#30m Challenge

[markantonys]

AITA for joining a "cult" that thinks my sister and mom are Darkfriends?

First, some backstory. I (30m) have always been an outsider in my family. It wasn't anything to do with my parents - dad (dead) always spent all his time with me instead of my younger siblings, and (step)mom (43f) always gave me extra attention compared to her bio kids because she didn't want me to feel neglected - or with my brother (21m), who's always looked up to me. It was all because of my sister (19f). She's hated and bullied me ever since she was a toddler, and I have no idea why. I guess maybe she doesn't think I'm her real brother, or blames me for telling on her whenever she did irresponsible things like climb trees and talk to strangers. All I've ever done is try to keep her safe, but she's never appreciated it.

Anyway, there's this organization (my sister claims it's a cult, though I don't think that's fair) that's dedicated to serving the Light. My mom always hated them and kept them banned from our country because she thinks they have an agenda against women who can channel, and she's one herself, as is my sister. I used to believe her, but after reading one book written by the organization's founder, I realized that my mom has a totally biased view of them and they're actually doing really important work founded on admirable principles. So when my sister went missing at the hands of women who can channel, I decided I'd had enough of those women lying to everyone all the time and I joined this organization.

I did have my view of them shaken when I found out my mom had been kidnapped, abused, and murdered by one of their leaders (turns out she's actually still alive though, don't worry about that), but I challenged that leader to an honorable duel and killed him to avenge my mom, and my friends and I rooted out a handful of other corrupt members of the organization, so now with that small minority gone, the rest of us can continue doing the Light's work and spreading awareness of the evils of the One Power.

To be clear, I OBVIOUSLY don't think my sister and mom are Darkfriends; it's only everyone else who uses the One Power who is. I've explained this to my sister multiple times but it only makes her angrier instead of grateful that I'm making an exception for her and choosing to believe the best of her. It feels like I can never do anything right in her eyes, but maybe I've somehow got the wrong understanding of the situation. So, AITA?

******

u/dainbornhald: NTA. Your sister's problem isn't actually that you joined this organization (which totally does sound 100% Light-serving). She doesn't think you're her real brother and is just looking for any excuse to continue the bullying, manipulation, and gaslighting she's been using on you since she was a toddler. [+5k votes] u/childbyar: Came here to say this. Sister sounds like a textbook abuser, and, honestly, almost definitely a Darkfriend. I'd go no contact with her, OP, and maybe get a restraining order if you have to - she's obviously unhinged. [+1.2k votes]

u/amyrlinseat: You joined a cult that thinks your sister is a Darkfriend based on an innate characteristic about her that she didn't choose and can't change (unlike you, who DID choose to join this cult), and you're whining that she's mad at you for it??? YTA [-749 votes]

u/luckyfox: YTA for the cult thing, but this whole family's got serious mommy AND daddy issues (take it from an expert). Sister resents you for getting all your parents' attention growing up, and you have a victim complex about being a stepchild/half-brother. I can only wonder what might be going on with the middle brother who wasn't mentioned much here. You guys need to go to therapy. [+2 votes] u/galaddamodred [OP]: My brother always seemed very well-adjusted, but a few hours after I made this post he actually died going on a suicide charge in battle because he thought he was unimportant enough to risk and no one would care much if he died in the attempt. Which sucks because now the only sibling I've got left is my sister who hates me. [+273 votes] u/luckyfox: oh my god [+312 votes]

#every time i read galad's narration of elayne being sO MeAN to him in AMOL #i'm reminded of an r/aita post where the person is skirting around crucial information to make themselves sound like not the asshole jkfg #wot #wot book spoilers #the wheel of time

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

WIBTA for blocking my suicidal friend?

TW for suicidal ideation, mental health.I know this sounds bad but hear me out.

I (25F/NB) met F(26M) in January 2017, a few months after I started university through a mutual friend, and we quickly hit it off. We started dating a few months later. We split near the end of 2021, but aside from a few awkward months right after the split, we've stayed friends. We've both seriously dated other people: F had a girlfriend, A(mid-20s F), for a little under a year, and I've been dating my boyfriend, H (30M), for about 9 months.

Throughout the time we were dating, F and I had a few problems. Money was a big one: he would borrow money a lot and not always pay it back (either when he said he would or at all). He currently owes me about £8000 that he borrowed for uni. For most of the time since he borrowed it he hasn't been in work, so I haven't been pushing the matter. One of the last straws for our relationship was when he bought a brand new PS5 and lied to me about it when he had recently borrowed money from me.

The other big one was his mental health. F has been dealing with poor mental health for about as long as I've known him, but he refuses to do anything about it. He often talks about how much he hates his life and how he should just kill himself. He often punched himself in the head or punched walls when he was upset, but he refused to admit that this behaviour was unhealthy. He wouldn't go see a therapist or doctor, or speak to anyone except me. Once, when I was visiting family, he became upset about something and I was worried he would hurt himself, so I asked a mutual friend to check on him. He refused to let the friend in, and got very angry with me.I wanted to break up with him sooner but he'd often tell me I was the only good thing in his life, and I was scared he'd kill himself if I left him. We eventually broke up near the end of 2021. Fast forward to this summer. In August, A broke up with F and F had to move back in with his abusive parents. He initially asked to stay with me but I said no (I live in a tiny flat, I can't afford to financially support another person and to be honest I'm just not comfortable with it). I later changed my mind and offered him my sofa when I realised how bad the abuse was, but he declined.

Also in August, I found out my grandmother was dying. I went to see her with my sister and brother-in-law, and the same day received a message from F venting about his life. I replied with: "Hey I'm kind of dealing with something right now can you talk to someone else? I don't really have the emotional bandwidth rn"When he asked what was up, I told him my grandmother was dying. He expressed his sympathies, and told me that his stuff could wait. He sent me the following message four hours later: "I think I'm going to kill myself""I've totally ruined my life, I've got nothing except daily torture from my parents". Again, this is four hours after I'd explicitly told him I don't have the capacity for it. I spoke to my sister and brother-in-law (28F and 30M) about it and they both said I should block him.

In September I started a new job (I recently qualified as a teacher) which has been very challenging, exhausting and intense. My grandmother died at the end of September, so the past few months have been hard for me. He knows all this, but he keeps sending me all these messages about how much he hates his life and how he should just kill himself.

Early October, I was added to a group chat between A, F's ex, and a mutual friend Z. A told us that F had sent her an email that was essentially a suicide note. I called F and made sure he was okay, and passed that along to the group chat. F was angry that, as he perceived it, we'd been talking about him behind his back. He didn't speak to me for a day or so but quickly went back to normal.

At the end of October, the day before my grandmother's funeral, I woke up to a message that was essentially a suicide note. This was not the first time this had happened. I had a panic attack, though I'm not sure whether that was due to the message or imminent funeral. I send him some messages saying that I didn't want to receive these kind of messages unless it was actually something I could help with, that he wasn't respecting my boundaries and that the friendship had become entirely one sided. I told him that I didn't want to block him but I would. He seemed to accept that, but this morning I woke up to another suicide note message. After verifying that he was still alive (he is), I started writing this ask. I feel bad, but I'm so tired of doing all the emotional labour. I have my own shit to deal with and i'm not his therapist. WIBTA if I blocked him?

What are these acronyms?

#aita #am i the asshole #self harm cw #suicide cw

[ywpd-translations]

Ride 746: Cheering and conclusion!!

Pag 1

1: I'll win!!

2: I will!! I'll become the sixth member!! This year for sure!!

3: I'll go!!

4: I will!! On the same stage as you, Issa!!

Pag 2

1: They're neck and neck!!

For sure!!

Pag 3

1: For sure!!

Pag 4

1: There are 50m left until the sensor line!!

2: Kuaaaa

3: Garuaaaa

Pag 5

3: Nii-chan, on!!

4: Damn, I get it

This resolution, is making me shake

5: Sugimoto!! I'm cheering for you!!

Pag 6

1: Danchiku!!

2: 30m left!!

Pag 7

2: I think I can hear, mixed together with Sadatoki's voice

3: Kawada's cheering

4: It's surprising, but I'm grateful

It's turning into strength for me, Kawada

6: Imaizumi....

Pag 8

1: is watching quietly

Can't be helped

2: They're the three core third years who put together the club

They can't afford to support one of us

4: But, maybe, if you supported me

I

5: I would have been

6: several times more strong than usual

Pag 9

1: I'm glad

For this training camp

2: It's been hard, but, Imaizumi, I could become your “buddy”, and run with you during these intense for days

3: Imaizumi......

4: I haven't told you yet

5: Once this race is over.... will you listen to me?

5: It's silly

A daydream

6: The reason why I want to run in the Inter High

7: I've been thinking about it since around a year ago

Before the finish line, running as teammates, wearing the same jerseys....

Pag 10

1: Go, Imaizumi!!

Got it, Teru!!

I.....

2: I thought that I want to push your back and for you to take the finish line

3: With these hands!!

Pag 11

2: Sugimoto

3: At first, you boasted that you were an experienced cyclist, but it was just words

During the first training camp, you retired halfway through

4: But you worked so hard

Secretly

5: And without resting, for three years

Sugimoto.....

6: Show me the moment your three years of progress bear fruits

Pag 12

1: Pedal!! Sugimoto!!

2: Yeah!!

Pag 13

3: Now

4: 30m!!

I'll pedal at full power!!

Pag 14

1: Garuaaaa

2: Sugimoto-san

3: You're really an amazing guy

4: I respect you from the bottom of my heart

Pag 15

1: Your heart is probably bigger than mine

2: The courage to boldly challenge, the earnestness of working so hard

The heart of never giving up until the end

3: You, who hid all that, are strong

4: Stronger than me, much more!! I finally noticed during the last lap

5: So

6: It's the end, so please

My heart is so small it can fit in the palm of my hand

So

Pag 16

1: Allow me to practice with you one more time, senpai!!

Pag 20

1: Garuaaaa

2: It's Danchiku

Danchiku crossed the sensor line first!!

#yowamushi pedal #yowamushi pedal translations #yowapeda #yowapeda manga #yowamushi pedal manga #yowamushi pedal spoilers #ride 746 #rip to all the ppl who were cheering so hard for sugimoto i'm so so sorry for your loss ;A; #also im so sad too ;A; #but honestly im also sad for danchiku bc literally everyone but kabu was cheering for sugimoto no one was cheering for him lmao #maybe he'll get on the team but everyone would have preferred having sugimoto asdsafhjldf thats so sad #btw imaizumi screaming for sugimoto ;A; #sugimoto being so in love with him hes such a simp #he even imagines imaizumi calling him teru ;A; #i wonder whats gonna happen now..... #next chap is 24 pages so many things are waiting for us next week *eyes emoji*

[zzzzzestforlife]

day 9 of 30 // tired but still pretty 🙈💕

and most importantly, still motivated to see this challenge through! ☺️ i'm starting to feel pressured to progress right away, so i made a list of small wins that tie back to my some of my most ambitious goals:

🥰 no more back pain when i lie down to sleep at the end of the day

🙊 gained some auditory familiarity with Japanese

🙊 gained some grammar/spelling familiarity in Korean

🙊 improved retention of Chinese characters

❤️ it's becoming automatic to completely "tune in" when someone is speaking to/around me

천천히 할수있어요! (slowly, i can do it!)

today's accomplishments 💯

🥰 physiotherapy exercises (morning set)

🥰 squats, glute bridge, leg lifts (1m each)

🙊 completed Japanese lesson (3x)

🙊 completed Chinese lesson (2x)

🙊 completed Korean lesson (2x)

🧠 write Cognitive Psych assignment (2x)

🧠 write summary and outline case conceptualization for Clinical Psych assignment

🧠 read for Clinical Psych (focus time: 30m)

🥰 physiotherapy exercises (evening set)

❤️ vocabulary + Korean writing practice under the cut if you're interested ☺️ have a lovely day! 🌷

Korean writing practice ✍️

지금 저는 회의에서, 하지만 너무 심심입니다... 저는 말은 모라요... 여러분, 당신을를 어떻게? 오늘, 저는 많이 things 일할게요... 언제 이거 당신을를 읽하다, 저는 끝게요! 🙏

now i'm in a meeting, but i'm so bored... i don't have anything to say... everyone, how are/about you? today, i'll be working on a lot of things... when you read this, i'll be done! 🙏

Korean vocabulary 🙊

것들 — things

회의 — i forgot how to spell "meeting"... 두번째 공부는 괜찬할게요? (will the second time studying be okay?)

터진 — burst

웃 — smile/laugh

울음 — cry (울고 싶지 않아!)

위험 — danger (if i hear it in Jimin's voice, i can't forget it)

사십시오 — buy

Japanese vocabulary 🙊

���京 — Tokyo

しゅつしん — from

も — also

に — in

すんでい — live

とし — city

どう — how

にぎやか — lively

Chinese vocabulary 🙊

办公室 — office

一共 — altogether

外 — outside

最近 — recently

瓶子 — bottle

照片 — photos

张 — sheets/pieces (basically a counter word)

千 — thousand

手机 — i keep forgetting how to say phone???

知道 — know, 我知道但不记住... (i know but i don't remember...)

💌: i don't have time to make practice sentences today, but i'll try to review later in the week...

#studyblr #seventeen #jeonghan #studyspo #langblr #30 days of productivity #zesty's life #psychblr #astudentslifebuoy #university #korean langblr #japanese langblr #chinese langblr #becoming that girl #heydilli #heyfrithams #diaryofastemstudent #study inspiration #study motivation #student life #study aesthetic #pink academia #light academia #100 days of productivity #100 days of studying #girlblogging #100 days of self discipline #leveling up #level up journey

[valiantcoffeelove]

| Monday 1st | 12/100 days of productivity⋆₊ ⊹★｡˚

Tidy my entire room [1h]

Read The Only Study Guide You'll Ever Need [30m]

Revise Japanese flashcards [15m]

One lesson on Brilliant [?]

Water all plants in the house [10m]

Do daily journaling & monthly journaling w/ prompts [30m]

Find piano cable -> unsuccessful, try again tomorrow

After 3 days of resting (not really) I am backkk Now that I think about it, starting a study blog with a 100 day challenge was a bad idea but I will persist! With breaks ⋆⊹

🎧♫ symptom of life - WILLOW

#study blog #study #study tumblr #studyblr #study motivation #studyspo #studyspiration #100 days challenge #chaotic academia #100 days of productivity

[etirabys]

Contents of current writing strategy doc. I come up with something like this about every other year (although I think this is one of the best instances so far) and put <25% chance this goes anywhere, but we must imagine Sisyphus enjoying nanowrimo

Exercises I can do at any time

(30m) Plot one novel badly. Use a random name generator, get 10 characters, and describe their relationships and twistiness across like 100K words' worth of conflict

(30m) Improve a previous plot.

(2h) Go through a novel you rated 5/5 and write what's happening in scene increments. Focus on diffs – treat a scene as a git commit. What's pre and post?

(10m) Look at some "banter/diction that is outside of my range" (from bookmarks, etc) and regurgitate it.

(30m) Do a settings or material dive for 20m and use that to write several hundred words of description of a setting, food table, costume, or something.

(20m) Create future prompts for a settings dive, or collect banter/diction from bookmarks.

Principles I'm relatively sure of

A. Your WIP has to be the most interesting possible WIP you can think of. Otherwise you, a flighty and impulsive person, will be (too) drawn to other things. It's not just "is the overall idea interesting" but "will the scenes that comprise this interest me".

B. You have to notice and tag useful material.

You do need to dump little thoughts (if they are good) consistently into a fragments file that is *well organized*.

When there's a scene you really admire in others, you have to notice and analyze how it was set up.

C. In general you need a more organized directory of "pointers to other people's scenes that I thought were great", reference material, worldbuilding ideas, philosophical issues I want to drive the material conflicts, microsnippets, random observations on writing

D. You need a tight feedback loop. Unfortunately you crave approval, so the writing exercises you do have to be in shareable form.

E. I think you should not start out with high level character sketches. You're bad at translating them into specifics. Instead, start with specifics, let them organically grow, and then reconstruct who they are.

F. You have to continually reenchant your current work. This is the hardest challenge, probably, and I think some ideas are

Zoom way into the current scene that you're stuck on. Can it EVER work? If not, delete it entirely. If yes, what does it need? Put it in. Don't worry about how it affects the plot – the plot can be rearranged. Your enthusiasm is the bottleneck.

More speculative principles

Use Beeminder, it's the best tool you know of to remember your goals and keep on track

...but also, don't force yourself to write, it's toxic to motivation. I'm not sure how to reconcile this and the above. I think the most toxic thing is "forcing myself to work on my WIP" (this kills the WIP – I think?) but it's pretty harmless to work on writing exercises that aren't connect to my WIP

Have to be lazier about plot holes and inconsistencies. Fixing them is expensive and decreases momentum. It is best to buy back goodwill from the reader by being good at what they came here for, which is sad murderous catgirls

#rambl #infinite monkey #next section is 'implementation / schedule / accountability' which is going to be a mess. i'll probably design some flexible reward system?

[revengemode]

imagine how much money challengers will make if Sydney and Glenn who are b list at best can do this https://x.com/luiz_fernando_j/status/1742584395146391808?s=46

Movie Budget: $25M

US Box Office: $30M

I remember “experts” calling it a box office bomb and boy were they wrong lol! Sydney Sweeney, a marketing genius!! She won!

#Challengers is different to me #Looking forward to seeing how they market it

[nordic-language-love]

Japanese

Renshuu

Italki lessons (30m + 45m)

Minna No Nihongo (1 chapter, read aloud)

Writing practice

Norwegian

Rødstrupe (20%)

Italki lesson (60m)

Kveldsnytt x1

Feeling hella burnt out this week. Relationship things have been keeping me up at night and my brain's still racing from NaNo. And I've been ill as well, having some really awful stomach pains (which, now that I think about it, may well be as much attributable to stress as they are to my diet).

Anyway, I won't go into details here; that's not what this blog is for.

It does seem like I've not done a lot, and I haven't varied my studying very much this week. But I've done something every day! Reading in Norwegian is so much slower than reading in English lol. Feel like I'd have finished this book already if I were reading it in English. I can see why people say it's better to start with book 3 of Nesbø's work; this book is a lot better than the first two. But it's still reading in my second language, and Nesbø does like to use some fancy words. I'm gonna have a lot of vocabulary to go through once I finish!

Had another moment this week where Renshuu was constantly throwing this one word at me in my vocab quizzes and I could not remember it for love nor money, but then I heard one of my students saying it a couple of times while playing a game and I was like OH. OH THAT'S THE WORD. OH I GET IT NOW. And there were other moments where at first I didn't understand what the kids were saying but then after about 5 seconds it clicked.

This coming week I'm hoping to finish Rødstrupe, but it may be a challenge given how slowly I'm getting through it. Still, now that it's picking up a bit more I'm starting to read faster. As for Japanese, I'm planning to review all the grammar I've learned over the past month and maybe make some posts about it.

#progress report #langblr #japanese langblr #norwegian langblr #learning languages #language blog #the word was まず (firstly) in case you were wondering #we were playing a doraemon balance game where you use chopsticks to place doraemons on his time machine #and she wanted to get her doraemon upright first so she could then change the angle of the chopsticks and set him down #but she was struggling and she kept saying 'まず!!!' every time he fell back down haha

[doomsminion]

With the success of the 2nd season of jujutsu kaisen I thought I might do something I’ve been wanting to do for a while and that is

Top ten jujutsu kaisen fights

It’s no secret that jujutsu Kaisen has some of the best fights in new gen combining martial a creative power system strategy and many others things to create a series with many entertaining fight so on this post I’m going to give you my top ten jujutsu kaisen fights Note I’m only going to give you this fights from 0 to shibuya since ranking the other fights will require a reread so with that out of the way let’s begin

Number 1o Gojo vs the disater curses

Question how do you put the strongest sorcerer of the modern era in a jam? The answer. Put him in a situation where he can’t go all out.what makes the disaster curses fight good is that it really places Gojo in a challenge since while Gojo can easily defeat the disaster curses he can’t go all out since he has to make sure nobody gets hurt in the process forcing Gojo to think on his feet the closed nature of this fight adds to the tension and it’s one of the most strategic fights in the series due to its closed nature overall a good fight and a great way to start this list

Number 9 mechamaru vs mahito

One of the most wild fights in shibuya this fight is one of the more creative ones bringing mechamaru facing mahito in a giant robot this wild setup makes for one of the biggest fights in terms of scale add an emotional layer with mechamaru’s conclusion failing to stop shibuya and not reuniting with the woman he loves this fight goes all out in the anime with beautiful animation and so many mecha references

Number 8 Yuji and todo vs hanami

One of the most popular fights from the first season this fight knows how keep you entertained I can say that with the fantastic visuals to the teamwork between todo and Yuji there are so many things to love about this one

Number 7 Yuta vs geto

I remember watching zero and seeing this amazing fight at first this seems like your typical here beats villain fight but with the context of hidden inventory it feels less like a battle and more of a clash of values it’s Yuta’s love vs geto’s justice it’s really great the thing holding this one back is despite having some great moments the fighting isn’t as refined as the later fights

Number 6 and 5 Sukuna vs mahoraga and sukuna vs jogo

Both of these fights are fantastic and bring some of the most memorable moments in the series (Sukuna’s 30m malevolent shrine and Sukuna and jogo’s clash) with how wild they get I have jogo’s fight over mahoraga’s for the writing but both are good but what holds them back are how short they were like I understand it was because of who they were up against but I just wish they lasted a bit longer

Number 4 Megumi maki nanami and naobito vs Dagon vs toji

And before you ask I’m counting all three as one fight and there are a lot of good things to say about this fight from the artwork the strategy the toji reveal the beatdown of Dagon and toji’s conclusion all of them were fantastic

Number 3 Gojo vs toji

This is one of the most important fights in the series it’s the moment where Gojo became the strongest while it’s okay as a fight the moment is what makes me like this fight more bring in one of the most defining moments of the series

Number 2 Yuji vs choso

This is the 2nd best fight in shibuya for me it’s not as bombastic as some of the others and yet I feel like the fight is better because of that feeling like a true battle between martial artists and leading into one of the series best moments the choreography is fantastic the writing is great the artwork is amazing it’s just great

Honorable mentions

Geto vs toji

Yuji and nanami vs mahito

Megumi vs finger bearer

Gojo vs jogo

Yuji and Nobara vs ezo and kezichu

Number one

Yuji and todo vs mahito

What can I said other than this is my favorite fight in all of jujutsu Kaisen everything is great the artwork the emotions the development the action the moments and the conclusion are all fantastic it’s the best fight in jjk i won’t here it any other way

#jujutsu kaisen #yuji #yuji itadori #itadori yuji #Megumi #megumi fushiguro #Gojo #satoru gojo #maki #maki zenin #nanami #nanami kento #naobito #naobito zenin #nobara #nobara kugisaki #jogo #hanami #choso #geto #suguru geto #fights #Dagon #aoi todo #todo #yuta #yuta okkutsu #toji fushiguro #toji #top ten

[jeffmumm]

Daily Doodle Animation #1: Square Fall  30m I'm going to try to challenge myself to draw a little animated doodle every day, with a time limit of 30 minutes.  Here's the first entry!

#animated gif #daily doodle #daily animation #animation #hand drawn animation #2d animation

[greatest-movies-of-all-time]

Guys & Dolls (1955) Directed by Joseph L.Mankiwewicz - Runtime 2H 30M

In New York, a gambler is challenged to take a cold female missionary to Havana, but they fall for each other, and the bet has a hidden motive to finance a crap game.

Top Billed Cast

Marlon Brando, Jean Simmons, Frank Sinatra, Vivian Blaine.

My Review

An elegant immersive masterpiece. Such intelligent acting. Exceptional pace, beautiful emotive civilized plot and a LEGENDARY Cast. 10/10

3 Awards

7 Nominations

#guys and dolls #joseph l. mankiewicz #frank sinatra #marlon brando #jean simmons #vivian blaine #movie #cinema #cinematography

[jsbsam]

One step beyond!

The fact that you're reading this means that MM and I made it back to Cusco safely. But how did we get on? Did we manage to scale the mountain and achieve MM's long held ambition?

The day started well. Despite MM waking me up at 2.00am to get ready for our pick up at 3.50am our "breakfast box" was ready and our driver turned up bang on time and the guide, Vincenti, was with him. Result! No chance of being left stranded at Km104. We set off to pick up the other members of our group, Sandra, a very fit 49 year old German CFO working out of Singapore and Alexa a very fit 33 year old HR German senior management training executive. They had all the best trekking gear and really looked the part. I suddenly felt my age and slightly intimidated. All 3 women, including MM, walked and trekked regularly as their chosen passtime, I had done an 8 mile practice walk 4 weeks ago. This could only end badly.

After 1.5hrs we reached Ollantaytambo train station and boarded the train to Km104 where we got off at 7.45am and the train pulled off and left us. The point of no return. We crossed the tracks and from that point it was climb, climb, climb! The big mistake I had made was that it's not walking practice you need for this trek it's stepping practice. As I walk 5-6 miles 3-4 times a week playing golf (it would be less if I could hit the ball straight!) I thought that my fitness levels would be okay. The walk would be tough but achievable. I kid you not after 30m I was sweating like a pig and had already removed my fleece and shirt. I was breathing really hard. It was either the altitude or my fitness or both. I knew then that I was in for a battle and a challenge and might have to dig deep.

The difficulty is that much of the climb is steps, not just normal steps but steps of 12-15 inches. There are some non-step phases where you can catch your breath but they are few and far between. Also with the 2 young, fit German women striding on it was difficult to go at your own pace. They were very good, but pride kicks in doesn't it, even when you're older and should know better.

Those of you that know me pretty well know that I sweat like a Barron ie it pours off me without me exerting much effort. Needless to say I was dripping from the start to the end of the day. The 2 women and Vincenti must have thought I was a goner!

After 4hrs of almost non-stop climbing we reached Winaywayna, an Inca ruin, where we stopped for lunch. I was so grateful. I thought, thank God, I can have a half hour break, the worst is done and the next bit should be more manageable with the final bit being downhill. To be fair, it was more manageable, but there were still some tough bursts of climbing culminating in the "monkey climb" up to the Sun Gate. I got to the top before MM, who, until that point had been coping better than me, but didn't go through the gate until she caught up and we could go through together. It's spectacular. It's the first sighting of Machu Picchu and suddenly all the pain and discomfort disappears as you drink in the view. Furthermore, you realise that the final hour will be downhill with no climbs!

Hmmm, wrong again. It is downhill, but there are still uphill sections and the downhill steps are still 12-15 inches deep so not so easy. Plus, we had a shower during the descent which made the stones very slippy indeed. Most people seemed to manage okay by taking it easy but I managed to slip onto my backside on about 4 occasions despite using walking poles (I would recommend) - somewhat embarrassing but also very dangerous. For most of the walk you are walking on a track/steps of maybe 4 to 5 feet wide with a precipitous drop into the abyss to the right hand side. As you know, I suffer from vertigo and don't like heights at all so I concentrated on looking at the ground to place my feet and out into the distance for views. Amazingly, after a while it didn't bother me too much as I was concentrating on catching my breath! If I'd fallen the wrong way on a couple of those slips it could have been very nasty.

At 3.15pm we reached Machu Picchu. We were absolutely knackered but delighted to have made it, particularly as the guide said it was a pretty good time. The view is spectacular as you'll see in the photos.

We took the bus down the mountain to our hotel in Aguas Calientes where we showered before going out for a group meal. I went out like a light that night and slept like a log - it was great.

This morning we woke up with no aches or pains and went back up the mountain to tour the actual site and learn some of the history of the Inca's and Machu Picchu in particular. It was fascinating. The construction methods, the relationship with the Spanish and how Machu Picchu was found and developed by an American academic, Mr Bingham, in 1911. Everything was going well until MM upset the Llama's that are used as lawnmowers to keep the grass short and they attacked her by trying to eat her hat!

It has been an amazing adventure and MM has realised her dream of climbing up to Machu Picchu. I have to admit that my original view that "it's just a load of old stones at the top of a steep hill" may well have slightly undersold this Unesco World Heritage site. If you're in the area it's worth a visit, but I would suggest doing it whilst you're still pretty fit and to practice by walking up and down stairs (2 at a time preferably). Think very carefully and fully understand the difficulty of the 4 day walk instead of the one day walk before being tempted. Overall though, I'd recommend it, a great sense of achievement and some incredible views.

So was it One Step Beyond (Madness)? - Nearly!

[aita-blorbos]

AITA for killing my brother?

I (25M) was an orphan since I was around 10, and never really remembered much of my family, but I'm happy with the life I have now. I'm great with the other kids, and when playing with them, I'm always the villain so they can play the hero. Recently, a 2000 year old prophecy has come true, one where the kings of the other countries have to team up to fight against the threat. But… our king, R (30M), didn't do anything. R was willing to let the people suffer just so he could get the other kings to bow down to him, calling it "justice". So I decided to take R's sword and cape, putting up my persona as a villain to fight against his "justice". But even though I was the one fighting the threat, R had me labelled me as a criminal and demanded I be captured.

I had been on the run for a while, traveling to other kingdoms and meeting their kings (technically against my will, I got kidnapped a lot, but we're fine now). In one of these kingdoms, I was put on trial for using R's sword, but then it was revealed that R was my brother. I went back home, and everyone there thought I was a hero thanks to R. But… knowing what he said about the people still rubbed me the wrong way, so I challenged him to a duel for the throne.

I lost, and was presumed dead. Not only that, but in the middle of the duel I tried helping someone who I thought was my friend, but turned out to be one of our enemies in disguise. The whole thing was caught on camera, too, so everyone thought I was a traitor, and I could do nothing to clear my name since I was "dead". Admittedly, it didn't help that I still put on the mask of a "tyrant king".

After that, R started working with the enemies as an act of diplomacy, letting them do whatever they wanted in his kingdom. It got bad enough that they almost killed the king of another country, but I revealed myself to be alive and stopped them. I then went back to my kingdom, and defended the people against the threat. I challenged R to another duel, and this time there were more people that cheered me on, since I protected them. During the duel, R ended up admitting to manipulating the people, which was caught on camera, and soon I could hear everyone cheering me on.

I won the duel, meaning I'm now officially a king, but… I still had to kill R. I know that he did a lot of bad things, but he was my brother. I remember a time when he had good intentions, when he wanted to be a benevolent king. I think that part of him was still in there, so I regret having to kill him. AITA?

#aita #am i the asshole #unreality

[mykinkyyandere]

any tips for people who want to start writing?

Wow, thank you for asking my opinion. I'm definitely not a knowledgeable writer and I write purely for hobby purposes. I don't want to give wrong advice because I'm also trying to improve myself but I can give you some personal advice. I don't know how right or wrong they are.

Reading is important as you know. After you start writing, there is a possibility that you will take a break from reading and see yourself as inadequate. You may start to constantly compare yourself to writers you once read and feel like a failure. Or you may fear that if you read them, your own ideas will be affected, that you will accidentally cheat. Keep reading, this is a very wrong thought. The more you read, the richer and better you will be. Don't stop reading. These are very normal stuations. To get rid of these bad thoughts, keep in mind that your writings are unique and yours is very successful among many successful ones. Your fiction and your way of writing is unique to you. You're giving the world a brand new and unique fiction, and you're an essential resource for readers. It'll be very difficult for you to write if your motivation drops, so I wanted to warn you.

Writing is important. Omg sherlock, but challenging yourself is different, believe me. Give yourself 30m or 1h and say "start and finish something". You know you have limited time and your brain is flying around. I use this to get rid of the writer's block. If you need to publish a fiction, say "You have 3 hours, quick!" and let your mind go. Of course, you don't have to finish it in 3 hours, and a good job takes effort and lots of time. Patience is the key. Just putting the brain on alert works, in my opinion.

Try to write your daydreams, don't try to create a fic from scratch. Better write a script that already exists for now. When you start, you'll probably say "I can't write, my dream is so perfect and detailed. How am I supposed to put it down?" and welcome "That's it, I'm not a good writer".

Don't think as a whole, think as part to part. You probably have too much to tell in small details in your daydreams. Putting them down will probably seem impossible at first. I told you that reading is very important, the more you read, the easier it'll be to write important descriptions that are difficult for you. Write and read. You may write badly the first time, but you can't improve without writing.

If there's one thing I've learned, it's that a good and flowing story is connected. Every character, every conversation, and every situation should fuel the story. No unnecessary talk, character and detail. Like when talking to someone, don't just chit chat, make them give some important opinions/info that you didn't think/know. Or something else. Even if you wrote 7 paragraph, if you feel like they're actually unnecessary, don't hesitate to delete. Don't worry, you'll write better. And not too much dialogue. Dialogues are great, but I believe you can write nice details that support them, push yourself. I've been writing on Tumblr for over a year and I see my progress. When I look at my old works, I can see my mistakes. What I'm writing right now isn't perfect, but I think it's better than before.

Don't rush anything.

Rushing is the real problem. You want to write and finish quickly and you don't give your story the time it needs. Let's say you cut your dream into 10 parts. Note on your phone, i think detailed notes are good. Stay on each part patiently. Of course, avoid unnecessary details. Make sure you serve the story to keep it fluent. You know these classic Wattpad stories, right? I also wrote those fics years ago so 💀 Waking up with the alarm and making extremely boring and unnecessary convo with mom and bff, going to the bad boy's school... You always skip so many parts in these kind of stories.

And please don't try to be perfect. I'm going crazy when I write but don't be like me. You may feel like something's missing, you may think it's disconnected, but in fact, when an outside eye reads it, they don't see the flaws you see.

Write because you want, not because you have to. This is your hobby and you want to have a good time. Know how to say no, you don't owe anyone anything. Don't be afraid to draw your boundaries.

If you notice that I didn't do what I suggested, I'm sorry. Like I said, I'm an amateur writer. But I believe I'm better now. I hope my advice is helpful and I hope there is nothing I missed or forgot. There are very useful videos, I recommend you to watch.

#kinkyyan casual

[zzzzzestforlife]

day 3 of 30 // human happiness lies in a series of tensions 🍋

i haven't been able to sleep well since i started this challenge and i don't know why. maybe it's because i'm too excited? 😅 i do know that i feel such a strong sense of purpose now and i don't want to give it up 🥺 i'm hoping it's one of those things that gets easier with time🤞

that said, the information overload is starting to feel unsustainable, so i will adjust, at least for now, because retention is more important to me than apparent volume 😌 new goals for the rest of this challenge:

watch 2 videos on useful Korean expressions in a week instead of every other day

review vocabulary 2 days a week

today's accomplishments 💯

🙊 watch one video from useful Korean expressions playlist

🥰 physiotherapy exercises (morning set)

🥰 ran (2m, 15s break, 1m)

🙊 completed Japanese lesson (2x)

🙊 completed Korean lesson (2x)

🧠 read Clinical case studies (3x)

🧠 read for Cognitive Psych (focus time: 1h 30m)

🙊 completed Chinese lesson (2x)

🥰 physiotherapy exercises (evening set)

❤️ practiced mindfulness meditation for daily life to help me give my full attention to everyone i talked to today

❤️ vocabulary with my practice sentences + random psychology facts under the cut if you're interested ☺️ have a lovely day! 🌷

I forgot I even learned these 😅

Japanese

すみません — excuse me, すみません 学生ですか? (trans: excuse me, are you a student?)

ごろ — about (as in time), 一じごろです (trans: it's about 1 o'clock)

半 — half, 二じ半です (trans: it's half past 2)

Korean

건강 — health, 건강 원해요 (trans: i want health)

다섯 — five, 저는 귤 다섯 개 못 먹어요 (trans: i can't eat five tangerines)

여섯 — six, 가족은 사람이 여섯 명 있어요 (trans: there are six people in the family)

아홉 — nine, 우리는 차에 상자가 아홉 개 못 있어요 (trans: we can't have nine boxes in our car)

어둠 — dark, 집은 안에 어둠니다 (trans: it's dark inside the house)

군처 — near, 내 근처에 와서 안자 (trans: come sit near me)

일곱 — seven, 저는 이 일곱 권의 책들을 좋아요 (trans: i like these seven books)

Chinese

帮 — help, 帮我 (trans: help me)

认识 — meet, 昨天我认识 我的朋友 (trans: yesterday i met my friend)

旅游 — travelling, 我旅游 (trans: i travel)

明白 — understand, 我不明白但我爱你 (trans: i don't understand but i love you)

从 — from, 从这里 (trans: from here)

走 — walk/go/leave (similar to 去 but can't be used to describe an object), 为什么走? (trans: why go?)

还是 — or, 喝咖啡还是喝茶 (trans: drink coffee or drink tea)

i actually kind of remember these but only when i see it 👀

上网 — online, 我是上网 (trans: i am online)

喜欢 — like/enjoy (similar to 想), 我喜欢上网 (trans: i enjoy being online)

水果 — fruit, 我想水果 (trans: i want fruit)

这里 — here, 我是这里 (trans: i am here)

酒店 — hotel, 这里是酒店 (trans: here is the hotel)

汽车 — car, 这里是汽车 (trans: here is the car)

学习 — study, 我学习很快 (trans: i learn quickly)

These are actually new (新), woohoo!

因为 — because, 因为我学习所以我很高兴 (trans: because i study, so i am happy)

新 — new, 新字 (trans: new character)

所以 — so, 我很高兴, 所以 我可爱 (trans: i'm happy, so i'm cute 🙈)

Random Psychology Things 🧠

flashbulb memories are vivid but inaccurate or lack detail

reminiscence bump — we remember adolescent/young adult memories better

when someone immigrated later in life (e.g. in their thirties) as opposed to earlier, their reminiscence bump shifts because their adolescence/young adulthood wasn't followed by a period of calm/stability when the memories could be consolidated and/or because the period of the most rapid changes in their life was their thirties as they were immigrating

youth bias — we think the most important public (national/international) events in our lives will happen in our youth

#studyblr #langblr #seventeen #leveling up #level up journey #jeonghan #study motivation #student life #study inspiration #girlblogging #studyspo #productivity #100 days of productivity #30 days of productivity #korean langblr #japanese langblr #chinese langblr #becoming that girl #astudentslifebuoy #daily routine #workout routine #workout progress #academic validation #cute aesthetic #light academia #chaotic academia #zesty's life #100 days of studying #100 days of self discipline

[dianaprincewonderwoman]

Gimli : « What did I say? He can’t hold his liquor! » [Gimli passes out, Legolas raises his eyebrows, looking all smug] Legolas : « Game over. »

It’s already in its sixth month, but I’m jumping on the bandwagon and I’m finally joining @belligerentmistletoe and @nemobookaholic ‘s LOTR challenge! I’ve enjoyed discovering your fantastic artworks since January and I’m really glad to join you on this great adventure. Thank you so much for letting me be part of this :)

Total strokes made : 9635 Tracked time : 8h 30m

#legolas #orlando bloom #lord of the rings #lotr #lord of the rings fanart #lotr fanart #digital art #dianaprincewonderwoman