#didnt even have a single town or city to explore!!

[shadowiie]

What are your favorite and least favorite Sonic games in your current tastes?

I haven't played every game yet, however my current favorites amongst those I've played are SA1, SATSR, 06, and Chronicles :)

I don't have a least favorite among those I've played tbh. Each one is fun in their own way.

I will say though that I get very easily burnt out by Sonic games that do level after level without giving any time to breathe. SA2 and Rush, while I do enjoy playing them, I can only play in small doses every time because the levels just keep coming and they don't stop coming 😩

I tend to prefer the games with hub worlds the most, as not only does that fix the burnout problem by giving you a place to chill in between levels, but also because I'm a gamer who loves to explore. My favorite part about games is immersing myself into a world and getting incredibly fascinated by pointless details!!

[cephalomon]

after playing pkm violet twice and then replaying pkm platinum and heart gold , i noticed some things about pkm violet that i hope dont become trends for the rest of the series.

of course, this is all my personal opinion so dont take everything super heavily. i loved playing through pokemon violet, enough to play it a second time IMMEDIATELY after i finished it. but that doesnt mean i dont have complaints.

also apologies if my thoughts are a bit scattered

the actual region of paldea feels... incredibly empty. i understand the concept of the game, i understand that the world is supposed to be open and full of exploration! but ... what all exactly is there to explore?

there are a couple of scenic locations, but overall, i never felt like i was really exploring anything or seeing anything worthwhile. and i felt very ... lonely most of the time. there are no homes between cities, no man made structures or facilities, theres just nothing. each city in paldea feels like a small remain of civilization in an otherwise bare landscape, which is a complete contrast to previous games, where routes had homes or other buildings on them for you to interact with. even the caves and what not in paldea didnt really feel worthwhile to explore (especially since a lot of them felt less like cool caves to explore and more like hallways).

i think something that magnifies this problem is the over abundance of items and TMs in the overworld. theres a shiny something or other on the floor all the time, which i think really undercut the desire to explore every corner of paldea.

in older games, exploring a route or cave thoroughly usually meant great training opportunities and some sort of reward, like a few items along the way and MAYBE a TM. but paldea is LITTERED with random items EVERYWHERE, and TMs are not difficult to come by. theres no reason to really explore caves or routes, because they're small and theres nothing there you cant find everywhere else. and you will exhaust yourself trying to pick up Every Single Item you see.

Items in general are a bit overabundant in paldea. although it was convenient, i dont like that we can just buy so many battle items during the main storyline. i really enjoyed looking for these items, finding them by chance, or talking to NPCs to be gifted them. and as far as i can tell? the NPCs in paldea do ... very little. it adds an extra layer of loneliness to the world when all the NPCs are there to do is give the impression of a lived in world.

its always been a joke in the community, but i really miss being able to explore at least some of the houses in each town. but the homes in paldea are just there to, again, give the impression of a lived in world. there is Nothing to explore, No One to talk to, no incentives to be interested in these towns or these people!

the fact that the free roam pokemon game, the one that shouldve been full of exploration opportunities and life, feels so dull so often is really ironic to me. i do think this is definitely partially because of the time constraints the games were made on, but that doesnt make the issue ignore-able. the region is overabundant in all the wrong ways, and then completely lifeless in others.

i think pokemon has the potential to tell extremely rich stories, and the pokemon world is so interesting. theres really no excuse for paldea to feel so dull. most of the other regions feel genuinely lived in, even in those long stretches of forest or desert there is something significant to be seen or explored.

if the future of free roam pokemon is sparse towns with miles of dull, lifeless land in between them... well i think thats really unfortunate.

it was a problem in swsh too; the wild "free-roam" areas were so dull to me. there has to be a way to improve these problems. adding more structures that arent just ruins, making little towns in the middle or on the outskirts of long routes... something, anything. and i think that reeling in the amount of items in the overworld, and making some items scarce again, would really bring back some of the exploration aspects that were lost in Scarlet/Violet.

i also think that adding some smaller stories to the world, side quests and what not, would be really good. the big storylines in scarlet and violet were good (i think), but having some side quests in each town or in some of the routes wouldve been really cool!

and also if theyre gonna do food minigames can they make them like. function properly. because that sandwich minigame is a nightmare.

I think thats all i have to say. Again, i know that time constraints probably limited the team a lot. and i think that it's REALLY obvious that the development team had bigger plans for this game that they just couldnt flesh out; the difference between a game made by people who cared about it and a game made by people who didnt is Palpable.

i hope that generation 10 (WHEW. TEN.) or whatever comes next for the series fixes some of these problems. im excited to see whats in store for the DLC!

if youve read this far, lmk if you have any thoughts about any of this or if theres some stuff i missed in the game that i should go back and check out! i love talking about pokemon, id be happy to discuss anything pokemon related with other fans

[madzie-sims]

'𝘉𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘔𝘦' legacy challenge

If anyone is anything like me, I'm always looking for a new Legacy challenge before I can even get to gen 3 of the one im already on. So, I decided to create my own: the 'Bite Me' legacy challenge. To explain, all gens of this challenge are based on breeds of cats and dogs that actually exist in the game. That being said, I don't think you actually need Cats and Dogs to complete this (i will list what you need for this though, but you can always forget about a step, or replace a certain goal/trait/skill ect if you dont have said pack)

I might post some pics from my own gameplay of this if I get around to it 😘

‐--------‐------------------------------------------------------------------

- The gender of the heirs dont matter, it can be any

- If you want, you can have the same pet per gen as the gen is based off of

- You need to complete the aspiration, career, skille, and goals of the gen (unless stated otherwise)

-‐--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Packs:

High School Years, Parenthood, Snowy Escape, Get Together, Growing Together, Get Famous, City Living, Get to Work, Strangerville, Tiny living, Island Living, Spa Day

-‐--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Gen 1: Golden Retriever

All your life, everyone always told you to 'relax' or 'calm down', but how can you when life's just so great? People to meet, parties to be had, places to see. But then you meet your soulmate, who can finally convince you to settle down. Slightly. Much to everyone around you's surprise (and your own) you're an amazing parent and spouse. P.S, your secret is balancing super parent/super athlete by day, mixologist by night.

Aspiration: Party Animal and Super Parent*

Traits: Party Animal, Outgoing, Family Oriented

Career: Athlete

Skills: Mixology, Parenting, Charisma

- Have 4 children

- Be good friends with all your children

- Obtain the people person lifestyle

- Create a group during early YA life, and have gatherings at bars, lounges, or nightclubs

- If Goofball, Self-Assured, Active, Loyal, Insider or Ambitious come up as a self discovery moment, you can accept them, but do not replace any of the original traits

- Quit the Athlete career (even if not completed) once the fourth child is born to become a stay at home parent

*dont have to complete Super Parent aspiration

Gen 2: Tabby

Like parent, like child. You're energetic, and love to move around and party, but unlike your parent, you never really learnt to calm down. You never really travelled anywhere as a kid, but you always heard stories of the adventures you parent got into when they were younger. Is it so bad that you want that? You want to experiment and explore. So it's no surprise that with your love to experiment, you're a scientist. It's one of the only things in your life that stays the same and can knock you out of your noncommittal ways. While saying that, you still love your child, and would do anything for them. Except maybe stay in the same place.

Aspiration: City Native (level 2), The Curator (level 2), one more aspiration of your choosing (level 2)

Traits: Noncommittal, Erratic, Childish

Career: Scientist

Skills: Logic, Charisma, Mischief

- Only have 1 child

- Never marry, youre too noncommittal for that

- Live in at least 5 different worlds throughout your life

- Have vactions in all of the holiday worlds

- Obtain the Frequent Traveller lifestyle

- Also obtain the Single and Loving It lifestyle

Gen 3: Dalmatian

Ever since you were a kid, you always had to keep an eye on your parent, just to make sure they didnt blow up your house (or apartment) with one of their crazy experiments. That carried through your life, even after moving out. You always kept an eye on everything and everyone, making sure they dont do anything out of the ordinary. So, when you hear there's some strange happenings in a town called Strangerville, how can you do anything but try and figure out the mystery. And as it turns out, you find the love of your life in such a strange town.

Aspiration: Strangerville Mystery

Traits: Paranoid, Perfectionist, Genius

Career: Military (Officer branch)

Skills: Fitness, Logic, Handiness

- Achieve an A in elementary school and High School

- Once you move out, only live in one world for the rest of your life

- Complete the Strangerville mystery

- Have 2 children

- Dont have many friends, other than your S/O and children

- Obtain the Close Knit lifestyle

- If Perfectionist or Proper pop up as a self discovery moment, you can accept them

Gen 4: Racoon

Your parents were so hard on you when you were younger to get good grades and become the best you can be, but you never really had the.. motivation to do any of that. What's the point? Life's so short, you may as well enjoy it. But hey, at least you have your good ol sibling to keep you company and on your feet every once in a while. Well, on your feet other than visiting your neighbours houses and 'borrowing' some of their nicer stuff. Oh, your sibling also helps you to take care of you kid that happened on a night they convinced you to come out on.

Aspiration: Any, you never complete it anyway

Traits: Slob, Lazy, Kleptomaniac

Career: None, you make money by stealing things

Skills: Mischief, Charisma

- Have only 1 child

- Live with your sibling for all of your lives

- Make money by stealing, and the occasional odd job if you dont have enough money considering your sibling doesnt have enough time to work with taking care of your child, and if they have any children themselves

- If Freegan comes up as a self discovery moment, you can accept it

- Obtain the sedentary lifestyle

Gen 5: Husky

Watching your parent be so sedentary made you crazy as a kid. You've always been so active and hyper, you always wondered if you were biologically your parent's child. Sports were always your priority growing up, all the way into your adult life. And then of course you had to chose a career that had that same adrenaline rush that you need, so it made sense to become a secret agent. You finally found the love of your life while doing one of the many sports you love.

Aspiration: Extreme Sports Enthusiast

Traits: Adventurous, Active, Ambitious

Career: Secret Agent (Diamond Agent)

Skills: Fitness, Rock Climbing, Skiing, Snowboarding

- Have at least 1 child

- Get to the top of mount Komorebi

- If Self Assured comes up as a self discovery moment, accept it

- Obtain the Adrenaline Junkie lifestyle

- Also obtain the Energetic lifestyle

- Own every piece of workout equipment

Gen 6: Sphynx

While your parents were doing all their extreme sports, you were inside, playing guitar and writing songs. That was you all throughout your life; staying inside and writing music while your friends went out and did other things, but one day you'd be famous. You knew it.

Aspiration: Musical Genius

Traits: Creative, Loner, Music Lover

Career: Entertainer (Musican)

Skills: Singing, Guitar, at least level 8 two other instruments

- Never become famous

- Live in a Tiny Home (any tier)

- If Unflirty or Overachiever come up as a self discovery moment, you can accept

- Adopt one child

- Never marry or enter a serious/long term relationship

- Obtain the Indoorsy lifestyle

- Also obtain the Single and Loving it lifestyle

Gen 7: Chihuahua

You watched your parent grow old, still trying to hold onto the hope that they'd become famous, but even you knew that they never would, so you decided you'd become famous instead. And well, considering you lied to your parent for your entire life, hyping them up and saying they'd become famous one day, you thought acting was perfect for you. Fast forward a few years, you're on an acting gig, and you meet a hot actor/actress, and decide, why not? You get married, and are a perfect, famous, and rich family with your 2 children. Well, until an affair occurs. Thankfully, it doesn't tear your marriage apart (and your public image doesn't get tarnished, phew).

Aspiration: World Famous Celebrity

Traits: Self Absorbed, Snob, High Maintenance

Career: Actor

Skills: Acting, Charisma

- Become a 5 star celebrity

- Marry another celebrity (you can cheat for this; if you find a townie you find attractive, you can just cheat them to be famous)

- Have a butler (or a maid, whoever can work as a service)

- Have 2 children with your spouse

- Either you or your spouse (whoever can get pregnant) has an affair with the butler

- Make sure the illegitimate child looks different to you or your spouse and similar to the butler (for example different hair/eye colour to you or spouse and same as butler)

- Have a good relationship with the children you have with your spouse, and a bad one with the illegitimate child

- If Romantic comes up as a self discovery moment, you can accept

- Obtain the Workaholic lifestyle

Gen 8: Lykoi

You always knew you were different to your siblings. Whether it be that you look different, or how your parents treat you. It definitely wasn't a coincidence how different you look to your parents and how similar you look to the family butler. So, as soon as you became an adult, you moved out and away from your family. You tried in life. You really did. But you practically gave up on having a good life when you knew that you're the result of an affair, so, you got roped into a life of crime. It wasnt your fault (at least that's what you told yourself). It wasn't your fault that the world is a horrible place. One thing you didnt plan was having a child yourself. And while you never wanted a kid, you didnt want to hate them like your parents hated you.

Aspiration: Public Enemy

Traits: Mean, Evil, Gloomy

Career: Criminal

Skills: Mischief, (level 5) Charisma, (level 5) Fitness

- Never have a lot of money

- Have 1 child

- Never get married or be in a relationship

- Have a good relationship with your child

- If Kleptomaniac comes up as a self discovery moment, you can accept it

Gen 9: German Shepard

While you grew up loving your parent and they loved you, you always knew what they were doing wasn't right. So, as much as you hated to do it, you handed them into the police, then they asked you to join them, which you did. And then you met the love of your life in your workplace, who helped you to overcome the feelings of guilt of turning in your parent, and gave you wonderful children. Well, until they died a horrible death, and you were left alone.

Aspiration: Neighbourhood Confidante

Traits: Good, Active, Overachiever

Career: Detective

Skills: Charisma, Fitness, Parenting

- Have at least 2 children

-"Turn in" your parent (have your relationship become in the negatives, or delete your relationship with them completely(from cheats))

- Marry someone you work with

- Have them die a tragic death (electrocution ect)

- Become reclusive after their death; they helped you overcome your guilt, you relied on them

- Replace active with gloomy after your spouses death (cheat)

- Obtain the Energetic lifestyle

- Lose the Energetic lifestyle after your spouse dies and obtain the sedentary lifestyle

- Quit your job as a detiective after your spouse dies

Gen 10: Maine Coon

You've loved water since an early age (probably evoked by your parent's tears) (you also love a good joke), so what better place to move to than Sulani? You were never really looking for anything but water when you moved to Sulani, but you ended up falling in love with the environment and the animals. Oh, and the love of your life. P.S, you may or may not become a mermaid/merman.

Aspiration: Joke Star

Traits: Goofball, Child of the Ocean, Loves Outdoors

Career: Conservationist

Skills: Comedy, Fishing

- Move to Sulani when you move out of home

- Live near the water

- You can have children if you want, but you dont have to

- Join the entertainment career for a few sim days until you quit and join the Conservation career

- Get married to a Sulani local

- Become a mermaid/merman

[husbandograveyard]

The chase - Zoro x Reader

One Piece of summer challenge - week 2

Henlo everyone! This is part of the challenge hosted by @doctorgerth​ & @laws-yellow-submarine​ 

I’m attempting all 11 weeks, 11 different prompts and 11 different characters! Enjoy! lets pretend i didnt wait all week till it was monday so i could post UwU week 3 and 4 are almost ready too 🙈

Prompt: Seagulls - Character: Zoro - Word count: 1.5k 

2nd person. Female reader. No other warnings. Inspired by this tweet. 

The Sunny was docked on a nice island and Nami had used her trustworthy straws to decide who was going to do what in terms of chores. Sanji volunteered to get food supplies, which everyone approved of, and the straws decided Luffy and Chopper would come along. Franky, Brook and Robin were appointed to stay and watch the Sunny, which meant Zoro, Nami, Usopp and you could explore the island a little. You cheered inwardly, this meant you could have an actual date with Zoro that wasn’t ‘let’s take a nap together and cuddle’, however nice those moments were, you wanted to actually DO something together. 

The moment you left the Ship, Nami was on her way to the stores, dragging a complaining Usopp behind her, someone had to carry her shopping bags after all. You just grabbed your green haired boyfriend by the hand, knowing that if you didn’t do so, he’d wander off alone and the date would be ruined, and made your way towards the center of the village, seeing if there were some nice things for the two of you to do or see. 

Luck seemed to be on your side, as there was an entire summer market set up, full of handmade artisan goods as well as plenty of food stalls with local dishes. Now Zoro wasn’t as big a glutton as your captain, but he definitely wouldn’t say no to some snacks, especially not after he spotted a stand with local liquors to accompany your food. 

A plan was quickly made: you both got around all the food stalls, taking small portions of all the things that seemed tasty, which was nearly all of them, and then some bottles of liquor you had never tried before. Both your arms full of bags, you made your way to the beach, deciding that a romantic picnic under the sun would be a good idea for the both of you. 

The beach was empty, even though it was nearly perfect weather. The sun stood high in the sky, shining brightly, but not too harshly, and the water was blue and clean. The beach itself had very soft, nearly white sand, that wasn’t too hot, at least, that was if you took a spot that was in the shade. Seagulls were circling above the beach and the ships that were docked a little far away, with some of the birds walking on the beach in search for some lost food. It seemed like most people were at the market, making it easy for you to find a secluded spot in the shade, where you would be able to eat, share some kisses, drinks and cuddles. 

The two of you sat down, tasting the food, playfully feeding each other, testing some of the liquor and deciding that your absolute favorite of the local snacks were some kind of tiny dough balls, filled with various savory fillings. Every single one of them was an adventure, because the fillings were a mystery and Zoro and you decided to keep your favorite out of all the drinks together with these dough balls for last, just so you could slowly enjoy them to the fullest. 

A little over an hour later, nearly all snacks were gone so you grabbed the leftover dough balls, nudging your green haired boyfriend.

“Okay, open up” 

He rolled his eyes, as he always did when you ordered him around, but complied nonetheless. You were about to feed him one of the snacks, when a seagull suddenly dove down, almost like a hawk, and picked the snack right out of your hand. 

“Hey! Stupid Chicken! Give that back!” 

Zoro could only snicker as you yelled at the seagull, now flying away with the dough ball in its beak,and you looked back at him, pouting. 

“I’m sorry”

��don’t be sorry, there’s still plenty of the things. The stupid bird can have one”

You giggled softly, grabbing another dough ball and tried feeding it to Zoro. 

Again, a seagull dove down, imitating the previous one, snatching the delicious ball out of your hands again, this time followed by a bunch of others, stealing all the leftover snacks you had. Zoro angrily swatted at the annoying birds, while you yelped out in surprise, getting a few scratches from some overeager beaks and claws. 

It was all over in a few seconds, and the moment the chaos ebbed away, the both of you noticed one seagull a few metres away from where you were sitting, still shocked from what just had happened. The seagull was holding one of the dough balls in its beak, almost as if it were taunting you. The relaxed attitude Zoro had only a couple of minutes ago was now completely gone as he gritted his teeth in anger, all his chagrin aimed at the bird who was still staring at the two of you, as if it was waiting to see what you were going to do. 

Zoro wasn’t one for elaborate dates, but man, he was having some relaxed fun with his girlfriend, without the constant noise of the crew around, and he’d be lying if he didn’t say that he didn’t enjoy it. He’d be damned if he let some stupid birds ruin the day, and instead of shooing away the bird,like any reasonable person would do, his instincts were faster than his brain, and he charged at it. 

The seagull was a little faster, flying away, but instead of flying to the sea, it made way for the village, and Zoro just ran after it. 

You blinked. Once, twice, before you realized what just happened. Zoro, your boyfriend whose inner compass was basically a straw duct taped onto a stale cookie, ran into a city you’ve only been too once before about 2 hours ago, and he was all by himself. He was going to get so lost. You gathered your stuff and started to run in the general direction of where he had gone off to, hoping you’d spot his green hair among the crowd soon. 

The market was still ongoing, the crowds making it harder for you to quickly make your way through the streets. No sign of your boyfriend either. You crossed the main town square, past the market, and tried some different streets, but to no avail. 

You were about to give up when you suddenly heard “got you, you stupid feathered bastard. This shall learn you to ruin my date. Maybe I’ll give you to that perverted cook, he’ll make some nice chicken nuggets out of you”. You looked up, the sound came from above, and lo and behold, there was your boyfriend, standing on top of a roof, holding a very confused seagull in two hands. The bird was not even struggling, probably wondering how it was even possible that a human plucked him out of the air. 

“Zoro?! How did you get up there?” Zoro seemed just as surprised to see and hear you as you had been to spot him. He jumped down from the roof, right in front of you, still holding the bird, who was now looking at you. 

“I got the bastard that ruined our date”.

He held up the seagull proudly for you to see. You just giggled in response. 

“What are you gonna do with him? He looks confused... too skinny to make ‘chicken nuggets’ out of as well”

Zoro looked at you a little embarrassedly before grinning. 

“Well.. I did show him”

“Yes babe, you showed a poor seagull that you were stronger” 

At this point you were full on laughing. With how strong and bad ass your lover was, you sometimes forgot he could also be a complete dork. And an impulsive one at that. 

“I think he has learned his lesson”, you said, gesturing at the bird. 

“yeah...”. Zoro let go of the seagull and it flew away immediately, determined to get away from these strange, strong humans. 

“Let’s get back to the ship, we were only meant to go out for a little while and I don’t want anyone to get worried about us.” 

Zoro nodded in agreement and took your hand. He didn’t make a move though, waiting for you to lead the way as you always did whenever you two were in unknown terrain. If he lead the way, you wouldn’t be back at the sunny before nightfall. There was only one little problem. With you frantically looking for him, you had not paid attention to which streets you wandered into at all. 

“I have no idea where we are”, you admitted, looking around to see if there was any spot you recognized from earlier. 

“No worries, then I’ll lead the way”, Zoro said confidently before he started walking. Only 2 thoughts went through your head at that moment: Shit. It was gonna take a while to get back. And two, more quality time. Thank you stupid chicken. You softly squeezed his hand as you walked along with a smile on your face. Worst case, the crew would come look for the two of you. Until then, you’d enjoy your date for just a little while longer. 

[smalltragedy]

* brigette lundy-paine, nonbinary + they/them | you know kirby wormwood, right? they’re twenty five, and they’ve lived in irving for, like, two weeks? well, their spotify wrapped says they listened to ring ring by mika like, a million times this year, which makes sense ‘cause they’ve got that whole balancing acts at perilous heights destined to entertain, jack of all trades master of none, refusal to accept the mortal world as it is thing going on. i just checked and their birthday is december 1st, so they’re a sagittarius, which is unsurprising, all things considered. ( james, 21, est, they/them )

hllo welcome 2 my third character i love them a lot theyre a. remake of an older oc of mine so this is fun <3 sdfhk anyways once again i am asking u. pleathe like if u wld like to plot.

ARSON TW

mini playlist.

wizard ;; lucas lex / ring ring ;; mika / crows ;; clues / sunrise sunset ;; bright eyes / la llorona ;; beirut / no children ;; the mountain goats / might be love ;; the pesky snakes / sax in the city ;; let’s eat grandma.

statistics.

full name: kirby wormwood (currently).

nickname(s): magpie.

birthday: december 1st, 1995.

zodiac: sagittarius sun, aries moon, libra ascending.

mbti & temperament: estp & improvisor / sanguine.

label: the hellion.

hometown: abilene, texas.

sexuality: bisexual.

pinterest.

biography.

alright lets get right into it. kirby ws switched at birth. they cld’ve hd a very like. picket fence trampoline in the backyard. 4 columns cos its texas n it feels right. bt instead they were chosen <3 somewhat unintentionally <3 by dorothea n fawley wormwood, two traveling circus workers who emergency stopped in abilene.

n u know what. growing up in st. pierre’s traveling circus ws kinda fkn awesome? like ok. besides the fact tht they were homeschooled fr like evr n there were a sparing amt of children 2 socialize with? it ws p cool idk.

it ws kinda like everybody ws their parent n also not at all bc they were all very casual. bt they grew up learning hw 2 maintain the circus (n also like. normal school thingz bt i dnt think kirby hs ever cared abt school like ever) n whenever they hd a show kirby wld facepaint or handle tickets until they were old enough 2 start learning like. the Real fun things. 

fawley hd a lot of his own weird odd little like superstitions n beliefs n practically raised kirby on them like n they dnt rly <3 make a lot of sense. lots of made up philosophy. very much like. nothing defines u. u cn b anything or anyone. n kirby ws like ok cool. n then developed a god complex.

names didnt rly stick 2 kirby when they were a kid like. nothing satisfied them or felt worthy fr them or simply they just. got tired of a name. this isnt related 2 them being nonbinary BUT it did help ease some of the. pressure of exploring gender identity. theyve only hd one name tht stuck genuinely n tht ws magpie n. thts bc everybody hd their own bird name n it felt very. like community. like a role. usually the names they used during performances bt. anyways KFHDSGLKKHL

theyre Kirby bt answers 2 most. neutral nouns.

honestly. they were also a rascal as a youth. ws like. oh. i learned sleight of hand? cool. time 2 pick pockets. wld throw popcorn into the hair of other kids n b like. omggg what was that ... became a mime fr a year. it ws a rigorous training.

now a master of charades. bt anyways. they traveled pretty much weekly, maybe bimonthly n sometimes just pure monthly. there wsn’t an off season fr them, when the colder months came they’d travel south and when summer rolled in they’d go right back up again. it ws easy to switch personas almost daily n just. never reveal ur true self. totally not saying tht’s what kirby did bt thts what they did. it nvr made them lose sight of themselves it ws more like. acting. tricking ppl fr fun. 

anyways all good things come 2 an end and when kirby ws like. 18. they were like hey ur old enough that we cn trust u with fire. we think. n they started 2 learn fire-throwing n like. they were ok at it bt lessons were painfully slow n kirby ws like. i wld b so good at this if i cld do it all the time. n it ws like. hey kirby, chill. u already know a lot of things.

arson tw // u see where this is going. tents are kind of flammable. kirby ws unsupervised. bad decisions all around. circus is aflame. all the animals n all the circus workers got out fine bt like. st. pierre’s ws efficiently out of business. arson end of tw //

n kirby fkn booked it they just. ran. pure fear. nvr looked back which is like super traitorous of them 2 do bt. sometimes they meet up in secret like. sunglasses n all at a coffee shop. not all of them just like. fawley or someone else. theyre like. ur family u cld burn down a thousand circuses n we’d still love u. n kirby is like yeah i know bt i’ve rly committed to the bit now. n they dnt reunite.

anyways. since then kirby hs just been. a traveler. nvr rly staying anywhere fr super long n driving around in their shitty little van tht’d been used as housing back at st. pierre’s.

they’re in irving n theyve been there fr almost. suspiciously long. compared 2 their average stays. when asked abt what they do or why theyre there theyll just. give a vague answer or spin a long tale tht usually involves a burning circus.

theyre staying at uh. abernathy creek rn bc of course they r they fit in so naturally. welcomed with wide arms. might b soul searching rn might b on the hunt fr their birth parents might b just vibing ... whose to say ..

personality & facts.

has a Big personality tht attracts others fr better or fr worse. either super likeable or the most despicable person on the earth. no in betweens. n honestly tht is a talent in itself

has no off button is constantly. spinning tales or performing a dance or getting kicked out of bars fr whatever nonsense reason. 

honestly they prob think tht nothing bad cn ever happen to them even tho like. bad has literally happened 2 them before? love the optimism here. KLFGDLKFSDHGF

acts a bit like u’ve known them fr ur entire life they r oddly warm in tht way bt they themself r so distant tht its like. oh nice ok ...

both honest n yet dishonest like. yes they will hustle u out of ur money bt they will also tell u their opinion straight up. 

probably smart bt they r just like. prime thembo? flowy pirate shirts n cropped tshirts n pants tht r never tight. dresses like they do still work n live at a circus. 

likes 2 instigate things between others n then stand back n just watch it happen while taking like zero accountability. loves a good small town drama. avid milf hunter.

does not hv any faith in the american healthcare system at all n will straight up refuse 2 go 2 a hospital if they get hurt theyre like. i cn do it myself im like practically a professional. they r not a professional. 

bt does hv like. a thing abt apples. fkn loves them. 

uuuhhh cn play instruments bt all very badly. only knows one (1) song tht isnt made up n its wonderwall by oasis. they play it at parties. they expect fr tomatoes to b thrown at them at any given time.

very nimble. agile. granted its frm. learning circus tricks frm a baby age bt they hv impeccable balance n cn sneak up behind anyone without a single noise. uses this 2 their advantage in order 2 scare ppl. chaotic neutral.

loves having the attention on them i wont fk around here. will go to drastic measures to accomplish receiving it. my other muses r capable of taking things srsly bt kirby just. is not. they do not take a single thing srsly they barely even took. st. pierre’s destruction srsly n they caused it. maybe.

likes being able to just. be unknown so the amt tht ppl know abt them is actually very. little. i dnt think they even tell others their last name. sometimes not even their first. just hs so many aliases n nicknames. i know i didnt list any bt thts simply bc Any cld.

probably acts out to compensate fr the. underlying guilt they hv bt thts okay. i mean it isnt bt.

will probably show up if u call them fr help bt they lose interest in people p quickly n r always moving onto the next shiniest person. bt when they do they give them like. all their attention. if u wrong them in this period they will just. ignore it. bt when theyre bored then its like. u werent even friends at all? very odd.

perhaps it is commitment issues bt <3 ya. thts them. they do not claim favorite colors or movies or. most interests. probably bc theyre very very disconnected frm pop culture i think they learn everything thru twitter n google.

i wld not call them a good person bt i also dnt think theyre like evil horrible nasty awful they just. think abt themself a lot more than they think abt others n also refuses to face consequences ever and also .. anyways.

wanted plots.

part of the bird’s nest ;; honorary bird honorary circus member. u hv to be very well regarded by kirby to earn a bird name bt i feel like tht doesnt feel like a lot considering theyve only been here fr like. two weeks KDGDSHKGK. the catch is tht u cn only refer 2 them as magpie frm then forward. 

hand in unlovable hand ;; theres comfort in being terrible ppl together n it may not last bt it doesnt hv to anyways. its just them n the like. vibes. n knowing tht its smth thts nvr gna b long term. cld b anything ur character just hs to be also a little evil. KHDSGFDS

one jester ... wht abt ... TWO jesters .. ;; hoo boy. ooh man. unstoppable force and immovable object combine forces n just become. the worst of the worst. ultimate jokesters. epic pranksters. absolute clowns. chaotic energy unmatched. always nonsense. 

n also ;; ppl they’ve stolen frm, ppl who hv caught them in that act, ppl who’ve maybe seen them in the circus a very long time ago, Found Family Trope, real family shenanigans, kirby just asking everybody if theyre their dad., mortal enemies if they see each other its an instant duel 2 the death, etc.

[shantanu-b]

Trek to Dudhsagar Falls in Monsoons

‘I had a stone in my hand and I was ready for any possible strike on me or my brother. We still had 3 kms to cover barefoot on the railway track with pitch black dark night, glittering fireflies and creatures surrounding us.’

We had our bags packed and we were ready for the most exciting trip of our lives- ‘GOA’. I’ve been to this wonderful coastal state a couple of times before, but this time I was excited for the wonderful ‘Doodhsagar Trek’. Exploring the falls in the peak season of monsoon was thrilling. Heard a lot about it, saw its mesmerizing beauty in the movies and invested numerous hours researching about the same. I was ready for it and I knew it: this will be a trip of a lifetime. We reached Goa and after checking-in we planned our trek the very next day. We prepared ourselves for 25km walk, which was new to us. We had a lot of questions in mind and there were no answers to them. We inquired about Doodhsagar from almost everyone we met during our journey but all had a single answer, “Its closed during monsoon”. The question in front of us was should we plan something else, drop the plan or shall we go and see ourselves if it’s really closed. We decided to give it a try. It was a 3 hour drive from our hotel (Calangute) to Collem. I memorized the map, gathered all the essentials and started on our rented Activa towards Collem. Goa does’nt fall short of impressing you with its scenic natural beauty. You want to photograph every landscape you see. The curvy wet roads keep on testing your driving skills.

As we were moving from Calangute to Collem and left the main city behind, the real beauty of Goa started emerging. The Wine shops started vanishing and the trees, local people & mountains started appearing more and embraced us in. The locals were innocent, the roads were tricky and the air was moist. Many a times we thought that we’re approaching a wrong destination coz of the small roads and almost nil traffic.

Small water streams were flowing from the corners of the roads, as if accompanying us towards the destination. We took a lot of wrong turns because we missed the small signboards. After 3 hours of our Activa ride we reached our destination. The final approach road to Collem was small and had lots of turns with no proper sign-board. We decided to have lunch once we reach Collem. So we did’nt eat and kept on driving till Collem to save some daylight for us. Once we reached the entry point of Collem village a bunch of local guides approached us and they knew by looking at our rented Activa that we came there for the famous ‘Doodhsagar Trek’. As we became sure of reaching the right destination, heavy rains welcomed us and vanished within minutes. It seemed that this small town did’nt have any proper snacks shops or restaurants and the best option available for lunch was Wada-pav. We ate, booked our guide (INR 500/person), packed some chips, water bottles and started on our journey.

Our guide asked us to pay INR 50/person for the life jacket which he said is mandatory to buy and then we started with the other 3 people in the group. Two of them were from Bengal and one was from Kerala. We approached the railway tracks going towards the fall through a small garden. The garden had elephants having their meal and we tried to capture everything we saw. Little we knew that this will turn out of great help at the end of our journey. As we started walking slowly on the railway tracks, we clicked photos, cracked jokes and we got ourselves far behind from our guide and group. We met a few groups returning from the fall and asked them how far it is. ‘’Bohot dur hai bhai, 15 kms subeh se nikle hai police bhi hai udhar’’ one of them said. We suddenly felt like reuniting with our group and paced up to meet them again. Then at one point our guide took us away from the railway track and started walking on the jungle route. The tracks we followed in the jungle were the ones used for jungle safari by local govt. We crossed various water streams, big and small on our route. Some were easy to cross while others were hard. We often felt like Bear Grylls from ‘Man vs Wild’ following trails and crossing streams. We were gaining altitude, through the dense forest without any clue of the route. All we had were visuals of the person climbing in front of us. We were moving in a line, one after the other. By any means if we got slow, there was a risk of getting lost and missing the trail. After climbing through the dense forest for half an hour we were again on the jungle safari route and now we were able to hear loud noise of water streams flowing close to the mountain.

We knew it’s close but were unable to see it. We kept looking for it from every gap we got from the dense jungle but it was nowhere to be seen. All we had were loud roars of the flowing water. After walking for a good 10mins in anticipation finally we had our first visual treat. A small opening between the dense cover of leaves gave us a small visual of the mighty falls. It was huge, vivacious and was roaring loud. It appeared as if the water was falling in slow motion and as the name suggests it was all white like milk. The first sight of the falls opened our last energy boost. We started walking again with more speed and reached the official entry point of the Doodhsagar Fall. Our guide took us to the bottom of the fall, it was amazing to see the water falling from such a great height. We felt the power of the water and we were astonished by its aggression. Our guide told us not to get too near the water as the stones were very slippery and the current could’ve easily flowed us back to Goa for free. When the fall officially opens the tourists can take bath in the pond where water was falling. But in off season nobody dares to touch the water.

While looking up at the falls we noticed a bridge. Yes, the famous bridge from the movie ‘Chennai Express’. We were again not allowed to go there, as the policemen stops tourists from getting off the train on the bridge. Our guide denied going there, saying that it is forbidden for guides to take tourists there. We could see group of people exploring more colors of the fall from the top of the bridge. Three of us, the Kerala guy, me and my brother from the group of 5 decided to go further. Our guide took us to the railway tracks, we paid him, he took our life jackets back, explained us the directions to get back and said ‘Good Luck’.

We three started walking on the railway track, there were rough tunnels on the route. The tunnels were pouring water at us with their personal small streams. We were all wet, the raincoats didnt worked, there was water in the air, in the tunnel, on the tracks, from the mountains, everywhere as if someone is playing with rain. A goods train passed when we were in the tunnel. It was a long train, and that was the time i watched the tunnel more closely. Even the tunnel looked amazing to me, it seemed unfinished and rough but still beautiful.

Finally, we came out of our last tunnel and saw the mighty fall again from the bridge. It took us close to 4hr completing the trek, we started at 11 am and reached our destination at 3pm. There were tourists on the track, gang-men working on the tracks and water fall entertaining everybody by simply flowing. It was huge and mighty, now we were in the middle of the falls and we could see the top and bottom end. We clicked selfies, kept staring at it, discussed the stupid thoughts of jumping into it, discussed Chennai Express, imagined SRK and Deepika being at the same spot, discussed the idea of climbing the mountain, and visually tracked a path to get more close to the water. 

After spending close to half an hour we started walking towards the Doodhsagar station which was 1.5 km from the falls. The idea was to catch a goods/passenger train and reach back Collem. So, we started walking again to reach the Doodhsagar station. After coming out of a long tunnel, we saw the sign board of Doodhsagar station. 

The railway station looked isolated. Not a single person to ask for help. We looked for the Station Master and he was sleeping in his room. We asked him when the next train is scheduled, and he shocked us. ‘‘Tomorrow, morning’’, he said. We again asked him if there’re any goods train scheduled to arrive, and he denied. “No trains before 6 am tomorrow.” So, our plan of getting back on a goods train failed. May be the station master didn’t wanted us to board a goods train illegally, so we asked few more people and got the same answer from everyone. He advised to reach a station 4km down the line and spend the night at the Doodhsagar Devi temple and catch the train tomorrow. It sounded good to us, so we prepared ourselves and started back walking by the railway track towards that station. We reached the falls again and took our last selfies with it. We kept walking on the tracks and were now discussing the dangers of the jungle. Our walking speed increased when we came to know about Panther, Tigers and king cobras residing in the same jungle. The Kerala guy was ahead of us as he was walking way faster. We lost track of him after some time, he did’nt stopped for us and went ahead alone. After walking for 2 hours straight we reached this station called Sonalium, time was 6 pm and it started getting dark. Plan was to reach the ‘Dudhsagar Devi Temple’ and spend the night there. But at the station a railway employee told us the temple is closed u can’t go there and Collem is not far, its hardly one hour walk and u’ll reach there. This place is not safe to rest for the whole night better reach Collem, and there will be light till 7pm. We asked few more people, and everybody advised us to do the same. There was no energy left in our body. Our legs were shaking after the whole trek and we just wanted to rest. But the things were not in our favour, we had to walk, no option other that. We decided to cover the remaining ghat section with the energy we had left in us.

The railway employee explained the marking poles to us. These poles were installed on both side of the track every 100m with some numbers on them. We were explained those, the above number tells the number of kms we’ve covered and the number below it has the tenth part of km mentioned on it. So if its 152/1, on the left pole it means the junction you are walking from is 152 km & 100 m away from that point. Similar rules follow for the markings on the right side. We were told that we just have 4 kms more to cover so basically at pole no 156/1 we should reach our destination. 

We started walking, i was walking faster than Nikhil, and now I was facing trouble in walking on the uneven railway tracks. Sometimes the sleepers(cement blocks) were clear with no stones but majority of the times the sleepers were covered in stones, and it made walking tough. We did’nt had shoes for the whole trek, coz the shoes would have caused us more trouble in this season, so we were in our chappals. The on/off of rain was still going on, and the jungle noises were becoming louder. All we wanted was to reach the destination as soon as possible, we were trying to think random things so that we are not scared. Nikhil was humming tunes, and I was in my dreamy world, imagining things. I again started thinking like Bear Grylls and was continuously recalling his lessons. How to deal with a panther, a tiger or a python. The light was getting low, and now the Railway signal lights were becoming more brighter, the poles still read 155/1. Every 100m was taking more time & felt tough to cover. We were walking very slowly, we had no energy left in us, we were on the Vada Paav we ate in the morning and Nikhil lost our Chips bag somewhere between the approach trail. We were trying to cover our last km with more speed but were not able to walk. Pole no 156/1 arrived finally and with it came the darkness. Our destination didn’t come, we were supposed to reach Collem by now, but we haven’t. So where are we, did we took a wrong turn, is it far more to cover, what to do now?

I did a quick analysis we didn’t crossed any junctions in between, so we were on track. Only station after Sonaulium is Collem so may be the station is few kms more. With no energy in us, complete darkness and low hopes we started again. Pole number 156/6 is now the starting point and what is the ending point, do we know, no we don’t know. Pitch black darkness, no source of lights at all, we couldn’t see ourselves, not the track, not the poles, everything was black. Our phones had no network, and less battery. With battery percentage at 12% Nikhil started his flashlight. We kept walking slowly, chasing our destination, looking for lights, there were fireflies glittering around. It looked beautiful but we were very scared. I had stones in my hand, and I was ready to hit anything attacking me from behind. What if a Panther/tiger has got his eyes set on us, imagine the situation in the image without light. Nobody will know our last location and will our bodies be found?

Nikhil’s legs were getting heavy, he was not able to walk properly. There were different sounds coming from the jungle, the air was still wet and in that darkness we could’ve easily stepped on a python or cobra. Things were becoming risky. We reached pole number 161/1 and saw lights coming from a distance, we thought now we might get saved, may be the city arrived. We reached the light and it was the start of the city. We realized the value of light that day after being in darkness without hope for more than 3 hrs. We finally sat by the side of the track, smiled at each other and finally completed the craziest adventures. Was it worth it, yes it was totally. Were we alive? Yes! We were. We realized that we should have listened to our guide, and should have come back with him safely. Now we had 3 hrs of drive ahead of us to reach our hotel. Now the question was who will drive?

END

[shruggingcutely]

Random thoughts on 7th Dragon - the economy sucks

I assume nobody follows me for my video game opinions, but hey, I recently found out all the 7th Dragon games that weren’t released in the West (i.e. three out of four) had complete English fan translations, so I decided to go on a journey through the series. I’m about a third into the original 7th Dragon right now.

7th Dragon, if you don’t know, which isn’t too unlikely, is a series of RPGs that started on the NDS when the creator of Etrian Odyssey set out to take his modern take on Wizardry and apply it to the formula of Dragon Quest (which, incidentally, was also inspired by Wizardry – it was, as they say, big in Japan). The dragon apocalypse hits your fantasy world with adorable character designs by Mota, followed by two sequels on the PSP where you fight contemporary/sci-fi dragons not by Mota, and finally the last part of the series, on 3DS, gives you both settings and wraps up the whole thing and somehow was the only part that made it to the West.

The parallels to EO are immediately obvious, as you create a guild and a party of four, complete with front and back row, out of classes that seem a little familiar. The fighter has similar moves as EO’s landsknecht, same for the knight and EO’s protector, etc. Ailments are similar, but binds didn’t make it here. You quickly feel at home, even as it changes up the structure of the game and adds some new combat mechanics.

Fighting dragons is about as fun as you’d expect coming from EO… which is to say a lot, if you enjoyed EO at all. The game gives you so many tools to reduce incoming damage, heal damage, dish out damage, and one I find particularly interesting is the reactive skills. First off, there’s simple parry-style attacks. If your samurai uses the skill corresponding to the right kind of attack the enemy does, they will avoid all damage and retaliate. Then there are skills that trigger counter attacks for several rounds: let your mage put a shock veil on your knight and the enemy will eat lighting every time they dare attack them. Finally, the game’s React skills give you an additional turn when certain requirements are met in the next five rounds. Your healer gets a free turn when a party member dies? Yup. Your rogue gets one on successful counters? Yes. Your princess gets one if a party member gets a turn from their own React skill? Heck yeah. You can do some stuff that is both very gimmicky and very powerful with this, and supposedly the sequels explore these kinds of skills more, so I’m excited.

The game’s structure, however, introduces some problems, some of which are… odd. To accept a quest you have to find an NPC who has one, then accept it at the guild house’s quest board, talk to the NPC again to find out what they want, do the quest, talk to them again, and finally collect your reward at the quest board. These unnecessary steps seem just a little tedious at first, until you get to parts of the game where an NPC in a village without guild house requires your services and you get to go on a long trek to the next big city. And talking to the NPC is the only way to find out what they want, so you better not forget.

One of the game’s big conceits is its dragon counter. There are 666 dragons for you to kill, who, like EO’s infamous FOEs, are powerful enemies that walk around dungeons and join nearby battles, and they are bullies who spread deadly flowers all over the world. These flowers hurt your party as you walk over them and, to make matters worse, increase prices in stores significantly as they presumably cut off trade routes and endanger foragers. Add to this the high random encounter rate that interrupts you every couple of steps and slaying dragons to save humanity feels less like an adventure and more like a job. You do have to pitch your services to several governments. Even in your fantasy RPG, the gig economy.

As Aevee Bee says in her piece on pacing and level design in Bravely Default and Etrian Odyssey about the latter, “And you’re not bored yet, because you run out of resources before you can be, so you really, really want to take that step, explore more, see how much you can push yourself, even though maybe you shouldn’t…see how powerful it is to tempt players into making the wrong choice?” 7th Dragon likes you running out of resources very much. Every map of a dungeon contains 5+ dragons, who, unlike FOEs, aren’t always avoidable and often come in groups that will gang up on you. This means even if you immediately and successfully escape every single one of the numerous random encounters, you can’t take much more than a handful of dragons before you need to heal. Where do you heal? Towns, usually. And thus you make five trips in a row from the city to the dungeon to get rid of as many dragons as you can while getting interrupted by random encounters constantly. This is the first time in an RPG like this where I fled all the time and only fought the dragons I absolutely had to so I could progress. When your level is high enough they barely give any XP, either, which turns it into a high risk, low reward situation, so I kept them around for leveling weaker characters. It’s not like they’re bothering anyone like this anyway.

My starting party didn’t exactly help matters, though. I quickly decided to go with the princess and knight combo, because I love the princess’ role as a buffer with ailments and heals. This is the class I take in every EO game. The knight not only reduces damage to the party a lot, they also deal good damage and have a hard synergy combo with the princess: the skill that declares an enemy wanted does nothing at all, unless you have a knight with the skill that attacks wanted enemies for high damage. The princess’ downside as main healer is twofold: she has no skills to remove ailments from the party and as every EO player knows ailments are very deadly, and she has no revive. Both of these can be compensated for with items, but because these aren’t available early on, I decided to pick a healer as well, which let me focus less on making either of them a pure healer. Result: ehhh, they often end up with turns where they can do nothing of consequence, so I decided to train up either a samurai or a fighter to switch in. With my fourth party member being a mage with three elements, this party suddenly has very good damage. I still haven’t found revive items in shops, though, so my… fighter, most likely, still has some dragons to eat before that. We’ll see how that goes.

By the way, changing your party? Only possible in a single one of the towns. Hope you enjoy traveling.

[lizardinaustralia]

Week Two & Three

3/2/19 - 3/15/19

March 2nd: I spent the day in Sydney with Liv, Alyssa and Liv’s cousin Ana. We hung out at Ana’s dorm at the University of Sydney (which is way nicer than my dorm) and went to a glitter party. Later in the day we went into downtown for the Marti Gras parade but- get this- I didn’t see any of the parade. We got there way too late and there were hundreds of people all over. Even I wasn’t tall enough to see, unfortunately. 

It was still a really fun night and I enjoyed being able to travel to Sydney and have a few drinks and then take the train all the way back to less than half a mile walk from my dorm. It’s great. (pictures here)

March 4th: My first day of classes! Class was pretty fun. My first Australian lecture was the best. My lecturer (he made it a point to make sure we knew he wasnt a “professor”) was hilarious and he swore a lot so I was entertained.

Oddly, at the UOW they don’t have passing time. Like, if you schedule your classes back to back you have no chance of getting to your next class on time. My first lecture ended at 12:30 and my next one started at 12:30. Luckily, “lecturers” are pretty understanding of this and they don’t lock their doors after class starts like back at home.

Overall, I like Uni so far. Having it only 2 days a week is great because it lets me chose when I do my homework and study, making it easier to do it when I’m feeling good and motivated. Not having work helps with that too. Going back is going to be hard, I already know it!

March 5th: Russel and Nicole got to Sydney! In the morning I traveled to the city for a meeting with an agency and then headed over to meet them at their Airbnb! It was very exciting to see familiar faces. We hung out and waited for Jake to get into the city. 

When he got there I was really happy! I was already missing home, so they helped a lot. We took a ferry around Sydney Harbour to Manly Beach and had some weak drinks. My mojito tasted like lemonade. After that we decided not to go out in Manly beach anymore. We headed back to Sydney and all went out that night. It was fun just joking around with everyone! Here are some pictures from the day!

(keep reading for more)

March 6th: We had a fancy dinner! I can’t remember the name of the place, but we had a lot of great food. I had the best red wine I have ever tasted. Russel ordered the bottle, I really don’t know how much it costed but it definitely had to be really expensive. I had the fish special which was pretty good! That was definitly fun- and it was the first time I have had real food service since I’ve been here. Australia is more into counter-service than table service. Also, since they don’t tip, the service is really bad. Servers never come back to check on you becasue they don’t care if you order another drink; it doesn’t benefit them!

This trip will forever make me an advocate for tipped wages, without a doubt.

March 7th: We flew to Arlie and went to bed right after because traveling is tiring. Arlie Beach is amazing! Our Airbnb was on the bay and it was two story so the windows overlooked the water and there were mountains in the back. Wait- why describe it when I have a picture?!

March 8th: So this is the day I faced a crazy fear of mine. I WENT SCUBA DIVING!!! It was incredible. I wasn’t going to do it, but then everyone else decided to so I had to. I’m very glad I did. It was uncomfortable at first, the breathing part. And my ears felt really weird. Oh, and I was scared the whole time that my lungs were gonna collapse because apparently thats possibe- so I never fully breathed out a single time. I made it though!

The fish were very pretty, I wasn’t scared of touching them becasue I had a wetsuit on. Also, I never let go of the diving instructors hand once. But that’s pretty normal, I think,

All in all, it was a great experience.

I have a scuba vlog you can watch here  (its an under-water vlog). A vlog of the Arlie Beach Day Cruise you can watch here.   And Here are some pictures of me in scuba gear and being a weirdo.

March 10th: Back in Wollongong for classes! We read Walt Whitman “Songs of Myself” and it made me regret not bringing Paper Towns (they make a lot of references to that poem in that book).

March 12th: Lynch and I took the train back to Sydney to hang out with Nicole, Russell and Rita. We had conveyer belt sushi (which was amazing) and went to the aquarium! It was a very cool aquarium (would’ve been cooler if they had sea lions). I have a vlog of that too! Watch it here. We planned on going to the wildlife center as well but they closed before we went in. 

That night we went out for drinks and I ended up staying out very late (3:30am). Unfortunately, I had to wake up at 7am the next morning. Me and Jake zombied to a McDonald’s and fell asleep at one of their outdoor booths (lol) and went to the wildlife center once they opened. I kid you not I saw the biggest crocodile ever- I had no clue they were so big. That thing is a superior being. Oh and quokkas are cute when they’re asleep but sadly I didnt get to see him awake and smiling.

March 15th: Today is the 15th, it’s been three weeks since I’ve been here. I’m having a great time! I’ve just beein hanging around with Jake, I think we’ve played 7 games of pool. We walked to the light house today and then just explored around “The ‘Gong.” I am definitely due for some relaxation. :)

[artcanary]

1-50

oh my god dude 

im gonna put this under a cut bc this is a lot. this is a ride, have fun i guess

1. Your first OC ever?god. its got to be Super Kitty. when i was like … an incredibly small child I used to draw comic strips about this feline caped crusader, who was friends with everyone in the city, and the comics always involved him stopping an evil banana man from stealing money from the local bank. He was paid with donuts for his service to the city. i still remember how to draw him. 

2. Do you have a personal favourite among your OCs?i’d get arrested if I didn’t answer this with Bronze, probably… but really, they’re very important to me

3. Have you ever adopted a character or gotten a character from someone else?man, i cant remember! i really dont think i have… P:

4. A character you rarely talk about?there’s loads of characters ive never even posted a single picture of on tumblr, i wouldnt even know where to start asdf

5. If you could make only one of your OCs popular/known, who would it be? bronze is the easy answer, but… i guess that could also go to Servant or Westrin. Servant has a comic project in the works that basically stars him, sort of a series of one-shots about the things he’s experienced, i feel like that would be a good thing to take off and run with. Westrin’s just fun as hell, i love the guy.

6. Two OCs of yours that look alike despite not being related?real talk now… there’s at least five different characters that i refer to as a whole as “bronze-tangential”, who started out as, “what would bronze be like if they were in this world?” and then becoming their own thing within said world because i just get stupid attached 

its an epidemic

7. Are your OCs part of any story or stories?nearly all of them, actually. that’s the main reason i make characters, after all! too many to really go into specifics here, again P: 

8. Do you RP as any of your OCs? If you do, introduce one of your RP OCs here!not often, but i think Bronze and Westrin are the most common ones. unless playing a character in dnd, or running an npc in dnd counts… then a whole lot more hahaha

9. Would you ever be willing to give any of your OCs to someone else?it depends on the circumstances. i don’t really like the idea, though. 

10. Introduce an OC with a complicated design? Westrin’s old getup is a pain to draw, and there was one other design i did that I cant find anywhere… whichever way, i dont often tend to draw super complicated things often 

a couple fakemon ive designed though… heheh those can get pretty finicky

11. Is there any OC of yours you could describe as a “sunshine”? hmmmmmmmm my immediate thought was Eric Silverdale from a comic i was working on a few years ago. hes a darling, i want him to be my friend irl

12. Name an OC that isn’t yours but who you like a lothow could you do this to me i love each and every one of all my friends ocs GOD the first one who comes to mind is @d20-official‘s Smith, whos Bronze’s friend… everyone in that DND party actually

13. Do you have any troublemaker OCs? Rated on a scale from “harmless” to “honestly somewhat frightening”: -Baromet (charming and quite friendly but definitely a kleptomaniac),-Westrin (demigod of bards and travelers), -XEN09 (a nonsense hacker), -Conny (needlessly contrarian and dumb as HELL), -Enza Colie (long fucking story but hes a good-for-nothing), -Hemlocke (mad scientist, chaotic evil), -Iris (AI and hacker, VERY bad), -The Terminus (glitch-in-the-matrix demon, chaotic evil), -and Sydd (the Queen of the Faeries, hopefully the danger there needs no explaining :’D)

14. Introduce an OC with a tragic backstory Mmm… there’s a few of them, most obviously Lent (whose background I did a short comic about). Basically his entire town got eaten by ghosts and turned into zombies, he only barely survived with a sliver of his soul left. 

15. Do you like to talk about your OCs with other people?yes, i often discuss storylines and such with friends

16. Which one of your OCs would be the best at biology (school subject)? Probably Bronze’s dad! I don’t talk about him much, but his name’s Devon Reed, and he was a biotech developer specialising in android design. 

I often describe him as being something of a reverse Arthur Weasley - a very fatherly scientist fascinated to the moon and back with the concept of magic. 

17. Any OC OTPs? having trouble thinking of a lot of them right now, but there’s Eric + Lent & Naiadine + Tailias from Emerald Sigil, Avken + Baromet from my space campaign world, Sydd + Wyvv from my unnamed campaign world, and I’ve been considering Westrin + Servant as an interesting dynamic in Servant’s story

18. Any OC crackships? My character Bismuth and @autistictimeknight​‘s oc Eros. Theyre so fucking in love, I love it. Its been awhile but I do still think about them sometimes.

As I recall, Eros is an empath, she can read other people’s emotions. But Bismuth is a robot, and Eros can’t read her. Because of this Eros can let go of her fear of unintentionally manipulating the emotions of her date, which would hold her back from most other relationships. 

19. Introduce an OC that means a lot to you (and explain why)Hey, meet Bronze! I definitely do not talk about them every five minutes, why would you say that. 

Bronze was with me through two of the hardest years of my life so far, and being a DND character they grew with me, both as a fighter and as a person. They were non-binary before I started using those pronouns, they were the first character or person or anything who I fought someone about using the right pronouns for, they make a great icebreaker for if I want to see how someone reacts to non-binary pronouns … 

One funny anecdote about Bronze is that when I first made them, their “gimmick” was that they would sometimes glitch out and mess up their speech, mostly because I wanted an excuse not to engage in the roleplaying (which I was very bad at). The interesting thing is that as I got better at interacting with the group, we both grew out of needing it very quickly. 

I’m very proud of Bronze. 

20. Do any of your OCs sing? If they sing, care to share more details (headcanon voice, what kind of songs they like etc)?Westrin is a bard! His singing voice sounds like Bill Wurtz and these are his theme songs.

21. Your most artistic OCProbably Westrin again, he writes a lot of songs… and Hallux is a game designer?

22. Is there any OC of yours people tend to mischaracterize? If yes, how? I honestly dont know… no-one talks to me about them, haha! 

people use all manner of pronouns for bronze, though. 

23. Introduce OC that has changed from your first idea concerning what the character would be like?I’m gonna go with Enza for this one. Enza Colie was originally written entirely because I wanted an antagonist for a short starring his sister, Jane Colie. But the more I fleshed out his reasonings for acting how he did and explored his character, the more I realised he’d make an even more interesting character if allowed to have a redemption arc, too. 

I just want to state for the record that I was very reluctant to the idea, and he basically dragged his way out of the villain pit entirely of his own accord. I am dubiously proud of him, and also a bit scared. 

24. If you could meet one OC of yours, who would it be and why?Probably either Eric (Big Man, Best Friend), Crocus (Mother figure), Reed (Father Figure), Westrin (hed just make a good friend u kno??), or Bismuth (she makes good conversation!)

25. The OC that resembles you the most (same hobby, height, shared like/dislike for something etc?)probably the homestuck fan-troll Hallux, but that’s mostly because they were based on a troll-sona I made awhile ago. They’re a hope/prospit game designer who is small and full of rage and love

oh, and there’s dave! dave’s a superhero speedster, existing in a modern-day superhero version of seattle. theyre idiot, just like me,

26. Have you ever had to change your OC’s design or something else about them against your will? this is an interesting one… i don’t think ive ever had something Bad in a design ive done called to my attention by someone, but I did create my character Servant at around the same time I was first really expanding the diversity of my casts. (since i don’t talk about him often, a little context: he’s a magic spirit creature bound to human form to serve the royal family of the land and follow their orders.) 

somehow, younger-and-more-stupid me managed to have the revelation that making this “eternal slave” character literally anything other than a white man, especially as a white author, would be Pretty Not Good. im … thats really, really not something i should pat myself on the back for, but i do consider it one of the biggest bullets dodged in my artistic career so far that i realised that not all representation is good representation so quickly, before i could make that incredibly, incurably stupid mistake. 

after that, trying to make sure my characters and their presentations don’t harm anyone pretty much has become a paranoia. i don’t seem to have stepped on any toes yet, but when it inevitably happens, please let me know - i didnt know, and i want to fix it! 

27. Any OCs that were inspired by a certain song? None that I can think of, actually! I don’t really do that often. 

28. Your most dangerous OC? god damn it i have no idea!!! is it the terminus? glitch in the matrix god of chaos motherfucker?is it sarle? terrifying calculating scientist with the power of the soul at her fingertips ??? is it ares??? is it athena????? is it petra?????? the gatekeeper???? 

… actually, the gatekeeper might be it, if “dangerous” just refers to “the amount of raw power it can wield”. the Gatekeeper is a titanic entity that exists in interdimensional multiverse space, and its implied to have the ability to create and destroy entire universe bubbles at will. for what cosmic purpose, no-one knows. 

at a more personal scale, though, literally all of the aforementioned characters are pretty bad to run into too. 

29. Which one of your OCs would go investigate an abandoned house at night without telling anyone they’re going?god. Mina or Tawn. Tawn is the Indiana Jonesy type and probably dumb enough, but also competent enough not to get into too much trouble there. Mina would probably drag her friends along. 

30. Which one of your OCs would most likely have a secret stuffed animal collection? XEN09. No-one knows, because no-one knows xir personal identity. Xe absolutely does, though. It’s less of a secret if you know xir in person, but good luck finding out about it otherwise. 

31. Pick one OC of yours and explain what their tumblr blog would be like (what they reblog, layout, anything really)dave just reblogs memes all the time tbh. they like to keep tabs on the ridiculous superhero news going on, and they show human jokes and cat videos to their alien gf. they dont really post or add to posts, but they talk in tags a lot. 

32. Which one of your OCs would be the most suitable horror game protagonist and why? i want to say tawn because i literally just realised ive been imagining their voice as sounding like luigi this entire fucking time and i never realised until this exact instant

33. Your shyest OC?probably baromet. they prefer to keep to themself in their hideout, with their collection of shiny things. they don’t really enjoy trying to communicate much, mostly because they expect to get yelled at. 

34. Do you have any twin characters?Yes! At least two sets; 

- Crocus and Sarle. (x) (x) They don’t exactly have a very well-developed relationship, but they are both quite important to the plot of my campaign world, and they are both very interesting. Crocus is a motherly figure who just exudes friendliness, while Sarle is .. very much not that, a researcher studying very gruesome things and pushing the boundaries of reality. 

- Jane and Enza Colie. I haven’t talked a whole lot about either of them here, but I’d rather leave their story to do the talking whenever I get around to it. Essentially, the both of them were intended to do the dirty work for their crime boss family, but Jane ditched to study medicine. Most of the conflict between the two of them comes out of Enza not understanding why she made the choice she did, and coming to understand how he’s been manipulated. 

35. Any sibling characters? I can’t really think of any off the top of my head, I should … I should really work on that. 

I can talk about Westrin, though. Westrin (a demigod of many things, but namely bards, travel, travelers, and people who are lost) often becomes close friends with mortals, sometimes practically adopting them. These people who consider him family, and people who have received his blessing, are able to use his surname, Brilanta, as their own if they choose. So I guess all of the Brilantas are siblings, at least in spirit. 

Oh, and XEN09 has like, seven siblings. Xe is the second-oldest, and least remarkable. 

36. Do you have OC pairs where the other part belongs to someone else (siblings, lovers, friends etc)? I already talked about Eros and Bismuth up there a ways in question 18, but I’ll talk about another relationship here. @autistictimeknight​‘s character, Nova the Alchemist, is mentor and adopted parental figure to my character Munna. Munna … Munna isn’t a very good apprentice. She tries very hard. 

37. Introduce an OC who is not quite human That’s most of them, I’m not quite sure what to say here. Bronze is an android? Bronze again? Westrin? All the aliens ?? 

38. Which one of your OCs would be the best dancer? man. uh. westrin or jean. or perhaps valencia. 

39. Introduce any character you want ??? uhhhHHHhhHHH Lord Brillium is the reigning deity of the Cloud Kingdoms in the other campaign setting I’m working on. They represent light and the quest for knowledge, and spend most of their days in the Cathedral Observatory watching the stars. 

40. Any fond memories linked to your characters? Feel free to share!one time bronze flew a hover-bike through the stained glass window in a cathedral blaring all star by smash mouth on their iguana

also one time bronze rickrolled a rakshasa demon and then pulled updog on it like, two minutes later

another time bronze scared off an entire army by pretending to be an automated security system 

41. Has anyone drawn fanart of your OCs? If yes, maybe show a picture or two here (remember sources & permissions!)ive got a whole little folder on here from all you blessed people !!!! right now ive got a drawing quinn did of one o fmy characters as my lockscreen

but i think the one i’ll really never ever get over is this piece of Jane, by @rabendraws​ / @owoltron​: 

(i bet you thought i forgot about this, dude. dude. think again.) 

42. Which one of your OCs would be the most interested in Greek gods? this is kind of a weird question, m, I feel like Bismuth would find learning about the mythos utterly fascinating, as would Tawn. 

43. Do you have any certain type when you create your OCs? Do you tend to favour some certain traits or looks? It’s time to confesshaha. uh. i might. 

aside from the entire “bronze-tangential characters” thing i mentioned awhile back, I tend to really like designing characters with hair color lighter than their skin color. it just looks so cool man. i love drawing freckles but dont put them on enough characters. i like really curly hair, but also really long and flowy hair. i like drawing triangular body types, and pointy/prominent noses. 

44. Something you like about your OCs in generaluhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh this is a really vague question. m. m. 

45. A character you no longer use?there’s old versions of characters, but a lot of my older ones have been somehow repurposed. I guess there’s Turien, my first-ever DND character, who’s just kind of sitting dead now. Haven’t really done anything with him other than a pretty recent tangential character. 

46. Has anyone ever told you that you treat your OCs badly?Not that I can think of.

47. Has anyone ever (friendly) claimed any of your OCs as their child? Im certain it’s happened, but I can’t remember any specific instances. 

48. OC who is a perfect cinnamon roll, too good for this world, too pureSpring. spring knows nothing of th dangers of the world who is letting them into fights someon eneeds to stop this

(spring roll, hehe.) 

49. Which one of your OCs would most likely enjoy memesim not sure what this question is asking since many of my ocs actively enjoy memes including but not limited to westrin, dave, bronze, xen09, iris, and doctor archersen

50. Give me the good ol’ OC talk here. Talk about anything you wanti think. i think im going to pass on this one. i gave you the good old oc talk. your damn turn, yall: 

if you have any questions about any of these guys feel free to shoot one at me!

thats all from me im tired and its one am. techskylander you absolute madman 

[aestheticvoyage2018]

Day 234: Wednesday August 22, 2018 - “St Lucia”

Today we excursioned off property to St Lucia with Bernie as driver of the tour van.  St Lucia is a coastal city on the Indian Ocean that ports a huge inland lake that refuges Hippos a plenty - over 500 of them!   Last year during the big drought, many local preserves brought their hippos here to save them and have left them, and thats why there are so many.  The area reminded us a lot of the Everglades, complete with birds, crocs, and and even mangroves.   The only thing different?   The Hippos - those big bulges of mass hanging out in the shallow water.   The 2 hour voyage on a boat up the river was pretty eventful, aside from the bus load of French that had joined us, and showed off their lack of manners.   They sold $2 beers, which I enjoyed with some Biltong that Id bought in town.   We saw a few hippos display, though Id given up on trying to catch that on the camera about 5 minutes after we started, and just enjoyed the ride.   There were several babies playing too.   Mostly I chalked this up to a good time to be outside and on the water.   

After the tour, we ventured into town with Bernie as our guide.  We got good lunch as a group that included some sausage and seafood and ZSA Craft Beers as I chatted with an older couple from Houston, celebrating their 49th wedding anniversary today.  After lunch we set out for some shopping in the local markets.  We bought baskets, a painting, got our fridge magent, and a big new salad bowl.  Some souvenirs for the kids, and several bottles of ZSA wine from the wine shop.   Success!  However, the best purchase of the day - a small personal pineapple.  15 Rand (about $1.20) and she even cut it up for me so that I could eat it like an ice cream cone.  I swear - the best pineapple by far (Dole Whip included)....that pineapple was so good.   By far the best part of my day.

Bernie then loaded us up at 4p and took us down the road to the beach.  A nice park with a really beautiful beach.  The sunset behind us.   AC and I donned our matching southwest chubbies and enjoyed a single serving wine bottle that Id bought in town as the waves crashed.....some sneaker waves got us and gave us something to laugh about.   We splashed about as much as we could without officially swimming.  Sharks and undertow and all.   We werent sure of Bernie’s lifeguarding skills and opted not to test it so stayed as much in ankle deep as we could.   We stayed out there as long as the group would let us and then we loaded up and came back to the lodge - about an hours drive through the eucalyptus forest, and wild roads.  We may have set a land record if it werent for all the trucks Bernie had to overtake.  

We made it back in one piece, fully jiggled.  We settled our loot into our Hemingway tent and AC was in bed asleep by 730p as I enjoyed a bottle of wine out on the porch alone reflecting on the day - the rhythm of our honeymoon. I so enjoyed spending the day with her, Mrs. Acton, and exploring this small town as if it were a new country.  I also enjoyed splashing with her and photographing her and admiring her in our matching suits but man, I wish it didnt end when the sun went down.   Safari sure does tire this girl out - or maybe its the 9 straight days we’ve been together non-stop already!  High Tides and Low Tides.   The rhythm of  a day.  It sure has helped me to keep up with my posts!  I’ll split out now and run down to the main lodge for dinner, and then enjoy that bathtub with bottle #2.   I suppose we enjoy vacations differently.  

Song: Bob Marley & The Wailers - High Tide or Low Tide

Quote:  “you are here. the moontides are here. and that’s all that matters.” ― Sanober Khan

[bearsontheinternet]

Uldamon is open for rp's~! So if u need a grumpy pupper in ur life :U do it now)) Name: uldamon fuzzy wuzzy "A FAMILY NAME! beelonging to a long line of epic plushy warriors!" Species: plushy dog gender: male city or town of birth: new hydron. (raised along with the rest of the elders among the ruthless clan due to the village being the only plushy clan to be fully against the iron plush tyrant AND accepted refugees)) sexuality: pan Age: unknown Alignment: lawful good ((unlike his fellow elders, uldamon isnt neutral; if he see's something immorally wrong that directly effects him. he'll try to rectify the situation. tho this makes him alot more hot headed than his fellow elders.)) Weapon/gear: legendary weapon 100: mist weaver, undoubtedly one of the strongest of all the legendary weapons. this sword was perhaps the weapon that turned the tide on the guardians of hell and heaven when they have invaded the mortal plane to retrieved the legendary weapons. its first holder grew such a bond with mist weaver that legend says he was able to burn an entire army to ash. it cannot transform like most weapons, but that is far from a weakness; once released from its wooden staff, it can ignite flames from the will of its owner. these weapons can burn everlastingly hot but only harm its owners aggressors; the amount of heat generated depends on the wielder.   Class: retired samurai: uldamon is a retired samurai who traveled the lands to gather as much as skills as he could. he has master level knowledge on virtually all fighting styles thanks to the plushies longlivity. master of the blade to best any enemy in combat with a firey will to match his focused and dangerous fighting style. Occupation: he is the care taken of the elders quarters in the plushy kingdom, personal trainer and teacher to many. Height: 3"7 Voice: n/a at this time~ ((feel free to suggest some voices ) Theme: normal: battle: Relationship status: single pringle and perfers it that way Status: alive and extremely bitter about it currently living: the temple of time, however the temple has nothing to do with time :U its a place the elders first squatted and never left. it was originally a escivated temple from the last race who lived underground. uldamon made it his life works to guard its secrets. native language: plushy languages known:  oooian, plushy, Japanese Quote: "YOU IDOIT!" "to perfect..DO IT AGAIN" "butterflies in your stomach?..DIGEST THEM AND GET OUT THERE" "stop being a unlikeable dork and do the THING" "im mean? oh OHHHHHHH I DIDNT EVEN SCRATCH THE SURFACE!" Extra fact: uldamon has a habit of bonking his students on the head, not hard, but hard enough for them to realise they have done somethign wrong. extra fact 2: is a very aggressive pupper, pls show respect extra fact 3: no seriously, uldamon tends to be overly aggressive to jerks and such Likes: friends, his fellow elders, collecting more legendary weapons, pizza, his best students Dislikes: this list is really really long. Strengths/Powers/skills: plushy strength plushy people are very very naturally strong despite of there fluffy stature. this is because of their strong will, the will is converted to physical strength by the plush'es soul. however how much they can lift is let entirely to how much will a plushy has. shock absorption due to a plush fluffy body they can absorb most physical blows making fighting a plushy with fisticuffs a bad idea in general lol. however this goes the same for the plushy, if a plush punches you it will just feel like a pillow hitting your face, UNLESS they have implants that would make there punches hurt. static electricity it can only be done if the plush is standing on a fluffy carpet or if theres another plushy next to him/her. since the plushy is made completely from fabric the static shock can be very strong. hand to hand combat/ daily activity expert it means what it means. flexibility flow riding he is extremely flexible also to make his elemental ability much more deadly he mastered the ability to move freely like the wind. very good dancer is very fast despite his size smol but will fite u Weaknesses: fire fabric+fire= ash water water can clean a plush BUT it will make him/her sluggish and slow until he/she dry. to much water can lead to fabric breaking apart and stitching moving out of place. negative emotions to much of it and a plush will start feeling drain and weak due to it draining his/her soul the nightosphere due to the chaotic energy in the nightosphere a plush can be drained to the point of death, the time it take depends on the plushy. anything that can destory fabric really be creative lol uldamon has very high defensive, its common to not find a weakness in his fighting form Figure/Build: smol pupper, hunchy hunch, is old but will fite u Hair Color: grey blue Eye Color: black Scars/Distinguishing Marks: he has loads of stitches and patches. most notable is the stich on his forehead Fears/Phobias: losing all of his friends Hobbies: gardening, exploring, reading dirty magazines (I BORROWED THEM FROM JACK))

[tripstations]

5 beautiful destinations Pakistanis can travel to on a budget

From island escape­s, Easter­n Europe­an marvel­s and South-East Asian deligh­ts, inspir­e your inner wander­lust on a budget­

PHOTO: INSTAGRAM/GIRL WITH THE GREEN PASSPORT/ESLIMAH/AYESHA OMAR

KARACHI: The global travel industry is growing and it’s growing fast. Not only that, more people are travelling now than ever before, thanks to cheaper flights and the ease of planning and booking a trip.

Add to this the new batch of travel bloggers on Instagram and you’ve got hundreds of people jetting off to places they had never heard of before. After all, it’s a most human thing to explore new horizons.

And statistics don’t lie. The travel and tourism sector grew more in 2018 than all other economic sectors, adding a record $8.8 trillion to the world’s combined Gross Domestic Product – up from $8.3 trillion in 2017. It created some 319 million new jobs as well, according to Forbes.

While Pakistan is expected get higher numbers of tourists thanks to the government’s support, what about Pakistanis wanting to go abroad? Everyone is surely feeling the rupee’s present standing against the dollar and this can make travel for Pakistanis at home very expensive.

But don’t worry, we have you covered. Here are our recommendations for some pretty lust-worthy destinations across the globe that will allow you to indulge your wanderlust without draining your pockets. Bon voyage!

Istanbul, the transcontinental escape

Turkey really offers the best of both worlds. Straddling Europe and Asia, its capital Istanbul is hailed as one of the greatest cities in the world with lots of history, heritage, culture and beauty to offer. Not to mention, the Turkish and Pakistanis love each other!

A single entry visa will cost you around Rs8,500 and flight tickets will be roughly Rs80,000 return during peak holiday seasons. Decent 3-star hotels are abundant, right next to the exquisite Sultan Ahmet Mosque. And then, there is the AirBnB option.

Best places to go: Grand Bazaar, Hagia Sophia, Blue Mosque, Topkapi Palace, Dolmabahce Palace, Taksim Square…need we go on?

Maldives – the water wonderland 

This island nation is the picture of paradise. Think bungalows hovering over turquoise waters, golden beaches and lots of scuba diving. Oh, and seriously Insta-worthy sunsets! How could you not want to travel to the Maldives?

The best thing is that this dream can be a reality because it’s surprisingly reasonable and also Muslim-friendly.

Located in the Arabian Sea, the capital Malé has a busy fish market, restaurants and shops on the main road, Majeedhee Magu, and 17th-century Hukuru Miskiy (also known as Friday Mosque) made of carved white coral. No wonder it’s a honeymoon staple.

Cheapest flight: Around Rs60,000.

Eastern Europe – the new it place 

You may not think Eastern Europe is cheap area but it actually is! If you want a unique travel experience that truly captivates, this entire region is the place for you.

Take Romania for example. Whatever you think this country is, it probably isn’t. The Transylvanian region, in particular, defies expectations with its quaint medieval towns and spectacular Carpathian mountain range. Many travel bloggers reiterate that it’s a beautiful country with great food and friendly people. The cheapest flight is around Rs60,000 (not to mention once you’re there, eating and sleeping is great value!), making it one of the most inexpensive countries to travel to for Pakistanis.

And, can we please talk about Ukraine. It’s on every traveller’s bucket list as of late and there are raving reviews about it. With flights starting from around Rs50,000, Ukraine is possibly one of the cheapest options for Pakistanis wanting to go beyond the Middle East.

Hotspots: The coastal city of Odessa on the Black Sea is a favourite, while the beautiful city of Lviv (close to the Polish border) is widely tipped as offering some of the best values for money in Europe.

5 Muslim countries that are trending holiday destinations this summer

Azerbaijan and Georgia – easy on the eyes and the wallets

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I burnt my hand in Georgia. . I was rushing to catch the 10 am Mashrukta (intercity mini-bus) from Tbilisi to Signagi. When I reached the bus stop, there was a 10-minute window. I bought some bananas for breakfast & coffee in a flimsy, small cup from a tiny window in a kiosk. I got into the minibus with low roof, my back bent, backpack on, bananas, wallet & phone in one hand and coffee cup in another. As I sat amongst two strangers, and tried to adjust my butt, I shook the coffee cup, it spilled a bit on my hand, it was so hot that in within a second, my instincts had me drop the entire thing, and then it spilled it on my right palm all the way to my right thigh, splashes on left hand; and couple splashes on the stranger sitting next to me. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ I was first embarrassed on my clumsiness, then guilty for being late & rushing in the first place and then in pain. I had burnt my right palm and it was BURNING. The bus had started. It was a 2-hour ride to this small city, Signagni, reputed to be the city of love. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ And in burning pain I thought, holy mother of shits I need to see a doctor and finding a doctor in a small city I’m heading to for the first time! I was sure I’m gonna get huge blisters all over my palm and then I won’t be able to touch or hold anything and then the rest of the trip will be a waste. All thoughts crossed my head in the next 15 minutes. I felt like crying. The only thing that comforted me was the reminder that I was medically insured for such accidents, courtesy @jgi.pk (not an ad). ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Anyway, I kept a bundle of tissue paper soaked in water, between the palm of my hands, the entire journey. Suggested by the stranger next to me. And that did relieve me to some extent. I reached Signagi, the burning had calmed & I didnt feel the need to see a doctor. I looked at my coffee-stained dress, felt sad; but then I looked at the terra cotta roofs, amidst lush green hills and cobblestone streets of Signagi and I forgot the incident. I headed ahead to explore this tiny quaint town & make the most of my day! Ever spilled coffee & burnt yourself? Outfit courtesy: @qnhstore #Signagi #Georgia

A post shared by ANAM HAKEEM

Travel Lifestyle (@girlwithgreenpassport) on Jun 11, 2019 at 8:52am PDT

Speaking of Eastern Europe, take Georgia for example. Where is it? Right next to the latest Pakistani travellers favourite, Azerbaijan. So  consider going to both countries together and explore this stunning region.

Georgia small country in the Caucasus – one you’ll probably be hearing more about it in the years to come. It all starts in the eccentric capital of Tbilisi. From there, be sure to explore the stunning Caucasian Mountain range, dip your feet in the Black Sea, and visit ancient hilltop monasteries (a few of them are inside caves!) all over the country.

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Welcome to Georgia. Sitting at the crossroads of Asia & Europe, but unfairly, the less talked about country, compared to its neighbouring Turkey. It swept me off my feet with its expansive sights, sounds, experiences and tastes. All of which, I had a heart full of in my 10 days. Tbilisi, the beating heart of the country sits in the lap of lush green hills. It is dotted with old Eurasian architecture on the slopes and decorated with modern and artistic glass shaped buildings and bridges in the centre. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Three hours north of the capital & I was in the midst of the Caucasus mountain. The tapestry changed. The little town of Kazbegi welcomed me first with its chilly mountain air & then warmed me with the hospitality. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ When I drove 2 hours east of Tbilisi, I was in Kaheti, the wine region of the country. Ask a local and they show you with pride, their traditional winemaking methods. With a curious set of eyes and ears, I learnt all I could about 8000-year-old Georgian winemaking tradition. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Three hours west of Tbilisi, I reached one of the oldest cities in Europe, Kutaisi. The highlight was the locals I met; they were even more friendly and had all the time in the world for conversations. They enjoyed learning about Pakistan from me as I did about Georgia from them. Nature swayed me even more, as I visited the canyons nearby Kutaisi. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ The only thought I had throughout my visit, is that this country deserves more limelight than it has! There is so much I want to pour out, but I gotta save some for upcoming posts. Are you guys with me? Pls let me know what do you want me to tell about the country? . : Old town Tbilisi (picture taken via self timer & remote)

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Travel Lifestyle (@girlwithgreenpassport) on May 28, 2019 at 5:10am PDT

As for Azerbaijan, the capital Baku is an obvious must.  There’s so much you can pack in a few days, including the ultra-modern Heydar Aliyev Center.

Flights: Cheapest air-tickets to either or of these countries are around Rs45,000, usually with one stop somewhere in the Middle East.

Vietnam – a different kind of South East Asia

Forget Thailand and Sri Lanka right now because Vietnam is all that it’s about these days. And for good reason too. From the beautiful chaos of Hanoi’s Old Quarter to the serene Hoi An riverfront adorned with coloured lanterns, this is truly a country full of contrasts.

But Vietnam is not for the faint-hearted. If adventure is what you’re about, be prepared for crazy weather cycles and off-beat exotic scenery. Alas, it’s also among the cheapest places in Asia: eat local and you’ll struggle to spend more than a few hundred rupees per meal. A round trip ticket is around Rs87,000.

What to do: There are a myriad of pristine beaches, such as Mango Bay and Halong Bay. Don’t forget to explore rice-farming mountains where you can go caving. Adventure sports on the beaches are also a must.

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[domhovasse]

Single and ready to mingle.

After Alyssa and I said our goodbyes in Ho Chi Minh city, I head out to get some food and walk around a little before catching my bus to Phnom Penh, Cambodia. I hadn’t gotten sick at all on the trip yet, and knew that it had to come sooner or later. I think it was a combo of the heat/lack of sleep/alcohol the night before but I felt nauseous the entire 6-hour bus ride and ended up throwing up on the side of the road during our washroom/meal breaks. I got to my hostel pretty late in the evening, and went straight to bed after checking in. Not sure what had gotten into me, but I knew the best thing to do was to try and sleep it off.

The next morning I woke up at a decent hour, had a nice big smoothie for breakfast, and headed out to explore some of the city. I began at the National Museum, which was quite mediocre in my opinion, and then after checking out one of the cities’ many temples, I got lunch along the river, before heading to the Grand Palace. My buddy Thomas, who we had met on our Ha Long Bay cruise, and then again in Hanoi, happened to be at the same hostel in Phnom Penh at the same time as me. He hadn’t visited the palace yet, so he decided to join me. Turns out I wasn’t fully over my sickness yet, because I ended up almost fainting and throwing up on the grounds of the Grand Palace. Thank God I was able to keep it in, because wow, what a place to get sick. After the temple, I knew I had to get back to the hostel, so we shared a tuk-tuk back, and I spent the rest of the afternoon sleeping. I woke up just in time for my dinner plans with Alyson, a friend who had been living in Phnom Penh for a few years. After catching up over dinner, she dropped me back off at my hostel, and since I was feeling much better, decided to partake in the hostel’s bar crawl, although I didn’t partake in the drinking aspect of it.

The following morning, Rohini, one of my roommates during my exchange in Paris, flew from Singapore to meet me and we caught a bus to Siem Reap together. We arrived in the afternoon, checked into our hostel and then spent most of the day walking around town, getting food, and browsing the market. After dark, we eventually made our way back to our hostel, and went to sleep at a decent hour, after participating in a few hostel games.

The following day began at 4am, to watch the sunrise over Angkor Wat (classic tourist move), and then exploring a few of the incredible temples around. I honestly didn’t know too much about this temple complex going into is, but I very quickly learned the significance and importance of it, and how it was once the largest civilisation in the world. I was continuously blown away by its intricacy - how immense and how impressive it was especially for its time, and how much of it remains intact today. It was quite an incredible experience and at the end of the day, it actually left me feeling quite insignifiant and miniscule. We stayed longer than the tour and rented a tuktuk to check out some more temples that were a little more off the beaten path, before heading back to the hostel in the afternoon. There was a pool party going on, but we were quite exhausted, so we took a nap and hungout for a bit before heading out to grab dinner, walk around town, and get pedicures.

On our last day, Rohini and I were wanting to do different things, so we ended up going our separate ways, me to a floating village on a lake (w/ Thomas who I had originally met Vietnam), and her on some mountain/waterfall excursion. That night, we met back up at the hostel to grab food together and then met up for a beer with a guy Rohini had met on her excursion. He was living in Shanghai at the time, so it was interesting to talk to him and compare experiences.

Later that night, we caught our overnight bus back to Phnom Penh, and we spent half of the day diving into some of the dark, awful history of the genocide that affected Cambodia not so long ago. After visiting the Khmer Rouge Killing Fields and the Tuol Sleng Genocide museum, Rohini had to catch her uber to the airport, so I checked into my hostel and freshened up a little bit. Later on that afternoon, after wandering the Central market for a while, I walked over to Wat Phnom Temple. From there I went to the night market, where my friend Alison picked me up on her scooter, and we had the BEST nachos for dinner. (I know it’s not very ‘Cambodian’, but at this point I was so grateful to eat good western food.) After eating, she dropped me off at the hostel and I hung out in my room for a bit before going to bed.

The next morning, I took a shuttle bus to Kampot, a quiet river-side town with a beautiful backdrop of the Elephant mountains. After checking in at my hostel, I recognized a girl from my previous hostel, who also took the same shuttle bus as me, so we got to talking and ended up joining forces since she was also travelling alone. We spent the rest of that afternoon & evening on a booze cruise along the river, blasting music, drinking a couple beers, and getting to know everyone. We also stopped at a little secluded beach to play some volleyball and go swimming before watching the sunset over the river. That night when we got back to the hostel, we ate dinner, and went out with some of our new friends.

The following day we went on an excursion through our hostel, driving scooters around the countryside, first stopping at the salt fields, then a pepper farm, a few temple caves (one of which we swam in), and lastly, at a ‘secret lake’ that apparently was built by slave labour during the Khmer Rouge time. It was so nice to scooter around the beautiful countryside, learning a thing or two about the region and also how pepper is made! That night our hostel was having a pool party, so we hung out at the pool for a bit, ate dinner, and then went out to a bar with our little crew. Long story short, halfway through our night, I ended up burning my leg on the exhuast pipe of our tuktuk. Because I was at the beach and in the water for the next few days after the injury, I wasn’t really able to let it heal properly, so now I have a nice scar that will probably be stuck with me for a loooong time.

On our last day, we slept in and then decided to spend the day at Arcadia, a famous hostel with a riverside waterpark. We took a tuktuk there and spent a few hours hanging out in hammocks, floating around in innertubes, rope swinging and ziplining. There was a huge slide and a blob, but I opted out because I didnt want to risk rubbing my ankle burn and making it worse. When we got back to the hostel it started pouring rain, as in torrential downpour, so we hungout in our room for a while. That evening, we decided to walk into town and get dinner at the market, since we hadn’t really seen much of the actual town yet. Since we had sort of become friends with both our tuktuk driver and the owner of the bar we had been going to everynight, we decided to have one last hurrah (& say our goodbyes.)

The next 6 days were spent on the beach, first on Koh Rong Island, and then the smaller, more remote Koh Rong Samloem. Both were so beautiful, and quiet. I originally wasn’t planning on making it to the islands, but I had met so many people were very adamant about the Cambodian islands being even better than the Thai ones.

Because of the lack of internet, it’s quite difficult to book accomodation online, so we ended up walking around with our bags for most of the afternoon before finding an available guesthouse. Funny story, we actually walked all the way to the furthest beach from the pier (25 minute walk), and ended up paying for a water taxi back to the main beach since there were no vacancies and we didn’t want to walk all the way back. It was a really windy day and the waves were pretty rough, plus we were in a small rowboat, so with every paddle, water came pouring in over the edge and all our clothes and bags got completely drenched. When we finally found a guesthouse, we gathered our clothes to be cleaned and walked around a bit before getting dinner.

The next day we slept in and spent the majority of the day at SokSan Long Beach. I have never seen such white sand, or clear water in my life, plus we surprisingly had almost the entire beach to ourselves. The only downside was that I got attacked by sand flies and for the next few days my legs were covered in flea bites. It literally looked like I had chicken pox all over again. After making our way back to the village to freshen up and eat dinner, we met up with Thom, Liam and Sam at a bar, and then we all went to a beach party together. On our last morning, Maren woke up feeling sick, so she decided to stay in while I spent the day on a boat excursion snorkeling, visiting a few tiny islands hanging out on some beaches, sitting by a campfire during sundown, and diving underwater to see bio-luminescent plankton after dark. I hit it off with a Swedish girl on the excursion, who invited me to meet up with her and some friends for some drinks after dinner. The next morning we caught our ferry boat to Koh Rong Samloem, where we spent 3 of the greatest days of my existence.

There was no wifi at all on the island, and we were staying in little cabins in the woods/along the beach, so it honestly felt kind of like summer camp for adults, and I loved every second of it - mosquito nets and all. We were reunited with our buddies Thom, Sam and Liam, met some new wonderful people, and had the most wonderful technology-free couple of days. During the day, we spent our time hanging out at the beach sun tanning, swimming, and relaxing before playing games and having themed parties at night. One day we went on a boating excursion where we got to snorkel, visit some of the most beautiful beaches I’ve ever seen, and even go fishing for our own lunch (& then grill it on the boat). The only minor downsides were that there were no food options besides the hostel restaurant, so obviously the food and drinks were a little expensive. They also used a tab system for payment, where you pay up at the end of your stay, which caused some problems for a few people who didn’t have enough cash on then to settle their tab.  

We took a ferry back to Sihanoukville, ran into Thomas at the pier (who was leaving later that afternoon) and spent an afternoon at the beach there together with our buddies Sam and Liam. There isn’t much to do at all in this city - we were actually told to avoid it by several people, but both their buses and my flight wasn’t until the following morning, so we ended up staying the night. After the beach, we said our goodbyes to Thom, then got khmer massages and ate dinner at our hostel with our the British boys before going to bed.

From Sihanoukville, I caught a flight to Kuala Lumpur, where I spent the next 2 and a half days. After settling in and then getting dinner at the nearby market in Chinatown, I returned to my hostel, where much to my surprise, I discovered that Killian, a french guy I had met during the pub crawl in Phnom Penh, was not only staying in the same hostel as me in KL, but he was put in the same room as me. That first night we had gone to a rooftop club, and had quite a late night, so the following morning I had to force him out of bed, and after getting lunch at an indoor market, we spent most of the afternoon at the Islamic Arts Museum and the National Mosque. That evening we got dinner, and I spent the rest of my night hanging out, napping, and catching up on tv shows.

We woke up pretty early the following morning to make the trek out to Batu Caves (a series of caves and Hindu cave temples). We got back to our hostel in the afternoon to change/freshen up and then spent some time walking around the financial district and taking pictures with the Petronas Towers. From there we went for sunset rooftop drinks at the Heli Lounge bar, before heading to Bukit Bintag neighbourhood to wander and get dinner at the Jalan Alor street market.

My third morning, I checked out of my hostel, visited one last temple and got on a bus to Georgetown, Penang. Once again, in hindsight I totally should have booked an overnight bus and squeezed in another city, instead of wasting a whole day travelling, but now I have something to look forward to for next time. It is such a lovely and quaint little city, with picturesque buildings and world-famous food. It was such a lovely mix of so many cultures and religions living in peace, and harmony. When I arrived at my hostel, they had made a mistake and I wasn’t in the system, even though I had made a booking online, so I spent the rest of the evening walking around, trying to find an available hostel. It took me a while, but I eventually found one, got some dinner, and had a pretty early night.

The following morning I got up quite early, checked out of my hostel, and spent the entire day walking around, visiting various sights, including temples and old Peranakan mansions, (desendants of Chinese immigrants who settled between the 15-17th centuries.) It was quite an exhuasting day, so in the early evening I headed back to the hostel, where I met my American roommate, Trey. The rest of the night I just hung out, got dinner, and then participated in the beer pong tournament and pub crawl put on by my hostel.

The next day was quite brutal. One of the worst hangovers of my life, plus the 35 degree heat, but I knew I would feel at least a little better if I got up and did something. With Trey, the guy from my hostel room, we visited the Upside Down museum, took some funny pictures, and then spent a few hours walking around, mostly by the water, checking out some of the Clan Jetties, (floating villages occupied by Chinese clans) and street art. We were both still very exhausted from the night before, plus walking around all day, so we went back to the hostel and hung around most of the evening before getting dinner, and having an early bedtime.

On my last day, I woke up early to go on a free walking tour before taking the tram up to Penang Hill, where I walked around for a bit and enjoyed a nice view of the Island. From there walked over to Kek Lok Si Temple. It’s a massive Temple on a hill, and honestly one of the most beautiful, impressive temples I have ever seen. There was some sort of ceremony going on which added to the experience. I eventually made my way back to my hostel, stopping for athentic Penang Laksa on the way, and spent the rest of the evening hanging out at my hostel, before catching an uber to the bus station.

That night, I caught an overnight bus to Singapore. I arrived just before noon, dropped my things off at Rohini’s apartment, and took a public bus into downtown to meet her at work. We went on a little bike ride, and then walked around downtown and Chinatown. At one point we were walking along Robertson Quay, when I thought I recognized 2 people walking in our direction. We realized we knew each other at the exact same time and ran into each other’s arms. What are the odds of me randomly running into Kelowna friends in Singapore! Rohini also introduced me to a few of her coworkers, whom we met up with for a snack and some afternoon beers. After walking around  a bit more and passing through the National Museum, we went home to hangout before having dinner at a Hawker Center near Roh’s apartment, and had made plans to meet up with Meghan and Nick for rooftop drinks at Marina Bay Sands.

We went to Universal Studios one day, which obviously was a good time. Rohini doesn’t like roller coasters so I did those alone, but thanks to her free fastpast from work, we were able to essentially do all of the rides once! In the evening, we met up with Rohini’s roommate, got dinner together at an outdoor food court/market, and met up with an old friend Patricia (whom we had both met back during exchange in 2015 when we were visiting Poland.) First we went for drinks at a cute wine bar, and then we did some dancing at a salsa bar in Clarke Quay.

On my last day, we went for brunch together in a cute area called Tiong Bahru, and then I spent the rest of the day alone, walking around and exploring different areas including Little India, Kampong Glam (the Malay-Muslim neighbourhood), and a bit of the downtown core, before meeting back up with Rohini and her roommate at Gardens by the Bay to watch the sunset and  grab dinner at an outdoor foodcourt.

That night, I caught an overnight bus back to Kuala Lumpur, because flights back to China were much cheaper from there. I had a bit of a layover in Kuala Lumpur, enough to transfer from the bus station to the airport and still have to wait a couple of hours, and eventually caught my flight to Kunming, where I had a 6-hour layover before finally boarding my flight to Wuhan. It was one of the longest travel days of my life, and when I finally got home just after 1am, I couldn’t have been happier to be back in my very uncomfortable chinese bed.

[hidingmonster]

Part 1: The Orange Moon

I could see the moon outside the window of the car. It was full and beautiful, and i couldnt stop staring at it. The orange- red colors illuminated the night sky in a foggy haze. We had already had a great night, and the whiskey from my Irish coffee was still lingering in my senses. I could still smell the scent of sea water lingering in my nose, sand shifted in my shoes and my hands smelled of the Earth. Everything had been beautiful, our trip to the coast, to Point Lobos had been sucessful and i would remember this day for always. Kota, my fiance, had even bought us some pretty rings from one of the cute boutiques we explored. Mine, a small dark silver ring with a tiny diamond and some small tribal markings in the metal fit my pinky perfectly. I fell in love with it as soon as i picked it up. She picked out a beautiful dark silver ring with three dark pale purple stones encrested on it. It was beautiful and reminded me of her in some strange way. It fit perfectly on her middle finger, decorating her other dark silver ring she also wore. I cherished this day worth something special. Something i would forever hold in a warm part of my heart. Gods forbid anything happen to this ring, id probably lose my shit- Honestly. The drive home was calming. My legs were tired and i couldnt wait to get home and get in our bed and just cuddle my girl and chill for the night. Sadly, we had about another 45 minutes before we were even home, but i didnt mind. I listened quietly as she bantered back and forth with her friend Ace who was driving. Something about the musketeers movie i think, i personally had no idea what they were even talking about but i was too into writting my story to really pay attention. My ears twitched to Kota's yawning in the back seat, "Ugh im getting tired, my eye lids are doing that heavy flutter thing, but nnoooope!" She said as she sat up from slightly laying down. I agreed, i was pretty tired from our adventure too. Thankfully my Wolf was satisfied and wasnt giving me a hard time about going home. She got an adventure out in the woods, a full moon and to see the ocean, it was pretty much perfect for her. But even Wolf was tired and ready for rest. We are what people would call "skinners". We have one specific spirit animal or creature we can shift into, Mine being a pale or black Wolf. On the other hand there were people like Kota, called "Morphers", who could shift into multiple animals or creatures. Kota could shape shift into a Wolverine and a great big Kodiak bear. Others could shift into special creatures or beast depending on who they were or their ancestry. We aren't a very popular form of species,  mostly hunted down in the dark days of "witch craft" and other horrific scenes. Me and Kota didnt really know any others like us personally either, though i knew of two i was very good friends with online. Both Wolf skinners just like me, so we sort of bonded that way. Since her Transition a few month ago, Kota's been very connected to her Wolverine skin. Female, but still strong and deadly in every way, and it suited her perfectly. We actually had an appointment soon for her name and gender change through the courts. I could tell how happy she was to finally be able to be herself fully, and i accepted her no other way. She was beautiful, well thought out and totally nerdy But i loved it. We worked perfectly together, and everyone could see it anywhere we went. She was the moonlight at the end of my darkest days, the warmth after being dead numb, and my pleasure after years of pain and suffering. She was my princess and i would die for her if need be. I was proud to call her Mine, and i was proud to be Hers. I focused on the headlights as Ace continued driving, trying to keep myself from letting my eyes close. My legs hurt and my stomach slightly churned in a sick manor. My organs were so sensitive, almost anything would cause them discomfort. City lights appeared over the hill and down the freeway, the sign for San Francisco came and went as we got closer into town. I sighed, relieved, we were almost home thankfully. I had recently moved to California about two years ago after meeting and becoming very close with Kota. We met online about four years prior, when she was still "Iron Bear" and a male persona. She had been going through a break up with her long time partner at the time and was very depressed and sad. I myself was with somewhat of a horrible person at the time, but we still talked online regularly until my partner became jealous and needed all of my attention of every single day. He was an abusive dickhead on all levels, and i stuck it out with that monster for 3 years before Kota helped encourage me to break up with him for my better well being. I was a twisted mess, i trusted no one, felt nothing and cared about no one. The only thing that kept me from killing myself was my 3 month old husky pup named Nova. She was my breath of fresh air, the only thing keeping me tethered to sanity. But then i opened myself to Kota, and we got each other to laugh all night, to care about someone again, to not be heartless monsters anymore, And we learned to feel better. I snapped back to reality as Ace pulled off the freeway and into the Target parkinglot. "Really..?" I laughed. "Yes, i said i was stopping here!" He spouted. He had been searching all over for a Star Treck space ship of some sort. Some sort of collectable he wanted to decorate in his room. I didnt understand, and he hopped out of the car. "Are we home yet?" Kota mumbled from the back seat all tiredly. "No, not yet" i mumbled, and i could hear her settle back into laying down on the things in the back to get comfortable. I stared off into the parking lot, Watching the people come and go from their cars. Wondering which ones were gifted like us. I always assumed the worst, i always do when it comes to humans. I trust no one. The car beeped twice as Ace unlocked the door and shoved his collectable into the back seat with Kota. "Oh so you found it?" I asked laughing. He had been looking for this particular one all over, and couldnt find it anywhere. "Yes i did, shattup" he mocked because he figured id make fun of how nerdy he was for wanting a Star Treck collectable. But hey, people like what they like, im not gonna bash them for it. Back onto the freeway, and finally we were home free. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -☆- - - - - - Something im working on. Ill add a part 2 soon.

[therealestatesparkblog]

How I Went From 6 to 37 Units With One Acquisition Using Hard Money Financing

Disclaimer: This is a very long post detailing how Iacquired a large, out-of-state commercial property. I hope youll find it helpful. If you have any questions or feedback, feel free to leave a comment below or drop me a message. My Cash Goals Prior to this deal, I owned a duplex and a fourplex. Both properties have appreciated substantially since I purchased and rehabbed them, but produce little cash flow. I have other businesses I work in aside from multi-unit investing. My 18-month goal when taking on this project was to increase my passive income (cash flow) so it exceeded my active income (wages)an aggressive goal. In preparation,I sold one of my aforementioned properties to raise money for a lucrative multi-family property to rehab and hold onto. My Search CriteriaCapitalization (CAP) rateof 10%+A value-add property (a building that needs work; yet once the work is done, the value increase should exceed the renovation cost, creating equity)A max purchase price of $450,000, with a cash flow of at least $4,000 per month upon completion10+ units (the more units in the building, the lower my risk) Note: Single-family investing is not my thing, but perfectly fine if thats your strategy.

How I Search Finding good deals is usually about relationships and marketing. However, I dont ignore online listings. I search frequently for properties that meet my criteria. In this case, I found an out-of-state, broker-listed, 33-unit property that was listed near my target price. I read for hours every day, and I know which geographical areas are doing well and which areas arent. Of course, Im not as familiar with out-of-state markets as local investors are, but I do my research and network with area experts when I find an interesting deal in what seems like a good area. I searched in a few states, and in this case, I found a deal in South Carolina. I called the listing agent to get some information. The property had: 33 units spread across 6 separate buildings14 of 33 units rented4 of 33 units completely gutted on the inside15 of 33 units in varying stages of rehab As a value-add investor, this was music to my ears. The 14 rehabbed units were 100 percent occupied and collecting rent, providing income to cover a debt payment while completing rehab work. I saw an opportunity to buy this place, complete the rehab, stabilize the property, and gain some equity to leverage for the next deal. The catch, the agent said, would be getting financing for this property, which was best suited to a cash buyer. Banks would be wary of the smaller rental market (around 45,000 people) and the condition of the property. I told the agent to give me a few days to explore some options. After some market research, I discovered that companies were investing in the area, unemployment was down, rents for this property were well below market, and there was a long waiting list of Section-8 tenants because there werent enough units in the citygreat. Validating the Deal A meeting with my CPA yielded a referral to one of his financial clients. This client was a mortgage broker focused on risky lending. I got in touch with him on Friday evening and had a pre-qualification letter by Saturday morning. Keep in mind it was only a pre-qualification, not a pre-approval (meaning the lender isnt obligated to finance the deal), but it was a good thing to have in my back pocket nonetheless. I made a trip, toured the property, and met a very genuine and honest seller who told me exactly what to expectpositive and negative. While I was there, I spent time in the city talking with hotel clerks, gas-station attendants, property managers, real-estate agents, and just about anyone else who would tell me about the neighborhood. I drove up and down every street within two miles and noticed that the local residents really took care of their properties. Making the Offer The pre-qualification said financing would cover up to 70% of a purchase price up to $400,000 (this helped with negotiations). It would also cover 100% of renovations. I had enough cash to meet these terms, with enough left over to begin construction and hold onto some reserves. So I put in an offer of $350,000, which included 30 days to come up with the financing (I anticipated a few bumps). A few hours later, another bidder offered $375,000. Multiple offersnot good. I was willing to pay up to $400,000, so I matched the other offer and put emphasis on my pre-qualification letter. It worked. The seller accepted my offer. Putting Financing Together I estimated repairs at $300,000, but I needed a professional to validate my assumptions. Im not a contractor, and I wasnt familiar with local prices. I asked for referrals to general contractors from a local lawyer, a regionalReal Estate Investors Association president, and the listing agent. Then I scheduled another trip to South Carolina and slotted six local contractors for one-hour walk throughs throughout the day. In the end, the rehab estimate totaled around $400,000$100,000 more than I had projected. After further research and discussion, I realized the contractors were high-balling the estimates for four units that needed completely new interiors. They were in a separate building where there had been a fire a number of years ago, and I needed an architect to determine what would be salvageable, how to configure the units to meet current code, and to help get a permit issued; without firming up the scope, it was difficult for the contractors to give an accurate estimate. Those four units represented most of the inflated cost. Meanwhile, the clock was ticking on my 30 days for financing. Upon further analysis, the sellers agent pointed out that if I didnt do any work on those four units, the rest of the property could be completed for $120,000. Worst case scenario, I could bulldoze that building and still easily meet my cash-flow goal. Going ahead with the project still made sense. So I sent the contractor estimates to the mortgage broker, explained the discrepancy, and the broker got to work underwriting the deal.

Related:8 Things The Real Estate Experts Wont Tell You About Hard Money Selecting a Lender Unless youre a cash buyer or have a standing relationship with private lenders, securing financing is likely the most difficult hurdle to closing a multi-unit deal. The referral from my CPA was a solid one. However, from past experience, I knew it was not unusual for a lender to pull out at the last minuteso I made a few other phone calls, just in case. I called about 25 lenders and brokers in total. Some were from my personal list, some were referrals from my contacts. Local Community Banks in South Carolina were a pleasure to deal with but couldnt help me since I was from out of state.Major U.S. banksthat I had banking relationships with were just too big for this deal.Mortgage Brokers were 50/50:About half said they wouldnt do this deal because of the construction loan and because I couldnt put down 30% of the total cost (I was looking to put down 30% of purchase price). The other half said the deal would be no problem. At this point, five mortgage brokers were reviewing my paperwork, saying they could get this deal done. I was honest with the brokers. I told them Id spoken with others since I knew the deal was tricky. Its important not to give anyone the wrong impression or let them think that youre working only with them. Of the five, two brokers backed out because they couldnt find a lender willing to take on the project. One broker said he was close. The CPA referral was still considering the deal too, but he hadntdirectly engaged any lenders yet. I continued making phone calls, following up, and juggling multiple brokers. Finding Property Management Companies & Insurance Agents I contacted five local property management companies. Three of them called me back. One of the reps was nice enough, but didnt really seem like a people personso that wasnt going to work. Another company immediately sent me a copy of the property-management agreement to look over, but it outlined a plethora of fees, and basically stripped me of my decision making-rights in managing the property. That wasnt going to work either. My real-estate agent referred me to someone hed used before in a nearby town. The owner was knowledgeable, personable, and willing to negotiate terms that would benefit us both. I negotiated a flat monthly percentage of rent as the management fee, with no other charges at all. Thus ensuring our interests would be aligned. Next I called an insurance agent I had been referred to. After many excuses and unreturned phone calls, he finally sent a quote that was double what the current owner had been payingfor the same coverage. So I called the current owners insurance company and was quoted (the same day) roughly the same price the current owner was being charged. It was nice to have a management agreement and an insurance quote ready to go for when I needed it. Lenders eventually ask for these. Related: How I find Private Money Lenders to 100% Fund My Deals (& How You Can Too) Financing, Continued I estimated anafter-repair value (ARV)of $1.1 million based on (the midpoint of) the low end of the price-per-unit spectrum for recently sold properties in the city. I didnt have income information for those properties, so price per unit is what I went on. After weeks of making phone calls and sending and resending documentation, two brokers sent meterm sheets.One promised hed continue working on the deal until I had something firm. The term sheets were as follows: Broker A: 90% financing on the purchase price, and 100% financing on rehab costs; 7% interest for 24 months, no prepayment penalty.Broker B: 20% down payment on the overall purchase and rehab; 13% interest for 12 months, no prepayment after 9 months. Both brokers were primarily working off loan to ARV. Broker As deal was obviously much better. However, Broker As terms were subject to underwriting, since the offer was presented based on the information I provided (purchase price, rehab costs, and an ARV of $1.1 million). My down payment would workout to around $40,000. Closing fees, broker fees, taxes and insurance were extra, of course. Broker Bs deal had a better chance of moving to closing. Broker B was ready to order an appraisal and close within two weeks if everything checked out. My cash-to-close cost would work out to around $240,000. I went with Broker AIm not afraid of risk. After speaking with this brokers lender, I had a good feeling. I was confident that the deal would work out in my favor. I let Broker B know I was going a different route, and he said, No problem; let me know if things dont work out. He was a great guy to deal with. At this point, I told the other brokers who were still working the deal that I had signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) with another company. I signed the term sheet on the LOI, paid for an appraisal, and moved forward with Broker A. The appraisal came back with a current value of $475,000 and estimated a value of $1 million upon project completion. The higher-than-expected current value helped provide some comfort to both the lender and me. The ARV was lower than I anticipated, but the lender assured me it wouldnt affect the terms of the deal. We could move forward. I sent him the property management agreement and the insurance quote and he said everything was fine. I was surprised, since lenders wont normally go above 70% loan to value, or 65% in smaller markets, but we trudged on nonetheless. In the meantime, I kept working on trying to get some better contractor quotes, just in case.

Closing the Deal Three or four days before closing, I received an email from the lender stating they couldnt find anyone to fund the deal: I would need to put up another $200,000 in order to get things wrapped up. The terms were now similar to those offered by Broker B, but I had already paid for the appraisal with Broker As lender. I took a conference call with the lender. The managing director told me he had originally thought he could finance in-house with funds managed by his colleagues, but none of the fund managers would take the deal due to the small size of the local market. He assured me that he could get the deal done, but said he needed more for the down payment30% down on the purchase price. That was exactly what I had been originally expecting, so it was no problem. Closing was extended by two weeks, and some additional earnest money was paid. Two weeks later, another setback: The lenders managing director called me again and said he would finance the deal himself by getting a bank loan. We extended closing again, this time by 20 days, and the seller said in no uncertain terms that this would be the final extension. With the additional earnest money, I now had $15,000 in the dealnot including the appraisal and travel costs. If the deal didnt go through in the next 20 days, the seller would have kept the place and I would have been out more than $20,000. More Setbacks Well, the bank didnt like the property and turned the lender down. Remember, a smaller market means greater risk. At this point, the lender, now acting as a mortgage broker, reached out to another broker who had an interested lender in California. This new broker-lender duo moved extremely quickly, did due diligence, and communicated effectively throughout the process. In the end, the down payment worked out to be about 20% of the whole project (about the same terms as Broker B had offered). Broker A passed along the documentation wed accrued thus far, and we moved forward with the deal. The California lender asked me for a few more things, which I sent the same day. A conference call with the lender helped answer outstanding questions about the appraisal, my background, and the property. The lender assured me he everything he needed to close in one week (which was the final, hard deadline). My lawyer said Id receive the closing documents before closing. One day before closing, the lender sent a list of things he needed in order to close the following day. Most were quick and easy to send, such as updated bank statements and proof that earnest money was being held in a trust account. However, two things would require some effort: A breakdown of the contractors quote by type and quantity of material, insurance costs, overhead, profit, etc.An enforceability letter from a lawyer in Canada, where my other property is located, allowing the US lender to go after my Canadian assets should I default on my US loan. I dropped everything for the remainder of the day and got to work. I immediately sent everything asked of me except the two items described above. My contractors office was closed that day, but with a few frantic phone calls, I put something together. The enforceability letter harder to come by. My flight to South Carolina for closing was delayed due to a big storm. The unfortunate weather provided me with enough time in the evening to make additional phone calls. Eventually, I remembered a childhood friend whose cousins had all became successful doctors, lawyers, and accountants. One of the cousins referred me to a friend of a friend who said he would put the letter together the following morning. At 1:40 p.m. the following day, I received the enforceability letter and sent it to the lender. The lender had promised to have the loan documents ready to be sent at the click of a button, and he followed through on that promise. Closing was scheduled for 3 p.m. I had one hour and 20 minutes to review 98 pages of documentation at a coffee shop and then drive to the closing at my lawyers office. Luckily, the loan documents matched up with the term sheet, so there were no issues there. Closing went ahead at 3 p.m. as scheduled. Even though the wire transfer didnt arrive from California in time for the closing, the large wire transfer I had sent the day before satisfied the seller enough to allow closing to take place (without knowing the final settlement amount, I had sent an overage). The seller agreed to pick up his check for the balance the following Monday. And with that, the deal closed.

Lessons Learned In the end, the deal went through. I now have a relationship with a solid lender and a few good mortgage brokers. Some things I did well, such as preparing documentation in advance and not relying on a single, unknown mortgage broker or lender (if I had, this deal certainly would have fallen through). That said, I could have closed the deal a lot sooner had I done a few things differently. Heres what I learned: If a lender offers terms drastically better than what others are offering, its probably too good to be true. Choose a more certain option.Get contractor quotes before taking your renovation estimate to the bankunless you are very experienced and youre doing the work yourself. Banks will want proper documentation.Dont rely on a single lender to finance the deal unless youve dealt with them before.Many mortgage brokers will tell you they can close a deal like this, but only some of them canand it will take time.Communicate well, and be available. When a bank asks for something, they need it as soon as possible in order to avoid slowing down the deal. Stay in touch with the bank and your broker to ensure you stay on the same page. Were republishing this article to help out our newer readers.

Have you ever done a deal that took multiple tries to get right? Share your stories in the comments section below. https://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/6-37-units-hard-money

[oceansandroses]

Paris

So Im gonna write a basic travel thoughts page per place I went starting from Paris. I’d try to recall how lapland was too in hopefully future entries but so here goes!

Paris. 

The city of love and romance. 

But also sadly, the city of pee. 

No city smelt as bad as Paris did, each train, metro, bus and even at the Sacré-Cœur Basilique, with that amazing view, the smell of pee nvr left. Okay, I gotta try to start being more positive about things and stop looking at things from a negative point of view. But I really felt I had to get that point out. 

Great amazing things about Paris: the architecture stole my heart, it just enveloped my entire being. Everything, every place and every building or house was just so unique, tasteful and just a wonder to me. Each had their own flavor, taste and vibe. Whether was it a nice, quiet restaurant with people just sitting to people watch and chill with the oh-so-wonderful weather (it was a perpetual 18 degrees there, probably just 10 in the evenings) my down jacket was rather excessive but I guess it was alright, there were plenty of tourists in Paris that were cold even in that ‘warmth’-funny how Sweden changed me so much, to tolerate the cold. So the buildings were just so beautiful, I remember taking the train out of the airport and looking out of the window only to see many landed houses with different and varying numbers of windows. differently colored and different types of bricks or materials used in its assembly. I was sold. 

The weather as mentioned was great, warm and sunny, a nice warm but cooling breeze which Ale and I were really grateful for. Oh and Asian food!! On our first day there, besides having to skip going to the outlet stores because we didnt have much time to get from our airbnb to the outlets since we got pretty lost without internet (note to self to always get internet that works internationally) so we went to explore the city. Day 1 was lunch at 2/3+ before going off to see the Sacré-Cœur. The climb was alright but what made me weep tears of joy was my fav carousel right at the bottom of the basilique. The vibes of the place overall was really nice and pleasant. There were many people chilling, drinking a bottle of wine or beer or just chatting on the grass patch on the climb up the stairs to the church. Tourists were everywhere as with every tourist attraction but somehow the place didnt feel overrated. it wasnt swarmed with tourists and there was a unique and magical vibe to it. The street artists who were all around trying to earn their daily bread through caricature sketches, the nice restaurants that sold mussels and oysters in buckets at 14 euros (I was really so tempted). But there ale warned me about people who might pickpocket us, there were people who held different colored strings and she said they would hold the string out to us, the moment anyone touched it, they would ask you to pay them money or pickpocket us etc. It was kind scary but we hurried along. Oh, right at the top there was also a choo-choo train! it was pretty cool

Ale and I also bought 12 postcards at 2 euros yay! Next was the Arc de Triomphe, we managed to snap a few pictures but due to no reduced admission rates for us and to go up was 12 euros, I was pretty hesitant. Sharm did recommend us to go up but Ale said the weather was pretty cloudy and we prob could try tmr so we gave it a miss. From the Arc, we saw the Eiffel so both of us decided ourselves that it was quite near so we walked towards it. It was actually quite a walk but it felt kinda fun since we were ‘chasing the tower’ lol, always finding it amongst the buildings and its spotlight that shines throughout. The nightview of the Eiffel was really nice but there was not much magic vibes to it, maybe bcos it felt a lil overhyped. After which we got a little lost, took the wrong train from the wrong side and hopped on the dirtiest train i’ve ever been. The seats were fabric but they were so black and dirty. The red cushion seats were all blackish and they looked kinda mouldy. Much #grossness 

Anyways Ale always having a great directional sense brought us back to the right path after one wrong stop, and we met Sharm at Quatre Septembre to go hunt for some Ramen that people recommended her. It was a chinese-ran restaurant that sold jap food. The gyozas were good but the ramen pretty much tasted like yellow noodles in a chinese broth. The cha siew was good thou i must admit. After that we had Grom gelato (only bcos I said it was a good brand that Robz & I tried in Italy) before sharing a jar of 50cl of white wine. Ale taught me a bit of how to drink the wine while we sat under a heater in one of the most popular and happening streets of Paris. Oh another thing thou, Deliveroo exists in Paris and the delivery guys ride bicycles! So i guess it feels weird that with SG being a much smaller place, rarely do you see people in bikes as in bicycles but rather its just bikes and cars. #thatswhyCOEhighlor the green olives they served there was really nice thou, the black ones tasted like they were soaked in water or just oil. The olive oil in the black ones were barely visible.

it was a great chill hangout before we left and rested up for the night. We started our next day early with the Lourve tour which we paid 24 euros for but ended up feeling very disappointed and cheated since he just shared some short story about how this Lourve came about (from a small tower and a wall elsewhere) to this-he hates the pyramid design so obv not much talk was given about this pyramid before leaving us to walk to the entrance and enter it ourselves. #sobz #byemoney 

Inside the Lourve thou, it was a brand new story. We started off with the French sculptures and boy was it beautiful. Each sculpture felt like there was a life to it, its own story and feelings. Its lines were so beautiful, intricate and just so perfect in their own way. There were many students or people just chilling there and drawing life sketches of the sculptures. After that we kept getting lost but we saw the Napolean collection, the crazy Chandeliers around, the furniture before we attempted to see the French paintings. But bcos we kept getting lost, we ended up looking at the Egyptian collection. Much thanks to Ale for being alright to go to the Egyptian part of the museum with me. After the Lourve bcos there was free wifi, we decided to go hunt for bubble tea. We got lost and spent 1.5 hours around town before finding our Chatime! we had a crepe outside the Lourve too after getting lost half way and walking past it for like about the 3rd time. 

After Chatime, we went to primark to shop for a bit. The collection was rather big but okay ish like no feels to splurge on anything. We went to Bershka too before we rushed to the nearest post office to mail our postcards. The mail lady didnt speak a word of english and boy was she inefficient. She had to flip thru her stack of stamps thrice and recount sets of 5 stamps before letting us pay and all. 10 stamps were pretty pricey and costed me 15.8 euros but oh wells. crap I just realized I forgot to write daddy a happy birthday post card:( but wait its in April okay, ive got time. phew. 

It was a mad rush back home and we had to pass thru a black zone, there were so many blacks and police there, it felt like the entire atmosphere was really tense. The moment anybody made a mistake, the police were right there ready to arrest. We also saw some blacks making a living with a supermarket trolley as a bbq pit to cook kebab meats which I felt was pretty innovative and cool. I also love the buses here, uncles here stop when they see people running for the bus which doesnt really happen alot in SG. sigh. SG buses do come more frequently thou, but still that doesnt make up for bad behavior. 

After dropping our things, we took a train to the concert. Broods was the opening act before Tove Lo and i didnt do much research on her so I nvr knew Tove Lo was so sexualized. Every song she was shaking and grinding her hips to it and she eventually flashed her tits at the audience too. I bought an autographed CD from her but it was weird bcos while heading back Ale was sharing with me about how Tove Lo was being pretty illuminati and Satanic and that Beyonce was the head of the illuminati. I was very thankful for her religious sharig althoug I have to admit after hearing all that i was kinda scared. 

We ended the night cooking our only ‘meal’ of instant noodles before resting and heading to the airport by uber the next day. Thank god for uber for getting to our airbnb and to the airport. the public transport train ticket was far too ridiculous-10 euros for a single trip to the airport and we didnt even stay that far. Uber was just 11 euros per person-.-

Also pretty disappointed with the Paris duty free airport since the collection was so small, I couldnt get mommy’s and huijun’s clinique products. Ale and I each bought a crossaint there thou! It was really yummy

okay done for Paris its 1.45 in the morning here in LKP so im hungry and sleepy and tired and upset so i shld try to get some rest 

Ciao