have ever experienced – I have revisited that same thought over and over: he never should’ve written it. It was an absurd thing to do. It took him a year to write the title song, then another year to write the second song, and how did he not give up when two years had gone by and he’d written two songs? He must’ve known in his heart it needed to be a 50-song, 2 1/2-hour enterprise, and he had two songs after two years, and he kept going. How did he keep going? I've been trying to write this blog post about two writers I admire for different reasons since the week Tom Petty died, and I’ve almost given up five times.

At this point, the entire musical is that "moment" for me. It's the whole thing, now – the thing that overwhelms me is the whole thing. The conception of it, the writing of it, the rewriting of it. The music and the motifs and the themes and the threads and the dramatic shape and the characters and their inner lives, and the eagle-eye writer’s view it took to keep all of that in his head, all of it, the whole time. The writing of it. The utterly impossible writing of it.

#writing #hamilton #tompetty #lin-manuel miranda

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end-of-the-fing-amazing-imagines · 6 years

Text

Once Upon A December: Part 1/? (Jack Frost X Reader)

(Warnings: Poorly edited, loose and confusing story to be seen later :D <3)

I toyed with the small white snowflake on my neck and set it down on my chest once more, looking to the ground as I gulped in fear.

"We were young back then. My older sister, my little brother, and me. I was about five years older than him, she was three years older than I, and I was only fifteen. The three of us were inseparable, even taking part in the same activities. When Lila sighed up for dance, the two of us were right behind her. When Robb joined the soccer league, Lila and I were usually living in games an hour before and after him. Even when I joined Ice-Skating, the three of us woke up early in the morning to skate on the small pound across from our property, knowing our parents would scold us if they knew we doing something dangerous like this But within a year, my life was thrown completely out of balance as my sister left for college. I know, I still have Robb, but he isn't even talking to me anymore. No one is. Even now that its been two years since she left and-" I paused, turning to my therapist who was looking out of the window at the falling snow through the frosted window. She wasn't even listening. To think my parents pay her. All she does is prescribe me different types of Anti-Depressants because apparently I'm just to depressed to be bothered. Angry, I joined her as she looked out the window.

Children were running across the street throwing balls of pure white snow while other sledded down great hill. Meanwhile some just sat there building snowmen and igloo's. I looked at my therapist again once more, standing from my chair and leaving her in her strange daze, grabbing my backpack and skates on my way out the door.

The lake wasn't far from the therapy center. Nothing in this tiny town was. You knew everyone and everyone had a stereotype. No one likes me and I really don't understand why. I try to be nice. I try to caring. I try to be selfless. I try to be perfect. Do I have to try harder? Do I have to be flawless in order to fit in?

As children, we are constantly reminded and pushed to figure out our lives. We are told we have one chance and we cant screw it up. We are told to figure out who we are and do it quickly because if you don't, then you will be left with little to nothing. That's life today. People have really forgotten that children are merely that, kids. We aren't machines like people such as my parents seem to think. They have my seven year old brother already planning out which college he wants to go to and is saving all of his money to get there! The only time that the younger ones get off is Winter Break.

What happened to fun?! What happened to dreams?!

My parents defiantly don't support mine. I guess I should say didn't.

Since I started skating, it has been my passion. I took classes, got private lessons, and practiced from dawn until dusk just to make it happen. My parents didn't care. Last year the dropped me out of the class and demanded I put my money to something like saving for college or an apartment. Luckily, I was still able to sign up for commotions, as they didn't cost much and I could sew my own costumes. Easy. I didn't get caught either. That was, I mean, until my last competition. My parents freaked out at me after the competition, dragging me out of the rink as soon as I had finished my routine. Half the ride home they had spent screaming at me. The other half was spent in silence as I hid my tears and pretended to be asleep.

They left me locked in the car that night, and I left with my bag swung across my chest, cellphone in my pocket, heading straight to the lake.

Now looking across the frozen water as I tightened my laces, about to make my way over to the ice, headphones in both ear.

The first step is always the hardest when it comes to skating, especially on frozen lakes. If you aren't careful then the ice crack or breaks and you will die.

I should have tested the water.. But I just need to get it all out.. My emotions and feelings. This is the way I had always done it.

Besides. I can feel where the ice is bad. It is obviously thinner than the other and you can feel it on the blades...

Leaning back and allowing my feet to themselves around, I closed my eyes drifting off into my mind as the cold winter wind. I could paint the picture in my of the world around me, but who wants to stay in reality?

Instead, I was wrapped in the arms of a boy as he skated behind me. His presence was warm, but still, nerves and fear settled in on the girl ahead of us with matching brown hair and eyes. The same cold, pale skin. I could feel a hand grab mine as the three of us formed a small chain. Pulling around in a circle and the boy let go of me to spin his sister around and I smiled, looking up at the blue moon in the sky.

"It's amazing what we can come up with in our minds, isn't it Y/N?"A deep accented voice asked causing me to jump and look around.

"Who....Who are you?" I asked, fear creeping up into my mind, "What do you want from me? Where are-"

"Y/N?" The boy asked, his voice music to my ears, skating over to me and grabbing my hand, "Are you okay?" I looked into his eyes for a moment , then down at the small child clutching his leg, sadness and confusion drowning in her pupils. I smiled at him slightly, blushing a bit but still shaking from fear.

"Y-Yeah... I'm fine Jack." I faked a smile, leaning into his arms, "Just cold."

Jack? Why does this sound so familiar....

"Do you want to take a break? We can go inside and-"

"No." I cut him off, looking down at the girl, getting on one knee and hugging her briefly, "I think I'm jut going to sit down for a while. You two go on ahead. I be out there with you two in a minute." Nodding, we parted as I sat in the snow and the siblings spun each other around, Jack throwing me the occasional smile making me blush. It was nice.. peaceful. That was until a migraine was sent spiraling into my head forcing me to collapse into the snow.

"Why don't you just give into your mind Y/N?" The voice returned and I stood up , shaking slightly, turning to Jack and Emma, "Isn't it so much easier here? Where you don't have to try?"

Here? That's right.. I'm just in my head revisiting this nightmare.

"Leave me alone." I snapped coldly, standing onto my feet and getting back onto the slippery ice attempting to escape my own mind. If I keep fighting, maybe he'll leave me alone? That's how it usually works. I skated towards my two friends and looked behind me as the cloud of black swarms towards me. I paused, looking at the two who coward a bit, confused, like always.

Okay.. if you look at the cloud and think hard enough Y/N... It will stop and go away and leave you alone. Closing my eyes, I thought long and hard at the cloud, opening my eyes moments later only to find it closer .

An arm grabbed me from behind, reveling Jack holding Emma up to his chest and pulling me by the shoulder away as we ran into the woods.

"Y/N we have to keep going!" Jack shouted shaking me as I panted. "It will be here any minute."

"You're.... You're not real..." I said between pants, turning away from him and I sat on a log. "Go home... Take... Take Emma home."

"What are you talking about Y/N?!" He exclaimed and I felt a figure grasp my hand, "What do you mean I'm not real?"

"Yeah Y/N.." The dark voice haunted in my head, "What are you talking about?"

Tear brimmed at my eyes as I pinched my skin.

"I need to wake up.. I need to wake up right now."

"Y/N.." Jack pleaded before he was cut out by the voice once more.

"Right now love? Can't we have some fun first?"

As if that was enough for the voice to say, a memory of the man's face was enough to put me over the edge and move away from Jack in search of Emma.... But she wasn't there....

"Emma?" I hollered, looking around, "EMMA!" A sudden panic attack hit me as I ran franticly, trying to find the child, "EMMA! EMMA WHERE ARE-"

The sky suddenly got black and out of the corner of my mind a could hear a earth shattering scream as the cloud surrounded me, blurring up my vision. The black smoke filled my lungs and I coughed uncontrollably, falling to my knees as dizziness found me.

"How long did you think you could go without me finding you Y/N?" The voice continued, laughing darkly, "You're mine once more."

*His POV*

I tapped gently on Jamie's window, waiting for the eldest Bennett child let me in. Surprisingly, it was Sophie who instead let me into the house.

She wrapped her small arms around me and I picked her up gently as she laughed wildly.

"Hey Snowflake," I laughed as I set her down, "Look how much you've grown in a year."

"Merry Christmas Eve Jack." She beamed up at me as she grabbed my hand pulling me out of the room and I closed the window.

"Merry Christmas eve." I returned the smile, "Where's your brother?"

"Downstairs. Trying to call the sitter." She replied, "She's never late and usually is early. We're actually a bit worried.. Do you want to see him?"

"Sure." I shrugged as the girl rapidly ran me down the stairs screaming out to her brother who dropped the phone and ran into my embrace, nearly pushing me over.

"And look at you." I snickered as he let go, "You're going to be taller than me any day now!"

"How long do you get to stay Jack?" Jamie asked excitedly, causing his small sister to echo the action in a hyper manner.

"Um... I don't know. Maybe an hour or two. Maybe three-"

"But Jack!" Sophie cried out, "You never come and see us!"

"Sophie he has to make it snow! He's kind of busy and has more important things to do than to babysit us when Y/N Y/LN goes missing!"

"Hey now. You know you guys are my top priority..." I trailed off as the sentence the boy had just spoke repeated into my head, memories and concern flooding into my brain, "Jamie.. Did you just say..."

"Y/N? She's the middle child in the Y/L/N family? With her two siblings? Yeah. She also teaches Sophie how to Ice-Skate for free."

"Do you know her Jack?" Little Sophie asked sweetly.

"Yes." I sighed, full of worry, "Yes I do."

"How?" Jamie asked, pulling both he and his sister on the couch.

There is no way that I'm telling them the truth, they'd fear her and she isn't like that... She's never been like that...

"Um... We were friends. She knew me.. before I guess. When I had a sister just like you," I paused, placing a hand on Sophie's, "She used to teach Emma how to skate...We were close but something happened to her and then something happened to me... It's been a while since I've seen her actually..."

"Then let's go find her!" Both of them exclaimed and I couldn't help but snicker in my worry.

"I'll go. You two need to spend time together. It's Christmas Eve!" I made up the excuse as I headed towards the door

"But we wanna spend time with you! Please J-"

"Hey... I'll be right back.. And Y/N will be back with me too. Okay? Now be good." I replied leaving the two gaping at me, confused.

Soaring up into the air creating a snowstorm from my own fear, I flew to the lake where I'd been assigned to watch the girl and I called out to her.

I know, my directions were to wait, but I couldn't anymore. She's been found... She needs to know...

"Y/N..." I called gently, letting my feet hovering above the ice as my eyes scanned the area.

There.

A pothole right there, and I don't think she fell in. I really don't think things just work like that for her.

Never have, Never will.

Rushing to the area, I picked her small, shaking body up from the hole and started to fly her back to the house when I noticed the blood soaking through her sleeve, quickly rolling it up to revel a small message.

I'm back.

"Jack.." She moaned in her sleep, "He got me.. He hit me and he took everything and-"

"Shh... It's okay. I got you... Nothing's going to get you... Not anymore..."

"I'm so scared..."

"Don't be. Because nothing is going to touch you.. I have you again and I'm never going to let you go... Ever..."

#jack frost imagine #jack frost #jack frost x reader #jack frost imagines #rise of the guardians #rise of the guardians imagine #chris pine #rise of the guardians x reader #christmas #Christmas imagine #Christmas imagines x reader #Christmas imagines

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missnicolealways · 7 years

Text

Cataclysm - Chp 5

Chapter 5

Quill sat at a desk in one of the labs on the third floor. It had been five days since the incident. He twirled around one of the last apples that Raven Rock would see in a while. He focused on its flawless light green color.

“Where did you find one of those?” asked Leo as he snuck into the room. Leo was another member of the council that Quill found himself in agreeance with most often.

“I decided to grab one from the pantry before they all disappear.” Quill responded.

“Sneaky devil. Well, I gathered that information on the food and water statistics you asked for. I also have the latest radiation levels.” Leo stated. “They have finished the Radverse as well, so now all we need are the test subjects.”

Radverse was the next form of medication that the scientists had come up with to fight off radiation. Little to no one knew about the new medicine or the time it took to create.

“Now is the time to act. We are in our third month of our council seat and time is of the essence. If we can swing the public into a state of emergency, we can lock down the council seats. If we can maintain power, gain, and share knowledge people will look to us for the answers. Of course, that means we get to decide what knowledge will be passed,” Leo said with a grin that twisted his smile crooked.

“Shaeden knows the answers. She will not be a power so easily pushed to the side.” Quill responded without any enthusiasm. “We will really need to push the food and water shortage for this to pass.”

“With the information I have, and this data showing the radiation leaks…” Leo started.

“No one is going to be keen on sending twelve people into what could still be nuclear winter. They might not even make it the night, let alone the hour.” Quill interjected.

“We have enough evidence that even the ones who oppose would have no choice. However, I also I think I have one thing of higher persuasion; one of us needs to volunteer.” Leo said looking at Quill. “Not only to keep an eye on Shaeden but also so we can have the answers firsthand. For one of the council to give up his seat to volunteer…Oh, that deed will not be forgotten by the people anytime soon. I know nothing of natural science and I struggle to even walk my schedule every day.”

“How long have you been thinking up this one?” Quill responded

“It will work. And you know it. Take your journal and write your notes. Watch Shaeden and how her mind works. Be one of the first to go onto the Crust again. Write your story and tell your side. We can cast lights however we want to. If Shaeden stays shrouded in shadows no one will want to ask her questions.” Leo pushed persuasively.

Quill stood up from the desk and pondered on this. He greatest desire was power. Power comes from knowledge. Quill smiled as he took a large bite of his apple. “Maybe you should volunteer my friend. Sounds like you have this all figured out.”

Leo grinned in response. Quill took a second bite of the apple and threw it in the trash as they walked out the door and down the hall.

The meeting was about to start and that was their cue. They opened the door to the almost empty room and took their seats. Light polite chitchat took place while waiting for everyone to arrive. The descendants were there when they arrived as well as the beautiful Ms. Diamond. The two descendants currently in power were Oak and his son Jay.

Slowly the rest of the council walked in. Kade, with his broad, intimidating shoulders was one of the guard. Blossom and Willow arrived at the same time. Blossom was one of the lead seamstresses and Willow worked with the chickens. Alaric was the last to show up.

“Now that everyone is present, the meeting can begin,” Oak said standing tall. “Quill, I believe your information should be brought to the table first.”

Quill took a deep breath before he began his update on all of Raven Rock. “All the floors have power again. We are working on removing debris still, but the volunteers have been a great help. Agriculture is badly damaged but we believe we can save at least one of each plant type. The Reflection room is still in progress. Lights have to be rehung and some need new electrical wiring. Surprisingly, the fish hatchery survived with little damage as did the chicken coops. We are in the process of rebuilding both. The kitchen made it through; however, most of the food did not. The third floor turned out fine, as you can clearly see. The fourth floor, same as the third, only pieces of debris. Kinetic tiles are being replaced as damages are fixed. Levels five, six, and seven suffered little to no damage. However, on the eighth floor, we have noticed a shortage in the water supply.”

Quill sighed. “Basically, our water is at about a seventy percent flow compared to normal and the chemists have noted that this is steadily declining. Our water is limited, as well as our food. We lost a great amount of food in the wreckage. We have a couple of pantries that made it through, but the plants, chickens, and fish are going to need time to replenish. On a final note, radiation has been leaking through the walls since the damage. We need to execute the ration policies from The Pact, as well as major wall repairs.”

The Pact served as a final ruling to ensure that fairness stays strong even when situations were tight. It was a set of rules that all of their ancestors had sworn on. It held ideas and solutions for different situations. Should water and food supply become low, rationing is recommended.

Everyone took a minute to absorb the status report Quill had just given. “How is the girl?” Oak asked. Oak was the oldest of the Eden line. He had served his people for forty years since his father had died at a young age.

“She is recovering fast. It’s only been five days but she is being taken out of the cocoon today. She will then start physical rehab for her knee replacement.” Jay answered.

“And what is the plan of action to fix our water and food?” Oak asked.

“I have an idea. Ever since Quill brought this information to my attention I have been working on a solution. I believe I have come up with a permanent one.” Leo stated.

“Okay, let’s hear it.” Oak said.

“I want to assemble a group of thirteen people. It’s going to take about a month to properly train them, but I want to send out on to the Crust.” Leo answered and waited for a response.

“Are you crazy, the amount of radiation could kill them in minutes or hours. The soil alone would not able to grow plants without radiation traces, not to mention any animal found we would have to assume are inedible too. We have all seen how radiation poisoning ends.” Willow stated.

“I know this is a far stretch but recently I have had word from the doctors that there is a new treatment. They call it Radverse. This is the first-time humans have ever been in this position. No one knows for sure how long the earth would take to heal but it’s been four hundred and thirty-three years, in case anyone has lost count.” Quill responded aggressively.

“Who would you send and what would they be looking for?” Oak questioned.

“They would be fully trained and equipped. The group can be decided upon but Shaeden has to go. She holds the memories and that will guide them in the wild. We need them to find a safe water supply. Water somewhere we could colonize.” Leo explained

“We can’t send Shaeden. She is finally about to hit the learning peak and we can’t risk losing that.” Jay responded

“She has to go. She is the guide,” Alaric chimed in. “She holds the memories in her brain, like a computer. I’ve witnessed it. The Elder is going on sixty and Colt is only thirteen. She is the only one. Without her, this group would not only get lost and never make it back, but also, they wouldn’t understand what their surroundings even were. Who is going to explain rain when it falls? She is the strongest predecessor we have had yet.” Alaric looked around the table. “One way or another we will have a lot of questions answered in the end.” Silence took over the room.

“This bunker was supposed to last at least seven hundred years and the predictions were that the ground wouldn’t be ready for humans until at least another two hundred years.” Blossom remarked.

“I can have the chemists and the guard take a look at the water supply but I think the earthquake caused some permanent blockage. It’s only a matter of time, not to mention patching the radiation leaks is a temporary solution. Also, keep in mind, we haven’t been able to get in touch with the other bunkers for over two hundred years. Who knows what secrets the earth holds.” Quill stated.

“Who knows what may have happened to them! Maybe their radios went bad, it was amazing the material lasted the two hundred years.” Blossom retorted.

“Everyone had material and instructions on how to keep their radio up to date.” Quill interjected.

“I simply do not find it fair to send these people out to their almost inevitable death.” Willow, again, put in her two cents.

“Everyone but Shaeden would be a volunteer. And she doesn’t count simply because we have not asked her yet.” Leo said helping them regain control in the debate.

“Does anyone have another plan?” Oak asked bluntly. No one responded. Blossom blushed as if a little embarrassed.

“I will volunteer,” said Quill out of nowhere. “Someone from the council should go. I can keep an eye on everyone and have detailed notes to report back with since I know what information we are trying to gather.” Everyone stood in shock at Quill’s statement. Leaving your seat meant you could not get it back until the next election box.

“All right.” Oak said. “Let’s take it to a vote. We will train these volunteers in the thirty days’ time. If anyone has come up with another plan in the meantime, we will revisit the subject before allowing the group to leave Raven Rock. Does anyone not agree to the terms?” The vote had to be unanimous for this type of situation.

“I think it is fair. With no second plan, we must prepare for the first.” Kade inserted his opinion. The room fell silent and since no one objected; the vote cleared.

“Okay Leo, who do you have in mind to send?” Oak asked.

“Well, Shaeden. And then I would like to send a doctor with an assistant, a radiation scientist, an agriculture scientist and about seven sentinels. We already have a strong group of elite sentinel to select from.” Leo answered.

“Okay, please give me detail sheets on those proposed to go. After I look through them we will call the group to a meeting in two days’ time.” Oak stated. “Any final comments or questions?” Again no one responded to his deep, authoritative voice. “All right, I shall see everyone in two days. Until then let’s get this place back to standard. Give special attention to properly patching the radiation spots. Everyone be sure to work with their respective department.”

catch up at nicolegrobmyer.com

#the100 #the end of the world #meteor #story #read #book #nuclear winter #post apocalyptic #post apocalypse #apocalypse #bunker #bunkers

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freeteach-blog · 7 years

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Student Teaching: Day 4

Feel asleep late in the day, so I didn’t post this on time as well. Don’t worry I’ll get myself together this weekend.

But on this day, I was much more involved! I was able to work with a small group (from the same class that finished testing early the day before) of students - seven to be exact. It was great, but at the same time, I was able to revisit my limitations as an individual. I am someone who needs time to review and rehearse in order to sound, feel, and become knowledgeable about a topic or to perform a task well. I also need to write things down. Yes I can follow auditory instructions well, but the moment I need to pass information on, the facts get jumbled around in my brain. Even for the simplest of tasks. This is because the moment I need to recite any information, my brain generates multiple questions about it that it causes me to feel doubtful of myself and question the validity of the information I’ve recorded.

In this case, my c.t. had asked me to read a short, 4-page story, look for literary devices (similes, metaphors, etc.) and discuss the work with the 7 students, who would then take a short survey and write a book review/recommendation. I read the story and identified all the literary devices and figurative language in the text, but silly me, I didn’t annotate the text. At the moment I figured, yeah I got this, I’m fine. Future-me was not happy with past-me’s decision.

I sat with the students and we reviewed what literary devices were and then they read the text (each person got a hardcopy). When it came time to discuss what literary devices they found, I had to scramble with them and flipped through pages to annotate the text. This was not an efficient way to lead a discussion, because I definitely moved a lot slower than them and could have used the time spent annotating to ensure they were marking their texts. Also noted, was when I said literary devices, they corrected me and saying it was called “figurative language”, which is true, but the questions were running through my head and I doubted myself. Instead of answering saying they were the same thing, that figurative language falls under the umbrella of literary devices (under literary techniques), I just said, “oh I messed up”.

I felt really silly kept moving. I noticed students had some misunderstandings about some of these elements of figurative language. For example, one student misidentified a few descriptive comparisons as metaphors. One, in the text, a grandmother tells her granddaughter that the jewelry she wore made her look older, and he thought that was a metaphor. It wasn’t. Two, the author describes that the grandmother’s neck was “toasted” by the hot summer sun. He thought it was a metaphor. It wasn’t. A few were confused by onomatopoeia and didn’t quite get why the word “pop” and “buzz” fit the bill.

I could have done better with the group. I could have prepared the definitions for all of the literary devices and turned it into a simple game as a way to better refresh their memory. I also could have prepared the survey for them beforehand instead of spending almost 10 minutes looking for it, on their classroom website, at the beginning of our session. I also could have briefly gone over what the expectations were for completing the survey before they started. I had assumed they had already known about the reading, survey, and figurative language elements before the session. I should have known better since in my previous job, the unofficial motto was basically “assume nothing”. I will definitely remember this and carry this motto over to do better next time.

#studentteaching #student teaching

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ecotone99 · 5 years

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[HM] The Wooden Board .

No matter how hard I try, I will never be a better person than him.

I wondered if he had a chip in his head to store all the answers, or if he had unlimited room in his brain. Everyone in the school knew his name, and all the teachers praised him for his intellectual abilities. I stood immediately behind him in the queue, but none of them bothered to hear my name out, and none of them shook their hands with me. In a sky full of stars, only the brightest one is being noted. Just don’t try to forget that the world remembers only the one who comes first, and my school followed the same *** rules.

I was glancing at the names in the wooden board, which was thrice the size of me. My school had a habit of honouring the one who tops the final exam by carving their name in that wooden board. Every year, one lucky(hardworking) student would get their name on that board. That one student would be remembered forever whereas the rest of them would vanish in the thin air. I wished to get my name carved in that wooden board, but to do that I got to beat the one who never got beaten before. It was impossible to outdo him as he never missed a centum before. I could get my name on the board only if I level him up. He was the only barrier to get my name on the wooden board. And the worst part was, he was my cousin. Everyone in our family praised him for his intellectual abilities. Even my father used to compare me with him, and I hated that the most.

I worked harder than ever, and I did well in my final exams, but still, I was nervous as I never knew if it was enough to get my name on the board. The second hand of the clock seemed to move much slower than ever. My heart almost popped out after seeing the principal on the stage. Our school’s tradition was to announce the name of the top scorer in front of the crowd. After a few minutes of his “blah-blah” talks, the principal took a piece of paper from his pocket. We all knew what it was, and he was about the read the name in the list in no matter of time. The pace of my heartbeat had doubled, and I felt the blood flow in my veins. My jaw dropped after hearing my name. Everyone in the crowd applauded me. I verified with my friend who sat next to me to make sure if I had got that right.

I was on cloud nine as tons and tons of them had congratulated me, and for the first time in 17 years, I was the hottest topic among my relatives. At last, I got my name carved on that wooden board. That was the best moment of my entire life. I was the shining star now.

I always dreamt of seeing my name on that board. I revisited my school many times to admire the wooden board. While I was admiring my name, I accidentally met him. Since the result day, I never got to see him again. He congratulated me for achieving this feat. In return, I congratulated him for scoring the second rank. That's when he said that he was not among the top 10.

What? How is it even possible?

“Have you applied for re-evaluation?” I asked him, trying to console him.

He shook his head sideways and left the auditorium without uttering another word. I never believed in what he said. I ran across the stairs and reached the auditorium to check what he had scored.

What the hell happened to him? Is he sick during the exam? Or Did someone swap his OMR sheet? Or did the computer made some mistakes while correcting his answer sheet? The top-scorer of all time was not on the list of the top ten. How is it even possible? He had never missed a centum before. Dropping from centum to 99 looked reasonable, but dropping from 100 to 86 disturbed my sleep. No one cared to knew what happened to him. Many people said that he lost his marks just because of his overconfidence. Some teachers suggested that he managed to score centum in the practice tests because of his malfeasant activities. Those were the same teachers who praised him once.

Even our principal never bothered to find out what had happened to him. Yes, this **** world remembers only the one who comes first. In no matter of time, I turned to be their favourite, and he vanished in the thin air.

“He always dreamt to wear the white coat, but he never got that chance. He is a clever lad, and I always wonder what happened to him on the day of the exam. Even in his wildest dream, he would never become a doctor again.” His dad said.

After hearing his dad’s words, I decided to apply revaluation on behalf of him. It was illegal to re-check the OMR sheet of the attendant without the attendant’s knowledge, but I did the same. I submitted the re-checking form, which had his signature on the bottom, but it had my address on the top. It took me three hours to practice his signature. I hoped that the computer might have made some mistakes while correcting his OMR sheet.

For the next two days, I was waiting in the corridor, waiting for the postman. After a long wait, the postman dropped the envelope. I rushed to my room and closed the door from inside. I carefully opened the envelope and took the copy of his OMR sheet from it. I cross verified the wrong answers with the result keys, but my attempts to find out the err in the correction ended in vain. Unlike humans, the computer would never make a mistake. But, I noted a strange pattern in the OMR sheet which took my breath away. The interval between every wrong answer was the same. For every 7th question, he opted to chose the wrong option. 7,14,21,28…..98 was an only multiplication table ran in my mind. Is it a mere coincidence? Or Did Someone else swap his OMR sheet?

After a few days, I waited in his street for more than an hour, and I was waiting for his arrival. At last, he showed up. He smiled after seeing me, and I smiled back. I was nervous, and I never knew how to start. I never had the guts to open up. What if he sues me for evaluating his paper without his knowledge? was my only fear which stopped me from asking him.

“Is seven your favourite number?” I asked him by pausing every word and staring at him without blinking my eye.

“Yes, how do you know?” He frowned. It was not a mere coincidence. I felt the goosebumps for the first time in many years, and I turned to a statue. He lost his marks by purpose, but why?

Years passed by, and we lived our lives. After twelve years, I had completed my course, and I was the best neurosurgeon in the country, whereas he was just a professor.

‘You made a big mistake. You would have become the best neurosurgeon if you had answered those questions. You missed the chance of travelling in your Lamborghini, and you missed a lot of things. The list never ends, mate.’ I said.

‘Treating the unknown patient will never make me happy, but taking my dad to the hospital when he was sick or when he had a small sprain in his leg made me happy. I had no idea of how Lamborghini would look, but I am sure that travelling alongside my dad in an unreserved compartment, and offering him a seat when the train was full will bring a smile on my face. No Lamborghini or Bugatti could ever buy that smile. As you know that my dad is a widower, and he sacrificed his entire life by providing the best for me. I am his world, and he is my world. I chose to stay with him than being a neurosurgeon.’

Life is not all about winning the race, it’s all about travelling with your loved ones. We live in a world where people overtake each other for fame. In the end, the only thing which stays with you is your memories. I won the race to get my name on the board, but he won the game of life.

The average expectancy of a human is 76 years, which is a mere 27760 days. Getting your name carved on the board, or being a neurosurgeon is not an achievement. Huge sacrifices to spend your time with your loved ones is the real achievement. After all, humanity comes before fame.

No matter how hard I try, I will never be a better human than him.

Living a life without a companion will be the worst days in everyone’s life.

TO ALL THE KIDS.

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gaiabros · 7 years

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Short on time? Head on over to our ELECTROWEEN Mixes page where we have created an archive for all of our ELECTROWEEN productions. There you will find our latest 2017 mixes to stream and download. We will be adding additional mixes from other projects in the future, so please subscribe to GAIA BROS to receive forthcoming news and announcements.

Prologue: Alone In A Basement (An Origins Story)

In October 1994, somewhere in a small suburb of Detroit, I was playing by myself in my Ghostbusters tent in the drafty unfinished basement of my parents’ house. All of the lights were off, with the exception being the ceiling light near the stairs heading up to the main floor. It was almost Halloween, and my curiosity was unquenchable.

I had inside the tent with me a single battery powered cassette player and a tape that I had smuggled from my parents without raising suspicion. Being young and foolish, my inquiring mind drove me to ask but one innocent little question:

“What else is there?”

With the help of the internet, I tracked down the memory of a tent that had almost been consumed by time. What is shown below closely depicts the visual atmosphere of this personal memoire I wish to share. This I remember vividly.

Encounter With The Tape

I had managed to load my cassette player with the blood red Halloween tape my Mom used for luring brave trick or treaters to our doorsteps. This particular tape included all sorts of haunted sounds, noises and things within the realm of the supernatural. Ghosts shrieking. People screaming. Chains dragging on cement. Zombies moaning. It was truly horrifying for a seven year old boy; my brain at that age often blurred the lines between fantasy and reality. I dared myself to listen as long as my bravery lasted, which was no longer than five minutes. Spooked by my imagination recreating all of the surreal scenes around me, I ran upstairs as fast as possible, never stopping to look behind me at what was following and chasing me…

Leaving that tape to continue to play on, into the empty darkness of bare, cold concrete and musty air…

A Tale From A Dark Place, Carried

Undoubtably, this was one of the scariest experiences of my entire life. I distinctly remember the feeling of being chased by the void and my heart racing at insane speeds. The influence of that vivid moment in my early childhood left a permanent scar on my subconscious mind. Looking back, I can say that it planted an endless curiosity of the unknown — and an eagerness to come to terms with it.

“No End Darkness” — my latest mix released for ELECTROWEEN 2017 — is the most recent and honest attempt I’ve made at revisiting that frigid, dreadful basement and remembering what it was like…

Sensing the coldness of the air…

Grasping the presence of absence….

Witnessing the canvas of the void…..

Feeling hopelessly vulnerable and alone.

Twenty three years later, that tape still plays its haunted cacophony into the atmoshere within the depths of my soul.

Reconciliation

This is my personal encounter that I’ve chosen to share with the world, and by doing so, have come to confront my fears and the wholeness of life once again.

Knowing the darkness is a personal experience we must all wrestle with in some aspect of our mortal existence. However, it is through the honesty of our shared vulnerability that we discover the most promising truth of human existence:

That each of us is not alone.

“No End Darkness” Mix Liner Notes

From Scott: These are the sounds of a past golden age, paired with the technology of the present. Some of these tracks have echoed in my mind for the past 20 years and never left me. They are the video games and stories I grew up with, forever entwined in the fibers of the visionary synthwave works and gaming titles of today. This is the present in full reconciliation with the past. Everything is relevant, and nothing is forgotten.

These artists and their counterparts communicate the importance of narrative, of colossal struggle and the great lengths protagonists go to fulfill their missions. They tell of creative diligence, uninhibited imagination, and a reconnection to the core essence of humanity; that is, the capacity to endure life’s most difficult trials in dark times.

Key influences for this mix include Castlevania (The new Netflix Original series released in July, created by American film producer Adi Shankar), Stranger Things Season 1 (in anticipation of Season 2 releasing October 27th!), Game of Thrones (HBO’s masterpiece, particularly season 7 here), and all of the timeless 80s/90s NES masterpieces (in particular: Ninja Gaiden, Castlevania, The Legend of Zelda, and Mega Man series). While I know these creations are not for everyone, I could not hold them in higher regards nor offer more significant recommendations for those adventurous in spirit, mind, and heart.

I should note that No End Darkness is just as much of a political statement as it is a memoir. Perhaps some of the included pieces speak to your own experiences this year; maybe none of them will. It is crucial for me to note that my objective is not to seek agreement nor acceptance from its creation. This project came out of a need to express myself and challenge the forces dictating this very moment. Now that it has been released into the wild, it may very well speak for others too, but not intentionally.

This work is dedicated to my loving parents and brother; for introducing me to the darkness at an early age, and giving me the strength to learn from it and fight it, no matter the cost. Thanks for all of your support along the way. I love you guys.

“The Nightmare Begins” Mix Liner Notes

The Nightmare Begins came into being after one of the best gaming experiences I have had. Early this year The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild released with the Nintendo Switch. Then the idea was fully formed with my viewing of American Horror Story: My Roanoke Nightmare. From those inspirations came a steadier mix filled with atmosphere instead of the bombastic electro that came in years prior.

Zelda BoTW is a video game all about exploration. Within the land of Hyrule, there are no waypoints or map markers telling the player where to go. Every destination you must set on your own by climbing up a high area to see interesting points in the distance. Complete directionlessness is given to you, but the developers trusted they built an interesting enough world that you’d want to explore anyways. In addition, I decided to play with the pro-HUD on, which takes away the minimap and forces you to remember your surroundings and paths. Just getting lost in the world was one of the most enjoyable experiences I’ve ever had in a video game. Combined with themes of loss and Zelda’s timeless charm this is a perfect combination for ELECTROWEEN.

Getting LOST was what I took away from this game. The point was to go for a jaunt in the woods and get sidetracked. Find something that sparked your interest? That something could turn out to be a cute Korok (a type of woodland spirit) or a dangerous Guardian that could down you in one hit. Whatever the consequences it was always compelling and fun. Link, the character you play as, wakes up at the beginning of the game to find his own nightmare come to fruition. As Link, you must go through this waking nightmare. I wanted to reflect this in my mix, but with a much darker and slower tone than previous years.

I first came across American Horror Story with my girlfriend, Jessica. She asked me to watch it with her, as it is one of her favorite shows, I was reluctant. Historically, I’ve not been a fan of extremely scary tv or cinema. For those not familiar, American Horror Story changes every season in what story is told and the way in which it is told. We started by watch season 5: Hotel. Other than the performance by Lady Gaga, I didn’t enjoy the show. It was watching this year, season 6: My Roanoke Nightmare that got me hooked. The first half of the season is done in the style of true stories, that is, the “real” people are recounting their horrible time at the Roanoke Manner while actors act out the scenes. The second half of the season is played out like a reality show. The entire season is thrilling, tense, and extremely graphic. The many times I wanted to cover my eyes in horror, I also wanted to dive back into the show night after night.

Yes, a theme of My Roanoke Nightmare was getting lost in the woods. Unlike Zelda, this usually played out poorly for the heroes. Both Zelda and American Horror Story were my two and only influences for this mix. Usually, I have several others, but these two pieces of media were masters of their respective areas, it only felt right to draw from them.

Inside The Nightmare Begins: Different From Years Past

The Nightmare Begins is much slower than previous ELECTROWEEN mixes. It was very difficult for me to find songs that fit into what I wanted at the beginning. I started with a list of about twenty songs I thought could work, knowing that many had to be manipulated in ways I wasn’t quite comfortable with yet. I ended up throwing about half of my original track list out and completely replacing those selections.

The first song I knew I wanted in the mix was Hot Lights by Lany. This song set the tone for what I wanted the mix to be. A plodding medley focused on the somber mood, yet something you could dance to. My usual sources of Bandcamp and Beatport were quite useless at the beginning of my search. Fortunately this year I was exposed to quite a bit of Lana Del Rey, thanks to Jessica. Three of Lana’s songs are in The Nightmare Begins since she captures such a dreamy darkness with her voice. It was a perfect match!

Most, if not all, of the song selections were slowed down between 10 to 40 bpm — even Lana Del Rey’s songs were slowed down. Two songs, Somebody Else and Starboy were fast upbeat club remixes. Both of the song tempos were reduced heavily to give the exact feeling I wanted. Personally, I thought the slowed down versions sounded amazing. Check out the originals below:

I discovered it was difficult to pick out songs because I had to listen to the songs as if they were already slowed down. I had to see if the music would sound good together in a much slower tempo. Fortunately, it worked out for the best and now you can enjoy The Nightmare Begins.

Art and Music: The Voices of The Times

One takeaway we hope our work conveys is the reminder that no art form exists within a vacuum. Every personal creation is subject to the circumstances of the time and age from which it is crafted. In this way, these mixes give voice to an era ravaged by the evil-doing of cowardly men and women, the few seeking to fulfill personal agendas at the expense of the many. Every day has felt darker since their arrival, and the nights longer…

Right now, this Halloween season, we ask Karma to return the light to these lands again soon and conquer the darkness in which we find ourselves living. The great balance will be restored. In the meantime, we suffer through the long night together. Not just as a people, or a nation, but more so as a species that has survived hundreds of thousands of years of pain, grievances and tragedies alike.

As we continue to endure the darkness and nightmares before us and within ourselves, let us never forget the pendulum swings both ways.

Yours,

SW (VII) and MK (Loveless)

ELECTROWEEN 2017's No End Darkness and The Nightmare Begins are musical journeys into the depths of Hell itself. Short on time? Head on over to our ELECTROWEEN Mixes page where we have created an archive for all of our ELECTROWEEN productions.

#2017 #80s #Darkness #Electro Pop #ELECTROWEEN #Gaming #Halloween #Mixes #Nightmares #Rock #Synthwave #VG OST

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edgysocial · 7 years

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New Post has been published on http://edgysocial.com/12-refreshing-tips-on-how-to-live-a-stress-free-life-in-2017/

12 Refreshing Tips On How To Live A Stress-Free Life in 2017

You’re reading 12 Refreshing Tips On How To Live A Stress-Free Life in 2017, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’re enjoying this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

The Internet is full of resources on time management, tips for a stress-free life, and finding work-life balance. Since we are unique creatures with varying personalities and goals, it’s nearly impossible to come up with a formula to a better lifestyle. The most we can do is to search, test, and share techniques that worked for us. In the bestselling self-help book Nine Things Successful People Do Differently, Heidi Grant Halvorson noted the science-based strategies on stress management. The principles, including having self-compassion and remembering the “big picture,” are recommended both for business and personal productivity. One of the most important tactics Halvorson shares is looking at your shortcomings with kindness and understanding. A study published in the Journal of Research of Personality suggests that self-compassion has significant positive association with happiness, optimism, and personal initiative. People with self-compassion are less depressed and more successful. For 2017, I vowed to make changes in my life. I refuse to waste away my energy worrying and devote my time on those that truly matter. Here are 12 techniques that helped me glide through the last year that might help you as well. #1: (Really) know yourself more

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How do you know yourself? Do you fully understand what triggers your anxiety, or what calms you down? In 1921, renowned psychoanalyst Carl Jung’s Psychological Types introduced two major personalities, the introverted and the extroverted types. Generally, an introvert draws energy from spending time in solitude while an extrovert functions better when surrounded by other people. Two years after Jung’s publication, the mother-daughter tandem of Katharine Briggs and Isabel Briggs Myers began their study on the various personality types. They later came up with the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) with the main purpose of making Jung’s theory of psychological types “understandable and useful in people’s lives.” By taking the MBTI, you’d have a deeper understanding on your perception, strengths and weaknesses, emotions, and how you deal with others. Your personality can also explain your workplace habits, guiding you on how to plan your next career moves. #2: Understand your mental condition

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For some people, following a set of recommended steps to a stress-free life is not as easy as it seems. There may be an underlying medical condition that hinders you from calming your nerves. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, roughly 18% of US adults are suffering from an anxiety disorder. This mental condition is characterized by restlessness or irritability, feeling tense and jumpy, pounding of heart and shortness of breath, upset stomach, fatigue, and insomnia. The treatments available include psychotherapy, anti-anxiety, and antidepressant drugs, and alternative medicine such as yoga and meditation. Anxiety can make other conditions such as depression and sleeping problems worse. If your anxiety is interfering with your daily activities, see a doctor immediately. #3: Be kinder to yourself

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Our mistakes and failures help define us. If your relationship didn’t work out, there’s a reason for that. For many years, I also beat myself up for a relationship that ended bitterly. There were nights when I would replay our last days together to analyze what I did wrong and how I could’ve made the situation better. I only benefitted from these painful reminiscing when I finally decided to move on and learn from these mistakes. The same goes with my business decisions. Whenever I make a wrong turn, I briefly identify the problems, draft a solution, and move on to my next course of action. As Louise L. Hay wrote in You Can Heal Your Life, “Remember, you have been criticizing yourself for years and it hasn’t worked. Try approving yourself and see what happens.” #4: Aspire for quality sleep

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One key to a better life is adequate sleep. The National Sleep Foundation recommends that adults aged 18 to 64 should get seven to nine hours of uninterrupted sleep each night. Working as a manager in a real estate company is not an easy undertaking. Meetings can last for hours, leaving me too exhausted to doze off at bedtime. Sleep deprivation has a serious impact on your well-being. It can increase your risk to diabetes, heart disease, and hypertension, and weaken your immunity. According to the Harvard Medical School, insufficient sleep affect mental performance. “Concentration, working memory, mathematical capacity, and logical reasoning are all aspects of cognitive function compromised by sleep deprivation,” it warns. How do I manage to get right amount of sleep each night? I regulate my caffeine consumption. I skip coffee after 5 p.m. I also set a rule to disconnect from any electronic device (cellphone, laptop, and TV) at least an hour before bedtime. Finally, I decluttered my bedroom to free my mind from distractions. #5: Push yourself to exercise

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Like many people, I had my love-hate relationship with my rubber shoes. I could come up with the lamest excuses just to avoid going to the gym. Then about two years ago, I noticed that I could barely keep up with my older sisters when we go malling on weekends. They called my attention. I was breathing hard and sweating profusely after only 15 minutes of walking. I weighed 20 kilos above my normal weight and I got tired easily. Getting into a fitness program is like climbing a mountain. The hardest part is the beginning. Once you get the hang of it, your body will demand it. I didn’t place any pressure on myself. First, I set an achievable goal—to log an hour of moderate exercise per day, three times a week. Then, I increased it to two hours, including 30 minutes of vigorous exercise. I also took note of my diet. I only eat the amount of calories I can burn in the gym. I lost 10 kilos in six months. More than losing weight and being able to move more freely, my perspective in life changed. I learned to listen to my body and prioritize its needs. #6: Less salt and fast food treats

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I only realized that I’ve been consuming too much sodium when I stopped eating in fast food restaurants for a month. Why did I do it? It was more of an experiment I placed upon myself after watching the Academy Award nominated documentary Super Size Me. In the 2004 documentary, American independent filmmaker Morgan Spurlock ate only McDonald’s food for 30 days. The result? Spurlock gained 11 kilos, and increased his body mass by 13% and his cholesterol to 230 mg/dL. Scary! My schedule was jampacked, juggling work, writing, and pursuing other endeavors. I usually had working brunches in fast food restaurants. The only time I cooked my food, which were not exactly healthy, were on weekends. Super Size Me gave me a new perspective. I came up with a challenge—to stop eating out for a month. The changes were amazing. I couldn’t stand too much salt anymore and preferred to prepare my food. Most importantly, I recognized a drastic change in my mood. I was less stressed and irritable. #7: Declutter your life

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Your unkempt kitchen, messy work desk, and pile of clothes in your bedroom are stressors. Professor Joseph Ferrari of DePaul University in Chicago said: “It’s the danger of clutter, the totality of one’s possessions being so overwhelming that it chips away at your well-being, relationships, and more, drowning in a sea of stuff.” He noted that a chaotic and disorderly living space can disturb your “sense of home and ability to bond with others.”

Organizing consultant and author Marie Kondo shares some tips on how to declutter your space. Keep only the items that make you happy or those that “spark joy.” Clean by category, not by location. You can start with your closet. Place your pile of clothes in a corner and decide on every item. You’d realize how much stuff you’ve accumulated. This also applies with your work area. The cleaner your desk, the clearer your mind!

#8: Use technology to make jobs easier, not more complicated

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We have an app for nearly every type of activities, from tracking a project to monitoring our heartbeat. Use these to help you finish tasks faster. How do you choose the right app for you? You can choose those with good reviews from fellow users. Try them and decide whether they work for you or not. If you run your own firm or manage some areas of company’s operations, take advantage of outsourcing. You can’t run a stress-free business if you try to do things on your own. One area you can outsource is your social media management. Explore bots that can help handle the influx of queries or a third-party firm that can aid in your social media marketing strategies. Discover Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems that can help your sales team monitor accounts and activities, and generate reports.

#9: Revisit a hobby you’ve been neglecting

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Do you have a passion that you keep on putting off? This may be a cause of your high stress levels. Before I joined the workforce, I have been a film enthusiast and a prolific reader. I also submitted poems and short stories to several publications in and out of campus. I was convinced that working in the corporate somehow drained my creative juice. Organizing my schedule to allow time for film watching, reading, and writing not only reduced my stress. It also boosted my energy in the office and kept my moods high even on the toughest of days. #10: Disconnect as you see fit

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Is it the fact that you’re online, or that you know you can get summoned for work anytime, that’s causing you stress? According to a new study, “Exhausted But Unable To Disconnect,” the anticipatory stress and expectation of answering after-office-hours emails are adding pressure to employees. “If an organization perpetuates the ‘always-on’ culture, it may prevent employees from fully disengaging from work, eventually leading to chronic stress,” said study author Liuba Belkin of Lahigh University.

As a manager in a real estate company, I was guilty of putting my team on edge 24/7. I didn’t care if they’re resting at home or spending the holiday with their family. I sent them text messages or emails regarding their prospecting and sales activities. Later on, I noticed that we’re all stressed and agitated about work. Sales is an ongoing process, making it tough for us to impose a rule on disconnecting at certain hours. However, our team came up with an idea—I’d ask for their reports before we go off to holidays. If a sales agent is closing a sale on a holiday, he/she would let me know the approximate time I can expect his call for assistance or updates. When the business is done, we’d disconnect.

#11: Walk as often as you can

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Walking has therapeutic effects. Do you know that a 10-minute walk can be as good to your mind and body as a 45-minute workout? Whenever my many activities leave me burnt out, I grab my trainers and walk around our neighborhood. Walking has a strong symbolism for me—I leave the worries behind me with every step I take. Then, I enjoy a hot cup of tea and listen to soothing music. These I do before going back to a strenuous work. #12: Live in the present

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“The only thing that is ultimately real about your journey is the step that you are taking this very moment. That’s all there ever is,” says Eckhart Tolle. For many years, I struggled with anxiety. I didn’t understand where my illogical fears were coming from until I talked to a professional. I was encouraged to do therapy, one of which is meditation. Meditation is not easy for first timers. I couldn’t shut out my mental discourses and usually ended up frustrated after a meditation session. Eckhart Tolle’s Power of Now was my answer. It involved a mindset: being conscious about the present moment. I started by paying close attention to the sensations of my skin, the rhythm of my breathing and my surroundings. Whenever a difficult situation hits me, I stop and ask myself, “Do I have problem at this very minute?” The answer is usually no. According to Tolle, unless it’s quite rare to encounter a problem in the present moment. Most of our worries are in the past and future, which are inexistent. It is said that stress is the norm of our modern society. It is the norm because we make it so. Dare to change your lifestyle. At the end of the day, you’re the captain of your ship.

You’ve read 12 Refreshing Tips On How To Live A Stress-Free Life in 2017, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’ve enjoyed this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement

#2017 #life #Live #refreshing #Stressfree #Tips #Personal Development

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