#& it was like a roller coaster i took so many screenshots.

[transgnckon]

Do you think dc is ever gonna do round robin again

[yohangaontdj]

The Devil Judge Ep 7 (Part 3)

Continuation from Part 2 which can be found here.

And the last bit I want to talk about Yohan is this. Him escorting Gaon to the prison's courtyard, and standing there as Gaon screamed and cried.

For the longest time, I couldn't understand why he would just stand there - hands tucked in his pockets and just watch Gaon break down.

But as I'm doing this re-watch, it struck me, how Yohan had never once shifted his eyes away. And had took in every scream and every tear Gaon had shed. And that is such a difficult thing to do, when most of us would have unable to look or get sucked into the emotional turmoil and cry our hearts out too.

And I'm not sure if I'm making any sense here. But it seems as if this was Yohan's way of reminding himself - the hurt, the consequences of the actions he had taken. And that is by not letting himself look away, not even for a single second, the outcome of his deeds. He did the same too in Ep6. Just sitting there and watching the side effects of his trials.

It's almost like he is punishing himself. But then I maybe wrong.

Moving on to Gaon now. And I want to start by defending him. Been wanting to do so each time I see a post that said he was disloyal when he tried to stab Yohan.

Do you know how many times he had kept quiet when someone thought Yohan was up to no good?

He did so when Jinjoo went on and on about Yohan deceiving people and how she used to be his fan but wasn't sure anymore.

And he did it again when Soohyun asked what Yohan was up to.

And again in the previous episode with Professor Min after the motorcycle chase.

I know others will argue that he didn't defend Yohan when he should.

But to do so meant that he might end up divulging some of the stuff he knew about Yohan. And so he kept quiet instead.

Next, I just love how Gaon isn't afraid to rebut Yohan, each time he tried to take a jab at him.

And looking pretty smug about it when Yohan had nothing to say in return.

Then we have him being so generous as he praised Elijah.

And I love him for saying this too when Jinjoo was so upset about not being invited to a party.

And what an emotional roller coaster ride it had been for Gaon in this episode too. The screenshots will be up in Part 4 cause I can't squeeze all in this one.

For Part 1, look here.

[dear-wormwoods]

Happy New Year!

I know I haven’t been posting much lately, but I do like to write something every year on New Year’s Eve so I can look back on things if I want to in the future.

So 2023 was a pretty awesome year for me, to be honest. I really didn’t accomplish any of my goals from my last New Year’s post, except for continuing my Duolingo streak, but you know what? It’s totally fine. I set myself back financially and made no progress on getting in shape, but I had a lot of fun!! And that’s really what this year, particularly this summer, was about.

Travel Highlights:

Went to Colorado in June/July, had an amazing spa day and fancy dinner on my birthday, did a bunch of really cool hikes and took a ton of photos, had more fancy dinners, saw 4th of July fireworks over the Denver skyline, went to museums including the Molly Brown house and the best prehistoric exhibit I’ve ever seen, saw moose and elk, and generally had the best time ever.

Visited my aunts in North Carolina for the first time, and had a great time. They convinced me to treat myself while we were at a real jewelry store so I got myself some diamond earrings. Because why the hell not? I’m an adult with a salary, and I don’t need to save or put toward bills every penny I make.

Went to Ocean City in Maryland for the first time as well, which was a ton of fun even though I’m not the most beachy person ever. Ate crabs, got wasted, rode rides, saw wild horses, and then afterward went to Hershey Park which was also a lot of fun and had great roller coasters!

Went to Colorado AGAIN spur of the moment in November because we finally got invited to go to Casa Bonita. So we did that, of course, went on an awesome winter hike in RMNP, got massages, and had a fancy dinner at a Chianti event in Denver.

I also went to a few shows this year:

Iron & Wine in July which is definitely a highlight of the year because he is my favorite musician and I’d never seen him before. Super intimate acoustic show so I didn’t get any pics or videos but I’ll remember it forever, especially that he played my favorite song!

Modest Mouse, Lord Huron, and a bunch of smaller bands at a two day festival in August. Such a fun time, and both headliners were SO good. Lord Huron is a newer find, but I’ve been listening to Modest Mouse for over a decade and never saw them live!

Death Cab for Cutie and The Postal Service in September, for the 20th Anniversary Transatlanticism and Give Up tour. This was my second time seeing Death Cab but this show was special because both bands played those two albums in full, and Transatlanticism is one of my favorite albums ever.

Other cool things:

Went to a fancy tea room in Boston.

Saw Titanic in theaters TWICE during the 25th anniversary rerelease.

Saw a queer comedy show.

Practiced drawing more, but not as much as I’d like.

Went to the gym slightly more consistently.

Cooked some great meals.

Started writing a fanfic I love, which I truly do intend to finish!

Went on a couple of writing weekend trips to Maine which did of course include lobster and a dessert bar.

Had many snuggles with my cats.

Made sweet desserts for my family’s Thanksgiving and Christmas get togethers.

Played a billion hours of The Sims, and took hundreds of screenshots for my save’s very extensive family tree.

Cut down on waitressing hours at the expense of my savings account so I can have weekends back and not burn out so easily.

Other than all that, I went to work and that was fine, tried dating a few times but nothing panned out, and just kind of hung out and did my thing most days.

Huge shout out to @terieri who not only is my travel buddy, but also willingly came to all those concerts, and is the only person who is as invested in my Sims lives as I am! This year would have been super lame without her.

2023 was all about having fun, exploring, doing new things, and eating great food. It gave me a lot of memories and while I know I won’t be able to afford having another year like this for some time, hopefully I can make 2024 pretty great too!

I hope you all have a wonderful night doing whatever you choose to do on New Year’s Eve, and that 2024 starts off amazingly for you all. For myself, I like to get takeout and play video games so that’s what I’m going to do.

❤️

[askseriousrainbow]

Here are my top ten games of all time. And remember, it's my list. Your list would likely be different. XD

Link to part 1. Link to part 2. Link to part 3. Link to part 4. Link to part 5. Link to part 6. Link to part 7. Link to part 8. Link to part 9.

10. Undertale

Undertale is another one of those games where if you talk about it, you have to walk around spoilers, and I don't want to do that to you guys. It's just a great RPG.

9. Portal 2

The Portal series is great, and Portal 2 shows that greatness in a hell of an adventure. GLaDOS and Wheatley are great characters and the puzzles are intuitive. Not to mention, getting to know the history of Aperture Science is amazing as well.

8. RollerCoaster Tycoon

Ah, RCT. It took what made Theme Park great, added a killer roller coaster builder, simplified staff and stall management, and just improved everything possible. The screenshot is of RCT 1 in OpenRCT2, which is the best way to play both the original and the sequel now, in my opinion.

7. System Shock

This game was groundbreaking at the time, and its style of immersion and horror still stick out today. This was the first game to get close to the now-standard WASD style of movement by default. (It's not quite WASD, but it's still in the area.) SHODAN is a worthy opponent, and one of the scariest AIs ever put into a video game.

6. McPixel 3

A goofy little puzzler that's big on laughs and moon logic. McPixel 3 has you save the world from many threats, and it also has a killer soundtrack. It also is mind-challenging as you try to figure out how you have to solve each puzzle, because each puzzle is different. I love McPixel 3.

5. DOOM II: Hell on Earth

DOOM DOOM DOOMy DOOM. I love DOOM. DOOM II is the best of the classics in my opinion because it knows how to balance its enemies. The addition of the new enemy types and the Super Shotgun makes the game feel like DOOM. Fuck The Chasm and Pain Elementals, though.

4. Fallout: New Vegas

What can I say about Fallout: New Vegas? It's my favorite of the Bethesda-styled Fallouts and it's one of my top favorite games. Everything just feels... right. I will never do a Caesar's Legion playthrough though, screw them.

3. Saints Row 2

Easily the best of the Saints Row games, still tongue-in-cheek but dramatic when it wants to be. I just love everything about it, and especially love the Gentlemen of the Row mod. Let's hope Volition actually gets to release the patched version that Mike “IdolNinja” Watson was working on.

2. PAYDAY 2

I love me some cooperative shooters, and PAYDAY 2 is my favorite one. It just clicks, and the characters are great. The shooting is fantastic, stealth is fantastic, it's just a great time. Also, keep those helmets flying!

1. You Don't Know Jack Volume 4: The Ride

Are you surprised? YDKJ The Ride is my favorite game of all time because its writing is sharp, its hosts are fantastic, the music is excellent, the new question types are enjoyable, its naming gags are funny, and frankly, I probably wouldn't be the person I am without You Don't Know Jack The Ride, full stop. Play it today.

So, that's my Top 100 Games of All Time. Did you see some you've never played before? They're all great games and I had a little bit of a tough time deciding the order. We'll be going back to answering questions soon, so have fun asking me some stuff, whether it's related to this or not. I'll also have a "final thoughts"/mega post tomorrow at some point. :D

Link to part 1. Link to part 2. Link to part 3. Link to part 4. Link to part 5. Link to part 6. Link to part 7. Link to part 8. Link to part 9.

-SR

[hacked-by-jake]

@daeriennlynxie <3

Submission as screenshot because of ⚠️Episode 9 Spoilers!⚠️

Welcome back, dear! Nice to see you again! :D

Oh! I agree with you! The episode was so full of cool features that included so much work! Hanna’s phone and all those things, apps etc. All the pictures of the group from the house. And of course, the screen of Jake! Everbyte loves us so much! This was really another special I had never expected! But it was awesome from top to bottom.

I was so sad when we had to close Jake’s screen but just so we could come back later! I loved it so much!🤭

You know, I’m a little unsure if the episode was actually much shorter. I have to admit I also feel it’s shorter, but I also have to say that I compare it a little with episode 8, and if I’m not mistaken, episode 8 was the longest episode to date.

The first episodes, for example, were, in my opinion, not that long. And I think one reason why it was shorter than the others was also because in the rest, has spent so much time and work.

I must also say that I also thought that more questions would be answered and that we would find out more. However, I’m pretty sure Everbyte has a reason for this🤔 (I have some submissions about a second part, I’ll say more about that there)

It would have been really nice to find out a little bit more, but I think we still have a lot to expect, and a still quite unknown twist. As I said, I still believe that Alan will play a bigger role, and also that topic with MC’s number will be quite big.

And I was actually expecting to see Hannah in a video or something, but I think Everbyte had a reason why there was another actress now.

I hope we’ll see Hannah in episode 10 as an actor in a video or something...

From the beginning I was against that the group going to this house in the forest. I mean, by now we know that this never ends well, but well, of course it wasn’t possible to stop them.

From the beginning to the end, I expected an attack every second.

When Jessy said at the very beginning that she was still going home.

When Lilly told us that she was waiting outside for Thomas to pick her up.

When Cleo said she had to go to her mother first.

When Cleo arrived at the house alone and went in alone.

When the others in the group got lost on their way to the house.

When Jessy went to the woods.

When Thomas went to the woods.

When Thomas played the guitar.

When Cleo picked up Dan.

When Dan sent the pictures of the possible crash site.

When the group took Dan’s stuff out of the car.

All this time I was thinking, "Okay, now it’s happening, no, now! And now!" 😂😫

It was really exhausting at some point because I expected one to die the whole time. xD

I don’t think Everbyte wanted to give us a false sense of security, because I think by now it’s really clear to everyone that there will be a new attack in the end. I think Everbyte just did it on purpose to tease us and say, "We know you know something’s going to happen. But you won’t be able to do anything😈" xD

In the same way, I think it was Everbyte’s plan to insert so many moments where we could have expected an attack. I mean, this causes me extreme tension and emotional roller coaster rides, and that’s exactly what Everbyte wants to achieve.

I had the same thought about Richy’s phone and the MWAF. Even though he could not read any new information now, he already had everything what we discussed before. Just like the address of the house etc.

I mean, I don’t know if he actually figured out where the group and the house is because of Richy's phone, or if he used the GPS on Hannah’s phone that we had to activate.

The fact is: going to this house was a really stupid idea from the beginning. I wasn’t even convinced when Richy wasn’t attacked yet, because I really thought that if you’re all there together, then the MWAF will burn down the house, or something like that, when he finds out where the house is.😪

I would have liked to have mentioned it, but I think it just has to be that way and is part of the story. After all, everything plays in real time and MC doesn’t have so much time to come up with possible theories, because everything happens behind each other.

Unfortunately, I have long doubted Richy and since episode 8 also Dan. Idk both are sus as hell.

Maybe I’m imagining it, and if we're honest, everyone is at least a bit suspicious. 🕵️

But Dan, he’s already got one or two moments where I really think, "My friend, it’s you!"

Well, Richy’s still the one I suspect the most, and everything about him is weird. I really love him, Richy’s just great, but still I think he’s the most likely.

Yes, the episode was really very confusing and I’m also honestly a little overwhelmed with everything. It was very messy and stressful and I think Everbyte wanted to provoke just that.😫

Personally, I still loved this episode and as you can tell, I think it all makes sense and Everbyte will really surprise us all in the end and make sense of it.

Moreover, I believe that there are still a few problems at the moment that also affect the game. (The thing with the APK’s (hacks and mods etc.)

Of course, I can be wrong and I don’t want to make false claims. However, I will perhaps say something about it when I talk about a possible sequel to Duskwood.

Now I thank you very much for your submission and sharing the thoughts! It was so interesting and I can really understand it! And thank you for taking so much time! And I hope my answer was satisfactory for you!🥰

Hope you will have a beautiful day/evening/night! Take care of yourself and stay healthy!💚🌹🎭

[umnvatra]

About Zhongli's state in the game right now..

I just want to vent(?) and let out my thoughts about this whole ordeal as a Zhongli simp. Take note that if you are someone who has Zhongli or wants Zhongli/is planning to roll for Zhongli and wants to read this post, be prepared. Because as much as i hate to say it, this one is gonna be harsh. I wish it wasn't, but the truth really hurts and is also something that i struggled to accept sjdjdjchsk

Ngl i'm probably going to get hands thrown at me because of this post but i really, really want to vent about what Mihoyo did to his character. This week has been a roller coaster when it comes to Zhongli. From being super excited for his release, being elated getting him, to being absolutely devastated at all the comments and information that had come out prior to his release.

Basically, as a 5*, Zhongli is very underpowered and underwhelming. This is something i hadn't noticed myself because my Zhongli still didn't have a proper build and weapon yet, but when i did, i felt my own happiness plummet at the weight of the reality.

I don't care if he is strong as a support or a dps, and no i don't want him to necessarily be good at being dps. But this will include a lot of stuff regarding damage because he is a five star with nuking potential. It's also this way because he is THAT underpowered. Even having him be a very good support would be a blessing, but as it goes, he is not.

First it was the comments in Youtube videos, arguing with each other about how bad/good he was. Those comments made me question a lot of things. But i felt absolutely crushed when Jinx and Tuner uploaded their stream of their Zhongli and Xinyan testing.

For those that don't know, Jinx and Tuner run a youtube channel where they test many things in Genshin and provide objective information about them based on the results of their testing. When i saw how incredibly disappointed and frustrated they were with Zhongli, i felt really, really sad. After all, they provide maths. Not only are they one of the genshin youtubers that i trust but they also study characters closely and tell you if a particular 5 star character is worth pulling for or not. And you guessed it, they concluded that Zhongli was NOT worth pulling for as a five star character because he is so heavily underpowered.

Then there comes the arguements presented.

Majority of people thought that Zhongli was going to be more of a support character rather than dps, and i could see why, but ironically he has more potential as a phys carry. And this information comes from the testing that Jinx and Tuner made.

However

Xiangling is still a better physical carry than Zhongli especially when you take into account the abilities she can use while attacking. Zhongli's pillar has questionable energy recharge generation, something that i too had noticed. Every tick of the pillar does NOT guarantee an energy, and it drove me crazy. Meanwhile you have Xiangling who can easily bring out energy with Guoba if she so wanted.

And you need C6 Zhongli in order for him to heal like Noelle too by the way. And Noelle is a 4* that is guaranteed on your first time playing the game. 👁

Zhongli's shield is good for sure, but then you have Noelle who can shield + heal. In terms of stuff being done, Noelle's is better. Zhongli's shield is strong yes, but it can STILL disappear after one or two hits from enemies (at least from our experience in higher AR. I have no idea if the same applies to lower AR).

Now for his meteor. Yes, his meteor is good. Not only is it spammable, but it deals great damage as well. BUT THEN you have Ningguang who can be a better burst spam and possibly deal more damage than his could do (remember, Ning has a lot of jades that could each deal 1k if built properly). The duration for petrification is 3 seconds too, which, a lot of people argue isn't enough time (personally, i have no problem with this since i do not mind it much). And apparently his meteor got nerfed because it does not increase geo damage and phys damage as it used to in the beta testing with petrification.

How about his ability in being able to break shields by holding E? Truth be told, i expected that he was going to be able to explode all shields in one go, but it does not work for every one of them apparently. Shields by hilichurls do break with just one E hold. But the ones by Mitachurls don't. I also tried breaking the Geo Hypostasis's pillar using his E hold and it did not break immediately. This could differ however. 👁 I'm still not sure if its because i have not properly built him right for breaking them or not. And about Stonehide Lawachurls... it's the same as the Geo Hypostasis pillar. The geo shield does not break immediately.

I'm not saying all this because i am mad at Zhongli. Rather, i am disappointed at what Mihoyo did to him. I am absolutely happy to get Zhongli. He is the one character i had been looking forward to for MONTHS. I saved resources in advance for him and even held off on leveling up my current team so i could dump all said resources on him when i get him. I stayed as AR35 for many many weeks because i wanted to level him up properly before ascending my World Rank. I think he is super fun to use especially with his burst and i absolutely adore the animation and when he crosses his arms and does his 'osmanthus tea' monologue at the most random times with his lil hand gestures. Even just listening to his voice while being idle fills me with so much happiness. There is so much joy in getting him. Which is why i am very disappointed at Mihoyo for how they butchered his character.

After Jinx and Tuner made their video about the results of their testing with Zhongli, i was genuinely saddened but i gradually came to accept the truth. It sucks, it hurts, but it is the truth. Even they said that they wanted Zhongli to be a GOOD character, but he is just insanely underpowered right now. You can invest resources into him and make him work, but compared to 4* and the other 5*, it takes so much effort. To make him decent, you'd have to level his stuff up so much but that also applies to four star characters and they perform better than him. Husbando > meta yes, but i gotta say that it still stings when my underleveled Xiangling and Fischl could do a much better job being a dps and support respectively than him when he's many levels above them.

Which brings me to the main point of this post.

Why was Mihoyo scared of making him strong? OP? Why did they nerf him so much? He is a 5* character Mihoyo, make him be STRONG at something. It's why he's a five star. But no. They watered him down so much to the point where even four star characters can do his own job better than him. His pillar doesn't even deal damage upon being destroyed just like Geo MC's. The range of his pillar's resonance is too small, and given the fact that his auto attacks can push enemies (except for the bigger ones of) or can be easily walked out of range to is 👁👄👁

And it deals criminally low damage. Like, why? Why not rack up the numbers? What is the problem????

The more i think about it, the more i can see the points that people have been pointing out. If the issue of energy generation with his pillar is RNG based, then that's simply screwed up. It already adds into the lists of problems that doesn't help with how underpowered he is. And as i am writing this post rn, there are lots and lots of Chinese players enraged about how weak he is as a 5* and causing HUGE fights in forums. People in the genshin subreddit had been debating again and again over heated arguements about his abilities. Even if you visit the genshin subreddit today and check every post about Zhongli, you will see people in the comments mention stuff about how he performs in the game and his abilities.

Mihoyo, give him a buff. I know that giving buffs isn't your thing, but there is honestly thousands and thousands of people expressing their disappointment and anger in how weak you've made him. He is a fan favorite. I love him. Majority of the genshin fanbase do. His character is really good and it hecking sucks that he is having major difficulties in fitting in on the game right now. He deserves better. Make him strong. Buff him. Adjust some of his abilities. Literally give. our. geo. dad. justice.

Those who don't care about damage is probably rolling their eyes at my rant rn but given how objectively weak he is compared to the other characters in game, it won't hurt if he gets a buff.

When the survey for Zhongli and Xinyan comes, rate him low. I know. It sucks. It's despicable. Even i hate it. But that is why we have to do it. If we become honest to Mihoyo about how much weak they made him, then maybe they are going to consider buffing or adjusting his abilities.

I'm sorry for the negative post. There is still hope for geo dad. He is incredibly fun to use but if you are debating on whether to pull for him or not, my answer would be

If you absolutely love him as a character, go for it.

Otherwise, just wait for now. Because his state in the game isn't looking so good at the moment.

For those that already have him and are also disappointed or saddened by what happened, take comfort in knowing that tons of people are still using Zhongli (including me who went through such roller coaster of emotions lmaoaoaoa) regardless of the information that he is behind in terms of being a dps and support. And that there is still hope for him (WAIT FOR THE SURVEY AND RATE HIM LOW YO 😭😭😭 IT WON'T GUARANTEE THAT MIHOYO IS GONNA BUFF HIM BUT WITH ALL THE PEOPLE RAGING RN THERE IS A HIGH POSSIBILITY THAT THEY WILL LOL)

Have some goofy screenshots that i took while playing as Schlongli

[dumbwaystodeviate]

So I accidentally hit delete draft while adding the tags [thanks trackpad]. My bad. But I managed to screenshot it.

There were a lot of things that could deviate a android, from fear inducing haunted houses to pump stopping drops off of roller coasters, there was no shortage of ways humans had started to set up to help deviate as many androids as they could. But one of the biggest out there was animals.

Common animals like dog and cats to ones you couldn’t even find in the state, all manner of lovable animals has started cropping up in spring time petting zoos for humans and androids alike to visits. The newest one was close enough that Hank had been able to take Connor and Nines with him to see the cute creatures they may never get a chance to see elsewhere.

Nines wasn’t surprised that upon entering the gates that Connor would make for the little dog park, almost losing his little deviant mind over the puppies. Some of the noises he made had the RK wondering if he should take his predecessor in for maintenance. But seeing as Hank didn’t do much more than laugh, he guessed it was normal of the older android to do this. So he stuck by Hank as the man lead him around to various animals, trusting Connor to do his thing.

Many of the animals were farm animals, but some were of various other kinds. They stopped by the chicken pen first, Hank wary of them.

“What do you think? Been a long time since I’ve seen a chicken but never been right up to em.” Nines could tell he didn’t really wanna take his eyes off them, like they might jump.

“Scans say they are called Brahma chickens. Their size seems to be an illusion of their feathers.” He stated, facts on chickens and breeds popping up.

Hank shook his head. “No no, like… What do you think about the Bird.”

Nines could tell the man was looking for a reaction, sadly Nines didn’t have one to give. So they moved on, Hank guiding him with a hand to his back. They stopped by a few other pens; the pigs were not so intresting to the RK and while they were nice to pet the cows didn’t do much for him. He thought it intresting that Hank had taken a liking to one particularly fluffy cow.

“Come on, just give her a pet. She’s very soft.” He was admit in this one to the point Nines relented. Not that he was sure of it after seeing the cow stick it’s tongue out.

Still, he petted the cow’s head and got a pleased look from both human and animal for his efforts. But still, nothing in his programs budged for this. He could tell Hank was trying, and he appreciated it but perhaps this wasn’t for him. He wasn’t bothered by it, couldn’t be to be fair, he just hoped that Hank wouldn’t be too bothered either.

The next set of animals were less of the farm variety and more pets, just not the most typical kind. From snakes to lizards and even a few spiders, there were many kinds to chose from. Nines could already tell there was no way in hell Hank was going near the spiders, so had he wanted to he would need to do it himself, and wouldn’t that be just the more wonderful thing?

As Hank looked for their next target something caught his eye, a tank with a black and orange lizard. It looked a little like a dragon, and when Hank noticed it he instantly started to nudge Nines over for a better look.

“Never seen a lizard like that before. The hell is that?” Hank seemed actually curious about it, so Nines did his thing and scanned.

“Red eyed crocodile skink.” The RK kept on looking at it, scanning in more details of the scales. It looked so tough but he knew it was fragile, well compared to many things.

Hank’s grin was visible even if Nines wasn’t looking right at him. “Wanna pet it? Looks friendly enough.”

Nines thought about it, the idea of how the scales would feel against his fingers appealing enough to try. But the thing was, the android knew he wasn’t meant to be handling such small and gentle animals. So many pre-constructions and all of them warning him of the harm his strength could do. What if he pet it too hard? What if he held on too hard? He didn’t wish to hurt the creature.

He felt the questioning rub on his arm and could tell Hank saw the red of his led. “Hey, you ok? You don’t have to if you don’t want to.”

But Nines did want to. He wanted to very much but the consequence of it could be disastrous. The want to do so and the sadness from the fear mingled, fighting not doing it like his programs warned and doing it. He really didn’t know what to do, and as Hank called him again he turned to the human.

“Come on, we can try another.” He was gentle about it, and Nines couldn’t help it.

He all but threw the red coding to the side, a sad pout following as his upset took over. “I want to, but I can’t pet it, Lieutenant. I might hurt it…”

Hank’s smile told the RK it would be ok. Watching him hold the lizard he let the man take on of his hands to pet his fingers softly over the scales. “Like that, don’t go harder than that and you will be ok.”

Nines was mesmerized by the smoothness of the lizard, and if he was sure to have a favorite animal, this would be right up there as one of them.

[blookmallow]

i finally rewatched Us watching for details... I also took a bunch of screenshots, I’ve mentioned before I live in santa cruz and grew up going to this boardwalk so im obsessed with this movie, I’m going to go try to take some better comparison shots sometime (here’s a few I took before) (and here’s a Tethered mannequin that was outside of the frightwalk for a while. i havent been inside for ages so I don’t know if they moved him inside or if he’s just gone now) (i HOPE they did something with the theme considering the frightwalk is literally a horror attraction beneath the boardwalk. i dont really want to go in there by myself though lmao. not a fan of animatronics jumping out and screaming at me) 

this is a lot, i have many things to say 

-----------------

- the opening news segment is 11 at 11 

- you can faintly see adelaide/red’s reflection in the tv screen, with a toy rabbit (her shirt also has twin lines on it in multiple places but that could be looking too far lmao) 

- in the “Hands Across America” segment (aside from the obvious red figures linked together in the logo) : “from the golden gate bridge to the twin towers” another possible 11/twinning, and it starts in california, which is where the tethered revolution begins 

- on “from sea to shining sea” the exact same coastline image is just flipped 

(there’s also another 11 on the side of the TV here) 

- “This summer, 6 million people will tether themselves together” 

- brief mirroring in the boardwalk ad, not just two girls running on the beach but also two girls with upside down reflections in the ground, 

- fairly obvious one, but “find yourself” (as a sidenote there’s nothing in that spot irl, the roller coaster and the swings are real but there was never a ‘vision quest’ or a ‘merlin forest’ as far as I know and there’s no door or anything there either, the interior shots must’ve been done separately somewhere else) (nothing’s left here from the movie now either, I have no idea when they filmed it because I never saw anything or heard anything about it) 

- adelaide/red whistles “the itsy bitsy spider” when the lights go out in the vision quest - “down came the rain and washed the spider out,” it’s raining outside when her tethered comes up (and she is dragged down). she also drops her red apple on the ground before she enters 

- zora’s rabbit shirt 

- everyone else is eating fast food of some kind, except adelaide, who is eating red strawberries 

as well as being a visual cue, its possible she has an aversion to meat if she was forced to eat raw rabbit as a child

- young adelaide arranging animals in the sand (it seems like some of the tethered tend to mirror their counterpart’s movements, so it’s possible she’s mirroring red, though it’s probably not that likely she’d be planning this early/the dance hasnt happened yet so its probably just foreshadowing) 

- young adelaide very pointedly watches “her” mother crying, saying “I just want my little girl back” - she will never have her little girl back again, though she doesn’t know it (I’m not sure if adelaide still remembers what she’s done at this point either) 

its also mentioned that ‘grandma’ has passed away as of the present time, likely adelaide’s mother (i dont remember if its stated outright but since the house belonged to the grandma, and it’s in santa cruz, that would line up) so. the tethered mother, if she’s still alive, would not kill red’s real mother in the uprising. dont know about the father, or if red knows/cares about this, but. thats there. that also means the original mother will never know what happened with her daughter (likely the father won’t either, it’s not clear if he’s still alive but there’s no mention of him being around/he’s not at the house so it seems likely he passed already too) 

- adelaide, her reflection, and a (not so) itsy bitsy spider 

theres even two spiders, one a toy, one real 

- jason crawls out of a cabinet at zora’s feet and scares her while she’s looking in a mirror (which is also a very pluto-like movement) 

- adelaide finds the toy rabbit in a box; assuming the intro was chronological, we saw “her” with it in the tv screen reflection before she went to the boardwalk, so this was red’s rabbit first (she probably does not remember this, though) (red also later finds this and cuts off the head, not sure why though)

- adelaide “sees” her child self in the room with her (in her memory) learning her dance alongside her reflection

 but the reflection is the one she “sees” looking directly at her 

(she’s also interrupted by hearing her son, above her, screaming because he’s trapped, but that might not be intentional) (though when red comes down here later, she is also interrupted by her son getting stuck in the closet too)

- she’s also wearing a choker necklace with a matching gold bracelet, maybe an allusion to. the choking and the handcuffs, again i might be looking into it too much, but. the white clothes which steadily become red with blood seems very intentional so i wouldnt be surprised if the jewelry was planned specifically too 

- its really hard to see and its a split second throwaway comment but kitty goes “oh isnt that beautiful” showing her the magazine and i thhiiiink thats a white girl in a native american headdress :’  ) probably doesnt have. much deeper meaning other than ‘clueless white friends’ but 

- guy buried in sand comes bursting to the surface again and scares his friends (also eyyooooo you can see the wharf in the background im down there all the time) (sorry this is still wild to me. i grew up here ive been to that beach like 9 million times)

- i didnt catch it and was waiting for it to be shown again and it wasnt and i dont want to go back for it but anyway jason has a drawing of a bunch of people holding hands in a line like the hands across america thing in his room, theres a lot of drawings around and we see his drawing of the first untethered, so he probably drew that as well

- jason has a hard time communicating, but he seems to use drawing as a way to express himself. he doesn’t tell his mother about the encounter with the old man (and only shrugs when he’s asked about it) but he does draw it. adelaide found self expression through dance when she was a child before she was able to talk, so he probably got those traits from her. her voice also goes low and hollow on the line “I just didn’t know if you were lost, or... taken” 

- her voice also gets very strange when she’s talking about her memory of the encounter in the vision quest. low, shaky, harsh. its fascinating hearing how much alike the voices are (obviously they’re both the same actress/if the tethered are clones it makes sense that they’d have identical vocal chords but like. red’s got a fucked up voice. hearing echos of that in adelaide is wild and i didnt notice it at all before) 

- its not clear whether adelaide actually remembers what she did, or even realizes she was the copy - is she trying to protect her family from what she believes was the girl who almost took her, or trying to stop her from getting her revenge? she describes the event to gabe as if she was the one who was attacked but escaped, and im not sure if she’s lying or has convinced herself that’s the truth

something’s going on with jason and pluto too but I don’t quite know what it is. when we first see jason he’s wearing a Jaws shirt, kind of a similar vibe to the thriller shirt, and when the tethered arrive he’s wearing a white tuxedo t shirt, white matching his mother’s white outfit. the others all go off to kill their doubles but pluto holds jason’s hand, sits with him quietly, watches his magic trick, he’s told to go “play” which. obviously has a violent undertone to it but he doesn’t actually try to kill him. i dont even remember seeing him with the scissors. why are jason and pluto different. why does pluto get stuck mirroring jason’s movements even to the point of his death but the others dont. why didn’t adelaide mirror red

i guess its possible its because pluto is the youngest in the family so maybe he hasn’t broken out of his connection yet? they didnt really ever explain how they learned to do that 

and as for the connection with adelaide it. could just be that jason takes after his mom more and zora takes after her dad more but that seems too simple. i mean theres the theory going around that jason was actually switched with his clone too at some point and its got some good points (jason forgetting the magic trick, getting stuck in the closet again, etc) but theres a whole line of logic to debunk that too so its just. What’s Going On Here  

cal 11 

i took the first pic to get a comparison shot at the same place later irl but then noticed the ambulance they come across is the same one (#2) they saw earlier 

pretty obvious but the real rabbit comes out through the picture of an identical rabbit (there’s also probably a “rabbit hole” allusion here) 

i noticed this before too but now i have a screenshot of it, im the rabbit in the background just chilling on the floor during the climax here

- im sure i must have seen this before but i forgot about it. the 11:11 guy’s tethered didn’t have a sign so he just.......carved it into his head

- it never healed, either, he did it badly enough to scar

- red says “I couldn’t stop thinking about you, how you could have taken me with you” - she doesn’t mean adelaide ran off and left her there. adelaide made the choice to trap her in the underground. its possible red might have even been thinking how she would have let adelaide come with her if given the chance, which. i mean, i dont know how her parents would have reacted to suddenly having identical twins out of nowhere, but like. knowing there’s a chance red might have accepted her. and all this could have been different 

this is definitely a movie that’s not really intended to be fully explained, there’s a lot of questions that aren’t really supposed to be answered, but nonetheless one of my biggest concerns is where do the clothes come from underground. red tells us they were all abandoned down there generations ago so nobody’s supervising or providing anything. how do they end up with copies of the clothing their counterparts are wearing. and here adelaide has a messed up faded old shirt that either looks similar to red’s shirt or is the same shirt just badly damaged, she switches it with red’s before she goes out for good so that explains how she gets the new shirt, but where did this one come from. why is it different if the other clothes aren’t

and of course there’s the whole question of “where did they all get these red jumpsuits from” but again. questions that aren’t really the point, i guess

[surgelesshunter]

Sin with me review

Alright so i havent posted a lot of screenshots with my reactions to this series (except one which blew up) but that becuase i was saving my energy for this.

Sin with me was extremely fast paced that sometimes made me feel felt like I was left in the dust. (Some cases i went back and reread becuase i didnt digest information the first time around). The episodes took me a bit to read through and honestly it left me with a lot of unanswered questions about the world we were introduced to. This is not bad though and i dont want people to take it as such, becuase i did love it.

I grew up in Nevada though not in the las vegas region, in fact i can count on one hand how many times we were in the city and none of those times did we go to the strip (mainly because i was older then 8 during those times) but i was hit with nostalgia every time we saw the desert background especially the night one (yes you actually see that many stars at night its unbelievable). The set up a a perfect frame for the story, what better place then the city of sin?

All the characters were amazing (Cal stole the show) and I could defaintly see the people they were. The bad thing is in Darius route especially they swung between being like family and then being terrified for him. This kinda threw me off becuase it felt like whiplash everytime it happen becuase it was out of the blue. With Wrath the family unit was more there and they weren't as scared of Darius as in his route which makes sense since its her story so he wouldnt be the focus at all, but still brings that contrast of how they see him in is own route. Cal, Avi, Ripley, Oynx, and Malakai were amazing and really helped sell the story. I cannot wait for Onyx and Malakai routes to be released and praying there will be a Cal route also. Avi was a sweetheart and I'm gonna adobt that boy.

So the plot has some holes in it, like it sounds like their stationary in Vegas so is there more multiple sins out there? Or do they travel around the world fighting demons ? If not do all demons just want to be where the sins are and naturally are found in their area? No one can see the demons but they can see you beat the fuck out of someone and not everyone will be dazzeled by some blonde doing body shots. But ill digress. I like the idea of these warriors who take the worst traits of humans so they can fight demons. And each sin destined to fight their big bad demon specifically. I was disappointed becuase i thought MC would become Pride but we'll have to see.

Wraths route was the more fastpace one, felt like a roller coaster ride honestly. But she is probably one of my favroite female LI. I'm not gonna lie i have very specific taste for woman at times and it wasn't till Lorelei that i found a female route i liked. So Wrath was quick to shoot up to the ones i love the most. Her ending suprised me and I'm expecting that these people she killed werent so innocent. I say that becuase i don't think the troop would follow her if they knew she killed people in cold blood. That or she never told them. Honeslty not sure how i feel between her hot and cold treatment of the MC either. It got on my nerves at time. But honeslty i get where she's coming from also, because she fears relationships with people outside the sins.

Lol so i didnt think I'd like Darius at all, but here i am. That could be par the course for me though (look at Remy and Alain. Never thought I'd like them either but their both one of my favroite routes) i was intrested in his story, and that ending got to me. Honestly afterwards everyone in his tag was saying they knew it becuase kohzol(?) kept saying 28 which was his age and i was here thinking we just got the oldest MC so far. I honestly didnt see it coming at all. Like then the hearts popped up for that final episode and was beating i thought that was part of MC's demon coming out. So excusing my dumbassery it was a powerful ending that now i need season two like yesterday.

So im excited for it to continue. I want to have more of the world shown to us and to love the other characters also. Heres hoping we'll see them all soon!

[womenofcolor15]

Swizz Beatz’s Daughter’s Mom BLASTS Alicia Keys For Allegedly Trying To Make Her Daughter Call Her ‘Umi’ (Mom)

Alicia Keys is being put on blast by Swizz Beatz’s daughter’s mom! She claims the singer has been forcing her daughter to call her “Umi,” which is a variation of “mother” in Arabic. Receipts inside…

Just when it seemed like Swizz Beatz and his wife Alicia Keys had the blended family game on lock…THIS happens. We’ve seen the roller coaster of actions between Swizz, Alicia and his son’s mother Mashonda Tifrere. Alicia and Mashonda went from beefing with one another in the headlines to Mashonda writing a co-parenting book that sparked a sisterhood between the ladies, which she released last year.

Now, one of Swizz Beatz’s other children’s mother have an issue. And it’s seemingly an issue Mashonda had a few years ago.

        View this post on Instagram

                  It’s a real princess Birthday Happy Birthday to my twin daddy loves you so much I wish you many more years of excellence and prosperity #F1nikki

A post shared by the Real Swizz (@therealswizzz) on May 22, 2019 at 3:27am PDT

  Jahna Sebastian is the mother of Swizz’s 11-year-old daughter, Nicole Dean. In recent social media posts, she claims Alicia (whom she ends up name checking in the comments) has been trying to force her daughter to acknowledge her as “Umi,” which means “mother” in Arabic. Jahna – who’s based in London - took to Instagram and posted a screenshot of an article posted on Oprah’s website with the title “12 Things a Stepmother Should Never Say.”

In the long caption, Jahna explained how she’s the only mother to her daughter and how “no one else will be called any kind of ‘mom’ name.”

” I am not only the biological mother, I am THE MOTHER,”Jahna wrote. “This will remain forever. I am the one who feeds her, is raising her, who came out through the hard times with her and for her, taught her to be a great human being and everything about life. I am the Only Mother to my daughter. No one else will be called any kind of ‘mom’ name in English, Arabic, not an ‘Umi’ or anything else in other language by her.”

Jahna then went on to explain how her daughter will not be won over with material things like iPhones and iPads.

” I will not let nobody bribe her and change her by using material things against me, iPhones and other things. She will be raised as a human being, who cares for humanity and stands by the right principles. I will go far and beyond for my child as I have always done,” she continued.

She noted how her daughter doesn’t call another man “daddy” because that would be overstepping boundaries.

”Nicole has never called another man ‘daddy’ or any other name that means ‘father’. No man has ever tried to replace or act as a second ‘father’ to her overstepping boundaries and making decisions on behalf of her real father. My rights and standing must be respected in return the same way. In front of God, money doesn’t matter, the power and purity of the soul is what matters.”

    In another Instagram post, Jahna posted a video with the title “What Is A Step Parent’s Role?” In the caption of the video, Jahna talked about how it’s disrespectful that the step parent doesn’t even speak to the mother of the child, yet tries to get the child to “call them a name that means ‘mother.”

Here’s what she wrote:

“When a child has two parents, who are well and sound, who provide everything the child needs, who’s mother does everything on a daily basis and beyond, it is not the role of anyone else to attempt to replace one of the parents, the mother or the father. It is disrespectful in regards to the mother, when the ‘stepparent’ does not even speak to the mother, yet tries to get the child to call them a name that means ‘mother’ or attempts to overwrite what the mother allows or doesn’t allow the child to do on social media for example, without the mother’s consent. On top of that to use this to manipulate the child against the mother, by attempting to overwrite what the mother considers to be the rightful thing in regards to discipline or nurturing. When a step parent is bribing a child to manipulate them knowing this is not what the mother would agree with. It is simply wrong and sickening psychological manipulation of the child against the mother. Especially, when the mother is doing everything for the child and perfectly does the job and fits the role, not only biologically and on paper, but in life and on a daily basis as a teacher, nurturer and carer.”

Jahna never called Alicia out specifically in her social media captions, but she does allude to her posts being about Alicia in her comments. A fan wrote, "I agree. Anthying outside of this is disrespectful."

Jahan replied, "Yes and this is what is being done to my child right now. Without my consent the other woman wants to be called 'Umi" which means mother in Arabic. I am raising Nicole, she lives with me in the UK all her life."

Then she wrote, "The other woman had no role in raising my daughter at all. Zero. In fact she tried to get in the way of many things."

Another fan wrote, "damn Alicia??" and Jahna responded, "Yes." 

Jahna then said that "blended family" love Alicia and Swizz talk about is fake news. She said she has good relationships with all of Swizz's children's mother, however, she's tired of "this one" (i.e. Alicia) violating her rights as a parent. Check it: 

  Jahna’s frustrations with Alicia sound VERY familiar. In 2010, Mashonda opened up about Alicia trying to force her son, Kasseem Jr., to call her “Umi” as well. Here's what she told Sister 2 Sister at the time:

S2S: You said that Alicia wanted your baby to call her “mommy”. How do you know that she said that?

Mashonda: My son told me.

S2S: And you told her that is not going to happen?

Mashonda: Yeah. I sent her an email and asked her to please respect what I am to him and it’s not right for her to think that is okay. She never replied. She doesn’t reply to me. She has never given me that respect.

S2S: What does Swizz say?

Mashonda: He said okay, he would stop it. He wouldn’t let her do it.

S2S: That would be kind of confusing for the child.

Mashonda: Oh, it is. It is so unfair to the child. I have been in contact with the little girl's mother (the woman in England who has Swizz’s baby). She’s a young girl. She’s a spiritual girl. She apologized to me… I don’t even judge her. I can’t. She’s totally different than the other one. This other one knew. Alicia knew about me 100 percent. Swizz introduced me at prior events. They were signed to the same record company. She knew. And I emailed her and asked her to stop doing what she was doing and she disregarded me. Just like she disregarded me when I asked her to not have my son thinking it was okay to call her “umi.” You’re not his umi. You just met my son.

S2S: “Umi” is like “mommy”?

Mashonda: “Umi” means “mommy” in Arabic. I’m like no. And then after I spoke to the lady in London, she told me that she tried to get her daughter to call her “umi” as well.

S2S: She’s met the lady in London?

Mashonda: Yes. I’m glad she’s having her own child now because now she will have someone to call her “umi”.

S2S: Wow.

Mashonda: Like, if you want to be a stepmother, that’s great. Be a stepmother. But don’t think that it’s okay to make a kid call you “umi” or “mommy.”

  IF Alicia Keys really is asking her step children to refer to her as "Umi," do you see it as disrespectful?

Photos: DFree/Shuttershock.com

[Read More ...] source http://theybf.com/2019/12/24/swizz-beatz%E2%80%99s-daughter%E2%80%99s-mom-blasts-alicia-keys-for-allegedly-trying-to-make-her-daughter

[avinali913-blog]

“The Happiest Place on Earth”...Not!

When I was a kid, I visited Disneyland for the first time. You would see your favourite characters on TV, but to actually meet your childhood heroes in person and take pictures with them to later show the popular kids in your class? That was the absolute dream. At least, that’s what I thought. Little me had no idea that the day I visited Disneyland, would be one of the worst days of my life. I remember it like it was yesterday, but I can’t tell if that’s because of my pristine memory, or the induced trauma. On July 14th, 2005, My eyes glistened with excitement, as I walked through the gates that read “The Happiest Place on Earth!” (spoiler alert: this was not how I would describe this place in a few hours).

 (gif from ghiphy.com)

I tugged at my dad’s arm yelling “I wanna meet Cinderella!”. After what felt like a lifetime of running, I had come face to face with the beautiful, blue and white coloured castle that belonged to the princess herself. 

(pic from https://www.undercovertourist.com/blog/avoid-losing-child-disneyland/)

I had spent the past week rehearsing what I was going to say and do but as soon as I locked eyes with the princess wearing her iconic blue dress,  accessorized with her white pearls, all I could say was: “Cinderella, I love you!”. I bolted towards her to get a hug to which she said “Woah there, hey kid”. “Hey kid?” I waited five years to meet her and she said “Hey kid?”. Of course, I didn’t see this as a red flag because I was blindsided by love, so I continued on with the brightest smile, saying “You’re so pretty! You’re so amazing!”. She looked down at me with a rather alarming frown given that I had just poured my heart out to her, and she said “Listen kid, the movie isn’t real, don’t waste your life stuck in fairytales”, then she turned towards the camera and smiled as I bawled my eyes out. We later found out that Cinderella was a recently released convict who had taken this job in order to complete her community service.  

(pic made by me) 

After a whole hour of buckets rushing down the side of my cheeks, my dad said to me “Hey! Churros will cheer you up! I’ll buy you as many as you want!”, to which I promptly replied “I want 12!”. Looking back, I know my dad was only trying to help, but who buys their child 12 churros? Sure enough, my dad brought back a dozen mouth-watering, cinnamon-covered, fried batters. And you best believe, I finished all of it. This was probably the start of my emotional eating habits. 

(gif from giphy.com) 

Anyways, I was feeling a bit better about my recent betrayal, so my mom proposed “Let’s go on California Screaming! I’ve heard it’s the best roller coaster in Disneyland!”. Again, my mom had only good intentions, but taking your daughter on a roller coaster after she had just finished half the supply of a churro stand? Me being a child, and excited to go on a roller coaster, I yelled “Let’s do it!”. We got on the ride, and as our cart started moving…so did my stomach. As we got up to the peak, the cart titled forward and before I knew it, we were racing down the hill. Nausea began to claw at my throat, and suddenly, chunks of churros escaped my mouth. 

(pic from screenshot video on youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YkaHewGflo)

On the drive home, I took turns between vomiting some more, and crying. Safe to say, my first time at Disneyland wasn’t much of a fairytale. 

[ghostmartyr]

Pokémon Black 2 Randomized Nuzlocke Run [Part 4]

Going into the fourth badge with a full team of six! Rocking!

Here we are:

Puff (Dratini)

Sylarana (Serperior)

Stella (Poliwhirl)

Nessy (Milotic)

Itsy (Cubchoo)

Caspet (Haunter)

Looking like a real squad, guys. Lesgo.

The bridge is still out, so it’s out to the desert we go.

...Ah, it’s the anime hair scientist.

Colress. He invites us to a duel in the desert route.

...I thought it was a joke that this lady just keeps picking fights with me every single time I try to pass through the route, but no. No. That’s what really happens. Ugh.

I can’t remember if Colress is really a bad guy or just a driven scientist guy.

In any case, he has a level 21 Magnemite out first. Nessy is handling it since I have nothing to deal Electric pokemon really and Nessy has a ton of HP. And yay, that doesn’t come back to bite me.

Level 23 Klink up next. Nessy Refreshes and Recovers back to the health the Magnemite took. Taking too long to beat back the Charges, so Sylarana’s going to try to be helpful. And hey, that’s all it takes. Fight done.

Ack, I don’t think this is the sort of place I can do anything with without wireless and the like.

I love how so many business people in this world see a random ten-year-old and decide that they are the best person they could possibly ask for to manage their affairs while they run off doing whatever.

I’m just going to ignore this place and take advantage of the Pokemon Center past it.

Hello, we have a new route.

HELLO!

Oh.

Wait.

...Did I...

Oh crap. I took a break in between catching Puff, so I forgot all about buying poke balls. Aha. Okay then. Okay. We got this. It’ll be fiiiiine. I’ve got two more whole chances to make sure that it’s fiiine.

One try left.

Come on.

You know you want to be on the team, buddy.

...Fine, you don’t. Damn it. Dead route.

...

While we’re here adding injury to insult.

Sorry Sylarana. Maybe naming you after a dead snake from a fanfic was a bad idea after all.

Dead route and dead pokemon.

This is shaping up to be a pretty harsh run.

Okay. Poke Balls bought.

The outside of Desert Resort has Magmar.

I’m just going to casually avoid trainers in the rest of the Resort until I find the castle place, aka new route for new friend.

If only I were actually any good at avoiding trainers. So far I’ve fought two.

Okay, this time, we’re going to keep from losing anyone in the process of getting a new friend. Agreed? Agreed. Awesome.

Oh.

...No can do.

Poliwhirl is one thing, since Poliwhirl can still be Politoed, but I used a Granbull in my Elite Four battles in the first version. Can’t repeat that. Dang it.

Larvitar’s down here as well.

No Sylarana and an Electric Gym next. I need to find a new route.

Route 5, help me out here.

Bianca!

She gives us Fly!

...Do we have anything that can learn Fly?

She also introduces us to Hidden Grottos, which I had forgotten all about and don’t really mean much to Nuzlockes.

I’ll say hi to it. If it’s randomized, this is my catch option, if it’s not, let’s just call Hidden Grottos liminal spaces that don’t have real route significance.

Not randomized. Bye bye Minccino. Now we go explore the grass.

I have a Water team. Yike.

This thing is not proving easy to catch.

But catch it I shall! Your name shall be Frill, and please do not take it personally that I’m going to go to another route to find things.

Oh dear.

Boruto, I expect great things from you. Please do not disappoint.

Meanwhile the next thing I see on this route is an Emboar.

No offense, Boruto, but my journey to find a new route continues.

Help me Obi-wan Keforest. You’re my only hope.

...Don’t I need a Dusk Stone or something to evolve you?

Um. If it keeps using Charge Beam it’s going to kill Nessy.

I can choose to catch it, or I can choose to run.

...Wait, can I run when Bind is used?

No, no I can’t.

Um.

This is.

Distressing.

I feel like I’m watching Nessy die in slow motion.

Heeeeeeeeeey.

Omchomp, welcome.

Hm. I have some choices to make regarding me team, but first thing first, I’m going to raise Boruto a level. There are Basculin and Lampent where we caught him.

Soooooo.

Now there’s the question of what to add to the team. Ninjask is cool as heck, and I’m not opposed to using one. Shedinja is a delightful, chaotic choice for a Nuzlocke. Using both isn’t something I think my team could survive.

...Okay I can’t resist being that stupid. Shedinja, aka Sasuke. Alllll the way.

Sasuke is Sassy and proud of its power. Fitting.

This is such a dumb idea. I can’t wait to watch what happens.

Let’s see... Fire bad. Flying bad. Ghost maybe bad. Psychic maybe bad.

...Fine, so I know what each type is weak against, but not which types the combination spares or makes worse. Making this an even dumber idea than its initial inception made it appear.

We are so doing this.

tfw I finally am playing at a time that gets me on the Royal Unova! Yay!

Boy howdy do I hope they don’t have things that will kill me dead!

Level 16 Pidove.

I think I’m good.

I swear if a move has a possibility of making me flinch it is doing nothing but making me flinch. I cry.

Oki doki.

The team.

Grinding time.

Ha, so since they couldn’t very well complain about the next Gym Leader still not having the bridge open, this time you can’t go left of Nimbasa due to a crowd of happy people. Gah. Being closed in is a lot more annoying when you have a limited number of resources dependent in part on map size.

OH COME ON THAT’S BULLSHIT.

Sigh.

Sorry, Sasuke.

I’d like to say some words, but well. I always knew I wasn’t really equipped to handle such a gimmicky creature on my team, I just thought it would be funny to try. And that I’d last longer. It’s probably just as well, honestly.

...Sorry this is not the emotional farewell everything else is getting. But let’s be real, we knew this would happen, and I didn’t delay it long enough to get invested.

Also your name is Sasuke. We both knew what this was.

Boruto, welcome to the team!

Uh.

Okay, Giga Drain. Not Itsy’s friend.

Noted.

...Give me a break she was still in the damn green and aaaaaaaaaa.

I am not doing well this run, am I?

Go away I can’t catch you. ;-;

I am so sorry, Itsy.

I wish I could say more, since unlike Sasuke I actually like you, but.

This is hecking bad.

Omchomp gets on the team to fill up a slot. I’m not sure I have the resources to properly train her, and I’m collecting too many creatures who I’m not sure I can fully evolve for my tastes.

But that’s how Nuzlockes go, right? You work with what you have.

Back to grinding. Maybe stick more to wild pokemon than trainers.

Cool, Croagunk is also here.

...

Okay look.

I will admit to being a bad trainer.

But one Bite taking out a pokemon at full health is not generally a foreseeable circumstance when super effectiveness isn’t at play.

-clears throat-

STELLAAAAAAAAAAAAA.

I am so sorry my friend. We will never know how if I might have succeeded in evolving you. That is a weight off my shoulders, but incomparable to the pain of no longer having you.

Ack.

What a mess.

I have to admit, part of me is hoping that I just wipe at this point. Starting over seems way, way simpler than this as it is. And then I ran into a trainer by accident, and the trainer has a lever 25 Watchdog.

Yeah, this will go well.

Eh, not well, but everything’s alive. I’ll take that. My mission at the moment is just training the heck out of Nessy, because she’s the only thing I can say with confidence probably can’t die to one hit from anything currently available.

Huh, I found an Audino. I’d guess I stumbled into wiggly grass without noticing. That’s cute, it’s actually where it’s supposed to be. ...Scratch that, enough of them are showing up that I’m wondering if it’s some time of day thing.

...So see, I have the problem of going on autopilot while I think.

...tfw Nessy is now level 34 and Caspet is 30.

Screenshots taken moments before disaster.

...Then there’s the return of Mightyena plus a Gengar. Not friendly grass, this. Maybe I need to pick another spot to train stuff.

There’s this one trainer here who won’t fight unless I have a Prop Case, which means I can’t avoid the Musical building forever. Well I can. But that would keep me from battling stuff, sooo.

Magnificent.

And random trainer beaten.

Now what.

Carnival rides to drown our sorrows.

Elesa built herself a new Gym. Her old one is now just roller coasters.

I should probably go to the actual Gym.

?

Ah. A random NPC to let us know that Elesa is in another castle.

Screw it, let’s go to the other castle.

...After finally checking out whatever this is.

Cool. Me and Rosa are going to fight the Subway Bosses. This is the only time this will ever happen in any Nuzlocke ever. Guaranteed.

Yay, we won against the level 26 Gurdurr and Boldore. Despite the horror that is Sturdy rearing its head once more.

Before I go to the Gym, I’m going to head out to the sportsball stadiums and have some fun. Hopeful, optimistic fun where nothing dies.

My solution to all problems now is to throw Nessy at them until they die. With a side of Caspet. The other members of my team are going to gain levels through Exp. Share only, probably. Omchomp is the only one that knows useful stuff and might live through first contact. Puff will one day be mighty indeed, but isn’t yet. Boruto... Boruto’s best move is arguably Leech Life.

Yay, Nessy and Caspet. You two are holding this team together.

That is not your cue to die.

To the Gym.

Ooooh, snazzy. Nicely arranged, Elesa.

She has a level 27 Elekid. Why don’t I have a level 27 Elekid. Or just an Elekid. Elekid is awesome. She also has a level 27 Flaffy. I want that slightly less. It is still of interest.

One mook down. Down the catwalk for another.

The level 27 Flaffy is first this time. Such variety. Then a level 27 Blitzle strikes.

This place has some dang style. Next up is same flavor with Blitzle and Elekid.

Elesa you are clearly amazing but what the actual heck are you wearing.

This is all going to be fine.

We know it’s true because I said so.

Level 28 Emolga out first. Caspet downs it with one Venoshock, then a level 30 Zebstrika takes the stage and panic is felt by all.

Oh lovely. It knows Pursuit. Not taking you out then, Caspet.

This has the makings of pain all over it, but I trust you.

Yay! Another Venoshock did it!

Last up is a level 28 Flaffy. Let’s finish this, Caspet.

Yes!

It was gory and scary, but we did it, gang.

Halfway there.

[sujus-girl]

Disclaimer: This is just for fun, so please don’t take it too seriously. This is not an official profile or anything like that!

A GUIDE TO PENTAGON

I actually had a lot of fun making my guide to JBJ, so I was like?? What other group do I love that doesn’t get the attention they deserve? …. PENTAGON

Are y’all ready to cringe? To sigh? To question what is going on with these children? Then, without further ado, I present to you: Pentagon: My Shitty Guide to 10 Toddlers

Group Name: Pentagon

First appeared on a show called Pentagon Maker, which was called a survival show, but SPOILER ALERT: Cube decided to do the right thing and debuted all 10 members together

If I’m going to be 100% honest, I still dk where to find the full episodes, but there are a ton of clips on youtube, and, honestly, I was satisfied with just watching those

ALL OF THEM HAVE REALLY GOOD VISUALS? LIKE, I SAY THIS WITH EVERY GROUP, BUT SERIOUSLY, PENTAGON HAS SOME A+++ VISUALS

Beware because they’re very. Very. very. Loud

The fandom name is universe and i just think that’s so cute OKAY?

Ofiicial Music Videos: Gorilla, Can You Feel It, Critical Beauty, Pretty Pretty, Run Away, Like This, Violet

Personal Favorite Non-Title Tracks: Thank You, Beautiful, You Are, Spectacular, and Lose yourself

Aight, we have ten members to go through this time, so BUCKLE UP, MY FRIENDS

Members:

Jo Jinho

The oldest member of pentagon

Vvv smol baby. Is only 5’6”

Is scared very easily lmfao

May be smol but has A HELLA SET OF LUNGS

High note king that leaves almost everyone shook

Used to be in SM the Ballad, but left and became a trainee again under cube entertainment

Had trained for EIGHT FRICKIN YEARS, DO NOT SLEEP ON MY BOI

I guess he gave vocal lessons to cube trainees like Yoo Seonho (someone pls KINDLY let me know if i’m wrong)

Drops a bunch of covers and spoils Universe with his voice, thx boo

Usually gets paired with hongseok for stuff?? Idk

Has a room by himself in the dorms, lucky boi

ALSO A MUSICAL THEATER ACTOR?? ALL SHOOK UP REALLY HAD US ALL SHOOK UP

Videos to Watch: (1) (2) (3)

Lee HwiTaek (Hui)

The leader of this mess

Got pretty popular after the song Never was released, then continue to leave people quaking after Energetic was released

Is an A+ Singer and Producer, we love a talented man

Is vvvv scared of everything and also has a lot of tears (we love a man in touch with his emotions)

A former JYP trainee

Got7’s JB said that one time, Got7’s Mark got into a fight with him, Hui, and B.A.P.’s Youngjae and Day6’s Brian had to translate the argument LOL

Also in a subunit called Triple H that consists of him, E’Dawn and Hyuna

Also has a room to himself

HONEY SOCKS

Has a fanboy named Yoo Seonho that loves him vvv much, and they even went to vietnam together

also appeared on this variety show called hyena’s on the keys and flaunted his composing SKILZ

Videos to Watch: (1) (2) (3)

Yang Hongseok

A former YG trainee

Was on the show that created iKon, and it was…. Oof

He was new at the time, so it was kinda awkward and tense, but it got better

Is obsessed with working out, and has the abs of a greek god as a result

Reads books in his free time, and enjoys studying foreign languages

He moved around when he was younger, so he can speak Mandarin and English (we love an intelligent man)

Apparently the mom?? Cooks and cleans for the babies in the dorm

Shares a room with E’Dawn

Also really likes Iron Man… and Jinho

The members say he’s the worst at dancing in the group LOL

It’s okay though, cause he’s vvv talented in other aspects

Videos to Watch: (1) (2) (3)

Kim HyoJung (E’Dawn)

“I have no fear” not even two seconds later *HIGH PITCH SCREAMING*

Can reach an octave i didn’t think human possible

A little weird, but that’s okay!

Is also in Triple H with Hui and Hyuna

Hongseok’s roommate

Is really good at dancing, wow

Kinda looks tired 24/7, but we’re pretty sure that’s just his face. Like you know how some people have resting bitch face? E’Dawn has resting tired face.

TATTOOS!

Sry, i just really like tattoos, lol

But yeah! E’Dawn has multiple tattoos! Since it’s like 1 in the morning and I’m kinda tired, I’m not gonna try and think of all of them, but they should all show up if you just google e’dawn tattoos lol sorry

Videos to Watch: (1) (2) (3)

Go Shinwon

Has trouble keeping his clothes on apparently

Like for real, just casually pulled his pants down and took his shirt off multiple times in pentagon maker

Is scared of animals because one time because… um…. let’s just say that there was an unfortunate incident with his pet hamster when he was in like middle school... yeah

Was eliminated during Pentagon maker, but four remaining members broke into cube late at night and put up posters saying they wanted pentagon to debut as ten

Gets mad real easily

Has broad shoulders… Like real broad. Edawn and yanan fell asleep on his shoulders and they were comfortable

Shares a room with Kino

Also really likes Mcdonalds?? Like, this boy put on a burger hat and ate a mcdonalds burger.

Really hates bugs LOL

Videos to Watch: (1) (2) (3)

Yeo Changgu (Yeo One)

Has a visual that a lot of foreigners seem to really like? That’s just something I noticed, I know it’s not the general consensus

Is also an actor, he appeared in a webdrama called Spark and was the main actor for a historical drama not too long ago

Shares a room with yanan

Is yanan’s biggest fan

Has a laugh that can revive wilting flowers tbh

Talks a lot too

Sucks at table tennis

He and hui put ducktape on their legs and ripped it off

GIVE HIM MORE LINES PLS

Videos to Watch: (1) (2) (3)

Yan An

“MADE IN CHINA!”

“Annyeong chingudel”

He’s from Shanghai

Hella model vibes, amirite or amirite

He injured himself when preparing for the Ceremony album, and he had to sit out and everyone was vvv sad and vvv worried

Got better and is back, and more random than ever

Sometimes says things that are real funny, even if he doesn’t intend for it to be

“What are you talking about, this is plastic”

“You… You’re in big trouble!”

“Korean name is Yanan. Chinese name is Yanan. English Name? Yanan.”

Also once called Jinho a foreigner, even tho Jinho is Korean and they were in Korea?

May be tol and handsome, but he’s really just a big toddler

Scared of roller coasters

Roommates with yeo one who loves him v much (yeo one has the right idea, y’all)

Videos to Watch: (1) (2) (3)

Adachi Yuto

“YUTODA”

A japanese prince

AN ATHLETE! Played baseball and used to do soccer

A former JYP trainee

Good friends with Yuto (U) from ONF because they both used to be JYP trainees and also NCT’s Yuta

Shares a room with Wooseok and will laugh at anything he says

Milk couple

Can’t eat spicy food for shit

Hella tall

Also appeared predebut at ISAC 2015 for futsall

A bby that is afraid of many things. Especially the dark. On pentagon maker, the crew turned off the lights and he real cutely went “pd-nim~” and i almost cried it was so cute

“What’s your favorite ice cream flavor?” “Ice cream.”

Says he can’t do aegyo, but he hella cute already, so it’s okay

Also once danced shirtless and i almost sued, you a child Boi (i say as I am younger than him)

Videos to Watch: (1) (2) (3)

Kang Hyunggu (Kino)

A whole cutie

I legit that he was my age or younger cause he was just so adorable

Only 4 days younger than yuto and 4 days older than wooseok, but he a whole baby

They did a vlive for wooseok, yuto, and kino’s birthdays and when they were getting into teams, hongseok was chosen to be in kino’s team but he said it so emotionlessly that kino got all pouty LOL

A dancing king

“I was going to go easy on you, but you called me Hyunggu”

Has a lot of friends in k-pop, he vvv popular

Shares a room with shinwon

A laugh that motivates me to be a better person

Saved the entire world by eating watermelon in front of cameras BLESS

“Get it Kino Beauty”

Proceeded to destroy yanan’s face with makeup RIP

Makes funny faces that i sometimes screenshot and send to my friends at 2 in the morning

ALSOALSOALSO, he had this little dance solo in Critical Beauty and I was LIVING for it

Videos to Watch: (1) (2) (3)

Jung Wooseok

The baby of the group

HELLA TOL??? LIKE WTF, IF YOU LOOK AT PHOTOS OF JINHO AND WOOSEOK STANDING NEXT TO EACH OTHER HE LOOKS LIKE A FREAKING GIRAFFE

He was sleeping backstage once and yuto put a chocopie in front of his mouth and he sleepily tried to eat it and i was :((((( he was so cute

Really likes yuto, they’re usually paired together for stuff. Like dorms

Really likes anime, legend has it that if you play samurai heart at exactly 1:23 AM, wooseok will appear behind you and sing along

Imitates an opera singer and achieves an octave that i would imagine isn’t humanly possible for someone with a voice as deep as his

Has a fanboy names Lai Guanlin from wanna one, and he will not let anyone forget about his precious Wooseok

Once did an eating broadcast with super spicy food and accidentally got some in his eye and the rest of pentagon thought it was the funniest thing ever RIP

Videos to Watch: (1) (2) (3)

That was a journey! We’re almost done, though!

Videos Of Pentagon to Watch! Weekly Idol with Victon and Momoland! (X) This crack (?) series that I live for (X) The VLive that was all sorts of mess (X) Triple H Weekly Idol (only Hui and E’Dawn) (X) This clip from Pentagon Maker that was all sorts of mess, even with only 4 members (X) Hui, Wooseok, and E’Dawn trying to cook (X) This other VLive that was all sorts of mess (X) Pentagon Heyo TV (Mafia Game Cut) (X)

AND THERE YOU HAVE IT! A VERY SHORT, SHITTY GUIDE TO PENTAGON! I hope this helps anyone wanting to get into Pentagon, or even just makes an Universe smile! Now go and bask in the glory that is Pentagon’s craziness! Bye!

[eenefangirlanalysis]

In a rare moment of luck the Eds have landing is cushioned, slightly, by a Ferris wheel.

You know I never took the opportunity to actually study the background of this amusement park. The Eds are one town away from an ocean. This landmark says a lot about where they live. I did some research and found that most amusement parks along the coast are in California, Ohio, and New Hampshire.

New Hampshire feels like the perfect setting for EENE. The area has many wonderful camping spots and it has a calming environment. I live a few hours away from New Hampshire. I remember always going camping in that area.

Maybe it’s best that we never learned where the setting of the show was supposed to take place. It would have ruined that whole atmosphere. Ed, Edd n Eddy is a show that it meant to up to interpretation.

Where do you think the setting of Ed, Edd n Eddy takes place?

Even the Eds are thrown off by this cushioned landing. The Eds are so used to bad luck at this point that it becomes a daily routine. They mentally prepare themselves for the bad.

We’ve all been bullied at one point in our lives. It’s tough. The Eds have moved on together sending out the message that you’re stronger then you think. That is the best lesson I could take away from this show.

I have said this in many of my analysis that it’s best the Eds always had the bad endings as they’ve learned about their mistakes. They’re always left alone to discuss the events of the episode. They’ve never backed down. That’s something we should all look up to.

If they win then they don’t learn anything. What did they learn from Ed Touchables? The kids set themselves up to get scammed while the conflict was a wasted plot line where the characters supposed stolen items were right in view point the whole time.

Upon Eddy asking what has happened Edd has this strange delivery where he responds that they’ve landed on a ferris wheel. There is this brief pause until Edd randomly shouts Eddy’s name. Unless Edd was finishing his sentence or going to tell Eddy a new piece of information it’s kind of strange unfinished piece of dialogue.

Has anyone counted how many times Edd says Eddy’s name? That’s a future project.

Ed’s acrophobia is triggered.

Do we ever learn why Ed fears height? A fear of heights is a normal fear for a lot of people. I just wonder if a certain event ever affected Ed.

Ed never had much focus within the series. We were supposed to get more Ed based episodes in season 6 where we may have learned about his possible disability. I want to know more of Ed’s backstory.

That’s another element Big Picture Show failed to deliver. Eddy’s home life story is touched upon and was resolved in some way, but not Ed and Edd. It’s heavily implied that they’re still being mistreated at home. The confession scene would have given a needed sense of character depth.

Ed cannot handle the height and jumps from one seat to the other.

“Down for Ed, Double Dee!”

I’m interested in Eddy’s excited reaction being on this Ferris wheel. It’s the hidden kid he’s kept trapped behind the mask.

In the past the Eds showed no interest being on two hand built roller coasters. The Eds spend most of their summer in the cul-de-sac thinking up scams. They decided to grow up too fast. Although they were acting like kids and playing around in season 1-2. The point is the Eds never had the opportunity to be kids as they were either forgotten, told to grow up, or grew up with the wrong figure.

Post BPS they’ve have the opportunity to be kids on the years they missed out.

Aw, look at parents, Edd and Eddy reaching out for their child to come back.

This scene is reminiscent of how Edd and Eddy saved Ed from Rolf at the beginning of the movie.

Next this wonderfully animated sequence of Ed running and spinning the Ferris wheel around about a dozen times happens.

I would love to learn the secrets on how they didn’t most of these stunts or special effects. Animating is really interesting world. Everyone has their own unique ability as an artist. I can tell anyone who worked on this show had fun because as crazy as Ed, Edd n Eddy was it made it what it was.

Another screenshot that perfectly sums up each Eds personalities.

Eddy is really having a ball.

And the boys slam face first into this billboard.

I don’t know but I like when the Eds get hurt together. Whenever they get hurt together they usually just rub it off. It’s different when they’re together.

[renwritesstuff]

Fic Writer’s Week: Day 1

Words of Validation

As a reader, I’m a lazy skimmer and don’t sit down to read enough. So if I do end up reading today, I’ll definitely leave a comment.

As a writer, I have some amazing readers who have left some wonderful comments. When I first started writing Mass Effect fanfic in particular, I was active on the Bioware Forums before they shut down (the Character forums first then the entire forums as a whole). I used to screenshot comments people wrote about my Shepard/Ashley fic because I was so excited people liked it.

I’m so lucky to have the readers that I do. Every single one has always been kind, supportive and wonderful and makes writing an absolute joy each and every day. So thank you for finding my stuff and being awesome about it.

One of my favorite readers, ccryder/@andtheother, always leaves such wonderful, detailed comments on my Mass Effect pieces.

I love so many things about this chapter, but one of the things I actually want to comment on is your dialogue. Both Sam's internal dialogue, and the actual spoken dialogue between her and Shepard are simply *outstanding*. You have a real ear for it, and it always amuses/enlightens/entertains/saddens/(insert any other relevant emotion) while simultaneously "sounding" so natural. I think that's tricky to do consistently, but you seem to pull it off with ease.

And of course, the highest praise of comment comes from the awesome @fishbone76 who, in addition to making AWESOME fuckin’ ART for every single chapter of my Mass Effect fic, goes out of her way to quote things she likes. Which I just love.

For my latest fandom, Wynonna Earp, I’ve received some truly beautiful comments from @korderoo that warmed my heart. This one in particular I’ve reread probably a dozen times because it makes me smile.

Not only is this story crazy beautiful, it reminds me so much of the morning I took my (friend at the time now wife) to watch the sunrise. It was a distinct moment of change in our relationship and this made me feel every bit as hopeful and scared and confused as I did that morning. Beautiful! I can't wait to read about them together but I'm also a little bittersweetly sad that the clanging of the roller coaster reaching the top of the hill is over. Not because the only plunge isn't amazing, but there is something so special about hanging on the edge of that hill where you feel weightless and infinite. Really I can't say how much I love your writing. Thank you so very much!

[everyonethinksmynameiskayla]

We [tried] to drive through a river

It has been a long time since I last posted so this post might run a bit long (I was going to say “it risks to be long” but then I spent 10 minutes trying to remember if that’s a thing people say or if that’s a French expression that I translated in my head and decided was acceptable, and I couldn’t figure it out so I went with “might”). 

After I finished my Fulbright, I took a job as Global Learning Manager with buildOn (https://www.buildon.org/ if you’re curious). Almost exactly three months later I found myself in a pickup truck stuck in the middle of a small river in the mountains in Nicaragua, squatting on the backseat next to a Delgado from the Nicaraguan Ministry of Education as the water rose inside the truck and the Mayor of the nearby town, in his boxers, and his men heaved on the front to push us back out onto the bank. 

A week prior I did not even know that I would be in Nicaragua. But the Global Learning Manager position is new and buildOn is an international NGO so nothing ever goes as planned and everything about my job and life seems to change every week. I am based in Senegal, so I still live in my apartment in Dakar, but our Senegal office is actually in Kaolack so every Monday at 7 am I take the new DemDik bus (which is a public transport revolution in Senegal if you ask me, it’s a big bus that’s air-conditioned (sort of) and leaves on time and only as many people as there are seats are allowed on) 3 hours east to Kaolack and then I return on Wednesday afternoon. Kaolack, it is widely known, is the worst (it’s commonly referred to as the armpit of Africa) because it is literally, not figuratively, hot as hell, covered in a layer of trash and there is nothing to do or look at other than said trash and the abundant dust, which you have to look at even if you don’t want to because it’s all over you and on your actual eyeballs. When it’s the rainy season, most of Kaolack looks like this: 

You can just smell the infection. 

Anyway, my deep and abiding love for Senegal does not extend to Kaolack. I’ve made a home for myself in Dakar over the past year; I rent my apartment but I am basically a homeowner since my useless landlord wouldn’t even do anything to the place if it was on fire. I’ve stopped calling him when something breaks or leaks or whatever and started going straight to the day workers that hang out across the street. They, along with everyone in my neighborhood (called Ouakam (or Wakam, Wolof spelling is up for grabs), it’s objectively the best neighborhood in Dakar with the most character and spirit) are very amused by me, the toubab woman who lives alone in Dakar and takes the bus everywhere. One of the best parts about my apartment is that it’s just 50 meters from where this Vietnamese guy sets up a stand every night and sells the best fried spring rolls I’ve ever had for 200 francs a piece (about 40 cents). 

Like I said, my job is rather nebulous at the moment as it’s new, but here’s what I do officially (I screenshot-ed this from LinkedIn because I’m lazy):

Key to my job is the constant traveling. We work in Senegal, Mali, Burkina Faso, Malawi, Haiti, Nicaragua and Nepal. We are on travel schedule no. 4 for 2017-2018 so I’ve basically given up knowing when I’m going to be where. Until a few weeks ago we were having a West Africa regional conference in Senegal in early December and now I’m in Nicaragua planning a conference here with just the Nicaragua staff for the end of the December. So. 

Don’t get me wrong, it’s a lot of fun and a priceless experience. The local staff in Senegal and Nicaragua (and I’m sure in the other places we work) - all of our in-country staff are from the country - are absolutely the best people and I love working with them. I would characterize the first few months of my work as getting on a roller coaster and not having time to put my seatbelt on before it started going and then trying to get the seatbelt on while going 150mph around loops and through tunnels and down the drops. 

In each country, we have our office in a city that isn’t the capital but is the largest city in the area of the country where we mostly work. In Nicaragua, that’s the north so our office is in Estelí and the communities where we work are in the mountains north of the city. The landscape is stunning, and really reminds me of Rwanda (here’s a taste: https://youtu.be/HHaTlaE91fs - remember to put it in HD to actually see it). Being in Nicaragua feels like a luxury vacation compared to Senegal (I miss Senegal though). Nicaragua and Senegal are so different that I couldn’t even begin to compare them. Estelí has neat streets on a grid, lots of backpacker hostels and cafés and little restaurants. The grocery stores have American products just sitting on the shelves like it’s no big deal, which blew my mind. I’m loving having to wear a sweatshirt here (it’s hot season at home right now) but I wouldn’t want to live here, I miss the excitement and energy of Dakar. I am crazy for the breakfasts (and if you’re out in the country, lunches and dinners too) here:

^ That’s gallo pinto (rice and bean mixture), a fried plantain, eggs, cheese, cream and a fresh corn tortilla.

I helped make tortillas this week in the field too: 

Everyone was very impressed with how round it was. Making roti in India served me well. I dig the kitchens in the villages here:

When the team here goes out into the field they rent nice pickup trucks, whereas the staff in Senegal either takes a motorcycle, the one truck we have or a sept place, which you’ve heard about if you’ve read any other posts and generally tend to look something like this: 

But once you get out of the city, it’s a different story. The roads are steep and narrow and winding and rocky and my butt is almost never on the seat. 

So, how did I end up in truck in a river taking on water? One of the main things I’m doing on my first trips out to each country is spending as much time ‘in the field’ as possible to get a feel for how things are done. My first excursion with Danilo, the Nicaragua Country Director, Keyla (very confusing), the Finance Manager and Carlos, the Construction Manger, was to a community near a town called Waslala which is just as fun to say a you might imagine. We never actually made it to the community though. It took 6 hours to get to Waslala, We stayed in a hotel there and then picked up the rep from the Ministry of Education, who was just full of stories about fighting the Contra, there the next morning to go to the inauguration ceremony for a school that had just been completed. The Mayor of Waslala and a few of his guys drove in front of us in a different truck. We bumped along for about an hour and then stopped when we reached a “creek” that had become a river in the heavy rains that was neck deep on the guy who was running a raft across for people and motorcycles.

^ He’s the real MVP

In every culture, men stand in semi-circles around things: grills, broken down cars, raging mini-rivers. We all stood around for hours trying to figure out what to do: to try to cross or to turn back. Keyla and I immediately were like “this is a terrible idea”. We both knew that our well-placed concern was no match for machismo, so we just stood around giving each other knowing looks while the mayor’s guy put on a show of observing that the water had receded half a centimeter. Danilo was worried because the community was waiting for us and determined that if the Mayor went we had to try to too. So after 3 hours of standing around, during which the Mayor took his pants off and waded in to “see if there were rocks”, we all got back in the trucks. 

^ I’m serious, the guy in the red polo is the Mayor

I wasn’t worried about my own safety at all, the water wasn’t deep enough or moving fast enough for it to be dangerous to swim in, I was worried about the truck. We all were. We knew if we got stuck and the engine went off we would have to go out the windows and abandon the truck, which would get washed away with the current without the engine on. The Mayor drove into the water and made it 3/4 of the way across and then got stuck. 

They were just stuck in the mud so it only took a couple guys getting out and pushing to get them up onto the bank. But we could see the oil draining out of the car, the black streaks flowing down the water away from it. I was sure that we wouldn’t try it after that, but we forged ahead. 

The water washed over the windshield as we drove in and then BOOM we hit a rock and were sitting still in the very middle, the water up to just below the the windows, which we immediately rolled down. Carlos, who was riding in the bed just in case, jumped out and waded to the front. He messed around with the rope we had tied to the front in case of this exact situation for a minute and eventually they got it tied to the Mayor’s truck, the idea being for them to pull us out. But in the meantime, the truck had started to fill up with water. Slowly at first, but then a few minutes had gone by and we were up to our waists in water. The Delgado had a big smile on his face like he thought this was hilarious but he turns to me and goes “no puedo nagar” (”I can’t swim”) and Keyla goes “tampoco” (”me neither”) and I realized that I was the only strong swimmer in the truck and felt a flash of panic. 

The rope broke after the first tug from the Mayor’s truck so gave up on that. The car alarm was going off, signaling that it would shut the engine off in two minutes to prevent damage to the electric system. Danilo and Keyla had been yelling for the people on the bank to get in and push us back out the way we came and finally after what felt like hours a couple of the mayors guys threw their phones and wallets on the ground and ran into help Carlos. With four of them pushing, we easily backed out on the bank behind us. We threw open the doors and water poured out. We were all soaked and basically stood around for a second staring at each other and then all burst out laughing. Danilo got back in the truck and drove it up the hill to check on it, the alarm still going off. Carlos told the Mayor to just go ahead (he was yelling for us to just try again), we had to deal with the truck. By the time Keyla and Carlos and I got up the hill, Danilo had turned the truck off and there were half a dozen guys standing around it. We ended up having to call for a mechanic to come from Waslala with a new oil filter and more oil. We sat around for hours waiting, eating bags of chips for lunch from the one store on the road. Finally, a truck full of guys showed up and they got to work. Several more hours of tense moments later, we were back in the truck sitting on the wet seats bumping back to Waslala. 

It was already late but we wanted to get back to Estelí so we had dinner in Waslala, changed our clothes and then hit the road. Everything with the truck seemed okay until the final two hours; the hazards kept coming on randomly and there was a weird beeping noise coming from the stereo. But we made it back around midnight.