There's been a lot of discussion about the new Chinese-exclusive canon ebook The Vow of Silver Dawn, and how there won't be an official translation of it, so I figured I'd have a go for my own enjoyment (and hopefully yours too!). I will eventually do all of the chapters as they come out, though Matt Martin has said the book is "looooooog, like super long," so I can't promise translations on the regular, but I'll share them as I can.
Edits: Fixed a few typos and added a link to Chapter 2
Star Wars
The Vow of Silver Dawn
By His Majesty the King
Chapter 1
Welcome to Bergamore
A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away.
The Republic ruled a highly-developed galactic society, its capital of Coruscant like a blazing star spreading the light and heat of civilization abundantly.
However, in those corners where the light was not as bright, shadows were present, and poverty and corruption inevitably bred in the fringe areas of the Republic.
Bergamore, located in the Outer Rim of the galaxy, had followed its irregular orbit around a binary star system for countless years. The planet merited only occasional attention from the Republic’s indifferent citizens, who viewed it as impoverished and backward.
However, a few decades ago, a politician by the name of Jamie Brasen had risen to prominence on the planet Bergamore. Projecting charm and integrity, he won the support of the planet’s three billion inhabitants and became Bergamore’s President, bringing envoys to meet with the Senate of the Republic. On the capital world of Coruscant, he earned the respect of many senators with his almost flawless personal image.
In the view of the Senate, Jamie Brasen was honest and upright, with a gentle and humble personality. Under his rule, Bergamore had become increasingly prosperous and rich, gradually ridding itself of its poor and underdeveloped reputation, and Brasen built up the planetary capital of Green Sunlight into a model city. The thriving metropolis amazed countless tourists from far and wide. But Brasen himself had maintained a meager life for decades; even when he attended his conference with the Republic, Brasen had worn a patchwork jacket.
Surely, there was nothing more to this so-called saint than that.
­­­____
“Sure enough, there are no real saints in the world…”
A human woman covered her beautiful, dignified face with a gray cloak and walked quietly down a dark and damp street, looking at the crookedly-built temporary buildings along both sides of the path, and the shivering abandoned children under the shelter of awnings. She couldn’t help pursing her lips tightly at the sight, and sighed sadly within her heart.
Not far from this street – 20 meters overhead, to be precise – was the proudest, most affluent city on the planet of Bergamore, gleaming like a steel green forest. The city’s architectural style had been based on that of Coruscant. Although the sprawl had not spread over every corner of Bergamore as had happened to Coruscant, the city shown as bright as a star for the remote and impoverished planet.
However, how many people knew that under its dazzling epidermis, the city was rotten to the bone? How many knew that of Bergamore’s 3 billion people, only a very small number could live a life of luxury in the modern buildings of the capital Green Sunlight?
The woman walked in silence, and after a while, a group of devious shadows came to follow.
In this underworld domain, a woman walking alone in the slums was almost like bait thrown into a fishing pond.
In her wake, slave traders who longed for better captives, black market doctors looking for fresh organs, murderers who took pleasure in killing, and down-on-their-luck gamblers followed.
However, the woman simply looked back at the devious shadows. They disappeared like morning mist upon encountering the sun. Suddenly, these underworld thugs couldn’t even recall what they had come here after.
The woman didn’t care, and wasn’t surprised. After coming to Bergamore, similar instances had happened too many times to count. She shook her head, continued on her way, and walked until she reached a dilapidated hotel. Entering the only upper-class guest room, she took off her cloak, exhaled, and clicked on a huge projection covering an entire wall of the room. The screen, displayed by a customized communication device in the shape of a wrist bracelet she wore, transmitted new data.
Two holoimages quickly lit up on the wall. In the first, haggard children were kept in dark cages like animals, awaiting their fate as livestock before a slaughter.
In contrast, the other image showed revelers in the upper level of the city, drunk and enjoying a life comparable to that of the rich nobles at the core of the Republic.
Various images such as these came to light up the entirety of the wall – and this was the collection of a woman who had only come to Bergamore a week ago.
On the display, various pictures and annotations were connected by lines of different colors, like a densely-woven network with countless clues pointing to the core.
At the center was the image of the President of the planet Bergamore, Jamie Brasen!
It was the President of Bergamore, who was well-known on Coruscant, that had led to countless tragedies. Nearly every large criminal organization working behind the scenes on the planet stemmed from Jamie Brasen. He was at the helm of the consortiums and the gangs, the highest in the food chain. Before he had come to power, Bergamore had been poor, but its populace had lived in peace. The people had never been treated inhumanely, and had followed a harmonious life for thousands of years. However, in the span of just a few decades, the surface of this planet had been filled with criminals… and bones.
This was all still unknown to the galaxy at large. Jamie Brasen still enjoyed the prestige of a saint, and no one could tarnish his perfect reputation.
The woman stared silently at the network of clues on the wall. Suddenly, the communicator bracelet on her arm chirped, and she placed the device on the table. A blue holographic projection appeared.
She saw an octopus-like alien head appear in her field of vision, and the four tentacles on its chin squirmed gently, indicating his species as a Quarren. A gaze of utmost respect shown in the two round eyes.
“Salutations to you, respected Master Jedi…”
Before he finished speaking, the woman interrupted: “As I’ve said, please, call me Mostema.”
The Quarren individual seemed slightly uneasy.
Mostema continued, “Don’t feel anxious, just treat this as a business exchange between colleagues. You used to oversee the Republic’s intelligence work on Bergamore, and I really could use you professional advice.”
The Quarren felt even more ashamed when he heard this. “Jamie Brasen is a very cunning politician. I have been here for many years, and I have never him in the act of wrongdoing.”
“Being able to verify the other party’s cunning is still the result of important work,” Mostema assured the Quarren. “Do you have any suggestions for the next job?”
With that, the Jedi Master transmitted all the information she had collected to the Quarren agent.
Upon hearing the transmission had been received, the Quarren quickly turned his attention to his own display screen. His two already-huge eyeballs grew wider.
“Master, is this the evidence you’ve collected? You really deserve to be a Jedi Master. All this within just a few standard days, and so much as been compiled! Let me see… God, this chain of evidence is so complete! Next, just add the testimonies from StarFan Hostel and Shining Manpower…”
Again before he had finished, he saw Mostema exhibit two new portraits on the display through the communicator bracelet. They were the leaders of StarFan Hostel and Shining Manpower, and their confessions and related testimonies told the same story. Moments passed.
The Quarren was stunned. “… This is worthy of the Jedis’ famed omnipotence, the final link in the chain of evidence is here! As long as you submit this dossier to the Senate in the name of the Jedi Order, it should be enough to merit acceptance. Jamie Brasen’s evil rule ends here!”
“Hmmm…” Mostema thought to herself briefly, but then smiled and shook her head.
“So, what if this wasn’t submitted in the name of the Jedi Order? For example, if it came from you, or even an ordinary person working on Bergamore?”
The Quarren was stunned momentarily, then said in a low voice, “I am afraid that would be a bit insufficient. The President’s crimes are rarely committed firsthand; almost all of them are done by others. There is no proof that directly connections him to a crime. And, his perception within the Republic is nearly pristine. Everyone thinks of Brasen as a humble and incorruptible philanthropist. He also has the most prestigious lawyers in the galaxy at his disposal, and has turned black to white through the courts many times, in fact, with legal deposition on his side. Taking on a politically-strong man who has controlled this planet for decades is far-fetched in itself, so I hope you can…”
“Do you hope to use the name of the Jedi in order to bring him down? Then the essence of the matter is that I wield Jedi political sway extrajudiciously to forcibly interfere with the judgment of the Senate. Simply because I can’t stand Brasen, I should use the influence of the Jedi Order, dressed in the guise of the law, and ask the Senate to make him stand trial? How does that set me apart from a reckless tyrant such as him?”
The Quarren thought for a long moment, and suggested reluctantly, “If you must build your case through legal avenues, then you still aren’t without tricks at your disposal. Now that the Jedi Council has decided to investigate Jamie Brasen, then use your skills. Can’t you merely go to the President and let him confide the truth to you on his own? That’s the kind of hypnotizing technique that only the Jedi use…”
The Jedi Master deeply regretted the recognition of this power. “The Force techniques mastered by the Jedi are a double-edged sword. Of course I can use the Force to confound Jamie’s mind and make him self-report his crimes, but in the same fashion, this technique could be used to elicit a false confession, and allow innocent people to be unjustly wronged. If it was known I had influenced his mind, any testimony obtained from Brasen through hypnosis becomes invalid. Additionally, since Jamie Brasen is exceptionally crafty, it is entirely possible for him to anticipate and prepare for a Jedi mind trick in advance. In which case, he could not be hypnotized into telling the truth.”
The Quarren said helplessly, “If you believe that’s possible, then the situation is very dire. Jamie has been in control of Bergamore for so long, and the whole planet has become like a combination of labyrinth and spider web what with illegal intrigue, that it is difficult to pinpoint his location at a given time through peripheral clues. If you will have to speak with him, you can only try to find the legendary manor. Some have said that the President built a private mansion on the outskirts of Green Sunlight, where he lives a life of glamour. More importantly, he is known to entertain guests at the manor. Most of is crimes are designed and completed within the manor’s walls. I have been investigating for many years, but I have yet to find the slightest trace about the manor’s location…”
As he was talking, the Quarren suddenly heard the communicator bracelet on the table start to ding, and the woman’s cold expression melted a bit – though it was only barely perceptible, the Quarren felt sure the change wasn’t because she was looking at him.
Mostema stated, “I have asked my apprentice to investigate Jamie’s manor.”
The Quarren was shocked. “Apprentice? You didn’t come alone?”
“Yes, my apprentice Sean. He is still at the stage of training, 17 years old but still immature and in need of more tutelage. So I asked him to go to the lower city to investigate intelligence leads on the Presidential Manor.”
The Quarren only experienced a moment of astonishment before saying, “Master, Jamie has always attached great importance to the secrets of his manor. Anyone who dares to investigate it privately will have their life in danger! More to the point, many of my own elite agents have gone missing here in the Green Sunlight District!”
“Yes, so I told him to be particularly careful while investigating.”
“This is not a question of carelessness. Your apprentice is but merely a student? With all due respect, even for a Jedi who has mastered the art of the Force…”
However, as he was speaking, Mostema had reached out and pressed the button for multi-person communication feature on the bracelet, and suddenly another projection appeared beside the octopus-like head.
It was of a human teenager who seemed to be only 16 or 17 years old… the Quarren was not especially good at distinguishing human ages from simple beauty and ugliness, but seeing this black-haired and dark-eyed teenager, he immediately felt a sense of camaraderie.
The other party took the initiative to say hello to the alien.
“Good afternoon, Master! I presume this is our agent Mr. Squak, I’m glad to meet you! I read your ‘Bergamore Investigation Report.’ The work was very meticulous, it was really quite admirable!”
The Quarren’s rough skin abruptly took on a blood-like color. “I… I am too ashamed. There have been no reliable results from the investigation for several years…”
“No, because your work has not yielded any results, the Republic will request the Jedi Order to send a Master to investigate, which will substantially accelerate the progress of the investigation. I believe the people of Bergamore will remember you contributions long into the future!”
At last, the Quarren was utterly speechless.
Chapter 2: https://www.reddit.com/starwarscanon/comments/kqri6v/the_vow_of_silver_dawn_chapter_2_english/

Did you know Night Markets are a thing in our history too? In Southeast Asia, where I used to live, they were called Pasar Malam (Malay for “night market”). You can’t get cyberware at those, though. But you can at mine. Again, this is free for fan use, and please feel free to adjust and tweak as and when you need for your own game purposes.
1: The Chicken Lady is a plump middle-aged Black woman with a frowsy head of hair that sticks out under a chicken hat, hence the name. She sells live unsexed chicks (€20) and pullets (€50), black soldier fly cultures to help make organic trash into compost (€25), and a selection of egg and chicken based street snacks at an adjoining stall run by her several adopted children. If you buy chicks and chickens from her she’ll also give you a free pamphlet on the care and feeding of chickens, with basic plans for a coop and some egg recipes to boot! €10 for another pamphlet on how best to slaughter and clean chickens, with recipes for every part of the chicken and how you can use the whole carcass except for the cluck.
2: RIGHT TO BEAR ARMS is a stall with a lot of cybernetic arms, mostly second-hand. The owner, Dick, is a tobacco-chewing mountain boy, nobody knows why he’s in Night City. Prices range from €400 to €600, depending on age and condition of the arm you’re buying. Dick is actually a pretty chatty sort, and he and his apprentice Bull will give you all kinds of friendly advice on good places to get those arms installed. Dick also sells legs (€75 to €300), and other appendages (GM fiat), he just likes the pun.
3: Spooky Sue is a street chemist who sells… well, chemicals. She sells compounds ranging from street drugs in neat €50 foil packets, to gallons of bleach, water purifying resin filters, bulk vitamin supplements, street insulin in chillpaks, you name it, she’s got it, or can compound it for you. She also sells her own distilled alcohol, very pure. Spooky Sue also happens to look like she crawled out of a Korean horror vid, with long, stringy black hair and depthless black cybereyes. Her penchant for shapeless white dresses doesn’t help. Hence her nickname.
4: A bunch of cute but grubby street kids have a bunch of advertisement pamphlets in their arms. They’ve been paid by the Fixer in this Night Market to advertise various stands, and will shove pamphlets in people’s faces. Roll again on this table to see which stall they tell you to check out. On a DV 14 Perception check, PCs may notice that one of the kids is a recent Beaverville runaway, from their photo on a soy milk carton.
5: Lauralee’s sells bohemian-style clothing. A lot of peasant skirts and frilly shirts, with fine, stackable rings and bracelets, eccentric pendants and other accessories. She also sells cheap bootlegs of popular romance vids, novels (€20), and bootleg dating sim games (€30).
6: PIERCINGS. This is a stall selling body piercings and cheap tattoos. It also does Clinic level cyberware installation. The tattoo flash on the wall is generic, you don’t see an autoclave anywhere, and you might want to make sure you have Enhanced Antibodies before you purchase their services so you don’t die of hepatitis or some other blood-borne disease.
7: There’s a small elderly Chinese lady at a refreshments stall selling drinks, alcoholic and non-alcoholic alike. Most of them are canned drinks, sold for exactly €10 per pop, with an additional cup of ice gratis. If you just want to buy a cup of ice it’s €2. But there’s also a huge jar labeled PENIS WINE. It’s rice liquor with a bunch of herbs and… what looks like a mummified ox’s penis and testicles pickling in it. €30 per bottle. If PCs inquire about the nature of the wine, she tells them how much it’s improved her marriage, with the appropriate (or inappropriate) hand gestures. “Very strong,” she says. “Very powerful.” GM decision on whether it does what she claims it does. Closer examination suggests that this is not a fresh set of ox organs and may have been transferred from jar to jar of rice liquor for goodness knows how long.
8: Snakebite sells guns. Snakebite sells all kinds of guns, ranging from 100-year-old antique Browning Hi-Powers, to the au courant Millitech Boomer Buster. Snakebite also has a wide selection of hand-loaded cased ammunition for folks who use antique guns. On rare occasions Snakebite lucks into an Exotic firearm, which then goes on sale at their stand. For some reason, Snakebite refers to themselves in the third person constantly. But they do a brisk business and nobody really cares about a slightly strange verbal tic.
9: A grizzled middle-aged man nicknamed Rusty runs a stall called Surplus, and you can find anything from military webbing and armorjack to tents and sleeping bags and MRE packs. He also has a loose selection of meds — antibiotics, anti-inflammatories — pills in orange prescription bottles with the labels peeled off. You have no idea if they’re expired or not. Worth a shot, maybe?
10: Yana is a woman of mixed Native and settler ancestry, and she shows up only infrequently in Night City Night Markets. The rest of the time she’s on the road with her Nomad family. But while she’s in Night City she sells things she and her Family made while on the road. Sturdy leathers, made out of real animal hide. Knives forged from old truck leaf springs. Bone, horn, and antler grip panels for guns. Beautiful handmade jewelry. If you’re browsing her stand when business is a bit slow, she’ll tell you stories about the things she saw on the road. Some of them might even be true.
11: Food Not Guns is run by a pair of Dirty Hippies named Aura and Wolf, and they sell seeds and hydro/aeroponic rigs. For an extra fee, they’ll come along and do an installation for you. Seasonally they also have fresh fruits (€50), vegetables (€50), and other staples (€20) for sale, depending on what’s being harvested at their rooftop commune. While most Dirty Hippies are pacifists, Aura and Wolf are smart enough to pay off a couple Edgerunners for protection when they have high-value goods at their stall, say, when strawberries are in season.
12: Bug Bites is a small stall selling bug snacks — toasted, seasoned crickets, grubs on a stick, scrambled ant eggs on toast, mealworm flour cookies. They also sell bug-ranching starter kits for €50 a pop, and book and vid chips on bug ranching and bug recipes, and captive-bred earthworms and detritivores for soil gardeners who are looking to improve their soil quality. Bug Bites is run by Rowan, a former professor of entomology at NCU, and his husband of 40 years, Andre. Rowan is slightly crackpotty about how insects will feed the world better than livestock ever could, and Andre is rather more realistic about how to run things. Their adopted children, Audra and Ollie, are now also involved in the running of Bug Bites as their dads have gotten older and more tired.
13: Jingle’s. Jingle is a serious young Black woman with warm golden-pupiled cybereyes, and she got her street name for the charm bracelet she wears on her left wrist, a keepsake from her late grandmother. Jingle sells high-quality custom handguns from a variety of gunsmiths. The stuff she does sell tends to be better quality than the stuff at Snakebites, but they aren’t strictly rivals. Snakebite caters to people who want cheap stock guns, and Jingle sells to specialists. Jingle is also one of Jack Sawyer’s contacts, and is therefore one of the best people in Night City to go to if you want to get a Sawyer custom.
14: Kolibri is a skinny, nervous-looking dude of East Asian ancestry, and a polyglot to boot. He speaks and reads ten formal languages (English, Taiwanese Chinese, Russian, French, German, Arabic, Hindi, Spanish, Japanese, and Swahilli) besides Streetslang, and practices typesetting and calligraphy in all of them. He works as a street printer, sign painter, and typesetter, formatting documents for pamphlets and bootleg street bookchips for a fee, and is also one of the better software sellers you’ll find doing the Night Market circuit. He’s not actually nervous. He just looks like it because he’s got a mild case of Tourette’s, and his hands twitch from tics. Kolibri adores languages and linguistics more than he loves possible romantic partners, and a surefire way to charm him is to find him soundchips of people speaking rare, extinct, or novel languages. He’ll pay top eddie to acquire a language he doesn’t have in his collection (1d6 x 100 eurobucks per lexicon/soundchip).
15: Hot Sugar. Hot Sugar is run by a Japanese-American candymaker who makes the most beautiful candies out of sugar syrup. He pours sugar syrup in swirls and patterns onto a chilled, oiled metal plate to make depictions of various creatures, real and mythological. €15 for an edible work of art on a stick. Eat it fast before the Night City heat and humidity makes it melt into a gooey mess!
16: Found At Sea is a stall run by a group of salvage divers who work out of Night City’s crowded harbor. They have in-house Techs repair what they salvage, and put it out for sale at various Night Markets. They have a pretty good rep among Fixers, as they don’t sell anything that hasn’t been certified yet, and their stamp on a salvaged piece of tech is as good as an original warranty sticker. They sell mostly cyberware, but also have a good selection of Agents and non-implanted hardware like Virtuality goggles, cyberdecks, and battle gloves.
17: Safecracker’s. Heisted a lockbox you can’t open? Had your Linear-Frame equipped Solo yank an entire safe from a wall? Lost the keys to your personal chastity device? Have no fear, Safecracker’s is here. Sometimes. When they’re not busy with other shit. Safecracker’s is a locksmithing stand that specializes in busting things open, whether the people bringing them in has the legal right to open them or not. They don’t go out on jobs, not after their former owner Six-Fingered Eddie died on a botched heist. No, if you want them to open it, you bring it to them. They also sell the best locks and security tech setups, because they test everything with their own expertise before they put it on sale. They also do security troubleshooting consults for people who want to improve their security.
18: Fiorino. Fiorino sells handmade shoes. They cost a pretty eddie. Fiorino also sells identities, as he’s what intelligence types might call a “cobbler”. Due to the sensitivity of his work, Fiorino does not himself show up at the stand he ostensibly runs. Instead, you go to Fiorino’s, and you commission a pair of shoes. His apprentice will take down your shoe size and ask if you wish for any additional services. If you pay for additional services, wait a few weeks and go collect the shoes, and the documents will be passed over to you at the same time. Naturally Fiorino’s services are not for anyone who needs a new identity in a big hurry. Real artisanry takes time. They will also be the most comfortable shoes you’ve ever worn.
19: Ree’s Consignment. Ree’s Consignment sells flawed designer garments that didn’t pass QA. Some of them will have a small snag, others will have a missing button, things like that, and for such reasons the clothes were tossed in the consignment bin. You can score a nice off-rack suit at Ree’s, if you’re willing to then go to a street seamster like Madam Ma’s to get the suit altered and the missing button replaced.
20: Chip’s. Chip’s sells old corporate ID cards in stacks, €100 per stack of 12. Why would an Edgerunner buy old corporate ID cards? Simple. The weakest link in any security setup is the humans involved in setting it up. Some admins aren’t very punctual on rescinding accesses after someone quits. Others recycle unique IDs and just rename and reprint them for new staff. You never know what you’re going to get at Chip’s. Chances are 95% of these ID cards are useless, but the other 5% of the time may get you a free breakfast at a McBurger’s, or into a corporate database. Roll 1d20 per card bought. A natural 20 means you’ve gained an exploitable access.

Today will be part 2 of the DIY ideas and tips. When I listed the forthcoming days, I completely forgot that there will be a day devoted to... devotion (kind of.) We'll talk about deities and otherworldly beings, spirit guides, and all that fun stuff. I forgot that it was in my outline and I was trying to go off script for a minute there. (Things have been rough and weird and not in any kind of fun ways.) Anyway, let's get into it!
Today we will cover: Scrying/black mirror, divination boards/sigil maps, wands, jewelry, ritual wear, pentacles and wreaths, and quill and ink.
I'd also like to give an honorable mention to throwing/casting divination sets. Since these can be made from anything, I can't really tell you how to make a set, but you should make sure that the items are not easily broken, do not chemically react with each other when stored together, and that they mean something to you. Unlike tarot cards, there is no general meaning to the items, so it's all on you to decide what they mean. A good way to go is to choose items that give you an emotional response.
Scrying/Black mirror: I've seen a few tutorials that involve painting a dollar store mirror black, in the name of saving money. I don't get it. That cannot last long, especially with dollar store acrylic paint, and in my opinion takes away the depth that glass (including obsidian) gives to a mirror. If you want to make a cheap black mirror, get a dollar store picture frame and paint the back of the glass black. You can choose a paint with glitter (or experiment adding your own) for some added interest.
Remove the glass fully from the frame, lay out some paper to protect the surface underneath if necessary. Clean the glass (rubbing alcohol is the best choice, but anything that does not leave a film is great.) Make sure that the glass is completely dry and aim for a smooth, even coat of paint. For most frames, a drip or some brush marks on the backside will not make a difference, but if you are worried, you can use paper or cardboard to find out how thick of a layer you can get away with and still get the glass back into the frame. Don't worry about drips over the sides, either, those will be easy to remove with a razor blade, craft knife, or just by peeling off with your fingers. Allow to dry/cure completely. (Check paint instructions, and give it a little extra time if needed/possible.) If you'd like to decorate the outer frame, do it before adding the glass back. Start with paint, then when it is dry, use a glue gun (usually the best tool) to add whatever your heart desires. Fake plants, crystals, seashells, lace, hard whole spices (like cinnamon, allspice, cloves, star anise, etc.) jewelry, ribbons, or whatever you want.
When working with hot glue: Don't get discouraged by the spiderweb-like strands and don't try to wrangle them as they appear. Let the project/glue cool completely, then snap them off with your fingers. Any leftover pieces can be shrunken and smoothed with a blow dryer or heat gun (or snipped with small scissors.)
Wands: Wands are an amazing way to express your craft and yourself. If you're a nature based minimalist, a stick grabbed in the moment and returned to its place when your working is done will do the job, but there are still considerations you can make. (What plant did it come from, what direction was it facing, is there anything else meaningful around it, etc.) If aesthetics are important to you, you will probably want to consider how the wand looks in context of your altar, other tools, and on camera. If you are a kitchen witch, you could start with a kitchen spoon. If you're a crystal witch, you may want to start with a pre-formed crystal wand and embellish from there. You can use bones, or antlers (which can be purchased as pet supplies- but be careful not to buy "natural" pressed bones which are made from ground, rather than whole antlers or bones. From there, think about your point and your handle. The handle should be comfortable and secure to hold, and the point doesn't have to be anything special, if it counts as a point to you- it counts.Make sure that any adhesive you use is suitable for your purpose and that anything you add will stand up to the amount of handling your wand will have to endure. Equally, think about the practicality of any carvings or paintings, and seal things that are painted or stained. If you are using natural wood, try to give it time to cure (this varies by wood type, think of it as completely drying out,) before sealing (and before embellishing if you can.)
Jewelry: This can also be anything from a string or ribbon ties around your wrist to elaborate beaded pieces or wore working. A good starting place is macrame or braided bracelets, or simple pendant and cord necklaces. You may have seen those cheap "wish" bracelets that are made from cord with color corresponding beads braided in. These can be made inexpensively with cotton, hemp, or any type of cord, and some glass beads. If you want it to be adjustable, keep the strands you use a few inches longer than you think you will need and look up how to tie a "sliding knot." I'll try to write a tutorial for this in September since it's very simple and can be done inexpensively (and usually supplies can make quite a few.) Other types of macrame jewelry, with or without beads can be a great way to make a talisman or charm that incorporates color correspondences. There are a lot of great tutorials online for macrame and friendship bracelets.
When using "jewelry findings," even from a kit, you may not have some basic instruction. For jump rings and chain links (those metal circles that hold pendants and charms on) make sure that you do not pry them open like a claw. Instead, twist them open and twist them closed (so it looks like part of a spring.) "Split ring" jump rings are also available, and they look and work like keychain rings. For jewelry wire you will likely need to "temper" the wire to strengthen it so it doesn't remain flexible and fall apart. This is usually done with either heat (such as an oven) or impact (usually by striking with a rubber or rawhide mallet.) Check the specifics of the wire you are using. For synthetic cord: Silky synthetic cords can be a pain to tie knots in, but the good news is that they don't have to be. You can melt the ends instead with a lighter or candle. Be careful not to light the cord on fire. Just move the end closer to the flame (or vice versa) until the fibers shrivel and melt together. You shouldn't need to touch the end to seal it together, it should make a nice little melted "bubble" at the end.
Ritual wear: It's not necessary to have any specific ritual clothes, of course, but a cloak, a simple dress, or a flowy top can be a great beginner sewing project. It can also help get you into a magical mood if you have something physical to put on and take off for magic. Sewing is easier than it looks, especially if you choose a fabric that doesn't need to hemmed, so if you've been thinking about it- give it a try. Since it's all dependent on taste, I can't say much more than that.
Divination boards/sigil maps: These can be very easy to print, to write into your BoS or a piece of paper or cardboard, OR you can make one out of something a little sturdier. Something like a clipboard is a good size for sigil-making or divination with a pendulum, planchette, or other smaller scale throwing. Chipboard, wood, or plastic can be painted, drawn on with markers, or decorated with stickers, rub-on transfers, printouts, temporary tattoos and anything else you like. It is a good idea to seal with something like a pour-on epoxy if you need it to be smooth (such as for a planchette or if it will travel with you a lot.)
Pentacles, wall hangings, and wreaths: Can be more decorative than functional, but they can also be spells. I've seen some adorable stars and pentacles made from things like kitchen spoons, cinnamon sticks, regular sticks, knitting needles or crochet hooks, pens and pencils, ribbons, and pretty much anything you can imagine. I have a wall hanging that I'm slowly adding to- using yarn, miniatures and herbs I've used in rituals, herbs from my garden and kitchen, and anything else that feels right. (I almost sewed a caterpillar onto it on accident one day- luckily it moved and I put it back in the garden after a mini-freakout that I didn't notice it on a small basil flower stalk before that moment.) Again, this is completely up to you and your tastes, style, and values. But it's an easy craft to get your magic flowing if creating is something that helps.
Quill: These can be very simple or very complex- and they can also turn out functional or not. There are a few methods to make a feather pen, even the newest beginner crafter can manage a few methods. You can take a large feather (such as a turkey feather,) snip the end off making sure that you access the hollow shaft, and simply slide a ballpoint pen refill (steal one from a promotional pen or existing pen if you don't have a reason to buy just the refills.) Sometimes the refill needs to be trimmed to fit and/or glued in place. If you want to use an inkwell, or want something a little fancier, you can glue a metal nib to the feather. this might require making a handle out of either wrapped ribbon or fashioning one from clay or some other method. You can also just tape or glue a feather to a pen and wrap it with decorative ribbon. I did this for my dry erase marker and used an ostrich feather I found. You can also take a large feather and carve the end into a nib, then temper it (in a tin can of sand heated at 350F for about 15 minutes in an oven. Put the tip of the feather into the sand, until it cools.) I made a dew this way once for a party, but never got to use them or heard anything from the people who took them home.
Ink: There are also many ways to make ink at home. If you want something on the archival side of things, it's best to start with lampblack (soot.) This can be collected by putting something over a candle to encourage soot deposit and then scraping it into a bowl or mortar and pestle. This is usually mixed with gum arabic and water to reach the right consistency. You could instead purchase Chinese calligraphy ink sticks (which are usually made with soot and animal glue) and a stone to mix the ink and water in, or crush the stick with water in a mortar and pestle. You can also buy lampblack powder. Some recipes call for the addition of honey, essential oils, vinegar, resins (like dragons blood) or perfume, but be aware that this may affect the lifespan of the ink and/or the paper (and sometimes even the pen used.) If lifespan isn't an issue, you can also use berries to create ink. Get creative and have fun with it.
That's it for today's tips and ideas for DIY. It will somewhat tie in with Day 29. Tomorrow ("tomorrow") will be all about deities and other beings. Like how to find them, how to communicate with them, and all that fun stuff. With a little luck, It will actually be here tomorrow. Happy September! Today tell me...

1. Do you have any magical plans for the coming month?

That's all, see you soon!

JP finished their run of Gavin's Mystery Wings event and after reading everything I haven't been the same— LOL much like how I was after his Spring Festival Date, so now I'm subjecting you all to a rambly think piece.
Disclaimer: I use CN and JP quotes, so they'll differ from the ENG version. Spoilers up to Chapter 19 + unreleased ENG cards.

freedom, what is it?

I don't think it's a secret now that Gavin had a harsh childhood. But, for the sake of my think piece and to refresh everyone's memories, I'll go through it again.

• [Rumors and Secrets: Little Guardian] His dad rarely came home, especially after it was confirmed that Gavin didn't have any Evol powers. Heck, Gavin even heard his parents arguing through a door and saw instances of his mom crying because of his dad.
• [Seize SSR: Sad Thoughts Call] Gavin reveals that his dad was extremely strict on him and his mom would cry silently in the back for him. The one time his dad smiled Gavin felt chills down his spine for the rest of the day.
• [Campus Date] Gavin thinks about how his dad, and others, would probably be happy to see him die and so, out of sheer spite, he rejects that and decides to live for himself (and MC because she woke his Evol) and not for the recognition of others or the world.
• [Main Story 12-18] Gavin's mom died in a fire, which is why he's traumatized, and this was another point for his dad to hammer in his uselessness. But Gavin re-affirms here that his existence itself is not a point of shame.
• [Main Story 15-24] In order to protect MC, Gavin makes a deal with the devil (aka. his dad) and his dad says that undergoing the NW Plan has always been Gavin's fate, along with his younger brother. In [Rumors and Secrets: Little Guardian] Gavin's mother tries to justify to Gavin that his dad bears the burden of protecting the country, but you don't sacrifice your family like that and make weapons out of them... lol.

Okay, knowing Gavin's past now, I'm going to bring up my header question. Freedom, what is it and how does it relate to Gavin? In this case, I think a lot of what Gavin is trying to escape is the confinement of his father. "His joining of the special forces symbolizes the difference of his justice compared to his father" [CN Profile].
It's not a coincidence that Gavin gets these symbols:

• WIND: Classic symbol of something that is utterly free and cannot be controlled. Gavin literally controls the wind.
• SKY: He's always flying around in the sky. He's not using his power on the ground. He also has a lot of scenes where he's looking up at the sky and contemplating freedom.
• WOLF: Putting aside the propaganda about them being monsters that hunt livestock, they're seen as symbols of freedom, instinct, and the wild world. Gavin is often described as a wolf [CN Profile + Main Story 19-6].

To further support this, there were two distinct Mystery Wings event entries that referred to the sky too, one with yearning and the other with melancholy:
AMBER

The amber was illuminated by the sun and the sight of its transparent waves concealed a gentleness in their coolness.
She suddenly thought this amber was exactly like those eyes.
It was something that happened in late autumn.
She was walking in the hallway in front of the upper grades’ classes when her eyes unconsciously stopped on a certain classroom.
Shabby curtains blew in the breeze and, amongst them, there was a young man standing by the window and staring at the sky.
His features weren’t sharp, but a glimpse of an indifference and air which prevented people from getting close to him could be seen.
Light and shadow shone in both eyes. Those pure and clear eyes reflected the sunlight and it was as if they were luring travelers to that deep sea at the last stop of oblivion.
Those eyes glimmered far more than this amber.

GAVIN'S PIERCING

The face of the young man in the mirror was indifferent and there was a bruise beside his mouth. His hair, damp from the rain, stuck to his forehead. A dark shadow fell over those amber-like eyes.
He didn't find it painful the first time he put on earrings.
Instead, he felt exhilarated like whenever he raised his fists.
Gavin wiped at the blood around the edge of his piercing with his hand. The blood mixed with the crimson color on the back of his hand until a distinction couldn’t be made.
Rain, which fell increasingly harder, pounded at the window as if it were giving praise to a meaningless hero.
He quietly leaned against a wall and looked up at the dark sky.
Just how long would this rain continue for?

I posit that that Gavin and freedom are intrinsically linked. It's something he needs and is the bedrock of his character, much like his unwavering sense of justice. Does he get it? Yes! Like I mentioned above, he joined the special forces to separate from his dad.
But also, and what's most important, is that he finds freedom in making MC his home, his flag, and his convictions. If you don't have a place to call home then you're not roaming the world in freedom, you're just lost in the world.
I also like how this can be linked back to his wolf symbolism, because wolves are pack animals. Yes, the lone wolf imagery is romantic but lone wolves travel to find a place to belong because they tend to die when they're alone. "The strength of the pack is the wolf, and the strength of the wolf is the pack."
In addition to being symbols of freedom, they're also charismatic symbols and social symbols. I feel like this also gets reflected by how inspiring Gavin is just from having an unwavering sense of justice. Minor and Eli's presence, and their respect for Gavin, reflect his charisma.
Admittedly, it's ironic that I love Gavin so much when one of my favorite poems, "For women who are 'difficult' to love" by Warsan Shire, has a line that goes "You can't make homes out of human beings". I'd understand if people who strongly agree with this sentiment don't find Gavin an interesting character, and that's a-okay!
But, and I can't stress this enough, we shouldn't deprive or devalue others of their life's choices if it's not actively harming others.

freedom is her

For Gavin, MC represents his freedom because, without her, he wouldn't have a home to come back to and he'd be lost out in the world. Important things need to be reiterated.

• [Endless Abyss SSR Beside You Call] Gavin returned from a mission but, instead of sleeping, the first thing he wants to do is go and pick up MC to send her to work.
• [Brilliant Date] Gavin returns from a mission and, again, goes to see her immediately without returning home first because he made a promise.

Meanwhile, in one of the Mystery Wings event entries:
GAVIN'S BRACELET

Before Gavin went on a mission, he entrusted his own bracelet to her. She gripped his bracelet and prayed for his safety with a smile.
He looked at her and repeated the same words once, and then once more.
“Don’t worry. I’ll come back right away.”
Finishing his mission, he noticed he received calls and messages on his phone.
The city at dawn was still somewhat lonely.
He went to reply to the messages but, unlike before, he couldn’t find the words to say.
A night wind blew. Urged by that wind, he came to the window of her room as if possessed by something.
Illuminated by the faint moonlight, he could clearly see something shining in the corner of her eyes. Her brows were furrowed like she was having a nightmare.
His bracelet was firmly gripped in her hand.
Gavin recalled that fragile call history and messages and went to stand beside her. Then he gently wiped away the tears at her eyes with his hand.
“I’m sorry… I’m back.”

Look, I can't make it clearer that he goes to her because she's metaphorically his home. I'm also not going to repeat it here but if you look at my post about Gavin being in love, you'll see how much he focuses on MC in general because his being is attuned to her.
In a sense, Gavin is an extension of MC and it also supports how their sense of justice mirrors each other. Upholding good is engraved in their characters.
P-please, don't get me wrong, this doesn't mean he has no personality and has just built everything around her. He has hobbies on his own like basketball, tinkering with gadgets, growing succulents, treating injured animals, riding his motorbike, and astronomy.
Okay, the rest of this section is just going to be me gushing about the Mystery Wings event and the [Brilliant Date] that accompanies it because there was so much going on. First, let's tackle the date:

• Ribbing about Gavin's naming sense and the play on words was lost in ENG. In CN the dove is called "Little White" which can be read "Little Bai", as in a small Gavin, because his name in CN has the character for white. This makes "Pearly" a literal symbol for Gavin, and they set the dove completely free at the end.
• There's an exchange in this date where ENG goes "Does it mean I get your place?" and "I get your place. Now I give one back to you" but an interesting and cute thing here is that, in CN, the word he's using isn't as simple as just "giving". Gavin is specifically using a military word here that means "to occupy, intrude, or seize". He's such a nerd and it reflects his background LOL.
• More on the above, because this uncommon verb is so interesting. It carries an aggressive connotation because it's implying military intrusion. The other person gives up all rights to their territory when you're occupying it. But Gavin gives the same rights to her for his room.
• Freedom discussion and metaphors everywhere in this date, but when MC was talking about how all she needs is the wind and the sun (her monologue reveals that Gavin provides the wind and his presence beside her is her light) to feel freedom, Gavin never removes his eyes from her. He doesn't express his agreement or disagreement about what he thinks freedom is... he shows it with his actions of focusing his complete attention on her. She's his freedom!

Leaving the date now, I want to point out [Light Bath SSR: Tenderness Call] and how Gavin thinks he only shows his gentleness towards select people, for example his mother and MC. This is another mark of how he doesn't let anyone get close to him except for MC because he is her extension.
On that note, there is a reason I keep saying Gavin is MC's extension, but not that MC is his extension as well and that it's a two-way link. The reason I say this is, because, Gavin continues to need that freedom (MC) and yearns for that freedom (MC).
Below are four entries from the Mystery Wings event that showcase this longing for MC that Gavin experienced through high school, when his want for freedom was at its highest:
THE SECOND BUTTON

Life in high school came with romantic but illogical rumors. For example, things like if you confessed on the 7th step of the stairway in the corner of the 3rd floor then it’ll succeed, or if you carved your name and another person’s name on the 6th tree in the courtyard at the back then your misunderstandings will be resolved, of if a guy gave the girl he liked the second button of his uniform on graduation day then the two of them will end up happy together.
Generally, the guys acted as if they didn’t believe in these rumors, but they secretly held expectations inside their hearts.
But Gavin marked these all off as being stupid.
One day at lunch, a conversation between girls entered his ears.
“The rumors about the second button are romantic, aren’t they? Whoever gets one is sure to be happy~!”
There was a familiar voice mixed in amongst them. He glanced over abruptly and her face, full of yearning, leapt into his eyes.
“… Graduation, huh.”
He raised his head in thought. He suddenly couldn’t wait for graduation.
However, he didn’t give her the second button he tore off.
That button, together with a brisk air, was stored carefully inside a case.

PINK BANDAID

Gavin sat in the corner of the classroom. His lacked the spirit it had shown when he had been in the library.
He mussed his hair like he was at a complete loss and recalled how he had met her at the entrance of the library just now. Her startled and anxious expression floated into his mind.
“… Did I scare her again?”
After a while, Minor came bursting in.
"Gavin, Gavin!!!”
He waved the pink bandaid he was holding as if he was excited.
“This… Put this on!”
Gavin didn’t respond at all.
“She gave it!!”
Gavin startled when he heard those words and stared at the bandaid Minor was holding in a daze. The wound at his mouth stung. His fingers also prickled a little.
He carefully took that bandaid, treating it as if it was his world’s most precious treasure…
Later on, this pink bandaid was always taped on his heart and, every time he stepped into the swamp-like darkness of the night, it gave off a faint warmth.

GINGKO CHARM

After he learned about her identity, he went out personally to buy protection for her.
He desperately thought of a way to protect her.
Suddenly, when he saw a ginkgo leaf fall in front of him, a certain memory came back to his mind. The memory of that time when the wind blew and he was guided by the melody she played…
It was possible that, from that time on, they were bound tightly by a thread neither of them could see.
He decided to make her a ginkgo bracelet and made an effort to produce it day after day.
The small gold gingko leave brought trouble to him. The first three he made were all scratched and were a loss. On the fourth, he was finally able to make a perfect bracelet.
The sun had long hidden itself and the moon had appeared. Looking at the bracelet which shone faintly underneath the moonlight, he gave a satisfied smile.
He was sure she would like it.

PAST SCHOOL NEWSPAPER

There weren’t a lot of people who would seriously read something like the school newspaper. Notes were written on the underside of the paper’s surface, which wrote exaggeratedly about the awards of clubs and events within the school, and its fate was to be tossed into the garbage after being scribbled on all over.
Gavin also didn’t have much interest in the school newspaper.
On the rooftop, Minor bit into his bread and muttered as he stared at the school newspaper he happened to receive earlier.
“Honors student, huh… Gavin, you know, I also have good morals, I’m fit, my personality’s good, and my grades aren’t that bad. Maybe I can be the second honors student…”
Gavin didn’t respond and glanced over at the picture on the paper.
There, she was bashfully receiving an award on a stage with a happy smile.
“Honors student”… He digested those words in his heart and then stood up and headed towards the door.
“Gavin! Gavin! Are you going to a fight!? Please take me with you!”
“Class.”
“… Huh?”

I placed this newspaper one last because it also appeared last in the JP event and KOed me, but also reminded me of his [Love of My Life SSR] and how the CN version does not use plain "love" in the card's quote, and I go into more detail about this in my Gavin in Love post.
But, basically, the CN version uses a word that means "attachment or longing". It's a subtle difference because, yes, she is the love of his life but also his longing, desire, and aspiration. She keeps him in this world and is something he feels like he needs to strive towards.
I'm just going to bring up his 2019 birthday card, which ENG will be releasing this year, because there's this line that goes:

• [CN Tide of Light SSR Chasing Dreams Date] "That year, I did want to give you that letter personally. But I gave myself a way out and left it up to luck. I knew that, at the time, I was still lacking a lot and so I decided that I had to meet you again with my best self."

the price of freedom

So, putting aside how one price is Gavin feeling like he needs to better himself, the other is that Papergames refuses to give us an easy happiness with this game and, as I mentioned in my Chinese archetype post, Gavin is a shoo-in for the Tragic Hero character.
The price exacted for trying to have this freedom is precisely that of his freedom. Unlike the other characters, he has a simple throughline because he literally doesn't care for anything but MC and his justice. Put in other words, he doesn't have anything to lose except MC and his sense of self.
And this is exactly what we see happen in the story:

• [Chapter 12] was about losing MC and realizing that, despite all his intentions, perhaps HE is the one who will harm her and cannot protect her.
• [Chapter 15] was about losing his sense of self, with another dose of fear of losing MC. Everything he thought he stood up for was a lie.

I might have mentioned elsewhere that it's tragic how he's constantly thrown into situations that try to break his principles. But, now that I'm thinking on this more, I think... he's actually giving up his principles of justice for the MC. Even more tragic is that he's also metaphorically letting his wings get clipped and losing his freedom to preserve MC's safety.
UGH, it's why his character is so tragic and why the end of [Main Story 15-24] was like an enormous blade being dropped on me when there was that descriptive line about how MC had never realized that the sight of someone being unable to stand upright could be so sorrowful.
Maybe I should have said that the price of preserving Gavin's home (MC) is his freedom and sense of justice being eroded.
Anyway, oops, I started this off to celebrate how amazingly gorgeous this event and date was and how much it developed Gavin's character. But then I just had to tie it back into all the angst LOL.

addendum

Oh man, what an amazing coincidence that right after I finish writing this post, this got posted on Gavin's official Chinese weibo.
https://preview.redd.it/ev8sphzboms41.png?width=756&format=png&auto=webp&s=5bce705ec0e4fc31c8404a64e15a6703451b3b25
https://reddit.com/link/g0dlf2/video/xqq4qgfdoms41/player
Freedom themes, what can I say?

Welcome to /chinatime, a huge community of over ten thousand diverse people who share two things in common: The love of great-looking watches and being really fucking cheap. In most places those two things couldn’t co-exist together in the same place, but Chinatime isn’t most places; here those two things don’t just exist happily together, they are a way of life™.
Replica watches are a weird thing. People from /reptime love the word "replica" and get butt-hurt when their $400 Rolex is called "fake". We can understand that, as those replica watches can truly be works of engineering themselves and can even be of the same quality as the pieces that inspired them. Here at Chinatime, though, we do not put on such airs. If our watches are fake-ass watches that cost less than some of my Uber trips, and that’s OK.
We could spend a lot more money on arguably better watches that look more like the originals, but there’s something truly rewarding about tracking down a treasure on Ali Express or DH Gate that looks close enough to the genuine article for $50 that one simply can’t be found when ordering one of the master-class Reptime watches. Sure, one day I’ll have an ARF* or Noob Submariner that would fool my Rolex rep, but for now my U1 Submariner fools my Uber driver and parole officer, and for now that’s good enough for me. Oh, it keeps good time, too, which is nice.
(* There will not be a full glossary at the end of this piece explaining most of the terms we use in this sub to talk about our awesome reps, but explanations will be peppered throughout. "Arf" and "Noob" and "U1", for example, are all well-respected fake watch manufacturers in China.)
If you’re here to learn more about this world, then that’s great, because this interest in cheap rep watches that you have may turn into a hobby, which may then turn into an obsession. I’ve made friends on this subreddit because that’s what like-minded people do when they all become fans of the same thing, and we’re happy you’ve decided to learn more with us.
To get started it helps to know a bit about watches themselves, besides how they look. Most of the watches we talk about in this subreddit are what are referred to "automatic" watches. Most watches in the world are quartz, but for the most part they don’t carry much weight here, because most of the watches we’re interested in the fake-versions-of are automatics, not quartz. This is because quartz watches can literally be found in vending machines, but automatic watches have a degree of engineering and craftsmanship to them, even the cheapest of them. Also, most of the Swiss shit we can't afford are autos, as well.
An automatic watch is simply one that is wound by the person wearing the watch simply doing their shit. There’s no battery; instead there is a rotor that is connected to the mainspring of the watch. As the wearer does whatever the fuck it is they do all day, their movement moves the rotor, which acts as a pendulum, which winds the watch, and then it tells the user what time it is so they can get home in time to catch their wife in bed with their boss. These are the important matters we deal with.
Not all the watches we deal with here are autos, but the vast majority of them are. Quartz units are generally relegated to the chronograph copies (which means "watches that are also stopwatches that you’ll never actually use"), though there are a few non-chrono quartzes peppered here and there, but not many.
The rotor of an automatic watch is mounted on what’s called the movement of the watch. The movement is not the sweep of the seconds hand but rather the name for the guts of the watch itself — the gears, the springs, the cogs, and everything else that makes a watch keep time. It is arguably the most important part of a watch to consider when making buying choices, so knowing a few basics can really help you to make the right choice when it comes time to buy your first watch.
For example, a large percentage of the watches on Chinatime will be built around a fairly generic movement called the 2813. The 2813 is a Chinese clone of the Japanese Miyota 8205/8215 movement, which is to be found in a number of Citizen brand watches, as well as high-end Invicta divers and many, many more. The Miyota is a well-respected and sturdy movement, but the 2813 clones not so much. The most famous of these clones is the DG2813, though the rest are made by several factories in China. Because of this the quality varies from movement to movements and thus watch to watch, since there’s very little in the way of quality control when the Chinese factories make our watches for us. This is part of why they’re so cheap, and really part of the fun and charm.

Fun fact! There is an ETA2813 that is an actual Swiss movement, and the Chinese 2813 (often called a2813 where "a" means "Asia") may have started life as a clone of it, but it’s a Miyota clone now, so there we go.

So now you know what a movement is and why it’s important, but that’s not what you’re here to find. You’re here to find some timepiece that will act as either a panty-moistener or pants-tightener when you wear it around your town/school/cellblock/institution, and most people don’t care about the movement.
You probably instead already have a model of watch in mind that you’d like to find a cheap rep for, and there’s a really good chance that there’s at least some Chinatime-budget version out there for you. It’s just a matter of finding it, and that is where this subreddit shines, because chances are that some other cheap fuck had the exact same idea as you, and since so many of our users share their triumphs with the rest of us there’s a good chance you’re watch is linked to in one of the posts already here. I know most subreddits have a "search it first" mantra, and that’s because that shit works, so use it.
If your watch has been found and purchased before, and the users reported back here (which they should do, more on that later), then you can usually find in their post or comment a link to the watch they bought under the label of "W2C", which stands for "Want to cop", which is a weird phrase brought over from Chinatime’s big dickhead brother Reptime. Cop means to "get your hands on" and "want to" is something none of Harvey Weinstein’s victims ever said.
So you find the watch, find the W2C link, and then you’ll be taken to a place to buy the watch. Usually that place will be DHGate, (or The Gate,) a Chinese website that’s sort of a second home for us here. That’s because The Gate has about a thousand vendors selling about a couple hundred (at least) different rep watches at a variety of price points, meaning that you’ll probably be able to find your watch there at the price you want.
DHGate is hard to navigate for most of us because it’s a Chinese website in English and they do a very poor job of quality control when it comes to organization of products. This may be on purpose — selling fake versions of real watches violates international law, and by not making it easy to find a particular watch they get a bit of reasonable deniability when questioned by the authorities. But with some practice, patience, help from here, and luck, you’ll be able to find what you’re looking for.

Fun fact! Buying replicas of real watches for a fraction of the price is understandably illegal in most countries, so all of us here are, technically, taking part in a huge act of fraud and/or larceny, you newly-minted criminal you. The good news is that Customs in most countries are far too busy with actual problems to really care about what we do here, so don’t sweat the whole petty felony thing too much.

So you’ve got your watch in mind, you’ve searched for the W2Cs on here and found a few, and even checked out the links on The Gate, which is awesome, because that means I’m doing a good job here. The next logical step is choosing which rep watch to get, and this is where things can get a bit tricky — not to mention sketchy.
This may surprise some of our more sensitive newcomers, but it has to be said: Not all of the vendors on sites like DHGate can be trusted! In fact, it’s best to assume that most of them are out to scam you, because it’s very easy to scam someone on the Internet from a completely different hemisphere, and it happens all the fucking time. But you don’t want it to happen to you, and neither do we, so this next part is for you: Do your fucking research.
There are a few vendors that we like to go to again and again (more on them later) because they are simply good to work with. Some of them might be a couple bucks more expensive here and there but it’s made up for with customer service and not getting your credit card charged for $2500 in the middle of the night in Hunan Province.
It’s worth noting that in Chinese culture there is (traditionally speaking) no such thing as "customer service". Our western notion of sales customs, where the vendor caters to the customer, is not universal, and certainly not the norm in parts of Asia. This is an important thing to keep in mind, as things don’t always go smooth, and acting like a total Karen will get your messages blocked and you’ll never get a resolution. Always be respectful (but not a sucker) and things will go a lot smoother.
When looking over the different offerings from the different vendors, the two most important things you can do are:

• Ask us for advice, such as "has anyone else here ever dealt with 'TittyBobbyJill20000057'?
• Check the customer reviews on the product you’re looking at!

As noted before, there are a lot of independent vendors on The Gate and the other sites, and chances are you’re not the first person looking for your particular watch, so learn from the mistakes and successes of those who came before you. Feel free to ask anyone here, and always — always! — check the customer reviews, especially if they have photos.

Fun fact! There are a few search terms you can use to find the watch you want since you generally can’t find them via their actual brand names because that just becomes blatant counterfeiting, and we can’t have that. For Omegas, search for "co-axial"; for Rolex, search for the model number; for Tag Heuer sports watches, search for "I have no taste in anything and will die alone". Try it out yourself!

This is because very often the photos of the watch you see on the DHGate listing is not a photo of the actual watch you’ll be receiving. Often it’s the genuine (or "gen") article in the photos, presumably to help shoppers find what they want. They will often have pictures of the actual units they sell mixed in, so check those, but make sure to check for photos of received units in the reviews, as these are unfiltered and unmoderated feedback directly from and to customers like you. It’s a great tool that will save everyone a lot of grief and headache if used correctly.
In addition, reputable vendors are often happy to send you photos of the actual watches themselves if there are none in the reviews. Add to that the fact that we love doing our own reviews here, and you’ll be in good shape to buy the watch you want from a trusted seller and be very happy with it.
This, though, is where things get tricky. Since sites like DHGate and AliExpress are in China, not every bank or credit card vendor will work to place your order, so make sure that you have at least two different accounts to try from. In addition, keep in mind that there are sophisticated hacker-bros in China that would love nothing more than have access to a foreign credit card that works in their country easily. For my own purchases, I use my CapitalOne credit card via their Eno system which generates a one time "burner number" for each of my transactions. See if your cards or bank offer the same kind of thing if at all possible.
If you’ve found your watch, and you’ve found your vendor, and made your purchase, then you should have your watch — sometime in the distant future.
Cheap quality watches are cheap by skimping on a few things, and one of those things is fast shipping. Most watches include free shipping, (via China’s EMS or ePacket servieces,) but that free shipping can take a long fucking time. It’s not uncommon for watches to take a month and a half to arrive, so if you’re in a hurry to get something for a certain event, like a court date, use one of the paid services (DHL, etc.) to get it faster. But keep in mind that you still might be in for a wait, because that’s how things in China work.
Some sellers are faster than others, and your research here should tell you which are known for fast shipments, so it’s worth taking into consideration when making your choice.
Sometimes, though, things happen, and it’s far too common for things to go wrong on the shipment part.

Fun fact! Chinese people are a lot like you, only way more broke and oppressed. The average person there makes about $15k a year. The few bucks they make off of selling fake watches to the rest of the world is real money to them, so if things go wacky don’t automatically assume that you’re being scammed, just be aware that they’ll also do anything they can to not have to issue a refund, so be willing to work with them.

If your watch gets seized by customs then you’ll get a letter. Ignore it, tell your vendor, and they’ll generally send you a new one. This kind of thing is factored into their prices as the cost of doing business.
If your tracking number shows your watch going somewhere far away that’s not you, there are a few reasons why this can happen. If you’re shipping with DHL you should know that they often recycle waybill numbers (I’m not kidding, it just happened to me). It’s also possible the vendor just mixed up your tracking number with someone else’s, which is also common. Or, also too common, your vendor is trying to scam you. Do not let them off the hook.
Every case is different, so we won’t attempt to tackle a "how to" on dealing with problems like this on sites like The Gate, but enough people here have been through it that they’ll be happy to help you navigate it, since we hate when those fuckers try stuff on any of us.
So let’s say you’ve managed to not fuck up all of the above. That means that your watch has arrived and you’re stoked, and you should be! The process isn’t the easiest, but the reward is worth it.
Wear your watch. Get to know it. Maybe you’ll need to re-size the bracelet (we can help walk you through that) or something’s wrong with it (that, too), or maybe you need to brag to some people (that would be us). That is why we do ask that you share it with us. (Don’t forget the lume shot!)
Take photos, videos, post a review, post a W2C link, and answer any questions others may have, because you were only successful because others pass on their knowledge to you, and it would be good to show the other newcomers how it works. It’s part of what makes this subreddit more than just a place to get links and instead a place that’s genuinely fun to waste time on.
We’re glad you’ve decided to take the morally ambiguous step towards becoming a Chinatime bro or bro-ette (for there are more rep-ladies here than one might think) and welcome you to the world of like-minded cheapskates who would still like to enjoy build quality and the classical aesthetics that go along with world class timepieces.
Let’s answer some questions that we get on here a lot! Fun!
Q: I see the watches on DHGate, but they’re missing the logos. Will the watch I get have the logo?
A: Unless otherwise stated in the listing, you bet. The reason that they don’t show the logo in most of the photos is because by not showing them then they have plausible deniability when the authorities come knocking on their door, which happens from time to time. Without the logo, they’re selling "homages", which is fine. If a logo accidentally falls off the back of a truck and ends up on your faux Patek, then, ya know, oops and shit.
Q: I want to buy something cheap to start with to get used to things. What’s the best watch I can get for $XXX?
A: As stated above, nearly every watch has multiple grades available from different vendors. The Rolex Submariner is probably the most-replicated watch in the world, being that it’s such an iconic status symbol all over the globe. On DHGate you can find them for as little as $12 for a half-plastic quartz shitter, all the way up to $700 clones that are almost completely identical in every way to the original. Not all watches have good cheap versions, but some do. Omega’s Planet Oceans and Seamaster 300s have both inspired rather cheap reps in the $26-32 range that are surprisingly good for the money and make great choices for first-time buyers. (I still wear my $28 Planet Ocean on the regular because it’s a really great watch, period.)
Q: Why /Chinatime? Why not just merge with /Reptime?
A: For the most part, Chinatime deals with watches in the $30-$120 area, and anything above that goes to the snobby dudes over in Reptime (JK, fellow rep-bros! Love you too!). Their focus is far more on the complete replications and 1:1 cloning of watches, and some of that shit is fascinating. Expensive, sure, but fascinating. Since most (but by no means all) Chinatime reps aren’t in that neighbourhood of sophistication this subreddit was spun off to be it’s own thing. That said, I’d be surprised if more than ten percent of the people subscribed to Chinatime aren’t also subscribed to Reptime.
Q: Am I going to go to jail?
A: Not for this, but probably for that other stuff. You need to learn how to delete your browser history.
Q: Shut the fuck up and tell me where I can find a XXX!
A: First off, fuck you. Second off, no, I won’t, but SvB78 made this fantastic set of entries that should get you started because he’s a great guy like that. Or girl. It’s the Internet and I don’t want to make any assumptions here.
Q: Did Epstein kill himself?
A: Nope.
Q: How long will my cheap fake watch last?
A: That’s a great question and one that could be a whole post this long on its own. In short, it depends, which I know is not a satisfying answer. There are a couple things to consider, namely "what movement is it?" and "was it put together well?"
If you’re rocking a 2813-based model, it can be a crap shoot. I’ve had three U1 Submariners. My first one broke (my fault) so I ordered a second. It froze after a week. I ordered a third and it’s sturdy like a well-trained horse and should last awhile. These all use the 2813 movement mentioned above.
I also have an Omega Seamaster 300 Spectre clone that I got on the cheap that has a Tongji (or Chinese "unified") movement, one of the most bare-bones and cheap mechanical movements out there, and it’s not missed a beat in nearly a year. (This watch is a good watch, but a bad, bad rep.)
So, again, there’s no easy answer for your question. Your best bet is to ask your fellow Chinatimers here.
Q: I can’t seem to find the watch I want. What do?
A: If you have a vendor you like then feel free to message them and ask if they can find it for you. It’s not hyperbole to say that every popular luxury watch on the market right now likely has a rep available, so feel free to ask.
Q: So do I now know everything I need to know to Chinatime right?
A: You know enough to get started, and thanks for using Chinatime like a verb. That was cute.
There’s more than can be found from Reptime, though how much of it is applicable to Chinatime is up for debate.
Q: Will I be a fraud if I walk around with a fake-ass Rolex or Patek on my wrist?
A: Yeah, but you’ll be a dope-looking fraud, so who cares?
As a general tip, keep your luxury within reason. It would make sense for a person with a half-way decent job to afford an Omega Seamaster or a Longines, but if you’re attending community college and sporting an Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore then you’d best believe that you’re going to need a really fantastic explanation for how you got it, which may need to include a whole backstory that involves cocaine, hookers, a crime spree, an unfortunate night at a Thai brothel, cocaine, a stolen pickup, a Canadian gigalo that goes by "Mr. Mountie", and cocaine.
Q: Can I get a watch from China and sell it to my local pawn shop/on craiglist/to my idiot brotheanyone else?
A: You might be able to pass it off to someone else as the real thing to make money, but that would be a total dick move. We may be breaking international law here in Chinatime, but we’re not fucking assholes.
Q: WTF is a [insert unknown watch term]?
A: This Q&A isn’t exhaustive, and there is a lot to know in the world of watches. I recommend spending some time in /watches as well as /reptime, but if I were you I’d be careful about even speaking about /chinatime in /watches, as I got banned for a week for doing that, because those guys are fucking touchy.
Q: I just got my first XXX! It looks great! I’m going to go to /XXX and show it off!
A: Don’t get cute. If you have even the best Submariner you can get from the ranks of Chinatime and try to show it off on /Rolex then you’ll be banned faster than the Astros can cheat at baseball, and you’ll also bring unwanted attention onto our own little cheap-and-shiesty corner of the internet. Don’t do that shit.
Q: Can I buy a used watch from one of you dudes who seem to know what you’re doing?
A: Sure! We offer trades and sales here often, and "I’d like to buy a used XXX" aren’t uncommon, but chances are someone will have something you want that’s maybe even been improved, so feel it out.
Q: Wait, improved? You can make these less-sucky?
A: Absolutely. Do yourself a favor and get a basic watch repair kit from Amazon for like $15. You can use the tools for basic maintenance — such as resizing the bracelet or regulating the balance wheel. You can also use it if your 2813 breaks down and you’d rather replace it than buy a new one. It's not that hard with the help of youtube.
Q: I tried to regulate it and I broke it! Fuck you!
A: It’s not my fault you’re a butterfingers. Order another $50 watch, you cheap-but-classy bastard.

Hello! I’ve been a long time lurker and always felt a little out of place since I don’t earn anywhere near as much as a lot of the MDs, I’m older but still living by myself, and I’m in academia which felt different to normal jobs. This was a great exercise and made me really look into my finances and understand everything, so instead of a vague idea of my assets/savings I now have a proper document to refer to!
Also want to preface that I don’t donate money usually, but I donate time (science outreach and mentoring youths from underprivileged backgrounds). It’s something that hung over from my PhD days, where I had some behind-the-scenes peeks on huge charities and realise how little of their money actually goes to a good cause. I do donate one-off (e.g. natural disasters, war relief etc.).

Section One: Assets and Debt

Retirement Balance (and how you got there): Never had one before my current employment (3yrs) – I wasn’t educated about retirement, and when I knew about 401k, I was already leaving the US (luckily I was only there less than 2yrs, so hadn't wasted too much time). I’m pretty sure I have some government-funded pension in some Nordic countries, I’ll find out when I retire I guess…Currently ~£9800 just from my contribution. I contribute ~9%, salary sacrifice, company contributes ~20%. Defined Benefit Scheme. I also contribute 1% extra to an investment portfolio managed by the pensions scheme – this used to be matched by my employer but is no longer the case (boo!).
Equity if you're a homeowner (and how much you put down and how you accumulated that payment): Own a small apartment by myself. Down-payment+legal fees £37,300. I had to pay down at least 25% of the total property value due to my non-permanent residence status.£3000 from savings, about £13,000 from old junior bank ‘bonds’ maturation and stocks sold, and the rest was a loan from my parents.Mortgage is for another 20 years at 1.84% (just renewed for tracker, no fees, LTV<60%, after a long discussion with my mortgage advisor), still owe £90,500. Will need to figure out what to do with partner, J, soon though. We don’t live together, but he’s planning to buy a forever home in 2020.
Savings account balance:Regular savers account: £1110.50 in regular savers account, I put in at least £100 a month (max £250). This matures yearly and pays 5% interest (interest calculated daily).
Easy access account: £4241.70 (1st year 5% interest for up to £2500, which will drop to 1% after first year), I keep in there for immediate emergency funds.
Timed salary insurance account: USD$30,040 total invested (started 2015) which matures 2023, which should pay out lumpsum USD$34,000. I’ve finally worked out that with all the time involved, return is only about 2%. RARGH. Teaches me a valuable lesson of not being pushed to take out something on the spot because of sales/pressure (for those of you interested, the total invested was paid over 3 years, so 3 years paying in, wait 5 years, return. Please let me know if I’ve actually miscalculated). This will be set aside to repay my parents and also to cover any of their potential expenditures.
Stocks and Shares ISA: £2100, I put in £100 a month (they claim return is 3.5%). Shifting this to Vanguard soon.
Easy-access cash ISA: £100 (1.5%). This is my true emergency fund I’ve set up last month. Will be transferring anything I don’t spend on my grocery and fun budget to this every month.
Stocks and shares: ~£7800 – Own some stocks in a couple of companies bought when I was younger and didn’t know too much about index funds. Very passive, that account is just accumulating dividends without reinvesting (I know, I know…). All in a Nordic bank account.
“Savings”: I’m using quotation marks as I’m not sure how to define this. My mom made me get a pseudo-health/life insurance-cum-savings account when I was younger. I contribute about £2700/year for 15yrs (until 2025), and I’m covered for health/accidental death (up to £80,000) until I die. I can choose to withdraw the money after 2030, and the later I withdraw the better the return. I’ve no intentions of withdrawing earlier, and I might just leave this as an insurance policy. Happy to hear thoughts about this.
Checking account balance:~£900 for my normal everyday accounts.~£2500 in foreign accounts – I can’t really do much with these accounts as some are linked to my insurance-cum-savings account bank.
USD$7974 in US bank account, leftover from my time in the US. I'll close down and transfer out to cover my weird savings/insurance account contributions (see above), as travel credit cards voided the argument of keeping a US bank account for US travels. Plus the interest rates are absolute shite!!
Credit card debt (and how you accumulated it):£1579.80

1. Been working in a foreign country where things are cheap, so I’m stocking up on stuff like shoes and clothes that will last me for at least a couple of years. Also bought gifts for my colleagues (and their children).
2. Partner and I went travelling after my work is done, so we'd bought experience packages, which includes his birthday present of a behind-the-scenes zoo tour (£106 for two). We also stayed with friends so we took them out for dinner and bought treats as a thank you.
3. Just had a complete health check-up (£290, half price courtesy of partner’s work), everything bar my weight (sadface) came back super healthy.
4. Just paid the Dropbox annual renewal fees (£96).

Using a 0.5% cash-back credit card for most of this. Some of the previous balance which I’ve already paid off will be reimbursed from work as they’re work expenses (~£650). Partner just paid me £150 for his share of expenses during travelling, so I will need to cough up ~£720 before 27th January. I always pay off the entire balance every month.
Student loan debt (for what degree): £0 for PhD in biological sciences – super lucky that my parents were firm believers of education and paid for my undergraduate degree. I was then awarded a full scholarship (4 years, covering tuition, lab consumables and a generous living stipend) for my PhD.
Other debt: N/A

Section Two: Income

Main Job Monthly Take Home: £2199 per month after basic taxes, national insurance, and pensions. This goes up every year to adjust for inflation and experience (~4.5%), but will hit a ceiling (around 5 years from now). I'm hoping to advance to the next level and get a grant in the next couple of years though. It's highly competitive, but fingers crossed...Miscellaneous: ~£25 per month from letting a friend stay the odd night in the spare bedroom.

Monthly Expenses

Mortgage: £550 (I overpay about £100) for my 2-bed flat.Council tax: £85Ground tax: £20TV License: £13 – probably will get off it as I don’t actually own a TV (never had). Initially wanted to support the BBC, but seeing I’ve been paying this for 3 years and watched probably only 2-3 programmes I might cancel it…might.Savings contribution: >£100 to Regular savers, £100 to S&S ISA (automatic transfers)Debt payments: variable month to month, just clearing out whatever I’ve put on my cashback credit cardElectricity/Gas: ~£50 for electricity. I don’t have gas (I miss proper cooking hobs!)Dental insurance: £20Home insurance: £22Health Insurance: £250 (see above for weird insurance/savings account. This is variable as I do dip into it, which is not good!!)Water+bins: £31WiFi: £18 (just switched to another provider through Quidco, not had the cashback yet which should be at least £25. Although they’re a lot cheaper than my previous provider they also blocked a free streaming site so I had to VPN out for that particular site, usually for watching The Simpsons ^^" )Property Management fees: £135Cellphone: £15

Monthly Subscriptions

Audible: £8 (love Audible. I used to read sooooooo much when I was a child, and stopped as I didn’t have time to read a physical book…not anymore!)Gym: £13 – got this super cheap as I was referred to physio and now entering the rehab phase. Starting in January.Newspaper: £2Patreon: £5 (this is for an awesome podcast called “Fall of Civilizations”)Wikipedia: £1Ocado delivery: £1.49 (I love Russchian, which I could only find on ocado.com…and it’s just easier to have deliveries when I don’t own a car. Plus they have a price commitment to match with Tesco’s, and Honey actually locates good discount codes from time to time!)

Other Subscriptions

Dropbox: £96 annual (paid December yearly). In my industry it’s best to keep track of all my work/data no matter how old they may be, and it’s just easier if I pay for the storage myself instead of worrying when I move institutions how to transfer from one company to another.Amazon Prime: £79 annual. Saved me a lot of trouble when it comes to lastminute presents with the Prime delivery! Plus the wardrobe function really helps when I don’t particularly like shopping in the physical sense. I’m trying to curtail my habit of browsing though…I do use Prime video quite often though.Contact lenses: ~£260 annual. I use Dailies and have a discount through work. Usually order every 6 months.

Diary

Day 1 – Friday 20/12/20196.45am – J’s alarm went off. Snooze. We didn’t get home till 11.30pm last night as we went to see the newest Star Wars film, so we both had issues getting up…
6.55am – J got up, he had a morning meeting with his big boss. I decided to not get ready yet, so he can get out of the door in time. I spent about 30min clearing out memes and unwanted files on my phone to clear out some space. Had a huge mug of water to wake myself up.
7.21am – I start getting ready for work, shower, etc. J made me coffee, I blow dry my hair whilst playing this silly game called “Zombie Castaways” on my iPad (well, it’s J’s, but he doesn’t use it so gifted it to me. I only ever use it for the game). I stole some vegan cheese (J’s trying to be more environmentally friendly) and vegan cocktail sausages from his fridge for breakfast.
8.14am – head to bus stop. I usually cycle but since we only got back from our travelling last week from Australia I’ve been taking it easy due to the cold, wet, and jetlag. Got a week pass 2 days ago (£16), does this count towards today’s expenses? Anyway, bus was late (as usual, which is why I prefer cycling), but once I got on I used the time to catch up on WhatsApp messages and talk to my friends. Traffic is usually quite bad so it takes upwards of 45min-1hour to get from J’s to work. Cycling would’ve only taken 30min, but I wouldn’t have been able to catch up on messages. Got a message from a friend asking if J and I have any plans for the weekend. He’s going through a rough time (unexpected divorce) so we arranged to go see a movie (Jumanji 2) for Sunday.
9.20am – finally at my desk!! Filled up my water bottle (1L, I try to drink at least 2-3 of this every day just at work), and made another coffee. Dealt with a few work emails. Everyone is in a holiday mood so lots of non-work chatter going on, probably spent about 20minutes talking about Rise of Skywalker at some point…oops!
9.45am – got an email saying I need to renew my scientific society membership (£59). Paid on my credit card but this will be reimbursed by work, so not counting this as expenditure for today! Planned for experiments over the holidays, and went into the microscope room.
11.45am – early lunch as I have electron microscope time with our expert. Brought in packed lunch which is stir fry beef and veggie rice noodles. Ate a couple of clementines that I brought in as well.
Noon – Electron microscopy time! So different actually seeing the live process, just gives a better feel about what my samples are doing than simply looking at select few photos. Got some beautiful images which suggests my paper is one step closer to completion. Woop! Went into labs for some cell culture after. Helped my colleague sort his cells out as he needed to leave early today. We work really well with one another in this lab :)
2.50pm – hungry so snacked on some Stollen cookie, which I bought for the lab a couple of days ago. Still good. All the while read another Money Diaries on Reddit, and promptly got depressed (well, not quite depressed, but definitely questioning) about my life choices when I find out how much a pharma scientist earns in Raleigh…this is rectified by an email 15minutes later saying our paper is (finally) scheduled to be printed in one of the top journals in biological sciences in January!!! It had been a very long and arduous (and sometimes infuriating due to people’s behaviour) process, but it’s a great piece of work and we’re all very happy it’s done and dusted. Onto the next big thing!
4pm – everyone is pretty much gone for the holidays, so packing up myself too. My friend (R) is adamant of continuing his Christmas tradition of “going to the Spoons with my friends on the last Friday before Christmas, and stay there for at least 6 hours ordering through the app!” (which, mind you, he never did with his Manchester friends as he’s usually back in London, so I’m not sure how we got roped into this LOL), so I headed to the Wetherspoons (bus pass!). At least it’ll be a significantly cheaper night than going to other pubs/bars…!
4.43pm – Debauchery starts! Well. It was just R and I initially. We managed to find a big table, and 20min in a lad came along and offered to swap tables for £20. We apologetically declined and told the others to hurry up. I had a burger and chips which was a deal (£2.60!), not the best burger but it does the trick. Friends started arriving and the proper drinking starts. R persuaded me to try and prank another table by ordering peas to them through the app, but the peas never arrived (a wasted 55p ). Someone bought a round of Spoons-version of Jaegerbombs, another bought a round of aftershock, and another Baileys…I decided to buy a round of Prosecco (only £23.1 for a round of one mini bottle per person!!), which went down really well. We all chipped in for 4 lines of lottery (£1.25 per person), but didn’t win anything (obviously!). I ordered some more chicken wings for the table as well. It was a fun evening, but I was so exhausted that the Prosecco actually almost finished me off. J and I made a pact that we would leave together, as I know if I was left on my own I’d end up staying out with my friends which meant earliest a 3am end. And I can’t deal with that just yet…
Spent: £39.51 (holy moly maybe we should only go to Spoons from now on…)
11.13pm – J got an Uber to go to his parents (he had a 7.30am appointment the next day near theirs), and I tagged along to be dropped off at mine. As I was getting off the driver must’ve had a brain crosswiring, as he started driving off with my foot still in the car and door still opened! I audibly said “what the fuck?!”, cleared out and turned around. The driver had this shocked look on his face and was very apologetic. I was fine so no harm done. Not sure what star rating J left the driver though.
Total for the day: £39.51
Day 2 – Saturday 21/12/20196am – woke up, head feels suspiciously ok, so grabbed some coconut water and went back to sleep.
8.45am – kinda got up, head still feels fine although I can tell my body is going “meh, tired!”. Kept drinking that coconut water and checked my bank cards to survey the damage done last night. I must admit I’m very impressed by the relatively low amount I’d spent, despite all the food and drinks consumed! (Also impressed that I was not actually hungover as well) Oddly I received a refund from Ocado £64.85, my last order which was delivered a week ago after all the carrier bags returned (they give you 5p back for recycling the bags) was £60.40, so I wonder if it’s them realising the overcharge and refunded me the full amount before taking the correct amount out again. So not touching that chunk of money for now! Amazon delivery claimed my parcel was handed to the resident, i.e. me, while I was out last night, so I had a “oh shit I can’t believe they lied and took it/gave it to someone else” moment (this has happened before). Threw on a jumper over my pjs and went downstairs to check. Turned out they left it on top of the post box, so I’m relieved. It’s a lastminute present for J’s mom that I bought 2 days ago, a nice Bayliss and Harding gift set, and replacement shower beads for the shower head (can’t verify if it does make the water nicer, but they definitely increase the water strength!).
9.25am – still in bed. I’m doing all my online life admin from bed. I intend to maximise time in my bed. Did I tell you about my bed? Jokes aside, I’m hoping to just have a lazy day today. For once I’ve not got tons of stuff scheduled with others as it’s the holiday season. I don’t spend enough time with my bed normally so I’m rectifying this today.
10.44am – I’m hungry, so made some instant katsu curry rice noodles (I always crave salt the day after drinking)
Noon – weekly skype with parents, again from bed.
1.45pm – finished talking to parents and decided to do some food prep as the meat that was delivered last week is nearing their expiry date. Oops. I made celery and chicken stir fry, and some duck and pak choi stir fry. This will be my packed lunch/dinner this coming week whenever I’m not eating out. Also pre-chopped up and froze stuff for a beef stew to be made in the New Year.
3.07pm – Packed up all the food I made, and went back in bed (I wasn’t joking about that bed comment lol), watched a couple of episodes of Amazon’s “The Boys”. Also responded to a couple of work emails.
4.30pm – Finally got out and made the bed, started getting ready for this evening. I’m meeting J at 6pm for dinner before going to a stand-up comedy show by Jack Whitehall. We bought the tickets maybe 5 months ago (I think price was £58 per person?). Been looking forward to the show and it’s a bit surreal it’s finally here!
5.30pm – Bus to city centre. Bus pass again.
6pm – met up with J, but everywhere in town is completely packed with people and tables aren’t available till 7.30pm…! Should’ve known but the place we wanted to go couldn’t be booked anyway. We wandered around for a while, thinking we might be able to get some Christmas market food, but the stalls were packing up as well! Finally found a Starbucks that wasn’t very busy. We sat down and got drinks and food (vegan mac n cheese, chai latte for me; chicken salad, all-day breakfast bun, bottled water for him), J paid for it (£18). We then walked to the venue.
7.30pm – got to the venue, and J is already hungry! So I queued and got us drinks (water and diet coke) and a big packet of crisps (Kettle chips). I paid for this.
Spent: £8.70
10.20pm – What a show! Jack Whitehall was really funny, although the show was a little ruined by this lady who’s sitting in front of us. She’s a very pretty and dressed up lady, who’s clearly on a date night with her husband (I saw her phone screensaver which were them with a baby). Unfortunately, she got progressively drunk over the show, using her phone extensively and talking really loudly to her husband in the last 20min of the show (I could hear her saying “I want to go out and drink more after this! Let’s go and have fun!” etc., over Jack’s voice). She also lolled her head around and banging it against J’s knee a few times, and shrieked like a banshee at the finale of the show…as they were leaving we could see her husband needing to support her as she’s walking up the steps, and she was shouting (happily though) at another stranger. He looked embarrassed. I feel sorry for her having wasted money on a show that she probably won’t remember. We walked to the tram stop. I felt a bit hungry so we stopped by a Tesco’s Extra, I bought a pack of chicken drumsticks. Consumed 3 when we got home and left the other two for future J, as he wasn’t hungry then.
Spent: £3.15
10.59pm – Tried to buy a ticket on my tram app but couldn’t for the life of me remember the cvv number of the card linked on there, and the app constantly crashed out on me when I tried to add another card. Thankfully J came to the rescue and bought me my ticket. Tried to pay him back but he wouldn’t accept it. As we were on the tram ticket inspectors got on, so I’m super glad I didn’t decide to try my luck! It’s quite funny to see a group of teenagers ran off the tram as soon as the inspectors got on. The girls behind me also had a panicked discussion (one of them had a ticket, the other didn’t), and in the end the girl without the ticket pretended her app isn’t working. Pretty sure the inspectors knew what was up, but they just made her use her debit card to touch-in at the next station, which was lucky for her. I remember once being fined £75 in a Nordic country because I didn’t realise I had to have a separate ticket for my bike. The inspector was sympathetic (as it was clear I wasn’t local) but firm about the fine.
11.55pm – Fell asleep as J tried to show me a “Star Wars Pitch Meeting” on YouTube. Ah well.
Total for the day: £11.85
Day 3 – Sunday 22/12/20196.40am – Woke up without any alarm. My body is definitely getting back into a rhythm. J and I had an agreement to lie-in today, so I went back to sleep.
9.45am – Woke up again, downed a big glass of water to wake myself up. We just lied in bed chatting and reading stuff on internet (Reddit for me).
10.45am – Got up to get ready for work. I have about 30min at work today (to set up an experiment). J made me a coffee.
11.20am – Bus to work, buss pass! Caught up with WhatsApp messages again. Also listened to Audible (“Elizabeth II: Life of a Monarch”).
Noon – Got off bus stop, decided to stop by the Chinese supermarket to pick up some pantry staples that’s finished. I was taken aback by the price of Shao Xing wine - £5.99!! Ah well.
Spent: £18.28
12.15pm – Got to work. A colleague was also there, we chatted briefly and I got to work.
12.55pm – Bus home. Bus pass!
1.25pm – Lunch! Made some couscous to go with ¼ of the celery and chicken stir fry I made yesterday. Yum.
1.45pm – Got the bus to town, meeting J and my friend for Jumanji 2. J brought popcorn, chocolates and soft drinks from Tesco’s, so we don’t pay extortionate amounts for the same stuff in the cinema. We didn’t even need to hide the stuff, because apparently they are not allowed to take stuff off us.
Spent: £4.99 for ticket
5pm – Film finished, it was way more enjoyable than I thought! The two teenage boys sitting behind us were really excitable and kept a running commentary (e.g. “Whaaaaaaat?!” “Oh no way!!” “I know exactly where this is going!!”) which was quite funny, but also a little excessive at times. Anyway, I booked us a table at a Pho place for 5.30pm so we wandered around. I wanted to find a small Christmas present for my best friend from home (M) who’s visiting, and found a figurine at the Disney store. It was also on sale so perfect! I couldn’t spend Christmas day with her so it’s like a little something for her to unwrap when I’m not around ^”
Spent: £4.90
5.30pm – Pho time! We ordered a starter and salad to share between us, and each of us got either Pho or Rice bowls, and some sort of juice type drinks. We chatted and planned New Year’s Eve party together (we’re going to do a games night with a small group of people at J’s place), and split the bill 3-way.
Spent: £21 including tips
7.20pm – Taking the bus home. Bus pass time again!
7.45pm – put on some Gabriel Iglesias on Youtube, as I updated my Money Diaries.
9pm – a couple of work emails came through so dealt with that, and started my dishwasher.
11.15pm – after faffing around (mainly YoutTube clips of Stephen Colbert) finally fell asleep. I need to change this bad habit as I would like to wake up earlier to do some body-weight training, like I used to before the 2 months working overseas stint…
Total for the day: £49.17
Day 4 – Monday 23/12/20196.45am – Alarm went off. I simply refused to get up as I was dreaming about resolving issues at work (which never happened before), so I felt exhausted. Snooze every 10min…
7.55am – Switched on my SAD lamp to force myself to get up. It’s so bright! I realise I definitely get affected by the sunlight (or lack thereof), so invested in a lamp last year. I actually have another one in the Nordic country I worked in, which I lent to a friend a couple of years ago. She was going through a very tough time with her PhD and was depressed, so I hope it had helped her. Drank 800ml water, checked my messages and dealt with a couple of work emails about the collaboration we had with the overseas lab.
8.30am – Got up to shower etc. listening to "Lore" podcast, and got ready for work. Received yet another email as I was blow-drying my hair that needs to be addressed. Gah.
9.45am – Made it onto the bus!! I saw the bus coming down the road and made a run for the next stop (which was obvious I wouldn’t be able to make it), and the driver was nice enough to stop just in front of me to let me on :D Bus pass again.
10.15am – Got into work. Have to say I was very tempted to get a coffee and tea cake (Northern term for raisin buns. I think.) with butter, but remembered that the café is closed for holidays. Ah well. At least I saved money! Made a coffee for myself and had a couple of kinder chocolates (I know this is despicable especially seeing I’m trying to be healthy again). No one else was in yet, left a present for the PhD student in our lab – I found a super quirky and colourful shirt in my grandmother’s wardrobe that the PhD student would love, so I’m now gifting it to her. Not sure when she will be in though…
12.40pm – lunch at desk! Made some couscous this morning to go with my celery and chicken stir-fry. Scrolled through Reddit and deleted a bunch of useless emails on my work account.
2.10pm – received messages from my friends in London planning a get together with all their babies/children, so bought a return ticket for first week of January. Day trip to London to see all of them, including 3 babies/toddlers I’ve not met yet! Bought tickets through Quidco and used my cashback card, so should save 1.5% in total. Would like to bring presents for the babies/toddlers as well, but feel a little odd if I only bought things for the ones I’ve never met. Probably will just do that though…any thoughts on this?
Spent: £56.50
2.50pm – I caved, and went downstairs to get a packet of crisps from the vending machine. I’m so weak-willed :(
Spent: £1
5.10pm – Didn’t quite realise the time as I was absorbed in my analysis. Decided to pack up and head home, as my last colleague in the office also finished his experiments and was leaving. Usually I like being the only person at work, but as it's the holidays it felt a bit different...
5.20pm – Stopped by Co-Op. My colleague gave me the brilliant idea of getting a few scratch cards for J as part of his Christmas present. J loves scratch cards (I’ve never ever bought them myself) and sometimes gets one just for fun. He calls it charity, I guess the Lotto does support charity work! Will be wrapping this up together with a 50p coin for scratching. Also got him a chocolate bar. Bus home using bus pass.
Spent: £7.50
6pm – got home and absolutely starving. Snacked on some rilettes I got from Christmas market a week ago. Made soup noodles with leftover pak choi from the stir fry, and added some frozen dumplings. Decided to crack open a bottle of Desperados as well – I know they’re supposed to be trashy but I really like them. Wrapped up presents and tidied up my flat so M can stay over in my single room.
8pm – Skype time with my friend who lives in the US! Haven’t spoken to him for ages, and I couldn’t make it to his wedding back in September due to work :( but it was great catching up, and hopefully I’ll get to catch up with them when I go to a US conference 2020 or 2021…
10pm – Brush teeth, get ready for bed, etc.
Total for the day: £65
Day 5 – Tuesday 24/12/20196.45am – alarm went off. Snooze.
7.15am – switch on SAD lamp, and drink my 800ml water to wake up. Put on "Family Ghosts" podcast on my speaker, shower, got ready. Also made couscous to go with my stir fry for lunch. M has arrived in Manchester and will be taking a nap before meeting me for afternoon tea.
9.20am – stopped by Co-op to get a box of Celebrations chocolates (£2) for the security guards who are working over the holidays. I know them all by face, and sometimes have a quick chat with them. Also got some crisps for office (I don’t want to pay £1 for just one single packet of crisps ever again). I’m trying the Walkers Sprout-lover and Sprout-hater packs (£2 for 12). Walked to bus station
Spent: £4
9.50am – got to work!
11.30am – was hungry so heated up my packed lunch. Also had a bag of Brussel Sprouts crisps – they’re surprisingly nice, and actually does taste a little bit like Brussel Sprouts! It’s mental.
12.15pm – had a bit of a mishap at work so had to go home to get changed. As I had to wash my tights and shorts (to make sure no chemical contamination – it’s overkill but I’d rather be safe) I decided to take Uber home instead of walking to/from bus station in the cold with damp clothes.
Spent: £7.12
2.20pm – Walked to bus stop to go into town. Bus pass! I was on my way to meeting M to take her out on an afternoon tea experience with champagne. It’s my treat for her to come and visit me during Christmas. Bought the voucher off Groupon last week, and it was £45 for two.
2.45pm – got ‘caught’ by one of the Mormon missionaries, and spent 10 minutes chatting to her. I’m honestly intrigued to how their minds work, and wouldn’t mind having an honest and open discussion with them about their faith, but I don’t think that’s what they would want…
3pm – Escaped the missionary (she knew I was meeting a friend for tea), and met with M. We managed to get seated 30min earlier, which was great. We got champagne and started on all the food that’s laid out. The scones were scrumptious!!
5.28pm – M really wanted to have mulled wine, but the Christmas markets were gone, so we decided to just get them at the afternoon tea place. I paid for it as it’s my treat. She grudgingly accepted on the premise that she pays for our Uber rides (her job will cover most of her travels).
Spent: £14.30
6pm – We got Uber to M’s hotel to pack her bags for staying over.
6.30pm – J texted to ask what we should do about dinner. We’re still full but he wanted KFC, so he ordered a whole ton of food for himself (that boy can eat – he’s thin, but he eats like a cow…!) and added something like 4 pieces of chicken for us. His treat.
7.04pm – Uber-ed back to mine (M paid), chicken arrived literally 5min after we got to my flat. I’m still in shock how much food J ate. He finished 3 packs of fries, a pack of popcorn chicken, 6 pieces of boneless fillets, and a big tub of gravy. It’s like a methodical operation. He declared later that night he’s not going to eat KFC ever again though.
8pm onwards – Board games time! I also cracked open a bottle of champagne I’ve saved for the occasion, and we all had some Spanish honey rum, as well as Aussie whisky (quite harsh, not the best…).
10.30pm – We’re all a bit tired so called it a night. Packed up the dishwasher and tidied up everything for the next day. Set the washing machine going as well.
Total for the day: £25.42
Day 6 – Wednesday 25/12/20199am – IT’S CHRISTMAS!!!!!! J and I exchanged our gifts in my room (polaroid camera bag for me, scratch cards and plush toys with sentimental values for him), and just chilled in bed watching clips and reading stuff. M was having a lie-in.
10.30am – I got ready and hung out the washing. J took his sweet time in the bathroom (I think it might be related to the KFC………)
11am – I lured M out of her room with the promise of good strong black coffee. I made her said coffee with my traditional Italian cafetiere. We all had breakfast (cereal and milk), and I gave M her present. She absolutely loved it, and did a whole photoshoot of the figurine once it’s assembled LOL. We all then just chilled in the living room. We also made a list of things she wanted to buy in the Boxing day sale tomorrow.
1pm – J’s dad picked J and I up. M stayed to guard the fort. She will be joining us the next day for lunch.
1.30pm – got to J’s parents’ place, and exchange gifts again. I gave his dad a bottle of rare spirits I’ve got during our travels, and his mom a Bayliss and Harding gift set. They gave us a voucher for a spa day and afternoon tea, which was absolutely amazing. They also gave me a set of beauty products, a giant toblerone, and some polaroid films. I really feel very spoilt. Turned out J had another two presents for me – one is a really awesome t-shirt, and another one is a box of craft beers. Apparently, the beers w free (he had to pay postage only) through his work, so I feel less bad about not getting him more stuff. Although to be fair, I did buy tickets to tourist landmarks for him when we were travelling, which we’ve agreed is part of my Christmas presents to him.
2.32pm – we sat down to Christmas lunch. So. Much. Food. Courtesy of Marks and Sparks, but they’re so tasty! Red wine in abundance as well. J’s mom wouldn’t let me help, which makes me feel rather odd (I was brought up to help with anything an elder is doing), but I did help clear up the dishes at least!
4.30pm – finally finished eating, and retired to the living room. We then begun the age-old tradition of vegetating in front of the TV watching Christmas telly. I messaged with a few friends, and played Zombie on the iPad while we watched The Chase bloopers. I’ve also been thinking about presents, and wanted to get J’s mom something different for next year. Looking into Pandora charms (she has a bracelet), and saw they’re on sale, so we’re probably gonna get a few in the next week, while the sale is on, for her birthday and Christmas. I tend to go gift shopping whenever there is a sale and I have an idea of what to get people. So my gift shopping is actually spaced throughout the year, rather than packed in the last month of the year. I’ve already got J’s dad’s next birthday present a while back as a result!
7pm – Christmas pudding time! So. Much. Custard. I have to admit, I much prefer Christmas pudding to Christmas cake.
8.15pm – We decided to play some Trivial Pursuits. J and I as a team, and his parents as another team. Things got competitive (this is the ONE thing J gets incredibly competitive about), but we all had a great time. J’s parents were up by 2, but we managed to catch up and win the game. There were some grumblings about not having a time limit to answers, but I would say we were all very spirited!
10.30pm – Bed time!
Total for the day: £0
Day 7 – Thursday 26/12/201910am – We only just woke up properly, as it was a restless night. Too much food and wine! Plus J was really excited about winning Trivial Pursuits (did I mention how competitive he is with that game?! He’s usually really docile), so he was tossing and turning for quite a while. I saw some boxing day deals emails, one is a Groupon for cryolipo, and I was so tempted (£100 for two areas), especially as I find my thigh areas really hard to reduce. J was aghast that I even considered it, as he thinks I’m fine just as I am. But I mean, even his work’s health check people said I need to lose 8kg.
11am – Got dressed and came downstairs. Had coffee and I was kind of relieved to see J’s mom still in her dressing gown, as it meant we weren’t too late! It’s raining, typical Manchester.J’s parents had booked an Italian restaurant for lunch, so we didn’t have full breakfast. J gave me one of his Belvita biscuits, I also had a clementine.
2pm – We went and met M at the restaurant. The food was absolutely delicious, and J’s parents were very generous to cover the whole bill, including M’s! It was about £35 per person I think. I’m planning to have them over for dinner soon as a thank you (I did that once before – I’m a pretty decent cook, although my kitchen is tiny).
3.48pm – We finished lunch, and M and I Uber-ed to town centre so we could do some boxing day shopping. She paid for Uber again. I didn’t really intend to get anything, but I do like seeing bargains!
4.53pm – M ticked off part of her list, and insisted in getting me a game I’ve been eyeing up (originally £15 on Amazon, reduced to £5 in the shop!). I was dismayed to find Wilco’s had closed, but we found another (better) shop for M's doormat. I by chance saw a cute small humidifier which, after a quick check on Amazon, I decided to get; it was only Sunday when I thought how dried out I felt in the morning (having the heaters on at night).
Spent: £10.80
5.15pm – Dropped in Aldi’s for some bottled water and milk (M finished it that morning).
Spent: £1.55
5.30pm – We went over to Harvey Nichols, they have some sunglasses on sale and I was VERY tempted by a pair of Chloé sunglasses. It’s 30% off but would still be over £200. I couldn’t justify owning them as I don’t need another pair, so I put them back. M was talking about finding a glamourous pair of sunglasses (i.e. branded) that she wouldn’t mind losing, but she found nothing either.
6pm – We moved to Selfridges. M had to get some face primer from Armani, so we went to the counter. I never knew that Armani is famous for lipsticks and face powder (I always use MAC foundation, and lip stain from South Korea/Nooni lip oil/colour-changing lipbalm from lipice), and I picked up an unusual lip stain colour (for me), which is more plum than red. It looked really good, and was half price, so I’m actually glad I got to try this!
Spent: £15.50
6.30pm – We stopped at Marks and Spencers food hall (for the uninitiated/not-British…“It’s not just food, it’s M&S food” is a real phenomenon). Christmas-related food were half-price or better despite the late expiry date, so we kinda went a little crazy. M even got Brussel Sprouts to take home with her tomorrow! I got Parma ham (which will be used for our NYE party), duck pâté, mushroom pâté, duck/venison/chicken liver parfait trio; these will last me a good while! I also got a seafood linguine ready meal (only 49p reduced from £4.50!!!) for dinner tonight.
Spent: £13.70
7.20pm – We walked to the bus stop, and realised the bus is only running every half an hour due to holidays’ timing. As M still needed to pack her stuff and go back to her hotel from mine, I decided we should take an Uber. I’m paying for this.
Spent: £6.68 (would’ve been £5.20 between the two of us anyway)
8.30pm – Waved M goodbye. I feel a little sad as it had been great having her on my turf. We’ve been friends for 20 years and it’s just great having the chance to hang out with her for more than just a few hours a year, and chill with her without any big time-restraints.
9pm – Heated up the linguine and had it for dinner. Caught up with a few more friends on WhatsApp, and updated my money diaries as I put “Gourmet Makes” in the background.
12.50am – I think it must be all the festivities, I’m still awake!! Set the alarm for later, as no one else will be going to work tomorrow, so I don’t have to worry about getting in early for space in the lab. Put on a tasty video just as white noise and switched the screen off my laptop.
Total for the day: £48.23
(Week breakdown and reflections in comments)

He asked! And this might be a bit long, but i wanted to put as much detail as i could for you guys :)
We had graduation together on my birthday (6/12) and i get very shy in front of him at school, but he pulled me aside to tell me happy birthday and said he got me a gift. We walked to our bags and he pulled out a Pandora bag. I opened it up and it was a beautiful charm bracelet (He got me a Reflexions Mesh Bracelet with Star Charm , Dazzling Elegance Charm and another one. I cant find it but it was like the elegance one but it was more of a crescent, its fucking stunning... the 2 charms and bracelet is $224). I almost started crying and i hugged him. I showed it to all my friends. He got it for me because i had a family dinner and he wanted me to wear it to it. I think he got the star and the crescent looking one because i love the night sky and my username on Instagram has "moon" in it.
I also send him a video of me with makeup and my hair curled and he screenshotted, spammed me with kiss emojis and said i looked "soooo good". He sent me the sweetest fucking text before i left.
"Its a pity that i cant be there with you. But im glad you can be with your family 😘 All i want is you to be happy whether you believe it or not hahahah. Enjoy your time" (He says 'if you believe it or not' because he calls me beautiful and stuff and i tell him that i dont believe him)
After my birthday dinner, i went home and me and him were on a voice call for a few hours, and we were asking questions back and forth because we were bored. I mentioned how my mum calls him my boyfriend as a joke, and he jokingly responded with "Well arent i?" I said not technically because he hasnt asked me out. Shortly after he asked me out on a date... he specifically said date (which he never has said before). He went to say another question and then he said "Wait i should say that in person". I knew what he was going to ask and i got excited.
The next day, we went on our "date" and i wore clothes i got for my birthday (a skirt and a low cut blouse. It was stunning. My hair was still curly from the night before so i had it down. I wish i could attach a photo) he said i looked beautiful and that he needed to take a photo.
We went to the city first so he could eat (It was around lunch time at this point). We started asking questions again and i asked if he had anymore questions (expecting him to ask) but he said he had none. So i kind of went to myself 'Oh, i guess he wasnt going to ask' and thought nothing of it.
We went to a conservation park where we fed animals (he loves animals). I wore heels and he got worried because he noticed i had blisters on my toes (stupid open toed shoes) and they were bleeding. I told him i was fine but he insisted on us stopping and resting. I told him I had to use the restroom and put band-aids on them, just so he would get a little less worried.
We went to the canteen/cafeteria and got some food. He got me a drink because i wasnt hungry. He took a photo of me sitting there on my phone. I dont let him take photos of me because i get shy, but i pretended i didnt notice just so he could have one.
We walked around more and held hands a lot. He wanted me to feed a kangaroo but i got nervous and tried to back away but he put his arm in my way and the curled it so i was up against him (like holding me in a protective way) and said it was okay and kissed my head. AAAAAAAAAAAA
After a while, we went back to the city. At the bus stop he asked me to dinner (i dont eat in front of him) and hes like "wait wait i got another question" and asked if i wanted to be his girlfriend. I obviously said yes and he had the most precious smile on his face and hugged me. We took a bus half the way (it was a long distance), and i was a bit tired so i put my head on his shoulder and held his hand with one hand, and wrapped my other around his arm. He put his head on top of mine and whispered to me to go sleep, because he could tell I was tired. He played slow music (we had his airpods in) to try to get me to go to sleep, since he didn't want me being tired. I honestly wanted to but I didn't want him to see me sleeping so I didn't.
After the bus we took an uber and he fell asleep in it and he looked soooo cute i wanted to take a photo but i didnt because i didnt want to take one without his permission..... so instead i took a short video and sent it to my friend. >.<
We went to karaoke (he wants to hear me sing and rap, since we both love eminem). We ran into his best friend there! We ended up hanging out with his best friend and 4 of his other friends. (His friends are amazing at singing). His friend put on a Chinese song that me and my boyfriend love. Everyone chuckled and even i laughed. His friend asked if i wanted to sing along with him, but i said no because its chinese, and i dont like speaking chinese. I got other people to sing songs at my request and used the excuse "its my birthday"... honestly i just think it was because i was the only girl there that they let me pick who sung.
We went to have korean bbq together. And i sat in the corner as they made jokes in Chinese since i didnt understand much so i couldnt really add into it. I just sat there on my phone, laughed at their reactions and sipped on water. His best friend got up (I didn't notice) and came back and put a coke in front of me, and one in front of my boyfriend. I don't know if my boyfriend asked or what but it scared me because I didn't notice.
He ended up telling me about how his best friend often helped him out with me, asking for advice and stuff. I told him I already knew that. He asked how and I said I noticed him looking at my profile a lot, and being one of the first to look at my story or like my post. I then mentioned how my friends called him "the Stalker" because we didn't know his name. We both told his best friend this. I wanted to ask his best friend something, but again: I don't really know his name since it's Chinese. So I yelled out "Hey Stalker" he paused for a moment and turned around and we all started laughing. So now I call him Stalker as a nickname for him.
After that, my boyfriend, his best friend and i took an uber home together. His bestfriend was dropped off first, so it was just us 2. We got to my house and he got out, hugged me, kissed my head and left.
After that, we were on a call together, and he likes to send me photos of myself because i get shy about it. He send me the photo of me sitting on my phone are wrote "Look at my girlfriend. She's fucking beautiful" and then sent another one of me laughing and running away and sent "And shes cute".
Comes the 9th, he has to leave to China for 46 days :C
He posted a 3 photos on instagram, 2 of him and his bestfriend at the airport, and the last one of me and him, but im hiding behind his shoulder so its just my hair.
His best friend wrote "Where did you get that wig" referencing to my hair and I responded with "He found it in your wardrobe" (wardrobe = closet).
His flight went for I think 12 hours?? When he landed he told me how he spent hours looking through photos of me while on the plane. Like SO CUTEEEEE and he told me he misses me a lot.
SO YEAH
Thats my story
Hope you enjoyed c:
I wish everyone the bestest of luck with their crushes!!!!!!!
Edit: Words and added some more detail

Trenton, NJ 2011
It had been almost a month since I had reported to my P.O.. There was no doubt in my mind that Mercer County had issued an arrest warrant. I was scheduled to report to the probation office weekly as well as go in front of the judge every Tuesday morning. I had been getting high for months. It started in the halfway house with the intention of quitting before I came home. As assertive and self confident as I am, I always get bullied by drugs and submit to the schedule they want me on. I had been functioning on the brink of destruction for the 2 months that I inhabited this apartment.
Each time I met with my P.O. I was carrying a clean urine contraption in my Polo boxers. I’d cut a small slit in the flap of a pair of boxer briefs. Then I would empty out a small bottle of hand sanitizer and fill it with clean piss wherever I could find it. That bottle was then warmed up and placed with just the tip sticking outside the underwear fabric. On my way to the office my body heat would keep the temperature regulated. With this invention I could give the fake sample even if I was being watched and I was always being watched. Most times the officer would stand outside the bathroom and watch as your back was turned but some of the more devious officers would look right at my hammer while I was putting piss in a cup for them. 95% of parole and probation officers are the worst type of people. If you ask me anyone involved in the just system has some lack of self esteem that would drive them to impose there power on others. Especially Richard Dye and Janice Coble two people who did their best to help me ruin my life.
At this time I could no longer keep up the façade of a sober productive citizen. I had come to the same crossroads that I had passed through many times before. I could give up the drugs and re-adjust to a healthy wholesome lifestyle, or I could give up the last semblance of a normal life and keep on with the excitement and madness of being a junkie. The junk was way more seductive than the prospect of regularity ever could pretend to be. I waved the white flag at square life and “took it on the run” from probation.
For the first few days I talked with criminal advisors of all types. Drug users who had been in the same boat, drug dealers who ran from football numbers for years, and Ex convicts who had long since turned to family men. As I was only facing a 3 year sentence with half that time already served the general consensus was to turn myself in and get this situation behind me. However, I was in the clutch of a daily speedball addiction and I couldn’t find it in me to just walk away from that steamy romance.
One day as I was in the midst of a strong dope nod the plan unfurled in front of me. I could collect the security deposit from my apartment, take a train to Florida, and eventually find a job on some sort of Caribbean boat. I would have to stop using but I would work it out so that I started a new life on whatever island felt right. I was so disgusted with my life and the justice system in New Jersey that the fantasy of never coming back to the U.S. filled me with more satisfaction than the best drugs in Kensington. Somedays I still dream of how pleasant a simple life on a small tropical island could be. After the plan was hatched I couldn’t think of anything else. I hadn’t felt the freedom that leaving would give me in years, if ever.
I couldn’t leave today because I didn’t yet have the money. I also need to acquire a stash of detox drugs so that I wasn’t diminished to a trembling, crying, puking pile of crumbled junkster on my way to execute operation “Detoxy Freedom”. That meant waiting a few more days if not weeks.
My landlord was a clean cut businessman, but was no stranger to the other side of the law. I had explained to him my situation and apologized profusely as I humbly asked for his help by returning my security deposit. With no hesitation he agreed. The catch was that he needed a few days to get it together, whatever that may have meant. In the meantime I needed to make sure I stayed low. I had a buddy who lived a few towns north of Trenton in Pennington. Pennington was a quiet town made up mostly of forest and farmland. It was a great place to hide out. As long as I stayed indoors no one would ever suspect that I was there.
I had brought some drugs with me to Pennington but not enough. By my third day there I was in the midst of an ugly withdrawal. My Buddy McFlave knew I was using and showed sympathy but he wasn’t a part of this lifestyle and couldn’t do much to help me out as far as getting another fix. I knew that the only way to end my current physical suffering was to get back down to Trenton and get a fix but I was so close to freedom that I was scared to risk it. That fear only lasted for a day. When McFlave returned home from work one night, I had a half meltdown and told him I had to get back to my hood. He initially tried to bargain with me, it was to no avail.
We hopped into his 1980-something Reliant K station wagon to make the 8 mile drive. With my physical discomfort and the prospect of alleviating withdraw, the 20 minute ride felt closer to an hour. We stayed mostly silent as I shivered and sweat in the passenger seat. The trees and fields transitioned to buildings and lots as we weaved through the North side of Trenton. My internal paradox had intensified as we arrived in the city. The anxiety grew since there was a greater possibility for capture in Trenton. At the same time, the serenity rose knowing that soon I would have some relief from my opioid induced malady.
The sun was on its way down. It was one of those humid summer nights where the sky glows all shades of orange and purple just before sunset. While arriving out front of my apartment building I found solace being back amongst the trash strewn streets of Chambersburg. For years I had felt my connection to life through the crumbling infrastructure of the inner city. McFlave solemnly bid his farewell as if I was a soldier shipping out to war. He wasn’t far off. I would be shipped before 24 hours was up.
I didn’t even bother to walk upstairs into my apartment. I sat on the bench out front of the store and called Brownie. He didn’t answer. During my time in Trenton I think I saw one open air dope spot. The word was that the whole Perry St neighborhood had hustlers on every corner. If they were there I never saw them. It’s also possible that I was looking for the wrong situation. In North Philadelphia, where I spent most of my days, the dope spots were not camouflaged. Young black, brown and occasionally white brothers stood proudly on corners and let each passerby know which drugs could be purchased there or close by. Then, the hand to hand transaction was made outdoors only using two vehicles or buildings as cover from any nearby police. My understanding of Trenton was that the dope was sold inside of the brownstone tenement buildings on the 10-15 blocks surrounding Perry St. So anyone who wanted a particular brand of skag would have to know which building it was sold inside of and they would walk into the front door to be served. I dealt with a similar process in Paterson NJ however at that time I had never been locked up for any length of time as an adult so I was quicker to throw caution to the wind. Being on Probation in The Town, I wasn’t keen to spend hours in the hood searching for drugs and socializing with low level junkies.
Brownie was a dope dealer I met while I was still in the halfway house. My Bunkie Ross was from the neighborhood and one of the illest hustlers I’ve ever met. Ross could turn a dime to a stack inside of a week and very seldom made his profit with drugs. He did know the guys who made their living selling crack and smack though. I think it was Ross who originally put me in touch with Brownie. Brownie was a hood anomaly. He spent years getting high on heroin. At some point he stopped using and started selling. He lived in a homeless shelter and I think part of the reason was because that was where most of his clientele was.
As I was realizing that I was gonna have to take an Amtrak to Philly just to get one bag my phone rang. Brownie was calling back. It didn’t ring twice before I picked up.
“Hey yo” I greeted meekly, showing myself just how weak the withdrawal made me.
“What’s happening Shane” Brownie asked. He always called me Shane and I never corrected him. In the street using your real name can be detrimental.
I told him I needed 2 and asked for 2 on consignment. My credit score in life is non-existent but in the dope game it was 850. I almost always got drugs fronted to me. Brownie told me to meet him at the 6ABC building next to the train station. I argued and told him that’s a terrible spot but he insisted. That part of the city was rampant with police and pedestrians and was about the worst place to buy drugs, especially as a fugitive. It seemed shifty but I let go of that notion relatively quickly. Any of the lethargy evaporated as I ran up to my apartment 2 steps at a time to grab my bike. While still at the halfway house I had acquired a murdered out, gunmetal beach cruiser with high rise handlebars. The only component on the bike that wasn’t black or gray was the thick whitewall tires. I kept my bike, apartment, and sneakers pristine.
It was about 20 blocks from Chambersburg to the train station downtown. I pedaled down Emory St. through a lively neighborhood. I caught a few notes of the narcocorrido songs playing at Chapala, the corner bar. Immigrant’s children played on the sidewalks as I passed. Every car that rode by me sent tremors through the block from heavy bass in the songs they played, mostly Trap and Latino Hip-Hop. I thought to stop at the liquor store across from the park where Emory and Whitaker intersected, but there was a menacing crowd of MS-13 outside. Those were the only gangsters who ever made me nervous because my wit and charm would be useless without full command of the Spanish language. Past the park I weaved through a few quiet side blocks and turned left heading north on S. Clinton Ave.
Clinton Ave was generally an unassuming city street. It varied between residential blocks and strips of storefronts. The blocks south of the Dye St bend were Latino restaurants, barber shops and botanicas. North of Dye St the blocks got visually poorer. Most of the storefronts were abandoned, as well as some of the homes, and the intersections near Hamilton ave looked like the perimeter of a landfill. The only business that appeared to have some measure of success was the Chinese Food/Liquor store. It wasn’t clean but the large brightly illuminated windows gave it that appearance. It was always busy and drew an unsavory crowed who milled about outside on Hamilton Ave. I made a mental note to stop and grab a drink on my way back home.
2 blocks past Hamilton I crossed over a small truss bridge that spanned a few railroad tracks leading to the train yard of the Trenton Station. This bridge signified the boundary of downtown. I didn’t like being in Trenton right now, and it was amplified while travelling through territory that housed poilice precinct, state buildings and other high security areas. People poured out of the station entrance from an incoming train and it helped me to relax. The more faces that were around the less likely a cop would focus on mine. Brownie was on the far side of the traffic light sitting alone inside a covered bus stop. I hopped off my cruiser and leaned it on the side of the structure. As we shook hands Brownie tried to nonchalantly pass off the product. However, it clumsily dropped out of our grasp as it did everytime I copped from him. Brownie always blamed me for this but I maintain that he was the klutz.
“That’s 6” he said as I sat down with him, “2 are from a new connect, do those first and let me know what you think” I couldn’t help cracking a smile despite my depressed demeanor and anxiety riddled mental status. Testers weren’t uncommon on well established drug corners. I never got any from Brownie and this was a pleasant surprise. I would be able to have a bag or two when I woke up the next morning. With subtle incognito movements I reached in my pocket and placed two $10 bills on the bench next to me. I had no time to sit and chat I had to get the hell outta dodge and get high.
In a blink I was back on the Cruiser and heading back down Clinton. As I sped past the Chinese liquor spot the thought of stopping for a drink had already disappeared. I was nauseous, anxious, in pain and had a mean case of diarrhea brewing. With the cure in my pocket I mutated from crippled junkie to Lance Armstrong. Each pedal stroke was taking me closer to the goal I would nearly die to achieve. Had I met Brownie in a different section of the city I would already have shot a bag of dope and been moseying my way home without any particular urgency. Here in the Downtown/Chambersburg corridor I didn’t know of one safe place to stop and take the few minutes to set up a syringe. My white T-shirt and gym shorts were soaked with sweat from withdrawing in August while riding a bike. I looked like a possessed man passing by nice Colombian families enjoying an Aguardiente in the summer heat. My legs were cramped and damn near inoperable when I reached home. I left my bike on the side of the building and stumbled up the stairs to fix a shot.
The apartment was sparsely furnished and spotless. Years of incarceration had engrained a moral sense of duty to be clean and organized. I kept my tools of the trade in the nightstand near my bed. My hands trembled while I poured the tan powder from a white wax envelope into a water bottle cap. I add 10cc of water for each bag; no more, no less. Using the back of the diabetic syringe I stir up the cap until all the powder dissolves. I think “this is some good dope” when it turns the color of ice tea. I re-use the same speck of cotton for days at a time, dropping it into the cap to be used as a filter. Gently resting the tip of the needle on the browned filter I pull back on the syringe plunger and suck up 25 cc’s of the antidote. In the movies they squirt a few drops out to make sure there’s no air in the spike. I wouldn’t dare waste a few cc’s like that. I flick the body of the needle twice to let the air bubbles rise and then push the plunger just enough to remove them.
All of my movements are made in a hurry but very methodically. I don’t want to spill the potion or miss a vein. The leather Polo belt snaps as I grab it off the bedroom door knob. I stick my right arm through the belt, wrap it twice and sink my teeth in to hold it in place. A thick vein inside my elbow pushes the yellow bruised skin up just enough to make its presence visible. Along that lump runs an inch of scars from previous years of needle pokes. The needle is old and dull so when I jab at the vein it hurts a bit more than normal also my nerves are on edge and it adds to the sharp prick. Immediately I see a bit of blood swirl up into the cylinder of the syringe. A red dragon from the same Asian country as the heroin its dancing in. I drive down the plunger as fast as it will go. Before I can pull the arm dart out and wipe the blood I get a tingle starting at the bottom of my back. It’s a warm euphoric version of your foot “falling asleep”. The pins and needles dance salsa up my back. When they reach my head the tingle shifts to an explosion and a wave of warm goo drips from my skull to my feet. I close my eyes and float in the feeling. Without even having the chance to take the needle out I fall out of consciousness in the most heavenly way.
At 5:30 the next morning there was a knock at my door that woke me. My eyes opened and heart pounded. The soft light from the window signified that it was still early. I lay for a moment with my blood pressure pulsing all over my body. I knew at this time of day the only people showing up at my apartment were the police serving a warrant. My mind spun and the anxiety was unbearable. ‘This was it.’ ‘Or was it?’ If they were knocking than maybe they weren’t gonna kick the door down and I would be safe just staying still. They would leave at some point and I would make a break Florida immediately. A few more moments of silence, I was frozen stiff. I started thinking that maybe I didn’t really hear a knock, ‘I was just dreaming.’ I wasn’t sure that I heard a knock, it did happen while I was sleeping. A knock came again, but it wasn’t the normal cop knock. It was a knock to the rhythym of the Clipse song Grindin’. Now I’m all the way scared and confused. ‘Was it not the cops?’ ‘Were they trying to throw me off so I’d answer the door?’
It was only seconds but it felt like minutes when the next hip-hop knock came. This one settled my heart as it was accompanied by a voice. “YYEERRROOO!! COOOVVV!!” The relief was on par with last nights fix. The voice wasn’t immediately recognizable. I was sure, though, that whoever was at my door before the birds started chirping was friend not foe. With a dried stream of blood crusted on my forearm I got up from the bed and wobbled through the living room. Before the next knock came I peered through the peephole. It was Machine Gun Funk.
Gun Funk was one of the most unique characters I’ve ever met. We spent a half of a year together during a bid in Middlesex County, a lockdown program in New Brunswick to be exact. He was a white kid from Hamilton, the suburb next to Trenton. He built a name for himself running through West Trenton with the Fruit Town Brims. Fruit Town was a set of Bloods that originated in a section of Compton California. There aren’t many Brims in Jersey but they are always official. Brims refer to each other with some form of the moniker Funk. P-Funk, D-Funk, Lo-Funk, etc. Gun Funk didn’t look like a gangster to the untrained eye. He wore khaki cargo shorts with leather sandals. He rocked a generic middle class white guy hair cut and fake diamond earrings. His face looked like he could have had a sprinkling of downs syndrome and he had a wrist full of friendship bracelets and leather bands. People who met Funk for the first time were more likely to think he just came home from Coachella Festival rather than a Correctional Facility. There were 2 things about Gun Funk that let the streets know he wasn’t your average college stoner. His tats and his beads. He wore red and white beads around his neck that blended in with the rest of his rave jewelry but were actually a symbol to his alliance to “Them Hat Boys”. He had a bunch of regular tats on his skin but the important one was on his forearm. In the joint someone inked an orange tree and a top hat below his elbow the tree symbolizing Fruit Town and the hat for Brim.
I had talked to MGF a few weeks prior via Facebook and told him my door is always open now that I was in his backyard. I never thought he would show up but I was too happy to see him to be angry that it wasn’t yet 6am. We had both seen better days. I bypassed his outstretched hand and went straight for a hug.
“What the fuck is going on?” I asked with intent and not just as a greeting. I stepped away from the entryway and we both sat on the old living room couch. Gun Funk offered me a Maverick Menthol but I declined and pulled out a Newport from my own pack on the coffee table. I was eager to find out why this guy who I hadn’t seen in over a year was showing up on my doorstep. He began to break down the story. Like me MGF was a vivid storyteller which was a great skill for street dudes who wound up in the most unusual situations. A picture was painted for me of a night of drugs and sex that ended here in my apartment. Funk had been sniffing blow with a barely legal teenage girl in her parent’s house on Chambers St. As he told me more of the details it became clear that he was pretty fried. They did the normal sniffing lines off her ass kinda stuff. Sometime before the sun rose and the coke was getting sparse the girl’s father woke up to get ready for his work day. Pops must have heard some commotion from his precious daughter’s bedroom and looked to find his baby girl with Ol’ Funks gun in her mouth. I’ve never laughed so hard before my morning coffee and shot. Her Pops threw Funk outta the house like he was Jazzy Jeff. I saw the freshly scraped elbows that were proof. Chambers was only a few blocks from my place on Emory. With his phone and wallet still in homegirl’s bedroom MGF figured to try his luck at my house. I believed every word of his story. It wasn’t too far off from a situation I had or may find myself in. I was glad to see him and even more elated that he came bearing such an outlandish story.
I made us a pot of coffee. After years of jail time Gun Funk adjusted to drinking his coffee John Wayne, meaning no cream and no sugar. I made my cup a Little Wayne, just sugar, I hadn’t bought cream or milk since my last shopping trip a few weeks ago. We sat for a few minutes as I told him about my fugitive status and plans to get out of The Town a.s.a.p.. He wanted to kick it at my spot for a few hours until he could safely retrieve his phone and wallet. That was fine by me, I was glad to have some company for the day. I handed him the remote and told him to watch what he wants. I hadn’t paid the cable bill in a while but they hadn’t cut it off just yet. I went to the bedroom and grabbed my tools for a morning fix. I did it in the bathroom then hopped in the shower.
After getting dressed and making my way back to the couch, I saw that gun funk had dozed off. He had crashed from being zooted all night, and wouldn’t be waking up anytime soon. I decided to head downstairs to the deli that was the first floor of the building. I figured I could talk to my landlord and see if he might have had my security deposit for me. As I stepped foot out the door my landlord Johnny greeted me with his friendly smile. He had an espresso cup in one hand and a Marlboro in the other. Johnny was a family man nowadays but had grown up in the streets back when Chambersburg was a tough Italian part of town. I believe he genuinely felt for me and didn’t like to see me living this life. We had talked about my plan for getting to Florida, if I really felt like this was the move and what I would do long term. He told me that by the end of the day he would have money for me. I felt uncomfortable in more ways than one. I didn’t like putting Johnny in the spot I did. I also didn’t like standing out in the open during broad daylight. As we chatted I watched every car that past. One of those cars was an older model, dark gray Crown Victoria that may have had government plates. Later on it registered to me that the driver of that car looked an awful lot like my Probation Officer. Since he didn’t stop at the time I made the choice to believe it was just a coincidence.
After shooting the breeze for an hour or so I made my way upstairs to do another shot. Knowing that money was coming my way that afternoon stopped me from being conservative with my last few bags. Gun Funk was still dead asleep when I came out of the bathroom from doing a double shot. The Regis and Kelly show wasn’t holding my attention so I grabbed the remote off the coffee table and put on Animal Planet. It was a dry documentary about cheetahs, the perfect background noise to nod out to. I layed on the floor with my head propped on the base of the couch and focused on losing focus.
“ BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM” four heavy knocks on the door. I sprang to my feet. Funks eyes shot open and we stared at eachother our eyes lit with fear. There was no mistaking that knock. The panic had surged my adrenaline and any inkling of being high had vanished from my body. I was hoping against all odds that my door wasn’t about to kicked off the hinges. As quietly as I could I crept to a spot where I could look under the door. My nightmare was confirmed. I saw more than a few pairs of black boots on the floor of my apartments vestibule.
I mouthed the words to Machine Gun Funk “Black Boots!”
I was expecting at any moment to see the door come flying open. Instead I heard another round of aggressive taps with an angry woman’s voice afterward “Trenton Police”. I remained as still as I could though my heart beat as loud as the cop’s knock. I couldn’t breathe. Deep inside I thought that maybe they were going to leave had I not answered the door. Then came the only sound worse than a battering ram busting the door down. It was the most fearful sound I could have imagined at that point, and it was no louder than a phone’s vibration. I heard a key clicking into my doorknob. “ohhh fuucckk” I muttered breaking my silence.
The door swung open with dynamic force knocking the Crucifix above it off the wall onto the head of the 2nd cop through. A brunette lady cop with her gun drawn at my face yelled to get down. I was paralyzed staring at the barrel and the enraged face behind it. “
“Hit the fucking ground!!!” the second time she punctuated the statement with a wave of the gun. I snapped from my trance and dropped face first on the carpet. Funk did the same while in the crosshairs of a different gun. Immediately after I got down two linebacker sized pink skinned piglets in plain clothes pounced on me. I caught a gun butt in the back of my head that should have required a few stitches. I took a few swift boots to the torso. I wound up with a knee grinding my face into the floor while another pansy twisted my arm backwards way beyond its capability. Dazed from the blow to the head I can only imagine that MGF got the same treatment. After a few moments I was lifted to my feet violently to see that Sgt. Swine Slut was rummaging through my cabinets. She looked like the captain of an NCAA womens hockey team.
In a momentary lapse of judgment I said to her “You looking for something to eat?”
That earned me a quick but weak jab to the gut from one of her flunkies. She didn’t bother responding after that. Two more plain clothes doughboys stood over my cohort and asked me with malice “who’s this?” I remained silent as Gun Funk uttered his government name. I didn’t have the chance to hear anymore of that conversation as I was drug down the steps out to an unmarked police cruiser. As I sat in the back of that car the only thing I could think of through the pain throbbing in my head was that “I only missed a probation meeting, I don’t deserve this”. I didn’t have trouble believing that I took this beating from the Police. It only added to the disgust I had for the justice system and government.
Behind the shit storm of emotions and underneath the silent tears I knew one thing. I was glad this is over. Being on the run, even for this short period had taken its toll on my soul. I looked forward to getting to jail so I could finally get some rest.