#next on our menu is our soggy captain

[nothing-impt]

Soggy Ody

[bakersstreetirregulars]

Cookie Run Kingdom: Tropical Soda Islands

🥭 HELLO EVERYONE! I’m Mango Cookie, and I’ll be your guide for this update on the Tropical Soda Islands! There’s a lot to unpack here, so sit back, relax with friends, and enjoy what we have to offer! First of all, the island vacation itself!

🪄 Uh, Mango Cookie? For the sake of the viewers that follow this blog, please take it nice and slow. Chestnut Cookie said that it also has to be audibly transcribed into text.

🥭 Sure! I can do that! Nice and slow so everyone can take in the tropical atmosphere! *Ahem* Fearsome Durianeers sail abound in these islands, capturing them as they please for their pirate captain, the Stink-Eye Totruca.

In order to get to them, once your Cookie Castle is level 5 and rebuild the harbor, you’ll have to explore clouded areas using Map Fragments and Caramel Spyglasses. The further you go, the stronger they are, and the fiercer the fight!

Find an occupied island, and you can do battle with the pirates to save the island! Win the battle to retake the island, collect sweet rewards, and earn the gratitude of the locals, who will repay your support with resources shipped to your kingdom via trade ships that come in packed every 8 hours. Do note that rewards marked “First Win” will only be available for your first victory.

Watch out, though, as those Durianeers are very wily! Even if you take an island from them, those pirates can just as easily take it back and cut off your resource supply!

In battle against them, even if you lose, your progress in recapturing the island will be saved unless you surrender or disconnect!

If any of your Cookies gets knocked out during a battle here, they will become soggy and unable to continue fighting until they relax in one of our sunbeds, where they will regain their crispness and the motivation to keep up the good fight! We only have five sunbeds, though, so if you have more than five Cookies waiting to dry up, any other Cookies that need to use them will have to wait in line!

If you don’t find an island and instead find a treasure chest or a message in a bottle, then those rewards are yours to keep! Find a Rainbow Soda Island, and you can explore and restore it to its former glory! You also can’t explore past a certain point unless you restore a certain number of Rainbow Soda Islands!

In the meantime, exploring enough territories allows you to collect milestone rewards from the “Events” tab, where you can also discover a story involving me, Knight Cookie, Princess Cookie, and Sparkling Cookie and our adventures around the islands!

Next on our itinerary, Touc’s Trade Harbor! With enough resources, you can help upsize the Seaside Market into a complete Trade Harbor! Here’s how it works:

Trade any materials and goods you wish! Items that require more time and preexisting resources to produce are worth more Trade Points!

Once the ship is loaded with 10,000 points worth of items and the game time reads Midnight (GMT + 9), the ship will depart. Once it returns 10 minutes after, it will reward you with Coins, Rainbow Pearls, and maybe some Map Fragments and Caramel Spyglasses if you’re lucky!

Load featured goods on the ship, and you’ll receive double points for them!

If you fill the ship with 50,000 points worth of items, the ship will depart early and won’t return until the designated time. You’ll still be guaranteed the best payout, though!

Redeem your Rainbow Pearls in the Gallery for special goods! See Sea Fairy Cookie’s Soulstone? It’s all yours for 2,000 Pearls! They’re also super impossible to find, so this is a great step forward towards meeting her!

Don’t worry if you still want to visit the old market, as the Seaside Market is still freely accessible from the Harbor menu!

Last up on our first part of the tour, the Tide Shard Gacha and the opportunity to meet the first Legendary Cookie to make her debut to the Kingdoms: Sea Fairy Cookie! Complete tasks throughout the month and buy more through packages to gain special Tide Shards that you can redeem in a special Gacha, similar to how the event went with finding Pure Vanilla Cookie! The chances of finding her are also just as low as before, but some can find a way… but if luck isn’t with you, then she’ll still be ready to meet you after experiencing the sorrow of attempting 250 pulls…

The Editor hasn’t met Pure Vanilla Cookie yet because RNG is brutal in its own way. You also cannot even HOPE to find him if you’re trying your luck with the Tide Shard Gacha, as he is not listed in the percentages.

🥭 She is also available in the regular gacha and my special gacha banner, but like Pure Vanilla Cookie, the odds of finding her are greatly reduced. The percentages below are also the same as that of Pure Vanilla Cookie, who is still just as hard to meet if you have not met him yet.

I hope you enjoy our tropical amenities!

[ilovereadingandilovebreathing]

The 3am Adventures of Captain Insomnia and the Barefoot Wonder

A/N: Hi, people! I don’t remember the last time I posted a fic on here, BUT I was going through my drafts and finally mustered up the wherewithal to finish something! SO, without further ado, here is the 4th (ridiculous) chapter of my Soul Eater College!AU. This one’s way less emotional and way more snarky and funny than the last one, so if that chapter wasn’t your cup of tea, maybe this one will be better. This one’s not as connected and linear as the others, but it was fun to write.  It’s literally been years, so if anyone actually reads this, bless you. Hope you enjoy! (It’s literally so ridiculous, and I’m so sorry.) 

Chapter 1     Chapter 2     Chapter 3

Summary: Soul can’t sleep, so his natural course of action is to drag Maka out of bed. Lots of snarking and flirting ensues. 

Word Count: 2,123

Genre(s): College!AU; humor, slice of life, slight romance

Characters/Pairings: Soul Evans, Maka Albarn, Liz Thompson; implied/pre-SoMa

Warnings: arguing/bickering, yelling

Maka had half a mind to hurl her shrieking cell phone across her room when it disturbed a much needed and (to that point) full night of sleep. She grumbled choice words between gritted teeth as she thrashed around, untangling herself from her warm cocoon of blankets and sliding open the device just before it went to voicemail.

“What?” 

“What are you so crabby about?” An all-too familiar gravelly tone snarked.

“Oh, I don’t know.” Maka quipped, sitting up now as she glared a hole through her door. “Maybe because it’s 3am, I was FAST ASLEEP, and I have a damn final tomorrow.”

“Oh shit, is it 3am already?”

“3:06, to be exact.”

“Sorry, Maka, I swear: the last time I looked it was 11:30.”

 “Yeah, well, we’re way past that now, aren’t we?”

When he didn’t respond, she sighed, pushing her bangs back with a huff as she conceded, “So what’s up? What possessed you to call me in the first place?”

“I....can’t sleep.”

“Seriously?” She flopped back onto her pillows with a flourish, most of her body and half of her mind screaming at her to hang up. “Soul, go take some Tylenol PM or drink some warm milk or something.”

“Lactose intolerant.” 

“Never stopped you from chugging it from my carton.”

He grunted. “And the PM stuff makes you feel like you have a hangover, without the booze or the vomiting.”

“True. What do you want me to do about it, Captain Insomnia?”

“Take a ride with me.”

“Sooooul it’s 3:12 in the morning, dammit, I have a final in 5 hours.”

“I know, I know, just...” His voice became rougher than usual, but somehow small, like a timid child. “Please? I promise I’ll have you back in less than an hour.”

“Fine.” She threw off her blessed heat for good, nearly stubbing all of her toes as she stumbled blindly to her closet. “Where....are you?” She asked as she pulled on a hoodie and yoga pants. 

“Green parking, right outside your dorm.” She could practically hear his cheeky, shark-toothed grin. 

“You’re such an ass.”

“You love it.”

“Not right now.” She opted for bare feet when she eyed the pile of shoes next to her desk, and in seconds she was down the hall and out the back stairwell, waving her best friend and his (in her opinion) tacky orange motorcycle toward her. 

“The hell are your shoes?” He quirked a brow at the bare foot she was about to sling over his bike. 

“Don’t need them.” She retorted, thrusting said foot toward his face. “We’re just going for a ride, right?” 

“Yeah, suit yourself.” He shrugged as she settled into her seat and wrapped her arms around his waist. 

After they drove for a little while, she nudged him and yelled over the wind, “Where are we headed?”

“Anywhere but my dorm!” He called back, an obvious grimace on his lips. 

“How about Waffle House?”

“You’re not wearing any shoes, Maka!”

“No one cares, it’s just Waffle House! Plus it’s Liz’s shift, so I bet we can get in anyway.”

“Alright, to the kingdom of cholesterol it is.”

~

It was 3:30 on the dot when they pulled up to the small, brightly lit eatery. 

“Looks like we’re the only ones here.” Maka noted.

“Yeah, just means we might get our heart attacks faster.” Soul chuckled, holding the door open for Maka to walk in before him.

“Hey, you crazy kids,” a familiar tone rang out as they approached the counter. “What’re you two doing up so late? Or early, depending on how you look at it.” Liz added with an eye roll.

“Soul couldn’t sleep.” Maka reported, thrusting her thumb over her shoulder at the shrugging albino. “So he dragged me out here.”

“Hey, WaHo was your idea, Maka-”

“But sneaking over to my apartment and guilting me out of bed was yours-”

“Alright you two, knock it off. You sound like an old married couple, jeez.” Liz interjected, waving them over to a nearby booth with a cursory glance at Maka’s bare feet. “I only took this shift because it’s an easy one, so don’t screw that up for me.” 

“Sorry.” Maka grumbled, and Soul grunted something unintelligible in apology.

The blonde’s features softened just a hair, and she asked, “What’ll you have?”

“Just a glass of orange juice, please.” Maka quickly replied. “It’s way too late to be eating anything.”

“I’ll go for the All-Star Special.” Soul handed Liz his menu and shot Maka a look. “I call it beating the birds to breakfast. Something about eating grease on grease in the early morning hours that gives me the warm and fuzzies.”

“You’re so weird.” Maka propped her elbows on the table and rested her chin on her fists, staring at Soul in silence for a few moments.

“What?” He suddenly looked uncomfortable, as if he could feel her probing his mind. 

“Nothing. Just thinking.”

“About?”

“What could be bothering you so much that you’d wake me up at this time of night just to get me out of my dorm and take a ride, then come to a place you have an obvious love/hate relationship with.” 

“Sounds too complex for this hour.”

“It wouldn’t be if you’d tell me what’s wrong.” She bit back, giving Liz a grateful nod as she set down a full glass of orange juice.

“Nothing is wrong.” Soul retorted, his eyes shielded from her glare by his unruly bangs. “I told you: I just can’t sleep.”

“Mkay, whatever you say.” She quipped, sipping her juice with a pointed glare.

“You’re impossible.” He sighed, opting to look out the window into the darkened wasteland of Death’s Valley.

They sat in silence until their food came, playing eye tag with one another until Liz set their food in front of them.

~

“What if you had forks for hands?” Soul suddenly asked, his final forkful of eggs halfway to his mouth.

Maka raised a brow as she sipped on her orange juice. “What?”

“Like that movie, Edward Scissorhands. What if it was forks instead of scissors.”

“You’d probably be just as screwed. You couldn’t do anything with forks for hands.” Maka giggled, mimicking trying to pick up a salt packet without proper appendages. 

“God, imagine trying to wipe-”

“Ew, Soul, shut up! Did you have to make it gross?” She scoffed. “You’re such a guy.” But Soul caught the small grin she tried to hide behind her cup.

“Hey, I see you smiling!” He grabbed at the cup just in time for her to jerk back, effectively sloshing and spilling the sweet liquid down the front of her hoodie and onto her pants.

“Ah, damn-” They cursed in unison, locking eyes but for a second before Maka slammed down the glass, causing small waves of juice to spill onto the table. They both grabbed for the napkins, too quickly on both ends, and just ended up knocking the dispenser behind the counter. 

“Uh, Liz?” Soul called. “Can you-”

“I though I told you two to behave!” Liz stomped over with a handful of paper towels, death staring the both of them as she slopped up their mess. “If you two would quit flirting and just get it all out there already...” Liz trailed off, grumbling to herself as the pair of youths sat slumped, cheeks blazing beneath her fury and assertions. 

“S-sorry Liz...” Maka managed to mumble out as the woman carefully toted an armful of soggy, yellow-orange paper towels to the nearest trash can. 

“Yeah, well, that’s what I get for telling people I work the graveyard shift.” She sighed, carefully laying their check where the table wasn’t damp. “You better leave me a good tip.” She winked and strode toward another booth, now occupied by what looked like another college student. 

“Definitely. Sorry about all of this.” Maka glared at Soul as they stood and whispered, “it’ll never happen again.”

The young man just rolled his eyes and shrugged her off as he grabbed the check and pulled out his wallet, leaving Liz a $20 tip to compensate for their antics. 

“Alright, Soul,” Maka stated as she swung her leg over his bike once more. “This little escapade is over. Take me home; I want to sleep.”

“Fine, fine, whatever.” He grumbled, revving the orange motorcycle and taking off into the night.  

~

When they were once again in front of Maka’s building, she hurriedly swung off the bike, but an unsteady hand grabbed her sleeve before she could hightail it back inside. 

“Maka-”

“Apology accepted, now let me go back to bed, Soul.” She whispered harshly, not wanting her neighbors to see her like this.  

“What? Oh yeah, sorry for spilling juice on you and all that, but, uh, no, that’s not it....I want to show you something.”

“It can’t wait until tomorrow?” Maka shivered, her teeth chattering as a slight breeze swept through the parking lot.

“I mean, I guess it could, but...” His voice dropped to a barely audible whisper, and she could detect the slightest hint of a tremble behind words. His gaze fell away from hers, and she laid her hand on his arm. 

“What?”

“I’ve been composing again.”

“Really? That’s awesome, Soul!” 

“Yeah, and I wanted to let you listen to what I have so far.”

“I’d love to, but...shouldn’t you show like, Liz or Kidd or someone? They appreciate music a lot more than I do.”

“I don’t want a real opinion.” He dodged her swipe at him with a chuckle. “Not saying your opinion isn’t real! Just...not a musical one. This one is kind of personal, is all. It’s not really like the ones I played for my recital last semester.”

“Oh” was all she could reply with before he was drawing out his IPhone and handing her the earbuds. 

He pushed play, and nothing happened.

“Soul, are you-”

“It starts out quiet. Just listen.” He mumbled, his gaze locked on his feet as sound began to seep into her ears. 

“Oh, I hear it-” A nice little tune filled her ears, and she nearly sighed in contentment as the even, almost whimsical pattern swirled around her. She smiled toward him, but he still wouldn’t look at her.

“Soul, this is-” The cheery piece suddenly slowed, faded into something with a sadder sound, more melancholy and drawn out. A cello declared its sorrowful tale as the piece picked up again, loud, dramatic, enough to prompt tears at the corners of her eyes as she listened, fixated on each pitch. The piece calmed again, but the notes were discordant, constantly stumbling over one another, seeming to smack right into one another as they tried to make sense of what they were conveying. Then, the whole sound seemed to change again, something serene, calm. She felt like she was sitting in a breezy meadow full of flowers, or a vegetated hillside. Even after the final, resounding note had long since left her headspace, Maka sat staring.

She found her hands where trembling and a couple of tears had even snaked down her cheeks as she reached up to pluck the earbuds out. Soul must have noticed, too, because when she looked up to hand the headphones back, his brows were creased in worry, his eyes wide. “Did you like it?” He finally rasped out.

“I....I loved it. I think...I feel like....I finally understand your music now.” She wiped the tear tracks away. “This is your real music, isn’t it? What you want to compose.” 

“What I would compose if I had my own way, yeah.”

“It was moving. It was heartbreaking, but so touching, too. I just...wow.”

“Not everyone likes music that changes so much, but it’s important for that piece.”

“I did. I do, I mean. It was just...like nothing I’ve ever experienced. Like I was listening to your heartbeat, or your soul or something.”

“Something like that.” He grinned shyly, shoving the IPhone into his pocket as another breeze picked up around them. “Sorry I dragged you out, but thanks for coming with me. It was nice to have someone along for the ride this time.”

“Yeah, no prob-” She stopped short when he was suddenly closer to her; his arms wrapped around her in a tight embrace.

“Thank you, Maka.” He whispered, planting the softest of kisses on the crown of her head before he released her, turning quickly toward his bike and mounting it before she could reply. “See you tomorrow.” He called back before revving up the bike once more and flying off toward his apartment.

“You’re welcome, Soul.” Maka whispered into the breeze, turning to go back to her own room as Soul’s taillights faded from sight.

[travelonlinetips-blog]

New Post has been published on https://travelonlinetips.com/8-of-the-best-family-restaurants-and-cafes-in-cairns-and-port-douglas-2/

8 of the best family restaurants and cafes in Cairns and Port Douglas

The highlight reel from your family trip to the tropical end of Queensland may resemble a Disney box-office hit as you find Nemo on the Great Barrier Reef and swing through ancient rainforests like mini-Tarzans.

But you’ll need a separate foodie wish list (or your own genie in a lamp) to keep the family fuelled in between all the fun – and this list of family-friendly restaurants and cafes in Cairns and Port Douglas will be your best bet. 

Muddy’s Cafe, Cairns

In between all the splashing at Cairns’ free lagoon, grab your famished mermaids and mermen and dry off at Muddy’s Cafe (right next door to the baby water play area and fenced playground).

You won’t need to whip out King Triton’s staff to encourage the kids to finish their meals with choices like crispy chicken slider, cheeseburger slider, and dagwood dog and chips. Keep up the tropical vibes with a strawberry, watermelon, rockmelon and pineapple juice or a mango, berry, sorbet and pineapple juice smoothie.

Open: 7 days from 7am till 8pm. Where: 174 Esplanade, Cairns. Hot tip: While you’re at it, make a splash at these other swimming spots.

Wharf One, Cairns

You’ll get a lot more than the bare necessities for you and your jungle cubs at Wharf One.

Mornings are best started with Wharf One’s dirty monkey: a banana smoothie with a sneaky shot of coffee. The little people’s brekkie menu offers up boiled eggs and soldiers, poached eggs and baked beans on toast, organic banana and Nutella toastie or French toast with banana and natural honey.

Before heading back to the jungle, try a fancy babyccino with chocolate powder, sprinkles, marshmallow and a cookie.

Open: 7 days from 7am till 5pm. Where: Wharf Street, Cairns. Hot tip: Once you’ve had your fill, head to the Fig Tree playground less than a one-minute walk away.

Prawn Star, Cairns

Unlike the Lost Boys, there’s no need to imagine your food when you board the Prawn Star! Take in the salty air as you chow down on the freshest prawns, mud crabs, cooked bugs, oysters and sashimi in the comfort of a floating restaurant at the Cairns Marina.

If your Lost Boys (and girls) are still developing their sea legs, avoid the plank and make your order a takeaway. You’ll find loads of tables and grassed areas nearby to set up a picnic (and possibly a food fight).

Open: 7 days from 11am till 9pm. Where: Marlin Marina, E Finger, Berth 31, Pier Point Road, Cairns. Hot tip: Mums and dads can order a bargain $5 beer or wine to wash the seafood down.

Ellis Bar and Grill, Ellis Beach

The menu items at Ellis Beach Bar and Grill don’t need an ‘EAT ME’ stamp on them. Big Alices can start the day with the brekkie bowl with cauliflower rice, BBQ mushroom, kale, kimchi, poached egg, chilli jam and guacamole; while little Alices can order mini pancakes or ham and cheese toastie.

Lunch and dinner highlights include a crab and calamari burger or smoked BBQ beef brisket. Kids will be left with a cheeky Cheshire cat-sized grin after gulping down calamari rings, battered fish, chicken nuggets or cheeseburger with salad and chips on the side.

Even if you’re late for a very important date, make sure you leave enough time to wander through the palm trees along Ellis Beach. Alice would recommend it.

Open: 7 days from 8am till 8pm. Where: Lot 13 Captain Cook Highway, Ellis Beach. Hot tip: They flip free pancakes for kids each Saturday from 8am till 11:30am.

Paradise Palms, Kewarra Beach

Even the grumpy old Mr Fredrickson from Up would be happy (okay, maybe not happy, but he might avoid his usual frown) if his balloon travelling house made it to Paradise Palms rather than Paradise Falls.

Either go for crispy pizzas all ’round – they come in kids’ size too – or order classics like burgers, seafood basket, chicken parmigiana or pepper steak; then pavlova with passionfruit if you want your dessert to be inspired by your surroundings.

Eager Wilderness Explorers can wander around the play village complete with super-slippery slide and climbing frame, play on the mini soccer field, or discuss recent badge wins in the Queenslander-style cubby. There’s even a fenced mini-adventure playground for under fives right near the restaurant terrace.

Open: Monday to Thursday 7am till 5pm, Friday to Sunday 7am till 9pm. Where: Paradise Palms Drive, Kewarra Beach. Hot tip: They also offer gluten-free bases for their pizzas if you need to cater to sensitive tums.

The Beach Shack, Kewarra Beach

The heart of Te Fiti might be in Kewarra Beach, so there shouldn’t be any need to leave this island (we mean, beach) for a long time, especially when the crew at The Beach Shack stock their menus with delights for the whole family.

Wednesday’s menu is rammed with tapas and slurpy oysters, so get ready to say, “I’m going to love you in my belly!”

And just like Maui, the shapeshifting demigod, your little voyagers can get up to mischief in the sand while you sip cocktails and take in the beach vibes.

Open: Wednesday 5pm till 8:30pm, Friday 5pm till 9:30pm and Sunday 3pm till 8:30pm. Where: 80 Kewarra Street, Kewarra Beach Resort and Spa, Kewarra Beach. Hot tip: The Beach Shack is open from May to December. Like the rest of us, they don’t like their food soggy, so the Beach Shack is closed during the wet season from January until April.

2Fish, Port Douglas

Forget a spoonful of sugar and grab a bucket of tasty prawns at 2Fish, the practically perfect seafood restaurant. Their menu is spot on with underwater delights like bug tails, crab dumplings and salmon chowder. Fishy kids’ taste buds will be high fiving over the grilled or battered fish or calamari served with chips and salad.

Before their grub arrives, the kids can test their crafty skills and draw on the paper tablecloth or get amongst the activity bag fun (note: no need to raid your Mary Poppins’ sized bag for dinner distractions this time!).

Open: 7 days, lunch from midday and dinner from 5:30pm. Where: Shop 11, Coconut Grove Complex, 56 Macrossan St, Port Douglas. Hot tip: Mary’s spoonful of sugar serving suggestion may not be enough. Sweet-toothed friends may drool over their dessert menu, too.

Port Douglas Surf Club, Port Douglas

The chefs at the Port Douglas Surf Club may have had a little advice from our French furry friend and extraordinary chef, Remy. They’ve kept some old faithfuls on the menu, but they’ve also mixed it up with coral trout tacos, taro chips and salsa, steamed pork buns and tempura prawn sushi. 

Book a table on the big open deck and take in the Four Mile Beach views. Ahhhhh. The kids won’t need any encouragement to finish their meals as there’s an epic enclosed playground right next door to the restaurant.

Open: 7 days from midday till 8:30pm. Where: Corner of Mowbray and the Esplanade, Port Douglas. Hot tip: Walk off your meals along Four Mile Beach and grab some family holiday snaps along the palm tree-lined strip.

Want more ideas for kid-friendly food and babyccino options? Here’s a few to keep up your sleeve:

Waffle On, 64A Shields Street, Cairns | Pretty sure they’ll smell even better than Shrek’s mate Donkey’s waffles.

Gelocchio, 9/93 The Esplanade, Cairns | Just like Mr Geppetto remembers it.

Jaffle Head, 39 Lake Street, Cairns | The waft of melted cheese and precisely cooked toasty goodness would be enough to wake Sleeping Beauty herself.

Rusty’s Market, 57-89 Grafton Street, Cairns | Better known for their fresh fruit and veg and good value market cafe, Aladdin and Abu wouldn’t need to employ their 5-finger discount ways at Rusty’s.

Brewhaha Espresso Bar, 141 Barnard Drive, Mount Sheridan | The perfect spot for some hard-working dwarfs to caffeinate before a long day of work.

Apex Milk Bar, 24 Hoare Street, Manunda | One bite and you’ll be taken back to Radiator Springs where burgers and shakes are served with Flo-level smile and sass.

Mondo’s on the Waterfront, 34 The Esplanade, Cairns | You’ll be able to let it go with Mondo’s good vibes and marina locale.

Palm Cove Surf Club, 135 Williams Esplanade, Palm Cove | Eat your chips before the seagulls from Nemo start swooping and squawking, “Mine! Mine! Mine!”

Before you cut loose in the tropics, ask the locals for their tips. Adventure Mumma is all over the best things to do with kids in Cairns.

And just in case you need more inspiration, here’s a round-up of the 20 best things to do with kids in Tropical North Queensland.

No holding back now. Where’s your go-to family restaurant or cafe in or around Cairns?

Source link