Tyr the Conqueror

Whoaaaaa just realized it's wednesday which is cut-off day for status update! Whoops! 😅 Week 4 Update: So close to finishing draft 2 of my script, just have 2.5 scenes left to edit after transferring it to a new program. I've been on a good drawing kick as well working on a digital painting that seems to be going well. Food-wise, trying to reign in the carbs starting week 4, but not much headway there. Week 5 started by practically blowing my calorie goal off-days so this will be interesting! I'm thinking next challenge I'll need to start tracking macros though because I've gotten too casual with carbs much of this summer. My routine I found early in quarantine seems to no longer be gelling with me, so it looks like a lot of reassessment is in order over the next week or two. 😐 Other than I'm super tired because I keep waking up at 6 am this week no matter what time I go to bed, it feels like this challenge is looking up... May I not jinks it. Level 4 Complete - Final Score: Calorie Goal: 5/5 💚 Takeout Goal: 2/4 💚 Workout Goal: 5/5 💚 Creative Goal: 8/6 💚 NF Status Update Goal: 💚

Week 3 Update: OMG. I'm updating on Sunday when I'm actually suppose to. First time in several weeks hahah, a testament to it having been a good one as far as my goals are concerned. I actually did no less than 2 hrs of creative time (even 4 or more on some days), but this caused me to be exhausted near the end of the week. I've been overall about not doing hyper focus sessions all evening/night, but Wednesday was a bad day. On the bright-side, that really pushed me to be productive at work and creatively as I was "rage-imating" (angry animating) all day, and digital painting all evening/night until around midnight. What sparked this was the final straw at work with very unprofessional coworkers I'm tired of dealing with. I won't go into details, but I will say its simply not a place I will grow or flourish at. Assessing my portfolio and animation reel, some of my creative energy will have to be diverted to getting a new job as soon as possible, despite the current pandemic. This will make it more of a challenge, but its honestly the step up I've been needing to make for a while instead of holding myself back out of doubt. Just going over my sketchbook I picked back up last July to the work I've been doing recently, I've seen a lot of improvement. Over the past couple of challenges (the current is my third), I've been able to keep myself on track and learn how to balance progress with self care and self love. I've experienced a night and day difference from where I was a few years ago. With that rambling out of the way here are my Week 3 results: Level 3 Complete - Final Score: Calorie Goal: 5/5 💚 Takeout Goal: 4/4 💚 Workout Goal: 5/5 💚 Creative Goal: 6/6 💚 (technically 11 recorded hrs!) NF Status Update Goal: 💚 Calming down now days after, I have to take this experience at work as a blessing in disguise. What else would've kicked me in the pants and made me move on as I should? Here's to a better week, and hopefully just as productive or even more. Happy week 4 everyone! 🖤💜💙💚💛🧡❤️🖤

Week 2 I just barely missed my workout and calorie goals due to celebrating a bit too much on the 4th of July with the moscow mules and mojitos 😑 ....oops. Aside from that, this week was less of a struggle. One thing i noticed is my caffeine consumption has become a bit unruly. It's not been a calorie problem, just a having-panic-attacks-when-im-trying-to-fall-asleep-at-night problem. 😐 Those Celsius drinks are rather addicting though i get a bit of a headache later on... On the 4th I tried grilling out for the first time and surprised myself with a good job on everything haha. Will definitely grill more in the future as it was so good, I didn't feel the need for sauces or extra calories. just a hot, fluffy bowl of rice 🖤😄😊 Level 2 Complete - Final Score: Calorie Goal: 4/5 💔 Takeout Goal: 4/4 💚 Workout Goal: 4/5 💔 Creative Goal: 6/6 💚 NF Status Update Goal: 💚 Nothing big to report other than I've been focusing on my art and not letting myself get so distracted by other things. I have a 2020 end of year goal of having 5 strong portfolio pieces, and one short one-shot comic to the clean-up stage if not totally done, and two others with at least locked scripts. Milestones for these might be integrated into future challenges. Now on to week 3!!!!! Best of luck to anyone reading this

Weeeeeelp! yesterday evening I scheduled time to sit down and do my update on time after an hour or so nap.....but i never woke up. this is what happens when you procrastinate! 😅 Oh well... Week 1 wasn't perfect, but it was a good start for breaking bad habits I started to form last challenge. I think part of my problem (and this is gonna sound dumb) was feeling bummed about the series finale of She-Ra on netflix. (I was actually a fan of the original AND love this new one just as much. its different and thats NOT a bad thing by any means.) I don't usually get worked up about shows that I love ending but this was the first in a long time where I was legit sad and maybe slightly depressed about no mas She-ra even though that ending was the most beautiful thing ever 😭 (hopefully we get a spin-off series b/c there's definitely content for it, but not getting my hopes up.) Either way, I'm not about to sabotage my progress any further on a fandom, and I just needed to get that off my chest, b/c a shared love of the show among my friends has been tragically lacking, ahem! Level 1 Complete - Final Score: Calorie Goal: 4/5 💔 Takeout Goal: 3/4 💚 Workout Goal: 5/5 💚 Creative Goal: 8/6 🖤💜💙💚💛🧡❤️ NF Status Update Goal: 💔 No extra points for going over on the creative goal, i just like any excuse to put rainbows on anything. 🤣 May this be a lesson in procrastination as well, hehe. i use to do some darebee workouts, but i've been (for the time being) doing some custom workouts targeting one section per workout, and no actual rest period. I have a bit of a library from over the years from different sources though. I figured if I do feel bored I'd check out darebee again, so i'll make sure to check out plan b. I recall really liking the Shield Maiden one 🤔🤩

Yikes! this might've been my issue last challenge. I felt really overwhelmed, but I still pushed myself to complete it, but I didn't hit my goals at a level I felt satisfactory. It's good you're still participating in the challenge and doing something though, so you don't lose momentum. If it becomes overwhelming, I would say its okay dial back on your goals to something you know you can hit (for a bit of a morale boost) and adjust so you don't feel discouraged. Just finishing a challenge at all is an accomplishment to be proud of. 🖤 I think it helped me last one to dial back to a level I knew felt "safe" or comfortable, b/c "pushing through it" hasn't been the most effective tactic in the past, for me at least. Maybe this could be helpful to you too if that funk persists? Sometimes you can breeze through life at 110%, and sometimes 40% feels like 200% and you're dying! You gotta let that annoying stamina bar recharge before you can sprint across the map again. As long as you don't give up or be hard on yourself at points like this, you will come across a second wind and will be slaying again soon! Best of luck! 🤗

As last challenge did not go as well as hoped -- I saw it through to the end but didn't pass with flying colors -- I've gotta replay the level and maybe lower the difficulty as much as I hate to. Have to stay on goal with the gradual increases, and I think I tried to change too much. Victory requirements for this challenge will be: 1) 1350 daily calories -- (5x/week) 2 days/week allotted for missing the goal or accommodating for special occasions, cheat meals, parties, etc. 2) 4 takeout meals -- (per week) max allowed for ordering out or takeout. 3) 7 min workout -- (5x/week) As the 10 min goal last challenge crashed and burned, this is half the increase from the prior challenge. This doesn't include warm-up or cool-down time. can also be satisfied by a brisk 15 min walk or jog. 4) 5 hrs creativity skill build -- (per week) max of 2hrs in one day allowed toward weekly 6-hr goal. 5) weekly Rebellion update -- needs to be an official goal so it gets done in a timely manner. Check-ins should be on Sunday, but no later than Wednesday. This should prove to be a less daunting challenge with fewer changes to be overwhelmed by. Restarting awesome butt-kicking challenge in 5-4-3-2-1...Let's go!

Lawl everyone needs a gang of outgoing friends for crowd control. 🤣 Now its time for your next adventure! I mean who says no to pics?! Whatever you'd like to post, go for it! Mission accomplished. Maybe a challenge photo album is in order? something to track your journeys ifffff that sounds like something that resonates with you. Congrats on the victory and have a great week!

Welp I got whisked away in the tornado that became work over the past few weeks, and felt I was pulling myself in too many directions. Just as we were starting this challenge, I got super busy at work and just spent challenge week #3 working until midnight or 3am at some points, which forced me to restructure my goals after week 1. Depending on how I finish off this challenge I may need to keep my goals the same for challenge #3, but hopefully not. Adjusted Challenge #3 has now been: 1350 calorie target (50 cal buffer) 5 days/week -- cutting 50 calories from my previous goal, I'm aiming for 1350 but giving myself a 50 cal buffer for a 1400 ceiling to qualify for achieving the daily goal. Must be hit 5 of 7 days per week to hit the weekly goal. Takeout allowance 4 times/week -- down one from last challenge, if it seems too easy for me, I may go ahead and drop to 3 meals per week allowance. Workout 10 min 5 times/week -- doubled from last challenge, as I'm building up from not working out at all and coming from 0 motivation to get back into working out regularly. I'm glad to say I've gotten back into the habit of actually doing something even if hitting 5 workouts/week was difficult (this is a challenge after all). I will implement something I had to utilize last challenge a couple of times, which is allowing a double workout in the same day as long as they're done at different times and not back to back to count as I found myself put out if I just had a super busy or rough Sunday and Monday which would screw me over for the rest of the week despite however well I did the rest. Creative skill build 5 hrs/week -- after week one it was clear I neither had time nor the energy to split myself between programming and my creative endeavors. Doing some soul searching after needing to drop my calculus class (thanks Rona) I felt I needed to focus on my true passion and not get sidetracked. There will be time in the future to throw myself into programming, but now isn't the time. Bonus goal: Finish the second draft of a short story (No.1) I'm currently working on. More realistic for the timeline than cranking out a whole draft for a much longer short story than my first one. Week 1: 1. Calorie Goal - 5/5 💔 2. Workout Goal - 2/5 💔 3. Takeout Goal - 2/4 💚 4. Creative Goal - 2.5/4 💔 5. Java Goal - 1/4 💔 Yep. week 1 was a thing. Gonna use the off-week after challenge to replace a week, if that'll make this challenge salvageable. Week 2: 1. Calorie Goal - 5/5 💚 2. Workout Goal - 5/5 💚 3. Takeout Goal - 4/4 💚 4. Creative Goal - 5/5 💚 Much better than week 2. Week 3 coming shortly after this day is done. I still have some hours to succeed or fail today. The choice is MINE.

Now that I'm back in town and just finished my first challenge, I'm going to add just a bit to it -- hopefully not too little or too much to mess with the gradual progress I'm going for. I won't be implementing a storyline as I did previously to hopefully make timely updates on the weekends a little more manageable, but they may come back in the future if I have an idea to throw out. This round I'm also not dealing with school, as I unfortunately had to drop it until we get back in the classroom (more importantly have on-campus resources back). With that, my energy will be split between getting better at Java and my creative advancements as well. With that, the goals this challenge will be: 1350 calorie target (50 cal buffer) 5 days/week -- cutting 50 calories from my previous goal, I'm aiming for 1350 but giving myself a 50 cal buffer for a 1400 ceiling to qualify for achieving the daily goal. Must be hit 5 of 7 days per week to hit the weekly goal. Takeout allowance 4 times/week -- down one from last challenge, if it seems too easy for me, I may go ahead and drop to 3 meals per week allowance. Workout 10 min 5 times/week -- doubled from last challenge, as I'm building up from not working out at all and coming from 0 motivation to get back into working out regularly. I'm glad to say I've gotten back into the habit of actually doing something even if hitting 5 workouts/week was difficult (this is a challenge after all). I will implement something I had to utilize last challenge a couple of times, which is allowing a double workout in the same day as long as they're done at different times and not back to back to count as I found myself put out if I just had a super busy or rough Sunday and Monday which would screw me over for the rest of the week despite however well I did the rest. Creative skill build 4 hrs/week -- as opposed to sessions i'm going to try an hour-based goal, as towards the end of last challenge I was being stretched thin and sometimes could only manage 30 min of writing or drawing on some days. Some weeks I will really struggle mid-week but could make up on the weekend for this goal, however I will only allow myself to count a max of 2 hrs per day, so I can't just hit all 4 on a Saturday, but I could do half the goal in one setting. This low target has more to do with the next goal. Programming skill build 4 hrs/week -- this will function the same as the creative skill build goal, but focusing on my journey learning java programming. Combined with the last goal, this will push me to dedicate a min of 8hrs per week to my career/skill building. Bonus goal: Finish the first draft of a short story I'm currently working on. Alright, with that I'm ready to hit the ground running tomorrow, although I will be attending a mother's day picnic for my grandma -- this is the first time since quarantine I'll be able to see her so its gonna get pretty emotional. Hopefully that wont turn into emotional eating!😧 I'll be fine either way, but I would like to start this challenge not crashing and burning on day 1, lol. Here's to another great challenge for everyone! : D

The source of power pulled Ruby inescapably to it. It latched onto her and penetrated her very soul. She roared in pain, feeling her entire body cracking and bending at its touch. Her mind was no exception – as she felt herself barely gripping consciousness as her memories good and bad were siphoned away. Suddenly, Ruby felt herself ripped away as the ancient source changed her physically and mentally. The crumbling stone statues looked on silently at the bloody mess before them. The screaming had waned to small whimpers and the flailing to this newly formed thing curling up on its back. It opened its eyes, and stared at the invisible cavern ceiling. A sudden deep breath ballooned its chest cavity upward, cracking stiff bones and stretching sore muscles. The thing sat up and took in its surroundings, and shuddered as its gaze fell on the mirrors adorning the ruins. This thing Ruby had become, still female but alien, had grown in size and muscle. Her skin was light and her hair, auburn with dwarven ears protruding from them. She didn’t even recall the name Ruby, nor anything that transpired before opening her eyes. She was a clean slate. Standing proved to be awkward as if she were a newborn calf, but after a few failed attempts, the girl managed to stand. As she did, the ruins illuminated in a flood of ethereal light much like the source that caused her transformation, and the statues began to speak. “Born anew, go forth as our champion, Tyr. Conquer the realms of man and bring peace to this world for an eternity.” With each word, the girl felt the flood of light cascading over her body, wrapping around her and hardening into a strange suit of armor. Tyr, the name rang in her ears, stirring something inside her. Tyr, Conqueror of the Realms. This would be her new title. It only felt right. “Tyr,” she repeated. This caused her armor to pulsate and a massive glowing blade to form in her left hand. Tyr looked up at the statues as they spoke their last. “Go forth and conquer, for you have been given a second life, a new life, a better life. Cut down your enemies for they will be great and many. Protect those who cannot protect themselves for you are strong and capable. Bring peace to this land of misery and despair for you alone have the power to do so.” Tyr watched as the light faded from the altar, the statues stilled, and the ruins became silent once more. She looked down to see the armor and the weapon still in hand. She sheathed the blade, and immediately the pulsating glow of her armor stopped. A look around provided nothing more to investigate. The only thing left was the glowing energy source that drew her in. As she looked upon it, she was surprised to see it changing shape into a flat spiraling disc – a portal. She hesitated to touch it. The last time caused her a great deal of pain. Whether it was a source of misfortune or not remained to be seen. Tyr took a chance in hopes the outcome would be different and found, upon touching it, that indeed it was. Before she could turn back, Tyr was pulled through the portal that pulsed and disappeared in a great flash behind her, leaving the ruins dark and lifeless for another age or more. Week 4 & 5 Finale: At the finish line, I figured this reboot deserves a complete character makeover, so I'll be changing that up to....yup Tyr the Conqueror (a lot to live up to there). Having struggled with finding time to finish this post, I can proudly say I finished the challenge strong. Unfortunately, I had to drop my calculus class that had been moved online due to the quarantine, but my school is apparently giving 100% refunds through May 14th, so I'm not out money as much as I am my time...though this is worse to me. Even still, relieving myself of that stress has given me some time back to focus on furthering my Java skills, and I suppose I will just use this time to study on Khan Academy, and hopefully I can find a summer calculus class that's a little longer than 5 weeks? I hate the thought of being a semester behind, but here I am... I can at least lose weight and look good while doing this lol. On the upside, by week 4 I dropped about 5 lbs and I was even weighing myself on a heavier day. Ha! This week (rest week) I'm still keeping up these weekly goals as I make them into habits, and will be tweaking them slightly for the next challenge come Sunday. One point I will make is I did have to do a makeup workout on Sunday as I was one shy of completing my weekly goal, and I was noooot about end the challenge like that! The weekly summaries are as follows: Week 4: 1. Calorie Goal - 5/5 💚 2. Workout Goal - 5/5 💚 3. Takeout Goal - 4/5 💚 4. Creative Goal - 5/5 💚 Week 5: 1. Calorie Goal - 5/5 💚 2. Workout Goal - 5/5 💚 3. Takeout Goal - 3/5 💚 4. Creative Goal - 5/5 💚 Challenge final score: 90% 1. Calorie Goal - 4/5 💛 ----- 80% 2. Workout Goal - 4/5 💛 ----- 80% 3. Takeout Goal - 5/5 💚 ----- 100% 4. Creative Goal - 5/5 💚 ----- 100% A 90 is an A in my book, so I'd say I passed this challenge. not a perfect score, but still a success, and I've already started to see results. Not dealing with class stress anymore, just means more time to dedicate to bettering myself in other ways and staying focused on the end goal. Looking forward to May 10th for round 2 going forward with my new identity in my new life. Thanks everyone for all the support and encouragement. Lets keep fighting and stay safe during this turbulent time ❤️

A layer of collapsed rubble slipped away as a hand broke through the surface near its base. Ruby emerged, coughing and coated in a thick layer of dust. The mountain of debris collapsed behind her, filling the void of misery she stubbornly left behind. She had no idea how much time had passed, but she could feel some of her wounds had begun to heal. Once she had pulled herself mostly out, she stopped to catch her breath and examine her surroundings. She couldn’t see a thing as it was pitch black, but she assumed she had fallen into a cavern, potentially a vast one by the echoes roaring deep into the darkness. Once her eyes adjusted, she noticed a faint light off in the distance. It was difficult for her to tell whether it was small or just far from her current location, but it seemed to be the only thing breaking the darkness – potentially her way out. Unable to stand, Ruby began to drag herself across the ground toward the source of light. Approaching her destination, Ruby started to notice strange carvings of stone, intricately decorated, but clearly long abandoned by their state of ruin. She fell into a slow rhythm, pausing to catch her breath and crawling a few inches on a strained exhale. As she continued on for what seemed like an eternity, Ruby began to realize the light was not from some route to the surface, but emitting from the heart of the ruins. Surrounding it were three colossal statues of gods alien to her. The light source, energy source, called to her. She could do nothing but answer... Week 2 & 3 Update: Combining these, as my scheduled update time last weekend was dashed by an all out studying-for-a-calculus-test-we-weren't-ready-for crisis commenced, lol. I still have no idea what i made, but its done and over with. not going to worry about it. My fate is in the universe's hands with the less-than-graceful move to online class. Nevertheless, week 2 in a nutshell -- I managed to improve my workout goal, but fell short on my cal goal. Fiddlesticks! For whatever reason, I experienced a few bad binge episodes during this week, though I don't know why. I wasn't emotionally upset or depressed. The most I can think of is mayyyybe it stemmed from stressing about my calculus test and getting frustrated with online homework. I wound up giving up on the online hw and resumed our original homework problems from the book, as none of it was for a grade anyway. Week 2: 1. Calorie Goal - 3/5 💔 2. Workout Goal - 5/5 💚 3. Takeout Goal - 4/5 💚 4. Creative Goal - 5/5 💚 This week, on week 3, I managed to hit all my goals! almost screwed up the Takeout Goal when I thoughtlessly went by mcD's for an unsweet tea and for whatever reason unbeknownst to me, I ordered a 4pc mcNuggets. Like wtf, I dont even eat at McD's normally but apparently my subconscious said GO FOR IT BRUH! oh well. backfired for me too, b/c they gave me SWEET tea, and turned out they were out of unsweet. Like why... did you lie and take my money? It must've been punishment for getting those mcNuggets, but whatever. I still wound up okay and hit my calorie goal that day somehow -- might've been b/c I didn't drink that sweet tea. I do need to note this was a week of less sleep. Stayed up way late studying Monday and Taking the test (from 9:20pm after our 7.10-9pm class until 12:30am after getting my scanner to work and going through my 3 comps rn to see which one could make a pdf lol #workfromhome #chaos). This weekend however I've been recovering... only to have my external hdd with my sims game and just the rest of my current life stop being recognized on any computer, pc or mac. 🙃🙃🙃🙃🙃 it never ends lol... on the brightside... friday I was able to tune into the weareplaygrounds online fest with some really great artists, AND... I finally ordered my first cintiq. I even shed a tear and I'm sure I'll shed more once it arrives. Although that too had a bit of a setback -- I accidentally ordered twice, so charged...$1.5K....TWICE. it'll be okay... I'll fix it, just like everything else lmao. Well... my life is never boring! 🤣 Week 3: 1. Calorie Goal - 5/5 💚 2. Workout Goal - 5/5 💚 3. Takeout Goal - 5/5 💚 4. Creative Goal - 5/5 💚

Dang... I just realized I dont know how to do that multi-quote thing in reply 😐 1st part -- For me I think I have the permanent image of goofy aerobics tapes, leg warmers and richard simmons in my head when I think of home workouts. i don't think this association will change lol. Monday is the start of the week for me too, and thats how I draw out my calendars and weekly schedule.. so its awkward to keep flipping back to last week to remember what the heck I did on Sunday. If I don't though, I know I'll cheat a day off my challenge week. I can't be trusted... >_> Aww man, I think I'm one of those weirdos! I have to move all over my apt to work though. Every 30 min... new spot, new position. on the floor, on the couch, at the dinner table, in the bed, by the bed on the floor... and maybe i'll come back to the comp desk before the end of the day 🤣 Oh no! Tomorrow sounds like it'll be a boss fight! Best of luck there! 😧

👏 👏 👏 👏 👏 👏 👏 Glad to see this looks like a positive experience you're having, especially in regard to your mental health. Facing yourself alone for an uncertain period of time can be one of the scariest challenges we have to face, but even forced into it by a mass quarantine, it's a time reconnect with yourself, and face yourself head-on. The good and bad parts we all have, and the unique parts that help make you you. Keep fighting the good fight! 💪 I was actually terrified when my boss brought up the possibility of us working from home, as I use to be a freelance artist and exclusively worked from home to the point of isolating myself for nearly two years and experienced some long-term unemployment at the end of that time as well. I struggled with a serious depression for a few years -- I'm really not sure when it started as I don't have much recollection from those years and it wasn't I was to the point I couldn't function aside from...cleaning the kitchen...that I realized what was going on. I stopped drawing for the first time ever and didn't pick it back up until last summer. So I was afraid of falling back into a hole, because I haven't really let myself be alone by myself at home since the end of 2017. (Insane and I don't recommend that b/c I realized how exhausted I am from never taking a sufficient break from everything to recharge.) I hope this continues to be a good experience for you despite all the chaos. These things we can't control, so we focus inward. As with others I see here, don't hesitate to hit me up if you need some people time! Best of luck, and I hope this week bodes well for you! 🤗

I have this very hang-up too, although I took a liking to weightlifting just last year. Even in front of my fam who is well overweight and not even trying to lose... its not excuses, its a genuine discomfort, and that's okay. Luckily, it can be overcome though. All this talk of tea and scones are making crave some fresh lemon poppyseed ones. Hope they were a good end last week/kickstart to this week for you! On the upside of all these quarantines, I think it's pushed a lot of us to finally check clean up computer desk off our lists lol. Just ordered a snazzy new comp chair for myself as a wooden pub chair is no bueno for 8+ hrs lol 😅 Best of luck working from home this week! Don't stay in the pjs all day, trust me! 😄

Story Progression - Pt 1: Having suffered a paralyzing defeat at the hands of the enemy, Ruby escaped as the sole survivor of her unit though gravely wounded. Her spirit was crushed. The enemy had won the day and Ruby had nowhere left to run. Blinded by panic and shame, she did not see the sinkhole in her path, and fell several feet as the earth gave way underfoot. When she came to, Ruby took note of her injuries. She suspected a broken rib or two and some damage to her shoulder and legs. Though hearty and likely able to endure in this state an inhumanly long time or heal, Ruby was certain this was the end of the line, and saw no use in digging herself out. This was a quiet and well enough end she could hope for. She was practically interred under all the rubble. At least there was silence and some peace to be had. Unable to see the sky above, as the collapse had been choked through a narrow funnel blocking out the light, she closed her eyes and passed out. Still in pain and now covered head-to-toe in bruises, Ruby woke to find herself still buried under. For a time she walled in her failure. She had never felt so lost before in her life. Her dreams and ambitions, crushed. The fiery passion that drove them, that she was known for, had been snuffed out. Eventually, she regained a bit of strength, and started ever so slightly shifting around trying to loosen the earth trapping her. Ever so slowly the rubble around her gave way and her movements became less restricted. It was time to dig herself out.