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homestuckhiveswap · 7 years

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END OF YEAR 5 - Since the Hiveswap kickstarter was funded: A hopefully final development chronicle

via /r/homestuck

Some of you might be too young to remember the heady days of mid-2012. A time where Homestuck still updated pretty much every day. The fandom had rode strong and true through the EOA5 hiatus and crashed through to the unexplored pastures of Act 6 with nary a whinny of hesitation. And after the coolness that was [S] Caliborn: Enter, Hussie returned from a hiatus with a troll ancestor walkaround to open A6I3... and an extra project: the 'Homestuck Adventure Game', and its corresponding Kickstarter.

The plan is this. I'll finish Homestuck some time in 2013 . . . When Homestuck is done, that's when our full attention will be on actual development. The game will be scheduled for release in 2014.

-Homestuck Adventure Game Kickstarter campaign (Sep. 4 2012)

As we now know, the Kickstarter was a big hit, and reached its funding goal 32 hours after its launch, on September 5, 2012, at roughly 10:30 pm. Five years ago, to this day. The campaign went on to end with $2.5 mil on October 4, however no one expected to see much more on the game until Homestuck ended. Eventually, Hussie paused for two months before A6A6 started (on 4/13/13) to work on the game, and intended to finish Homestuck in the upcoming months after the pause.

This is Homestuck's final push . . . To alleviate some of the suspense and wild speculation, I will give you a very loose estimate of my schedule, from now until the end of HS. Please observe these facts, as organized by this really awesome "html table" I have designed for this purpose.

-MSPA news update (Apr. 13 2013)

Then a bunch of A6A6 happened. The dreaded, terrible, Gigapause began. Hussie planned to continue making Homestuck, but handling the final section of the story in one big chunk, instead of regularly updating. And also work on the game. He didn't even give a time estimate on the Gigapause's length, probably to avoid tying himself to any expectations.

I also have to allocate some time to work on the Kickstarter game . . . I'll probably have a more substantive update on that before the end of the year. There hasn't been much to report yet since it's mostly been in a high level planning and writing phase. And firming up tons of legal minutiae.

-MSPA news update (Oct. 17 2013)

It took until New Year's Eve for us to get our first news on the game itself. It wasn't much to see, but one fact that is important to us is that it seems that Hussie had already agreed to create the game with The Odd Gentlemen, as he said that he didn't want to announce the developers of the game at that time. It took another six months of Gigapause to get another update on the game, which was when the partnership with The Odd Gentlemen was formally announced. The game seemed already to clearly be on schedule for late 2014 at the very earliest.

Note there was no target month given, because I really didn't know what the timeframe was down to that level of specificity . . . When the Kickstarter ended, that is not really when development began in earnest. That's when we began getting a lot of boring legal stuff in order, which took a while. Probably around six months I'd say . . . So if we are behind schedule (which may not even be technically true), I guess it could be by that amount of time. But I'm anticipating a major surge in development in the latter half of 2014.

-Kickstarter backer update (Jun. 20 2014)

The Gigapause finally ended a year after it began. And soon after it ended, Hussie outlined an entirely new plan for the Homestuck Adventure Game, now finally revealed to be titled Hiveswap. There's a lot that was said in that update (available here). But to condense it to one point: Hussie decided to pull development of the game in-house and over the last 'couple months' set up a What Pumpkin game studio for that purpose. Remember that it had been only four months since The Odd Gentlemen were revealed as the developers, which means that the decision to take back developing duties happened very promptly after the developer was announced!

The original plan had us testing the game by this point. Looks like testing within first half of next year is more likely. One major change to the plan I've settled on is to release the game episodically, to shorten the gap between now and when something is ready to be released.

-Kickstarter non-backer update (Oct. 30, 2014)

It took until after A6A6I4 had concluded for our next update, which was promising: Hiveswap had a website (since redesigned) and actual screenshots. Hussie stressed how development had amped up, especially considering that "Back in October of last year we hadn't even bought, like... computers.", and was overall very optimistic about the development progress, both in terms of speed and quality.

This point and click adventure has 3D graphics, puzzle solving gameplay, and an original story spanning four content packed Acts that will release throughout 2015.

-What Pumpkin Studios press release (Feb. 17 2015)

The future seemed bright. There was an asset reel, a playable demo at conventions, and a trailer ("Have you noticed that we're posting more updates lately? That's because things are really moving on the game right now, and there's a lot of exciting progress to report."). A second press release mentioned a mid-2015 release date (the press release was later still available - with the date edited out!). However, time came and went... and nothing happened. Just as A6A6I5 was ramping down with the Omegapause about to begin, we received more news on the progress of the game. It said that the WP Studios operation at NYC was expanding, and necessitated a bump in the development of the game.

So we'll be taking the little adjustment period this month to revise the schedule and come up with a new date to reflect the amount of polishing and testing we think the game could still use. We'll announce a new release date once we're sure the estimate will be final.

-Kickstarter non-backer update (Jul. 20 2015)

We kept waiting for EOA6 and A7, waiting for Hiveswap, and then suddenly finding ourselves in utter radio silence again. But something extremely worrying started to happen: in late October, a large amount of WP Studios NYC employees were laid off at the same time - surely a sign that the game was being abandoned. With no official word on the matter, people started trying to glean the truth by following said former employee's social media presences. The hysteria rose to such a point that on this very subreddit, someone took it upon themselves to dig up everything they could on these employees in a dangerously insensitive way. (And then Makin fucking stickied it without even fully reading the post. He says "I'm sorry".) The resulting backlash ended with Hussie saying that news on the game was coming before 2015 ended just to calm everyone down. And news did come:

We've been taking the last several months to pause production on Hiveswap and revise the overall approach to the game, as well as the visual direction, to make things a little more cost-efficient, and more rapidly producible over the full span of the series.

-Kickstarter non-backer update (Dec. 25 2015)

Hiveswap had transitioned to 2D, and in the process WP Studios NYC had been shut down (the expansion earlier that year seemingly for naught) and development was moved to a decentralized operation with less physical presence. Even though the previous update claimed to have a release date coming soon, no hint of any such thing was made now. Fans were relatively pacified after months of thinking that the project had been cancelled, and turned their attention to the upcoming end of Homestuck. It was generally assumed that Hussie was working on getting Homestuck done by 4/13, and that after that he would be free to turn his full attentions on the game. Our last crumb of official news came six months after the last, in the newspost for the release of Volume 10.

Since 4/13 I have been preoccupied with a wide variety of projects. Some are related to Homestuck, some are not . . . I have kept busy, and do not feel there is much to report yet. But there probably will be over the next couple of months.

-MSPA news update (Jun. 12 2016)

Four months came and went in deadly silence. Hiveswap was still under active development, but from the outside, nothing appeared to be happening. All official forms of communication were silent. The official website hadn't been updated in a year and a half, and still contained screenshots of the 3D version of the game. It seemed like the project had died (yet another) silent death behind the curtains. But suddenly, unexpectedly, one little update showed up on the game's website:

Hiveswap: Act 1 will be released January 2017.

-Hiveswap.com news update (Oct. 1 2016)

(quickly deleted, then undeleted on Oct. 6 2016)

A launch date??!? A new trailer! The 2D style makes it pretty now! THE GAME IS COMING OUT! After such a long time with a seemingly dead project, things were suddenly moving at breakneck speeds. Hiveswap was submitted to Steam Greenlight (in December) and overwhelming support got it approved almost instantly! Plus, we got the Homestuck credits flash and the snapchat stuff that's happening! Could this be a revival? Wait... isn't January almost done already, how come we haven't heard anything el-

Status of Hiveswap: the game is just about done. It could still use some more testing to be absolutely certain we are not releasing a buggy piece of shit! To that end it will be worth waiting another several weeks or so.

-MSPA news update (Jan. 26 2017)

Oh. Well, alright. It did seem a little odd though, since we never got an exact release date, and the game is getting delayed for 'bug-fixing'. But that means it's essentially finished anyways, so we just have to hang on a little longer. Say, 4/13 is coming up - and three months' time should be enough to quash any pesky problems. Of course, we'd gone back to not hearing anything about Hiveswap, but it seemed like a reasonable expectation given the timeline of things...

So, the game is nearly done . . . Some things take longer to implement or polish than we anticipate, but our intent is not to mislead you. I promise. We want to keep you in the loop as much as we can . . . The next time you hear a release date from us, it’ll be because the game is about to launch. In the meantime, we thank you, one last time, for your continued patience and understanding.

-What Pumpkin tumblr post (Apr. 13 2017)

Well, we'd gotten another trailer. And an apology. And by the time those two started to wear off, we got what we should have had all along: semi-regular communication from WP in the form of a series of developer interviews, art, and track releases. It was, at least, something to look forward to while waiting. But the lack of real MSPA content of any kind combined with the passing months meant dissatisfaction continued to mount. It was supposed to be just bug fixing, after all! Until finally:

We’re excited to let you guys know that HIVESWAP: ACT 1 has a release date, and it is September 14th!

-What Pumpkin tumblr post (Aug. 29 2017)

Here we are, everyone. Act 1 might actually be released. It's been a long and hard wait as the years went by, but the light at the end of the tunnel draws near. I hope you're all as happy and excited as I am about it! And I fervently, desperately hope not to have to repost this next year. But at the same time, there's one vital, inscrutable, heart-tightening question that we will have to find an answer for soon...

When's Act 2 coming out?

#hiveswap #homestuck #article

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junker-town · 4 years

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7 things every fan needs to know about the 2020 NFL Draft

Photo by: Visions of America/Education Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

Here’s our draft guide for NFL fans who don’t watch an outrageous amount of college football.

Not everyone is a fan of both college football and the NFL. Even if you are, it’s tough to follow everything.

Those lucky enough to have the time for both sports can still go into the NFL Draft not knowing what to expect. Nobody can watch every player, after all.

So, whether you need a simple refresher or a crash course about this year’s draft, I’m here to help. These are the seven things you need to know about the 2020 NFL Draft:

1. It’s in Las Vegas!

The Raiders are new residents of Nevada after relocating from Oakland. Their unofficial welcome party is the 2020 NFL Draft, which will be held on the Las Vegas Strip.

The main stage where new draft picks will hug Roger Goodell and hold up a jersey with their name on it will be next to Caesars Forum. The red carpet where soon-to-be draftees will show off clean suits and fancy shoes will be IN THE DANG BELLAGIO FOUNTAIN!

The stage for the 2020 NFL Draft in Las Vegas will be on the water at the Fountains of Bellagio. The players will be transported to the stage by boat. pic.twitter.com/8sVl8p2ZBx

— Arash Markazi (@ArashMarkazi) January 21, 2020

The NFL Draft usually has a fair share of ridiculousness. There have been animals announcing picks (much to now-Raiders general manager Mike Mayock’s frustration) and former NFL players trolling rival fans. That’s especially the case now that the league moves the draft from city to city and each host gets a chance to put its stamp on the event.

Before stopping off in Las Vegas, the draft was held in Chicago, Philadelphia, Dallas, and Nashville. Next year, it’ll be Cleveland.

2. Here are the important draft dates

In the months prior to draft night, every prospect will be poked, prodded, interviewed, and tested by all 32 teams.

That process already got started for the players who participated in the Senior Bowl, NFLPA Bowl, East-West Shrine Bowl, or another college football all-star game. For most everyone else, it will start at the NFL Combine.

A total of 337 players were invited to Indianapolis for this year’s combine. It’ll begin Feb. 23 when the quarterbacks, receivers, and tight ends check in, although drills won’t start until a few days later. The full NFL Combine schedule can be seen here, but what most fans care about is the on-field workouts. These are the dates for each position group:

Thursday, Feb. 27: Quarterbacks, receivers, tight ends

Friday, Feb. 28: Running backs, offensive linemen, special teamers

Saturday, Feb. 29: Defensive linemen, linebackers

Sunday, March 1: Defensive backs

After that, players will hold private workouts with teams and perform at pro days throughout March and into early April.

The grand finale will be the 2020 NFL Draft, a three-day event at the end of April:

Thursday, April 23: Round 1

Friday, April 24: Rounds 2-3

Saturday, April 25: Rounds 4-7

It probably wouldn’t hurt to pay some attention to free agency, which begins March 18, either. Team needs and draft priorities can change when veterans land on new teams.

3. The top two picks may already be decided

The Cincinnati Bengals stumbled their way into a 2-14 record and decided right around Halloween that the Andy Dalton era was over. They wound up with the No. 1 pick in the draft, and that’s perfect because LSU quarterback Joe Burrow couldn’t be a better fit.

Burrow played high school football in The Plains, Ohio, less than a three-hour drive from Cincinnati. After transferring from Ohio State to LSU, Burrow put together arguably the best college football season ever when he led the Tigers to a national championship.

It seems like a foregone conclusion that he’ll be the Bengals’ pick at No. 1 overall.

The second pick looks just as inevitable with Washington and Ohio State pass rusher Chase Young. The team took quarterback Dwayne Haskins in the first round of the 2019 NFL Draft and will presumably select the top non-quarterback of the class.

Young is that player by a significant margin after recording 16.5 sacks and 21 tackles for loss during the 2019 season. He was the only Heisman Trophy finalist who didn’t play quarterback. It’d be a shock if Washington didn’t want to add Young to a defense that was 27th in yards and points allowed.

So expect to see mock draft after mock draft with Burrow and Young going 1-2. Dan Kadar is already getting bored.

4. Burrow’s not the only promising quarterback in the class

For a long time, Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa was the clear favorite to be the first pick of the 2020 NFL Draft. So much so that when the Dolphins stripped their roster bare for draft picks and cap space, it was called the “Tank for Tua” strategy.

But things changed. Burrow couldn’t be stopped and Tagovailoa suffered a season-ending hip injury in November.

While Tagovailoa won’t be the first off the board, it doesn’t mean he’ll have to wait long to hear his name called. He’s still expected to be a top-five pick, especially with reports that his recovery from hip surgery is going well. Miami might even land Tagovailoa, despite somehow winning five games.

Those two are just the tip of the quarterback iceberg, though. There’s also:

Justin Herbert (Oregon): He’s a four-year starter who stands 6’6 and has a Carson Wentz-esque skillset. He was the MVP at the Senior Bowl in January and could be the Chargers’ ideal replacement for Philip Rivers.

Jordan Love (Utah State): He’s athletic, has a cannon for an arm, and isn’t afraid to be creative. Calling him the next Patrick Mahomes is awfully optimistic, but Love has (understandably) enjoyed that comparison. “We’ve both got strong arms,” Love told the Indy Star. “He obviously makes ridiculous throws, off-schedule, stuff like that. It’s something I’ve seen and tried to model my game after.”

Jake Fromm (Georgia): In three years at Georgia, Fromm led the team to the Rose Bowl once, the Sugar Bowl twice, and the national championship game in January 2018. According to ESPN’s Mel Kiper, “the easiest comp in this draft is Jake Fromm to Andy Dalton.”

Jacob Eason (Washington): A knee injury cleared the way for Fromm to take Eason’s job at Georgia. Eason then transferred to Washington and started one season before declaring for the draft. He’s 6’6 with ridiculous arm strength, but has limited experience and struggled against pressure in the latter half of the 2019 season.

All four of those players have a shot at joining Burrow as first-round picks in April.

5. The draft class is loaded at wide receiver

There were two receivers taken in the first round of each of the last two drafts. None of them were top-20 picks.

In 2019, it was Marquise Brown (Ravens) and N’Keal Harry (Patriots) toward the end of the first night. And in 2018, D.J. Moore (Panthers) and Calvin Ridley (Falcons) were late first-round selections.

The 2020 NFL Draft should be much different for receivers.

Kadar’s latest mock draft has six receivers going in the first round: Alabama’s Jerry Jeudy, Oklahoma’s CeeDee Lamb, Alabama’s Henry Ruggs III, Colorado’s Laviska Shenault, Clemson’s Tee Higgins, and LSU’s Justin Jefferson.

There’s also TCU’s Jalen Reagor and Penn State’s K.J. Hamler, who have been in the first round of Kadar’s earlier mocks. Arizona State receiver Brandon Aiyuk landed No. 33 overall in a two-round mock.

All that talent at the top will push quality receivers into the middle rounds. It’s a good year for teams that want to jumpstart their passing games in the draft.

6. It’s a mediocre draft for tight ends and running backs

This class has a group of tight ends who will probably be second-day selections — like Cole Kmet of Notre Dame and Hunter Bryant of Washington — but it’d be surprising if any landed in the first round.

There’s a better chance at a running back going early, even if there won’t be any Saquon Barkley, Leonard Fournette, or Ezekiel Elliott in the top five. While Georgia’s D’Andre Swift and Ohio State’s J.K. Dobbins are the best at the position, neither was in Kadar’s most recent mock. One or both could still catch the eye of a team picking in the back half of the first round, however.

7. The Dolphins are the draft capital kings

Selling off most of the quality players on the roster was all part of the Dolphins’ tanking plan. They still managed to win five games, and now they enter the offseason with the most cap space in the NFL and a haul of draft picks.

Miami owns the Nos. 5, 18, and 26 picks in the first round, as well as the Nos. 39 and 56 picks in the second round.

The Raiders and Jaguars are the other two teams with multiple first-rounders, thanks to trades that moved Khalil Mack and Jalen Ramsey, respectively.

On the other end of the spectrum, the Texans and Rams are the only teams without a top-50 pick. The 49ers still own their first-rounder, but they don’t have another selection until the fifth round.

Compensatory picks will be announced soon, which probably won’t help the 49ers much. It should be a boon to the Patriots’ stockpile of picks, though.

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bryanllamado · 7 years

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Feb-ibig

Okay. So before you start reading this blog entry, here’s a quick story. After celebrating Valentine’s the entire week (yes, I made it happen), I had chicken pox. *frowns* As of writing, I’m taking some time off of school to recuperate from this illness–perfect timing, the prelim has just begun (and so as this chicken pox). Disclaimer: I have zero idea on how I got this–no one from the fam or the squad had this skin disease recently. I’m starting to hate February for this apparent reason (getting sick); it never fails to ruin things. But looking on the brighter side of things, I got to spend this year’s V-Day with the one[s] I love!

I have planned this–my dream V-Day celeb–for a long time already and though some things didn’t turn out as planned, I’m glad with the way everything drove out in general. Damang dama ko ang simoy ng pag-ibig, mga bes! I enjoyed every single moment of the week and I feel privileged to have spent the Hearts Day sharing love with the best people in town. Plus, this year saw the light for my first ever (legit but not so legal) valentine date–though it wasn’t exactly a date. Tamis! Let’s just say that I celebrated love the way it is supposed to be rejoiced. But for now, it’s time for me to do a recap of how the previous week went. #HappyHeartsDay

Valentine Week 2017

Sunday

As soon as I reached the dorm, I prepared a little surprise for my girl: a special valentine greeting poem and a banner. I spent the rest of the night finishing the poem (though I finished it swiftly) and cutting out letters for me and my friend’s ‘HAPPY HEARTS DAY’ banner surprise to our two lovely girls. The good thing is that I have the materials that I need at the dorm–glue, colored papers, bond papers and a pair of scissors. I prepared the letter cuts and Gian inflated the heart shaped balloons. We have everything laid out that night and the only thing left to do is to execute the plan. #loverbois

Monday

It’s been a while since we (me and my girl) last visited Starbucks so we planned to grab coffee to start the week. We both came from our respective schools–the 2 Lasallian universities in Dasmariñas–and headed straight to meet each other and get our favorite flavors of frappe. I guess we both needed a breather from a long hard day in school. I enjoyed the night (even though we weren’t able to talk much and catch up). I was preparing for a report and a major exam for the following day as she was scanning through her notes. Handouts before hangouts as people say but why choose when you can have the best of both worlds?

Tuesday

Prior to this week, she already informed me that she and her (single girl) friends will be going out on V-Day. I gave it a nod since I don’t want her to wait too long for me as she’ll be dismissed earlier than I’ll be. The plan is that we’ll meet at exactly 6PM at Walter Mart with no particular place to eat at. It is also the day when we are supposed to hand our valentine gifts to each other but a few days before, the Instagram account (from which I ordered my gift for her–a blue cap and a matching blue watch) informed me that they couldn’t ship/send the items to me yet because they don’t have them yet.

Since she’s out with her friends, I decided to join my friends to try Bittersweet–a café that some of our fellow COEd students manage. I wasn’t supposed to join them (as I’ll be having a dinner date with my girl) but I wouldn’t want to miss a food adventure. After class, we grabbed a jeepney ride and headed straight to Area G–where the café is located. Too bad, Rica, Jane, MJ and Rjhay weren’t able to make it. For the meriendate, majority of us had Tuna Pasta and Choco Kisses milk shake and we all shared a plate of nachos and a barkada serving of fries.

Everybody enjoyed the food and (believe it or not) none of us spent more than a hundred bucks. The food is great and the menu offers variety–though the serving size is a little reduced but my taste buds are still satisfied. The sizes of their drinks are named single, taken, complicated and barkada (from the smallest serving to the largest). The place is not that spacious but we managed to arrange ourselves on a long table. I am satisfied with my Bittersweet experience in general. *thumbs up* After we finished our meals, we had isaw and betamax on a nearby streetfood spot.

I went back to the dorm to fix myself for my first ever (could-have-been) valentine dinner. She texted me around quarter to 7PM and told me that she’s on her way already. I rushed to reach Walter Mart and arrived 13 minutes late–not that punctual for an actual date. We decided to dine at Bon Chon (our common fave food place) but to our surprise, the place is too crowded–with people waiting both inside and outside. We were supposed to try the new seafood flavor Bibimbowl but apparently, there’s no vacant table left for us to dine in. It is unwise to have our orders taken out but we did in hopes of saving time.

Instead of having Bibimbowls (which we would appreciate more if we eat in the actual serving), we opted for 2 servings of Calamari. The crew told us that we will be waiting for 20 minutes to get our orders but we ended up waiting for almost an hour–partida, standing ovation pa kami n’yan. The waiting game is on and we took the time to catch up on each other’s ganaps. Instead of getting bored, I enjoyed waiting since I’m with my favorite person. I can still recall her saying, “Sana pala dito na lang tayo kumain kung ganto katagal din naman tayo maghihintay.” I bet she would laugh in case she’s reading this.

Since I’m chasing a curfew time, we went home with our take outs (told you, it wasn’t a date). I’m absolutely disappointed with how the night turned out–the gifts were delayed, waited for an hour to get our orders and ended up not eating together. I actually insisted that we eat instead given that it’s a special day (and I wouldn’t mind going back to the dorm past the curfew time) but she insisted that we should go home–since we’ve spent enough time together. We left the place not with satisfied tummies but with memories and good laughter. Tip: If you’re going on a date, make sure you set up an early one or have a table reservation. By the way, the banner and balloons surprise for our lovely girls was a success! Thanks a lot Gi! I owe you so much man.

Wednesday

We were supposed to see My Ex and Why’s (but she dislikes mainstream Filipino films) or Fifty Shades Darker (but she has already seen it) so planned to have a movie marathon on their place instead. Our friends Gian and Yna–our fellow Lasallian couple–set up the marathon and we all chipped in to have popcorn and nachos to complete the movie experience. We watched Holding the Man and Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children (the former is LGBT romance themed, the latter is a fantasy). My bad, I slept in between the 2 films so I didn’t understand any of the storyline. It always feels authentic when I’m with the 3 of them; plus, nachos and popcorn. *drools*

Thursday

Y’all know what it is: my friends and I planned to see Fifty Shades Darker on that day and as if fate is on our side, everything went according to plans. Praise the heavens! Apparently, my friends are sort of obsessed with the franchise and I feel their strong will (judging on their reactions when they saw the trailer) to see the film. Well, I’m a fan of film adaptations of novels in general and what could have been a naughtier way to celebrate love month than to hit the movie house with this flick? In short, we have anticipated Darker from the very beginning.

The hype is so real that to some extent, some of my friends even fabricated birth certificates to prove that everyone’s in the legal age–since Darker is R-18. Babala: Ang programang ito ay Rated SPG. There are a lot of ‘great things’ I supposed that happened during the day. 1. I recovered my ID from SWAFO. I lost my school ID (the jacket is already broken so it’s no wonder it got lost) that day when we attended a seminar at the Alumni Building. Good thing I was able to retrieve it from SWAFO right before we leave for Robinsons Dasmariñas.

2. The full show was moved to 3:50PM instead of half past 3PM (which gave us more time to fake birth certificates and get food). We grabbed snacks from 7Eleven; I had a butter flavored popcorn and a huge cup of Gulp–which I finished by myself. #nosharing 3. There is no traffic and the jeepney driver changed routes to shorten the ride. We left 30 minutes before the showing and we crossed our fingers for no traffic. Good thing the driver of the jeepney changed routes to get to the mall faster. After that, we ran–far beyond the stoplight to enter the mall to the last floor to reach the movie house.

4. The guard from the mall simply asked us about our ages and college level (he simply looked at our IDs without even asking for legal documents or proofs). Honestly, there are 3 of us who are not yet 18–Alpha, MJ and Faith. Rica and Rjhay were not able to join us; T. Annie (Dairen’s best friend) and Leslie (MJ’s special someone) joined the pool. 5. We got inside the movie house just in time. When we entered the cinema, the film has just began and so we quickly looked for seats and placed in the 3rd row. I sat beside Nica and Tin. Our acquaintances Clarisse and Errol were also inside the cinema.

I’m satisfied with the film in general–the story lines and the cinematography. Although I haven’t read the novel yet, it would have been a better experience to know what to expect (aside from what we saw in the trailer). FYI: The plot of the entire trilogy focuses on romance; not on the BDSM thing or the sexual encounters (though the love scenes are really noticeable). One thing I love about the film is that it featured a cohesive shift from the ‘sexual’ to ‘intimate’ relationship between Anastasia and Christian. I highly recommend this flick for lovers out there; perfect for the love month.

After seeing Darker, majority of us headed home straight but Nica, MJ, Leslie and I hopped to SM Dasmariñas which is just a few blocks away. The lovebirds (MJ and Leslie) will be dining there while Nica and I went to Imagine. I personally wanted to go to Imagine because I want to belt out my favorite songs on the karaoke (which I barely do; thank you to my blockmates–Ayah, MJ and Cyra–who went to Imagine that Monday for making me envy). Nica and I had an equal share of songs and this is my set list for that night:

· Chandelier

· You are My Song

· Someday We’ll Know

· Home

· Alone

· Baliw

· If I Were a Boy

· The Gift (duet with Nica)

· Forever’s Not Enough

· If We Fall in Love (duet with Nica)

I’m not even kidding with the set list though most of the songs are very unlikely for me to sing–Chandelier, If I Were a Boy and Forever’s Not Enough). *laughs* I just want to know if I can still sing those songs. Nica sang Counting Stars, I’ll Be There, Somebody that I Used to Know, Born This Way, A Whole New World, etc. Next time, I’ll be doing more of band music and alternatives like Maroon 5, Coldplay and Paramore–medyo rock para mapaos–or maybe some throwback Chris Brown or Ne-Yo. #nexttime Unfortunately, they don’t have Secret Love Song yet–would’ve been a great jam if the song is there.

Before we went home, I dropped by Tokyo Tokyo to take out Ramen (insane cravings for Ramen; had two steaming bowls that day–one for brunch and another for dinner). That day is indeed tiring but I have seen a great film (Darker), I have great food (Ramen) and I’m with a great company–my college squad. I have 3 homeworks and a quiz the following day but fret not–Carpe Diem. I’m really glad that I was able to carry out everything I have planned that day–felt extremely blessed. Guess what, I’m starting to love Thursdays more than ever… again! #thankyouLord

Friday

Another (tough and long) week at school has passed and the best way to end it is a street food fix: had calamares and my fave buko juice after class. After 2 weeks of indulging in calamares after class, I (think I) should stop this habit–for a.) it is not that healthy; b.) it’s about time to stop cheap thrills; c.) I’m bringing back the thrifty habits. Before I catch the bus ride home, I dropped by my girl’s place and shared a few bites off our favorite doughs. She did it again–she bought a box (a dozen) of our favorite donuts from Krispy Kreme.

In fact, we had KK donuts twice that week because Gian and Yna also purchased a dozen of assorted doughs that Tuesday (which they shared with us). This time though, we had the box all by ourselves–though we have only consumed 4 of which. I helped her fix her things; she helped me sort mine. #dormergoals #rgoals As we packed our bags together, I asked her if we could meet the following day–I’ll finally received my valentine gift for her–so we can give our gifts to each other. Delightedly, she said yes without asking about details or whatevers.

Saturday

The Instagram account (from where I ordered my gifts for her) messaged me that Friday that they already handed the items to my friend Bea–a friend who resides in Manila and the one who picked up the gifts. I personally tapped Bea to contact the account and help me purchase the items since she’s in Manila (most of the time). She went home that Friday so we managed to meet the following day to give me the gift. So there, if you’re reading this, you’ll know where I bought my gifts for you and who conspired with me to get the items. *winks*

We met at SM Trece Martires–our new hide away as the mall is not crowded–and she arrived late (very unlikely of her to). Well, I was late when we met that Tuesday and it is just fair that she came late that time–quits lang. Oh girl, please don’t make me wait. When she arrived, she immediately handed me her gift and to my surprise (nasarprays ako literal), her gifts were the items next on my bucket list–the items that I would care to have but can’t at the moment. Thank you boo! I love your gifts! I handed her my gifts as well–quite nervous if she would like them or not.

She has been eyeing the blue cap–which is from a merch store–and the blue watch on Instagram for some time now. Since she doesn’t have time to purchase them yet, I did the deeds and surprisingly, she liked my gifts. I won’t give a hint on the price of the items (shh lang muna; she gave me a pricey gift as well so secret na lang) because she also bought a quite expensive gift for me. She’s really eager to have the cap–which I would also love to have–and I made sure it comes with a watch (because she’s a big lover of watches; bought a blue one to match the color of the cap).

And all of a sudden, I had chicken pox–just the mere thought that I have this makes me want to throw up instead. *note sarcasm* So it goes a little like this, Cupid and Aphrodite made me feel all the love the entire week then sends me crashing back down to earth (after putting me on a cloud 9). But kidding aside, I don’t know what I did to contact and/or deserve this kind of sickness. The good thing is that this came after Valentine’s–I got to spend the Hearts Day the way it is supposed to. #atleast

The bad thing is that this came right at the beginning of the Prelim week so I had to take 5 special exams. Not to mention, I’ll be staying at home for the rest of the week and (sighs) no allowance. Sayang baon, mga beshy! I could have felt that Valentine hangover if not for this. *frowns* Di bale na. Looking on the positive side of things: I get to rest for some days; I have been enormously blessed the entire week; I have the love of my life with me–there’s nothing more that I could ask for. #blessed

How about you, my dear readers? How did you spend the Hearts Day? By whatever means, I hope you all had an incredibly romantic and intimate celebration with the one[s] you love! Just a friendly reminder: You deserve to be loved. ❤

Till the next blog entry! Bry. x 022317

P.S. To the one who made this year’s Valentine’s extra special, thank you! I’m blessed to have you.

P.P.S. I didn’t publish this whole entry to brag; it is just my pleasure to share with you how it is to be me.

#uncat #article #blog #blogger #blogging #journal #life #personal #writer #valentines #valentines day #love month #writing

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phatjosh180 · 7 years

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The Jackpot Game Plan ...

For most people who read the headline above would think … oh, Josh is a gambler. He’s got a problem. His jackpot strategy probably involves sitting hours on end at a slot machine until he wins something — or better yet lurks the slot machines waiting for people to leave to only swoop in and play that machine until be wins.

Needless to say, this is NOT that post. And, I may or may not use that latter strategy while in Vegas. It’s worked for me and I’ve come away $5 richer because of it.

But, I am talking specifically about the Jackpot Ultra Running Festival happening next weekend in sunny (but, I think it is suppose to be rainy?! BOOOOOO) Las Vegas. I will running with my friend Jill along with some St. George friends that are making the hour and a half trip for the race. I am really, really, really looking forward to the adventure.

This will be my third ultra — and third in the past 15 months or so. I won’t lie — I’m kinda falling for the longer distances. My favorite distance will always be the half marathon, but I love the challenges of the longer distances. They’re a different beast. And, they challenge me in completely different ways than any half marathon I’ve run.

Both Jill and I are signed up for the 12 hour race for the weekend’s festival — meaning, we have 12 hours to run as many loops of the 2.38 mile loop around Railroad Lake in Cornerstone Park we want. Sounds fairly simple, no?

Our minimum goal is to get that ultra distance completed — which should be pretty “easy” to do in the 12 hours. But, we both have differing goals. I really want to crank out anywhere between 35-40 miles. Ideally, 40 miles would be AWESOME. But, I’m not sure how realistic that is? So, I am pushing myself to do at least 35 miles.

But, that 40 … that’s what I really want.

I feel like it’s possible for a couple reasons. It’s hard to judge that off of my last ultras, because none of them were looped courses. I feel like looped courses would be easier, because the terrain is fairly flat, I have an aid station every 2.38 miles and I’m not going to get eaten my bears or gored by buffalo.

Because of the looped course, I don’t have to lug my supplies around with me. Which is a BIG plus. This was what I loved about my 50 miler. I can not only bring my own food, but the race itself has some GREAT food available as well. Granted I’ll have to keep all things gluten and dairy free — so that could be a challenge. But, I am not TOO worried about it — I will probably bring my own gluten-free tortillas and bread (in case I need it) along with sweet potatoes and all that jazz.

And, there will be Mountain Dew.

As I did in my last 50K I broke my four year soda celibacy pledge. But, luckily, still kept it out of my daily life. So, the only time I’m drinking it is during my ultra races and distance runs. It really is great fuel — the sugar, caffeine and calories saved my life in November. My body may be going into full cravings as I type all of this.

See why I’ve sworn off soda?

The running goal is simple — start off slow. I am planning on doing my first two laps or so at a nice walking clip. Not too leisurely, but at a mall walking speed that would make my Grandma proud. I know I’ll need to save my energy levels for the latter part of the race, especially when I am between miles 35-40.

I want to finish off strong and even if I am past 40 miles after the first 10-11 hours, I want to finish those last 1-2 hours off strong. I want to finish the race with Jell-O legs. Well, okay, not Jell-O legs — because I don’t want to get around Vegas in a jazzy, but I want to FEEL and BE spent. I want to KNOW that I gave it my full effort.

And, at a distance of 35-40 miles, I am sure I will go away with that feeling. At least I sure hope so?

But, like the last couple ultras I’ve done. I’m not nervous for this adventure. I am more so anxious to just do it. There really is something about being IN the moment during an ultra. The fatigue — both mentally, physically, emotionally and spiritually really opens you up. It makes you vulnerable. And, it teaches you.

That is what I am looking forward to the most. And, that’s one of the many reasons why I love these longer distances. I’m not going to win the race — far from it. But, I’m going enjoy the ride and get the most out of it that I can.

VEGAS OR BUST, BABY!

A photo posted by The Runcast (@theruncast) on Feb 8, 2017 at 8:03pm PST

The Jackpot Game Plan … was originally published on PhatJosh | My Life Running.

#50K #Fitness #goals #jackpot running festival #las vegas #race plan #run #run las vegas #run nevada #run vegas #running #ultra marathon #ultra running #ultrarunning

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