#avery (lil gator game)

[gears2gnomes]

SGDQ 2023 - Lil Gator Game

“The wielder of Stick-Stick.”

[korkorali]

Little bit of something different for Pride Month- a oneshot for Lil Gator Game! It’s a very cute and hilarious game that we absolutely adored- so we just had to write something for it.

With a school dance on the horizon, everybody in Tarot's school is quick to start asking others out, or hoping to be asked out, or otherwise seeking out romantic connections with their fellow classmates. But what happens when Tarot doesn't really want to ask anyone out? Will they get swept up in the excitement anyways? Will they put their foot down? Will they even have the wherewithal think to do any of that? It doesn't matter, because finding a date for the dance has become a Quest! And Tarot would never turn down a quest!

[leavemetoplaythesims]

i got lil gator game today and avery is my favorite character so far they literally rolled into the ocean wtf

look at them go

[basickabyl]

This episode we help one of the island kids build some confidence, meet back up with avery! and his buddies and procure some explosives from a mole in a hole.

Lil Gator Game is an adorable and wholesome adventure about childhood and the power of imagination. Wink, our hero, has a big day planned for play when his sister comes visiting from college. With the help of his friends, Wink must try and convince his sister to take a break from her project and have some fun.

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New lets play videos daily!: https://www.youtube.com/c/BasicKabyl

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[pcurrytravels]

Why I Wanna Go: New Orleans

Hello all! Welcome to the first post of my “Why I Wanna Go Series.” Today, we’ll be talking about my long unfulfilled desire of visiting New Orleans.

Okay, about that long unfulfilled part: New Orleans is a place with which I’ve had a longstanding, obsessive interest that dates all the way back to when I was a child. I used to watch any and every show about it, both fictional and non-fictional. I would check out travel guidebooks and history books about the place from the library for fun.  I’d stay up all night reading the innumerable ghost stories only to lose sleep anyway. I’ve attempted to make various creole and cajun dishes such as gumbo and red beans and rice only to fail miserably (though I have made some very good jambalaya before). I even celebrate Mardi Gras in my own special way, despite living in a place where it traditionally isn’t. 

As you can see, yes, I am obsessed with New Orleans. 

New Orleans is quite the oddball of a town. There’s not really anywhere else within the United States that’s quite like it. It’s unique culture, cuisine and architecture come as a result of it’s historical background, which has led to an end result akin to a, well, gumbo if you will (pun intended, of course): 

Start with a base of French colonist roux and enslaved West African stock, strongly flavored with the essence of indigenous tribes of the Southeast Woodlands (such as Chitimacha, Choctaw and Houma Indians). Bring this mixture to a boil before adding Spanish sausage, some chicken from the farms of exiled French Canadians (i.e. Cajuns) and shrimp from the Canary Islands. Next, stir in some American file powder for thickening purposes. Toss in some Sicilian bell peppers, Irish onions and German celery. Lastly, top it all off with some Haitian okra, and just a dash of Vietnamese, Filipino, Cuban and Honduran spices and wallah! You have just successfully crafted the cultural melting pot for New Orleans. 

Now, New Orleans most certainly isn’t the only American city with a culture strongly influenced by a number of different groups. There’s NYC with the Italian, Ashkenazi Jewish, Puerto Rican and West Indian flavors. The cultures of Californian cities and/or regions are profoundly inspired by longstanding communities of Mexicans, Black Americans and various Asian, Pacific Islander and Middle Eastern groups. And then you have Miami/South Florida which is essentially the U.S.A.’s mecca of any and everything Latino and Caribbean. 

However, it usually comes with a limit. Regardless of the influence, at the end of the day, everyone more or less goes back to doing their own thing. It’s rare for things to meld and merge together as seamlessly as they have in New Orleans. That factor alone makes it more akin to cities in the Caribbean. In addition to it’s architecture, it’s climate, oh, and the fact that it play hosts to Carnival; which, in this context is known as Mardi Gras. 

Ah yes, Fat Tuesday. Originally a Catholic celebration in which people gorged on as much rich and fatty food as possible (well, the name of it came from somewhere) before Lent; in the case of New Orleans, it has since morphed into a gathering of vice and debauchery that attracts visitors from all over the world. As everyone dons a mask, watching the elaborately wacky floats pass by as numerous women flash their, ahem, assets to get beads from the krewe, this also leads to uncontrollable crowds, quite a few fights and jacked up prices for EVERYTHING.

Don’t get me wrong, I would love to see Mardi Gras for myself one day....just not on the first trip. Nor would I want my first trip to be during the Essence Music Festival. Or the Jazz Fest. Or the Voodoo Experience. I guess I feel like if I have to spend my entire time dealing with excessive crowds and the collateral damage that comes with that (see: more traffic, higher airfare, hotel rooms being priced through the roof, etc....) it would compromise my experience. Might be a Vegas thing. 

Okay, okay, enough tangents. Are we here to talk about why I wanna go to New Orleans or not?

Reason number one: All of that delicious FOOD. 

You got gumbo, jambalaya, red beans and rice, beignets, etouffee, po’ boys, crawfish and just SO much more. A cultural background influenced by various sources, a zeal for spice, an abundant array of plants, seafood and wild game in the area and a populace that takes it VERY seriously can lead to quite the engaging culinary experience I would imagine. 

Reason number two: The nightlife. 

Ah, where to begin. I mean, there does appear to be a little bit of something for everyone there. Touristy bars on and around Bourbon Street serving up Hurricanes and Hand Grenades in souvenir cups, many of which with an interesting history all their own (see: Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop, an alleged business cover-up for the pirate Jean Lafitte, said to be haunted by his spirit to this day). Classy cocktail lounges in the Garden District where you can sip on a $14 dollar Sazerac while listening to smooth jazz. More eclectic nightspots on the fringes of the French Quarter with a mix of tourists and locals. Energetic venues playing a wide variety of music in Marigny. Oh, and the strip club circuit doesn’t look like anything to sneeze at either. The options are truly endless.

Reason number three: The history.

As already stated above, New Orleans wouldn’t be what it is today without it’s history. Between the numerous cultures and ethnic groups that have added to it’s modern-day melting pot (to the point that the city has several different accents going on, most of which sound closer to NYC/Jersey and/or Caribbean accents than they do Southern or Cajun), the French and Spanish Colonial architecture only to be accented by numerous other styles of architecture over the years, lingering signs of the Antebellum era, an uncanny connection to the afterlife involving above-ground tombs and hauntings all over the place, an unusual religious history as far as American cities go (I mean, it’s a predominantly Catholic city in a sea Southern Baptists with strong followings for Voodoo, Hoodoo and other syncretic, magical and/or pagan belief systems as well) and, lastly.........the beast known as Katrina and the city’s unwavering resilience to press on afterward. New Orleans tells a story unlike any other, and I for one am quite excited to explore the pages. 

Reason number four: The music.

American popular music as we know it today would not exist without New Orleans. Period. Pop? Rock? R&B? Hip Hop? EDM? All of this can be traced back to Jazz. New Orleans is both the birthplace, and still remains as a vital source of Jazz music today. It’s also the arguable birthplace of R&B as well, which gave way to Rock and Roll. Now, while New Orleans may not have been involved in the creation of hip hop, it does have a distinct hip hop sound of its own (see: Juvenile, early Lil’ Wayne, Master P), in addition to Bounce music, a sort of hip hop/electronic hybrid genre (see: Big Freedia, or “Formation” by Beyonce). Because of this, just like with nightlife, New Orleans offers a little bit of something for everyone in regards to music. Be it Jazz, Blues, Rock, R&B, Hip Hop, the aforementioned Bounce, Latin (I mean, a lot of early Jazz and R&B did borrow from Cuban music conventions so), Funk, or even Zydeco, if you want it, New Orleans has it. They probably just put their own little spin on it, is all. 

Reason number five: The surroundings. 

New Orleans has a location that’s perfect for side trips. You can take a bus to historical plantations like Myrtles and Oak Alley. Explore the gator-infested bayous. Check out Cajun Country. Ride a steamboat down the Mississippi. Towns like Lafayette, New Iberia and Baton Rouge with interesting stories of their own. And several other options for those who feel adventurous and wish to venture out of the city. 

My Dream Itinerary:

Sights: The French Quarter, Bourbon Street, Jackson Square, The Garden District, Congo Square, Treme, St. Louis Cemetery #1, St. Louis Cathedral and City Park. 

Attractions: The Cabildo, The Presbytere, Beauregard-Keyes House, 1850 House, Backstreet Museum, Pharmacy Museum, Old Ursuline Convent, Histroic New Orleans Collection, Old U.S. Mint, Mardi Gras World, Lower Ninth Ward Museum, Civil War Museum and The Voodoo Museum

Dining: Cafe du Monde for Beignets and Cafe au Lait, ACME Oyster House for Seafood dishes, Muriel’s, Pierre Masperos, Praline Connection or the Gumbo Shop for the iconic Creole dishes, Central Grocery for the Muffuletta, Johnny’s Po’Boys for Po’Boy sandwiches and Hansen’s or Piety for Snowballs. 

Nightlife: Mostly Bourbon Street and the rest of the French Quarter, although Frenchmen St. in Faubourg Marigny and the Warehouse District also catch my interest.

Shopping: The French Market, Riverwalk Marketplace and Magazine Street in Uptown/The Garden District.

Experiences: Ghost Tours, Cemetery Tours, Voodoo shops, Psychic shops and riding the streetcars and ferries.

Exploration: The French Quarter, Faubourg Marigny, Treme, The CBD, Warehouse District, Uptown and The Garden District.

Sidetrips: A bus trip to either Oak Alley, San Francisco or Myrtles plantation(s), Avery Island and Lafayette/Cajun Country. Maybe the bayou tour too if I can suck up the phobias I have of insects, gators and potentially encountering the types of people you see in movies like Deliverance. 

Oh New Orleans. How I long for the day where I can walk your streets.