#which IS a big deal lol coming from a french museum

[themagicaltunaa]

Answer all the questions

well i have nothing to do so sure

1. What have you eaten today? 

some toast for breakfast, leftovers for lunch, and some cereal for dinner

2. Who was your last kiss with? Was it pleasant?

never kissed anyone, don't really care about that

3. What color shoes did you last wear?

light grey sneakers

4. Who has made you laugh the hardest in the last week?

Jeremy did, when I was watching his Alien Isolation stream on monday

5. What is your favorite scent?

I love the smell freshly baked goods

6. What is your favorite season? Why?

I love fall. I just love the aesthetic of the season, and my favorite holiday is during fall. I would love to experience it one day

7. Can you do a handstand or cartwheel?

lol nope. I was barely able to do it as a kid. If I tried now i’m pretty sure i’ll break something.

8. What color are your nails?

the regular pink color? I don’t paint my nails

9. If you had to get a tattoo on your face to save your life, what would it be?

aw geez, uhhh idk maybe like a tiny star or something

10. What is something you find romantic?

i dont know romantic things 

11. Are you happy?

eh

12. Is there anything in particular making you happy or sad?

no not really

13. Dogs or Cats?

cats. i like dogs too, but sometimes they’re too much to deal with. i’m more comfortable being with cats

15. Which do you prefer:a museum, a night club, the forest or a library?

museum

15. What is your style?

my style is “im trying”

16. If you could be doing anything you like right now, what would it be?

stay up all night to catch up on videos

17. Are you in a relationship or single?

single babeyyyy

18. What makes you attracted to the person you like right now?

nothing, because im not attracted to anyone

19. If you could replace your partner/best friend with a celebrity of your choice, would you? Who with?

i dont like celebrities

20. Are you holding on to something you need to let go of? If so then what?

i’m pretty sure i’m holding on to a lot of stuff, but I can’t seem to remember anything specific. if this question means metaphorically, the answer still works

21. How did you celebrate last Halloween?

I went to a drive thru haunted house with my 2 friends, and after we got some taco bell and went to the beach to eat our food. we sat there for like 10 minutes before it started to rain on us

22. Have you recently made any big decisions?

nope. I try not to in general , I hate having to make any sort of big decision because I starting stressing 

23. Were you ever in a school play?

I’ve always had stage fright so no

24. What movie would you use to describe your life?

uhhhh, I dont watch enough movies to pick one

25. Is there something you have dreamed of doing for a long time? Why haven’t you done it? 

oh there’s plenty of things that I've dreamed of doing, but I just can’t do it because of anxiety 

26. Complete this sentence, “I wish I had someone with whom I could share…”

I dont like sharing

27. What are two things that irritate you about the same sex?

uhhh idk? maybe the whole makeup culture thing? but it’s not like it irritates me I just don’t get it. I can’t really think of a second thing

28. What are two things that irritate you about the opposite sex?

too much to list

29. What is the best thing that has happened to you this week?

fuck if i know

30. What is something that makes you sad when you think about it?

can’t think of anything rn

31. How long was your longest relationship?

never been in one

32. Have you ever been in love?

pretty sure I have not

33. Are you currently in love?

nope

34. Why did your last relationship end?

see question 31

35. What jewelry are you wearing right now, and where did you get it?

not wearing any atm. actually, I just don’t wear jewelry in general

36. When was the last time you cried and why?

I think it was last week? I don’t remember why, it was probably something stupid

37. Name someone pretty.

the anon that sent me this ask

38. What did you receive last Valentines Day?

oh! I got a few gifts from my bestie :)

39. Do you get jealous easily?

no

40. Have you ever been cheated on?

no

41. Do you trust your partner/best friend?

sure

42. Ever had detention?

no because I was a good bean in school

43. Would you rather live in the countryside or the city?

city. the countryside sounds nice, but just the thought of being out in the middle of nowhere especially at night makes me nervous 

44. What do people call you?

by my name

45. What was the last book you read?

I do not remember. It’s been years since I’ve read a book

46. How big of a nerd/dork are you?

uhhh idk

47. What kind of music do you listen to?

anything that catches my fancy. I don’t really stick to one kind of genre

48. How tall are you?

my doctor said I’m allowed to say i’m 5′2

49. Do you like kids?

they’re alright. I can handle be around them for a bit, but I would never want to have any 

50. Favorite fruits?

watermelon, starfruit, and tangerines

51. Do you wear jeans or sweats more?

jeans

52. What’s your earliest memory?

I was like 3-4, and I was at disney world with my family. I remember seeing a stage show of Bear in the Big Blue house, and I remember walking around ToonTown when it still existed

53. Ever had a poem or song written about you or to you?

i hope not

54. Do you prefer to be behind the camera or in front of it?

behind it

55. Do you have a collection of anything?

I used to collect seashells as a kid and I still have some of the collection somewhere in my closet. I wanna start a new collection of something but idk what

56. Do you save money or spend it?

i try to save it

57. What would your dream house be like?

something cozy and not too big, with a cat or 2

58. What top 5 things make you the angriest?

its 11pm at the time of answering this, i really can’t think of anything to fill a list rn

59. What top 5 things always brings a smile to your face?

see the previous question

60. You are walking down the street on your way to work. There is a dog drowning in the canal on the side of the street. Your boss has told you if you are late one more time you get fired. What do you do?

save the dog. i hate my job anyways so I don’t care

61. 72: You are at the doctor’s office and she has just informed you that you have approximately one month to live. a) Do you tell anyone/everyone you are going to die? b) What do you do with your remaining days? c) Would you be afraid?

I would definitely tell my closest friends, and some of my family members, probably my mom’s side of the family. If I had the money to, I would like to travel to some places that i’ve always wanted to go to. I would have a month to accept that i’m gonna die so i think i would be fine. i’d rather get plenty of time to know i’m dying rather than like last minute. this has been a topic that i’ve been thinking of for a while now, not because I’m like thinking about death or anything, I just need something to kill time with at work

62. Give me the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word; heart.

a heart?

63. You just got a free plane ticket to anywhere. You have to depart right now. Where are you gonna go?

aw cmon, I can’t just think of stuff like that on the spot. I don’t even know where I would want to go

64. Do you like the beach?

It’s nice, especially in the early morning when everything is still calm and the beach isn’t packed with people yet

65. Ever sleep on the couch or a bed with someone special?

no? wtf does someone special mean?

66. Do you have a middle name? If so what is it!

Doesn’t everyone have a middle name? But yeah i do and i hate it so im not saying anything

67. Do you talk to yourself?

in my head all the time

68. Describe your hair.

brown, curly, very long because I haven’t cut it in almost a year, it’s very annoying

69. What is the meaning of life.

I wish i knew

70. What is your ideal partner like?

no one

71. Do you want to get married?

no

72. Do you want to have kids?

 ew no

73. Like or dislike your family?

 they’re bearable

74. Are you Chunky or Slim?

I’m more than chunky, i’m just straight up fat

75. Would you consider yourself smart?

lol no. I’m an absolute dumbass

76. What would you change about your life?

everything if i could

77. Religious or Not?

no not really

78. You’re drunk and yelling at hot guys/girls out of your car window, you’re with?

I don’t drink so this would never happen

79. You’re locked in a room with the last person you kissed, is that a problem?

it sure isnt because no one is there

80. Does anyone regularly (other than family) tell you they love you?

uhhhh no. I don’t really care tbh

81. If the person you wish to be with were with you, what would you be doing right now?

idk

82. So, the last person you kissed just happens to arrive at your door at 3AM; do you let them in?

i’m not opening the door because no one is there

83. Do you like when people play with your hair?

ehh not really. It’ll just make it frizzy

84. Do you like bubble baths?

no

85. Have you ever been pulled over by a cop?

I need to drive in order for that to happen

86. Have you ever danced in the rain?

no. its not fun getting soaked in the rain

87. Do you trust anyone with your life?

not really? 

88. What was your first thought when you woke up this morning?

why does god allow suffering

89. If money wasn’t an issue, what top 10 places would you travel to? (You get to stay at each place for a week)

1.greece

2. peru

3.disney world only because I have not been to all the parks yet, also i can bug my brother while i’m there

theres a lot more but i’m too tired to fill out the rest of the list

90. How was your day today?

it was fine

91. Play an instrument?

used to play mellophone/french horn in band in high school. after I graduated I haven’t touched an instrument since

92. Describe the what you think of the ocean.

it’s scary

93. Do you believe in aliens or ghosts?

aliens as anything that counts as a living organism not of this world, not green little men from mars nonsense. the universe is too big for only life to be on earth. for ghosts, i’m still iffy about them, but that doesn’t mean i’m gonna start walking around haunted places and call the ghosts a bitch

94. Honestly, are things how you wanted them to be?

abosolutely not. every day I regret all the decisions i’ve made through my life. does that mean I’m trying to fix said mistakes or try not to do them again? lol no 

95. Do you have a mean bitchy scary side?

in my mind i do. I’m too scared of everyone to actually do it

96. When are you vulnerable?

always

97. How much free time do you have?

doesn’t feel like much. saturday and sunday go by way too fast and i feel like when i go home from work theres just not enough to relax. im tired all the time

98. Do you like to go hiking?

never been

99. Odd or Even Numbers?

even

100. Would you ever go sky diving, bungee jumping , cliff diving, wing suit gliding, parasailing, snorkeling, or other extreme activities?

no because I actually have self preservation. I am also a very big chicken

#wow this sure took a while #im gonna go knock out now #Tuna's posts #Anonymous

[lovemesomesurveys]

How many times each morning do you press the snooze button? I try and set alarms cause I think I might end up sleeping until like 5PM or later otherwise, but I typically end up just turning them off or hitting snooze.

What time of day do you like to shower? At night.

When you go out to eat, what sides do your order with your food? French fries.

What do you spend more money than necessary on? Damn Hot Topic and BoxLunch are always getting new clothes and accessories and having sales and yeah, they trap me too often. I’m about to get Halloween (the movie) leggings and a Michael Myers shirt lol.

What video game or computer game are you best at? Mario Bros games and The Sims.

How do you normally come across new music? TikTok nowadays. And Spotify.

What do you keep your keys on? They’re on a keychain.

Is your favorite color different than your favorite color to wear?  I love pastels, rose gold, coral, and mint green, but I don’t typically wear or even have clothes in those colors.

Do you buy books or get them from the library? I’ve been getting books through the Kindle app for the past few years.

What section of the food pyramid do you neglect the most? Fruits and vegetables :X And fish, but ew.

Do you check PostSecret weekly?  I never go on there, but I follow the account on Twitter so I see them that way.

What do you use your stovetop for most? Ramen.

Do you notice the impact of the economic recession in the US? I mean, yeah. 

Would you enjoy living somewhere where it's sunny all the time? Ugh, that’s how California feels. I really despise summer, it’s long and hot and miserable.

What is it that you always seem to lose?  I don’t lose stuff that often.

Have you ever broken any bones? Yes.

What is your winter coat like? I have a big puffy black jacket and a couple pea coats. 

Do you keep dirty clothes in a hamper, or on the floor? In a hamper. A pile on the floor would drive me nuts.

Which decade's music do you like best?: 60's, 70's, 80's, or 90's? I like music from each of them, but the 90s definitely have a special place for nostalgic reasons.

Can you focus on studying if there's music on? I don’t like to be in complete silence, but instead of music I typically just had the TV on for background noise.

In what types of situations do you demand absolute silence? Like I said, I don’t like absolute silence. It makes me anxious and my thoughts feel too loud. Even for sleep I have to have my TV on for both noise and light because I don’t like it completely dark either.

Did you do well at fitness testing in grade school? I didn’t have to do that.

If you had to choose a wardrobe to steal, who's would you pick? I like my wardrobe, could I take someone’s huge walk in closet instead? ha.

If you had to pick one thing to bring back from the 90's, what would it be? Ahh, that’s tough. I’d love to be able to actually go back to the 90s instead.

What about the 80's? Hmm.

Do you share any of your music taste with your parents? Yeah. Especially my mom and I.

Could your parents tell when you would fake sick? I never had to fake sick as I was always dealing with health stuff and not feeling well for one reason or another often enough.

Do you own more shoes or less shoes than the average person?  Uhh, I don’t know the stats on that.

Do you still have anything from when you were a baby? Yes.

Are there any stores that send you e-mail newsletters?  I get emails about sales, coupons, and new items from a few stores I signed up to receive emails from.

Do you think people overuse the word "random"?  Nah.

How often do you floss?  Not often. :X

Do you use hairspray much? >> I don’t use it at all.  <<< 

Who is your favorite painter?  I don’t have one.

Are art museums interesting or boring to you?  I think they’re interesting.

What subject in school do you feel is the least necessary? I felt that way about a lot of what was taught in math, personally. 

When you were a kid, what games did you always play on the playground? I remember playing 4-square and tag.

Do you enjoy power outages or do you get annoyed?  Ours always happen during the summer when it’s hot and miserable D:

Do you know how to use an ATM? Yeah.

How about write a check? Certainly, although it’s useless knowledge now. <<<

Are you in to your heritage much? I’d like to learn more about it.

Are you pretty politically correct? I certainly never want to offend anyone, that’s never my intention. I may not always get it right, but I try.

What is one fashion trend you'll never understand? I don’t get why people like Crocs now. Also, wth is up with Yeezy’s? 

What do you wear when you exercise? I don’t exercise.

What is usually the last thing you do before you go to bed? Listen to ASMR.

#personal #text #survey #surveys

[ecoamerica]

Watch the 2024 American Climate Leadership Awards for High School Students now: https://youtu.be/5C-bb9PoRLc

The recording is now available on ecoAmerica's YouTube channel for viewers to be inspired by student climate leaders! Join Aishah-Nyeta Brown & Jerome Foster II and be inspired by student climate leaders as we recognize the High School Student finalists. Watch now to find out which student received the $25,000 grand prize and top recognition!

#ACLA24 #ACLA24HighSchoolStudents #youtube #youtube video #climate leaders #climate solutions #climate action #climate and environment #climate #climate change #climate and health #climate blog #climate justice #climate news #weather and climate #environmental news #environment #environmental awareness #environment and health #environmental #environmental issues #environmental education #environmental justice #environmental protection #environmental health #high school students #high school #youth #youth of america #school

[ahmeddocuments]

Day 1, (Cairo/Amman/Paris), 25-9-2019

Written by Ahmed Hassan, edited and corrected by Aya Ashraf

Well, this is finally it. The moment I've always procrastinated to do. I'm finally documenting my biggest trip to Europe to date!

The trip started from September, 2019 from France passing by Italy, Vatican, Austria, Prague and ending in Germany. The trip raised my travel achievements from 5 cities, 4 countries to 15 cities, 8 countries in a total of 13 months, with a total number of 33 traveling days.

When I'm documenting my trip, I'm documenting personal experience, personal observations and opinions. it also might reflect my passion for Architecture, Art and beauty of how I see things, and how it reflects from my perspective. And to be honest, I've thought a lot about ideas of how I can show my trip well, and blogging somehow was a winner. Blogging sounds like a classic idea of how things should be documented, and I'm someone who's always nostalgic and feels classic about the present and the future.

Well, Where do I start. it's 9:00 PM on a Tuesday, On 24th of September 2019. i just had a haircut and heading home after one of the strangest days of my life. it's the day i had an emotional roller coaster; I'm getting ready to travel a the biggest planned trip ever, just a few hours after knowing I've took a hit in my career. Or at least that’s what i thought at the time. but after a few hours of Anxiety, I've decided to let all of such thoughts stop, I'm going to travel! I'm literally a few hours away from doing my most favorite thing in the whole world! I started double checking my belongings; Passport and tickets, Cash money, devices and luggage.

My plane takes off at 6:45 AM. I made sure i had arrived earlier for documentation. I finished everything around 3 hours before the flight and I'm sitting there at the airport bored and bored waiting for the time to pass, still having glimpses of anxiety from time to time.

The moment has come, I hear the call for my flight. Unlike the past year, that wasn't a direct gate to the plane, but it's a shuttle bus taking us directly to the plane near the runway. It’s my first time on Royal Jordanian airlines, I gotta say the plane looks decently vintage from outside, I liked the color pattern of the fleet because you don’t see darker planes every day. as below, the plane appeared mostly black with mixed colors of blood red and gold yellow.

i picked royal Jordanian because of two factors; their cheap economy tickets (Cairo/Amman/Paris and Berlin/Amman/Cairo for 6900 L.E), their luggage policy  (two 23 Kg pieces + the carry on). But I gotta say, you get what you pay for. As someone who’s been on Air France's Joon last year, all I could do is compare the seats’ quality, friendliness level of the staff and the quality of food. The three weren’t that bad at all on the RJ planes, but yeah, that was something to mention.

So the plane is prepared to take off, flight attendants are giving us instructions about safety and emergency, then we’re taxiing the runway. When people usually describe their point of life when they feel absolutely free of any restrictions, I always think about the moment when the plane is on the runway accelerating, leaving anything behind -even if temporary- and rising above the clouds, above anything that previously caused any kind of insecurity. It’s me feeling superior and feeling good about myself.

That was my first time passing over Sinai by plane, I’ve seen a lot of beautiful scenery, like the gulf of Suez and the Suez canal and its ships lining up one after the other.

Also scenes of Sinai mountains, that looks small but great from above as well

I’m now entering the airspace of Jordan. And I got to see the river of Jordan and glimpses of the dead sea.

Just a few minutes after capturing the above picture, we were approaching Queen Aliaa International Airport in Amman for my transit. The plane was landing, and that was my first time to set foot in another Arab country. My transit was almost two hours long so it wasn’t that big of a deal, the airport was extremely clean with very fast free WiFi service, I didn’t feel bothered at all by the waiting time cause I kept exploring the airport. I wanted to buy a snack or a small meal but it was weird because of my zero understanding about the Jordanian currency in terms of what's reasonable and what's expensive. Minutes passed fast and I boarded the plane for a longer flight to Paris.

Passing over the occupied lands of Palestine gave me a special scene I won't forget, a glimpse of the dome rock mosque and the Aqsa mosque. It’s that glowing gold item in the middle of the below picture.

The flight to Paris lasted about 6 hours, passing over the Mediterranean, central Europe and then finally entering the French air field. It was a matter of time before hearing the announcement that we’re reaching Charles de Gaulle Airport, I’m landing again in my favorite city in the world, one year after saying goodbye back in 2018. Took my luggage and stayed in the airport for a few hours till Islem, the Algerian friend I’m staying with, finishes his work at 6 PM, so that left me in the airport for about 4 full hours.

First things first, I had to top up my French mobile line package so that I can communicate during my trip, then had a McDonalds sandwich at the airport. Also had time for a drink till I received a call from Islem to move to Aulnay-sous-Bois. Meeting Islem became one of Paris’s landmarks for me now, he’s a very nice Algerian, 2 years younger and shows a great hospitality each time I request to stay over. After my arrival at the platform, I found him right there. He guided me to the house, which was like 1 minute walking distance from the station which is a GREAT plus for a tourist. The neighborhood was actually built around the 1940s, and it's all about classic villas and buildings. My building is a great example of how the neighborhood looked.

I was actually staying on the fifth - and last - floor. Anyway it was almost 7.30 and I put my stuff at Islem’s, we're going to have an outing together. Islem suggested I should have like a metro pass to all the 5 Paris districts, which came in really handy for my whole stay, and it included Versailles and Disney which were planned items.

We decided to go over the downtown and launched that plan from Châtelet, stepped out of the station to Rue de Rivoli, passed by Tour Saint Jaques.

Then we passed by Paris's official city center, Hôtel de Ville. The place looked amazing as that was my first time to see it at night all lit

Also had my first look at the seine by crossing Pomt d'Arcole and its beautiful scenery over the river.

I also wanted to check on Notre Dame, as I was really devastated when the fire took place in April 2019, but it looked better than expected. But still it's a great loss to France and Europe.

For those who don't know, Notre Dame was my favorite place to visit in Paris, and it was the place that I've seen first in Paris during my first visit in 2018. I will never forget that feeling of seeing this building in person. Now it is in a really bad condition, only hoping for it to restore its previous glory soon.

I made sure to check the building as much as possible, passed by it from almost all sides. A very important funny part though: it was raining before my arrival and I didn’t notice a small water puddle behind Notre Dame, which resulted my socks and shoes all soaked with water, making me walk like i’m walking on hot rocks for a while till it started to dry out. We later reached Saint Michelle Fountain.

Had the opportunity to see one of the best seine river scenes in Paris, with Notre Dame looking so fine like it was untouched.

We Also passed by Pont Neuf, Paris’s oldest bridge with a construction date back to 1578. The term “Pont Neuf” means the new bridge, because of all the modernity that it embodied in the Middle Ages back then. The building, which spans the Seine at Ile de la Cité, was built during the reign of Henry III but was inaugurated in the early 17th century.  At that time, it was the very first stone bridge in Paris and also the first in the capital to have sidewalks to protect pedestrians from the mud projected by horses and carts.

After crossing Pont Neuf to the other bank of the seine, we’re right in front of the back side of the Louvre museum. Islem thankfully made me enter the Louvre from the back entrance, allowing me to see the famous modern pyramid centering the 18th century old Château from a new angle.

And now with the main stream angle, which I really love by the way because there’s no enough of how beautiful this place looks! I was actually surprised to see that much of people still hanging out there, later i realized the place is open till 9:45 PM on Wednesdays, and it was just 9:15 PM the moment I took the picture.

We were really starving afterwards, and we couldn’t pick a place to have our dinner. So we decided to eat in the first affordable thing we see in our way. We walked down Avenue de l'Opéra heading to the Palais Garnier (Paris’s grand opera house). and as much as it always looked fantastic with its golden statues, it never looked as beautiful as I saw it that night.

We were right in front of the opera when Islem suggested we go for pizza hut since it’s just around the corner, there was no space for me to say no as the last meal I had was almost 8-9 hours earlier. We went inside and we picked a chicken pizza that we shared with a drink and appetizers. and I gotta say there was no much of a difference comparing to the pizza hut we have in Egypt, only cleaner place and more expensive lol.

We were finally full and we decided that I should welcome Paris in the best cliché way possible: watching the Eiffel tower at night. We moved via metro from  Opéra to Trocadéro. For those of you who don’t know, Trocadéro is the best place in Paris where you can actually view the landmark and remain absolutely speechless till you realize you spent a lot of time there and should leave.

It was the most crowded place I visited that night. Needless to say how worthy it was, I’ll just let the below pictures speak for themselves.

After spending some time there, we decided to go home and rest, as Islem is working the next day, and I have to visit Chateau Versailles which I’m really excited about. Using both Metro and RER, we reached home and I was getting ready to sleep before it started raining outside.

I was sleeping right under a roof window which allowed me to see the sky and the rain hitting that window and I instantly started thinking about how lucky I am that:

- It started raining right after I’m back home and right before I arrived, I really felt welcomed :)

- I’m visiting the city I love the most twice in one year! Spending so much time there while having a very good trip planned ahead.

To the next day tomorrow, I’m visiting Chateau Versailles ,La Defance and Arc de Triumph. can’t wait to start going into details about that.

Bonne nuit!

#Egypt #Travel #Paris #France #Beauty #Architecture #Amman #Jordan #Eiffel #Tower #Louvre #Opera #Palais #Garnier #Museum #Art #Culture #nightphotography #night #photogtaphy #tourism #tourist

[thewritingstar]

I would ask you 1-100 but that's a huge request and doubt you'll do it, UNLESS🤔🙃

UNLESS....

1. Name- Deanna or as everyone knows me, Star

2. Nationality- American

3. Age- 19

4. Birthday- April 5th

5. Zodiac sign (or your primal zodiac sign)- Aries

6. Gender- Female 

7. Sexuality- Bi/Pan (im fine with either)

8. Your looks (add a picture or describe yourself)- Dark brown hair, greenish eyes and body of a 12 year old boy

9. What do you/did you study?- Animation

10. What’s your current job like?/What job would you like to have?- I work in an ice cream shop just as a job but i wanna be an animator or writer for shows

-

11. Your birth order- Youngest of 2

12. How many siblings do you have?- One

13. Do you have good relations with your family?- for the most part

14. How many friends do you have?- I would say I have about 8 close friends and then just a ton of other friends

15. Your relationship status- single but accepting applications 

16. What do you look for in a SO?- usually a pulse and good hair 

17. Do you have a crush?- kinda but also no

18. When did you have your first kiss?- haven't yet :(

19. Do you prefer serious and meaningful relationships or casual dating/one night stands?- prob meaningful

20. What are your deal breakers?- smoking and drugs and how they treat others

-

21. How was your day?- well i just woke up so i guess good. 

22. Favourite food & drink- Raspberry iced tea/Vanilla Lattes and Chowmein or burgers

23. What position do you sleep in?- either on my side or stomach. Im usually curled up in a ball so prime cuddle position...just saying 

24. What was your last dream about?- I think it was about cake..

25. Your fears- bugs and the overwhelming thought of me being a failure

26. Your dreams- being someone where others can be inspired by 

27. Your goals- to live a life with no regrets (i know typical right?) but also have a successful career. 

28. Any pets?- 2 doggos 

29. What are your hobbies?- drawing, painting, writing, video games, reading 

30. Any cool places in your area?- kinda but you gotta drive to them so not really 

31. What was your last awkward situation?- me stuttering over my words at work

32. What is your last regret?- idk 

33. Language/s you can speak- English and barely any French 

34. Do you believe in astrological stuff? (Zodiac, tarot, etc.)- hell yeah

35. Have any quirks?- i can make a guinea pig noise and can stand on my head for a while. 

36. Your pet peeves- having my neck being touched and mouth breathing

37. Ideal vacation- Any disney park

38. Any scars?- only mentally 

39. What does your last text message say? “Shes being a big girl and taking 5 classes.” 

40. Last 5 things from your search history- im to lazy to check but prob youtube or fics

41. What’s your [device] background?- Phone background is a painting from a museum and my computer is a bunch of Nintendo items

42. What do you daydream about?- being a voice actor or a pirate 

43. Describe your dream home- one that looks like a castle

44. What’s your religion/Your thought about religion- I was raised Catholic but i really dont practice it anymore. I think it its a beautiful thing and alot of good comes from it, however i dont like it when it is used to harm others or defend evil people

45. Your personality type- So i took a test based on the 16 different ones and I am an Advocate type which apparetnly is very rare and less than one percent of the pop are it. https://www.16personalities.com/ heres the link if you wanna take it!

46. The most dangerous thing you’ve done- I used to suck on batteries as a child

47. Are you happy with your current life?- for the most part 

48. Some things you’ve tried in your life- Snorkeling in Hawaii (which i almost died), Crystal Cave tour and donuts which i hate

-

49. What does your wardrobe consist of?- hoodies and graphic tees 

50. Favourite colour to wear?- black

51. How would you describe your style?- comfortable and sometimes i look good 

52. Are you happy with your current looks?- ye

53. If you could change/add something to your appearance - impossible or not - what would it be?- I want blue hair one day 

54. Any tattoos or piercings?- have my ears and now my nose pierced but i do want tattoos in the future

55. Do you get complimented often?- usually for my hair and i find it happens often 

56. Favourite aesthetic?- Gothic and pastel 

57. A popular trend that you dislike- crop tops 

-

58. Songs you’re currently obsessed with?- “Good Night Moon” by Go Radio

59. Song you normally wouldn’t admit you like.- My Little Pony and Sofia the First songs slap

60. Favourite genre?- pop punk or pop 

61. Favourite artist/band/genre? -Panic!, Taylor Swift

62. Hated popular songs/artists?- I wouldn’t say hate but im not really a fan of Billie Ellish, maybe i need to sit down and really listen but its just not my jam. I think shes a cool person and i love watching her on tv and what she stands for. By i hate Drake and Chris Brown for sure. 

63. Put your music on shuffle and list first 5- Head above Water, Happy when im sad, Love bug, Casual affair, I believe. So Avril Lavigne, Jonas Brothers and Panic!

64. Can you sing or play any instruments?- Im not the worst singer but im also not fantastic and i can’t play

65. Do you like karaoke?- sometimes

66. Own any albums?- like cds then yes

67. Do you listen to radio? What stations?- not anymore

-

68. Favourite movie/series?- Any disney or pixar 

69. Favourite genre of movies/books/etc- YA like adventure books 

70. Your fictional crush/es- oh here we go. Juvia and Gray (Fairytail), Catwoman, Danny Phantom, Captain Hook and Regina Mills and Henry (Ouat), Steve (stranger things), Riddler (gotham) and Molly Hooper (Sherlock) and prob more. 

71. Which fictional character is you?- prob a mixture of Momo and Deku from My Hero and Honey from Ouran 

72. Are you a shipper? List your otps, if so. Am I a shipper? ha. aight Gruvia, Nalu, Gajevy, Jerza, Kiribaku, Kacchacko, Todomomo, tododeku, LadyNoir and the love square, Captain Swan, Outlaw Queen, The powerpuff girls and the rowdyruff boys (respected partners) and like five thousand others

73. Favourite greek god?- Hades and Persephone 

74. A legend from where you live that you like- literally nothing from where i live

75. Do you like art? What’s your favourite work or artist?- love art and i cant just pick one

76. Can you share your other social media?- i mean you can follow me on twitter at StarsnShortcake but all thats there is my shitty tweets and interactions with my friends and Voice actors lol

77. Favourite youtubers?- Mikes Mic, Macdoesit, Twamiz, Larri, Dan Howell, Amazing Phil, Jenna Marbles, Shane Dawson, Steph Inc, Garret Watts, and like a ton more

78. Favourite platform?- Tumblr or twitter

79. How much time do you spend on the internet?- too much

80. What video games have you played? Which one’s your favourite?- I love anything Nintendo

81. Your favourite books (manga also counts)- Kingdom Keepers, Suicide Notes and the Selection Series to name a few

82. Do you play board/card games?- Yes

83. Have you ever been to a night marathon in cinema?- nope

84. Favourite holiday- thanksgiving for the food

85. Are you into dramas?- ye

-

86. Would you use death note, if you had one?- haha ye

87. What changes would you make in the world, no matter how impossible, if you had the power to?- no racism, sexism, homophobia and legal marriage everywhere. Also that no one goes hungry and everyone has a nice place to live.

88. Could you survive a zombie apocalypse?- probably 

89. If you had to be turned into a paranormal being, what would it be?- a hot demon

90. What would you want to happen to you after your death?- I turn into a goddess

91. If you had to change your name, what would be your pick?- ooo Celeste is a cool name 

92. Who would you switch your life with for a week?- hmmm Tara Strong 

93. Pick an emoji to be your tattoo- either the stars or the black heart or the fireworks

94. Write 3 things about yourself - only one of them must be true- Ive never eaten a chicken nugget, I can do the splits and I have cat

-

95. Cold or hot?- hot

96. Be a hero or be a villain?- oooooo um im a sucker for villains

97. Sing everything you want to say or rhyme?- Rhyme

98. Shapeshifting or controlling time?- Shape shifting, i could be a plant

99. Be immortal or be immune to everything aside from natural death?- bold of you to assume i would wanna live forever

100. ….. or …..?- :0

--

HOPE YOU ENJOYED THIS ANON CAUSE IT TOOK FOREVER. 

[13unknownmind]

The Arrowverse is back The Flash S5E3

Well this is a little late but this last week has been hell and I mean that is an almost literal sense but anyway let's get to it.

The Flash if you are not caught up on this season please by all means get on the CW app or download Showbox check them out and then come back and read the other posts I got in this one all under the ... #my thoughts on the arrowverse... and let me know what you think. Now without furthering the Adu let's talk about it.

So we have seem a lot go on in the short time The Flash has been back and I am so loving this season from the still poppin' pop culture references to the epic fight scenes and yes we all know I love the adorableness that is Nora West-Allen. I did actually take paper notes this time so I am "prepared" lol

Now we are just gonna start form what in my perspective is the most notable things going through the episode from beginning to end so let's go.

Aight first we are learning about cicada and his metahuman serial killer looking self. We have this lovely line that I feel in this situation I would have said. "So we're dealing with a meta human Jack the Ripper... Amazing." From my boy Cisco I love this line because not only is it so beyond accurate it just kind of brings things for me into perspective for what if to come.

Now I know you are tired of reading Nora is so adorable in how ever many different ways but I can't help it she is in my opinion by far the most adorable Character in the flash ever, I love this character so much cause she not only broke The law of speedsters everywhere but all she wants is to be with her dad and I just love her so much. I have to aawwww all the time while I am watching this show anymore.

Alright so let's get to the new wells... Harrison Sherloque Wells... It's french lol

This dude is not only a stuck-up think she knows it all kind of dude but he just assumes that he is right because he's been supposedly called to 37 other Earth's to fix the cicada situation granted they were all David Hirsch but to this point we know that this one is not... This is going to be great to see what comes from this dude joining the team which I am assuming is going to be for most of the rest of the season.

Now like I said we got some poppin' and pop culture references as always and this was so great I had to "thank you very much for coming Cumberbatch" obviously a nerd will get this and for anyone who did thank you. Those of you whose heads it has flown over my boy Benedict Cumberbatch also known as in recent pop culture Doctor Strange was cast in the role of Sherlock Holmes in the show Sherlock I loved this and am so glad that it was a thing, thank you again Cisco Ramon.

Cisco my dude you got to stop drinking and you got to chill out Gypsy might come back I hope... For real I doubt it cuz she's got a lot to do she got a big job and all that good stuff but man you got to just let her go.

Now the next notable thing to me comes after they have sat down and talked about Harrisons payment I had to rewind for this one cause I wasn't sure what I heard honestly. "We are being approached by either ate all sensitive man or a frightened baby giraffe" either way dang I am not sure if this was supposed to be insulting but it was surely funny in my head. Thank you Wells for this oddly humorous moment.

Well we all know that Caitlin has her dad situation to figure out so Ralph being the good friend that he is said let's go so he and Caitlin went to visit her mom and I agree with Ralph she's hiding something but anyway that's a thing for later in the season. her mom got an attitude real quick and defensive about the situation deflecting it as a mourning wife or whatever... We all know she had something to do with it so let's just move on from there, Caitlin said aight let's go and Ralph so being the good friends that he is said no let's find out. After having committed what most would consider a felony and finding her dad's stuff came in and Ralph had a moments of adorable friendship after having essentially broken into Caitlin's moms files which I think was really great.

Little side thing Caitlin's birthday is her mom's passcode aawwww.

No there is the matter of the suicide note she supposedly found all lies and we can clearly see that by the end of the episode, which we will get back to in a moment.

Why does cicada want a Vibe specifically like I know he was an easy target because of Joe and that situation but why specifically vibe that confused me for a moment I'm still not fully getting it.

alright well we're moving on to just past the initial contact that cicada made with Joe and looking at the scenes with Nora for a moment this little girl she feels bad about the timeline about what she did but there's nothing she can do to change it so she's got to live with it and fix it... now this ladies and gentlemen young speedsters I hope you are listening. This is the reason we do not time travel or mess with the timeline.

No we're going to move on to the next thing with Nora here she took Barrys advice she stopped took just a moment thought about it and then went into action I am so proud of her.

Okay now let's just take a moment here. "THE DEATH OF VIBE" clickbait of the century. LoL

Okay so now the situation is handled Cisco's chill cicadas gone and Nora being the adorableness that she is the personification of "I did good" sounding so nervous and timid she's adorable I just want to hug her. And Barry being the good Dad "You did great." I loved this moment.

All right so moving on to the next notable thing that I saw cuz there are some things here and there that just stick out more than others you know. "I'm watching you Holmes" this was great cause I grew up around a lot of gang activity and stupidity so I have heard thing similar to this many times before I laughed out loud after this was said. Good job Cisco.

I know let's get serious for just a moment here what is going on with Nora and Iris' relationship I don't get it like a mother and a daughter I supposed to get along and want to be around each other and all that so why is Nora kind of standoffish around Iris? I am not fully understanding like I know they spend all their time together or whatever like Nora said but what is up?

All right Caitlin and her dad's old game becoming a code I love this cause they are bringing this around and giving us a full story and background with details even minut, and Caitlin of course cracking the code finding the "Caitlin come find me" message that's what's up I love that I cannot wait to see what happens next.

Last thing we see Harrison and Nora talkin in the lounge and we get a really strange moment they're talking about Nora coming back to change the timeline and Harrison ends up asking "was the decision your own?" With an odd look from Nora he quickly covers it up with "of course it was" and Nora continues on goes to get her purse and is moving in with Barry and Iris for the duration of her living in this time... there's a lot there and I am not sure if we can unpack it all right now so we're just going to say we will find out again in the next episode of The Flash.

Final thoughts

Are we going to see Harrison becoming part of the team like Harry?

Will we ever see Gypsy again?

Who is cicada really and why is he doing what he doing like I know we saw a daughter or at least what I'm assuming is a daughter but what?

Will we be unmasking him soon?

Caitlin's dad it looks like my theory was incorrect and he might not be cicada. Though it is still undetermined.

Does Ralph maybe have a thing for Caitlin?

What is Cisco going to do now that Vibe is dead?

Could Nora be working with cicada possibly? Cause I want to know what Harrison meant by "was it your decision?"

What is going on this season?

Last thing I really want to see more of that flash Museum.

Alright well thank you all for reading I am very glad that I can provide these little blurbs, if you enjoyed this and would like to check out more of my stuff like I said the tag is #my thoughts on the arrowverse so thank you like I said for reading please come back. Let me know what you thinkI look forward to hearing your thoughts and theories about the arrowverse as well. God bless you ✌️

#my thoughts on the arrowverse #the Flash #barry allen #nora west allen #iris west #joe west #Cisco Ramon #Caitlin snow #Ralph dibny #Cecile Horton #Flash #XS #vibe #killer frost #elongated man #thoughts #CW #DCTV #cicada #Harrison Wells #season 5

[shytiff]

May Small Wins

1 - lazed, went to racheel’s place and put my motorbike there, went to slipi jaya with silvi devi reza to watch seobok (it was fun!!), had iftar at the yumz green sedayu. It was raining when we get back. prayed maghrib and isya in some random mosque. went back and arrived at like 8 past sumn. showered, slept like a babyy

2 - lazed, slept and woke up at like 11, went to nila’s house, practiced doing eyeliner by borrowing nila's (focallure brand), iftar at green sedayu foodcourt (originally intended to go to the yumz but it enforces actual distancing) with angkot ppl minus tik will. Arrived home at about 9-ish.

3 - magang as usual. Went to rm. Took mrt to lebak bulus. My inaco salary finally came. My head kinda hurts after tarawih. Ended up skimming over bj alex lmaooo. Did not shower today lol,,,,

4 - added dr dafsah's revision to the excel database otw to rsf. Pak nardi took a while to arrive. Left rsf early to go to the bank. I (((finally))) activated m-banking lmaooo wow the features are neat wow im not jahiliah anymore. Found this method of just let it sweat anyway during tarawih lmaoo. Preferably with long sleeves bcs somehow you feel less of the sweaty feel compared to tshirt.

5 - sampling - data entry - RM as usual. Theres no new RM. Read a goood dramione fic by bex chan even if its not complete, its okay. Im okay :"))). Iftar was soup, salad, chicken katsu and french fries. Its been 2 days that i practiced sleeping-to-rain-sound. The first night was spent as a dreamless quick sleep (its over before you knew it), but tonight i dreamed abt almira's wedding lmaoo.

6 - no sampling today!! Still went to rsf tooo go to the mall w regen lmao. Did some data entry. Went to PP by mrt. Went back by going to halte gbk and thankfully the kalideres one arrived after only waiting for 5 mins. Its surprisingly quick, compared to lebak bulus - pesakih trip. Took abt 20 mins to jelambar.

7 - no sampling today too. Dr vera gave us lebaran cookies! Did gcp for bu suryati a5. Went to rm, finally finished the available rm. Went home early. Can finally relax since its the weekend.

8 - literally laid in bed til my body hurts. Rly want to read sumn but dunno what. Finally decided to read momoiro heaven. And rere hello. And after iftar i read lack of love. And just like tht, my saturday was gone. Cant bring myself to do things

9 - its another day of lazying (or self sabotaging, cant tell). Read spy family and its effin hilarious. Wasted my sunday. Cant bring myself to even move and i just laid in bed all day.

10 - last day of work in the weeekend lmao. Felt better than being in AR, but still not that much productivity. Went to RM. Phone call w fianti along the way to plan food in almira's bridal shower. Went back at 12-ish. Picked up my dress from risma busana. Walked to and fro halte kebon jeruk. Prayed zuhur close to ashar in kfc's mushola. Felt better after ~8k steps. Had homelab's green tea mixed with vsoy. It honestly made me feel better. Matcha, or caffeine, sure is amazing. At least i had a sense of normalcy before losing all the will to self-care

11 - consumed internet entertainment u til i was sick and tired of it. Watched a lot of cut videos. Granny came and stayed over. So i slept upstairs

12 - same as 11 but upstairs. More relatives came near iftar time so i excused myself to shower. Slept in mom n dads room at like 12-ish. Watched hp goblet of fire since keisha and karins newest obsession was draco. We squealed together over liking enemies to lovers trope haha,,,,

13 - Somehow all of dad's jakarta relatives came for lebaran. the last time i checked, there were some bridges being burned. prayed eid at home. watched perempuan tanah jahanam (which was surprisingly not scary). ate. napped. talked about personal things w keisha and karin. i cant believe the time has finally come where we talk about this kinda stuff. watched you’re next (it barely has any plot, just gore). they went back at about 8 pm and i just sleptttt yall lmao i didnt shower today. disgusting, i know

14 - cam barely get out of bed. Managed to shower at zuhur time. Watched dalbang and laughed like crazy bcs its just that funny. Read fanfics. Tiktok. Ate once and had greenfield yogurt at the evening. Fell asleep. Woke up at 1 and snacked on 1 pack of oat krunch

15 - run bts. Originally planned to go to flavola but it was still closed, so i went to dm's dunkin. Ordered orange juice and oeanut choco donut but somehow the price wasnt package price hhh. Turns out my clires account was somehow banned. So i contacted the admin. Instead of doing dr dafsah's excel i ended up taking off the makara sticker from my laptop. Bought some stuff for almira's bridal shower. Bought arirang at hari2 (its funny bcs yesterday i was seeing online marketplace, planning to buy it, but turns out hari2 the magical place had buy 2 get +1 deal for arirang.

16 - run bts. Managed to move my body a bit. Did 20 squats (ill elaborate on this later). That improved my mood. Tidied up some of my stuff. Saw the paper bag of random memorabilias by friends.

17 - went to rsf by tj. left kalideres 06:45 and arrived at RSF 8:15. sampling. went to RM (still no new ones). picked up by mom. went to salemba for almira’s bridal shower. originally planned to get padang at citra minang behind BK but it was closed. so we drove around looking for open ones. ended up buying it in a small (but crowded) padang place near a big padang restaurant lmao. was the first one to arrive at acacia. checked in, pulled the bed near the wall. showered. its hilarious sometimes with a bit more serious discussion anjayy. went home w febby who drove and clara

18 - went to mcd to get lunch (since everyone’s fasting) and tried to muster the will to do something. i didnt manage to do anything except shopping online (brought dusty pink hijab at hijup). got spicy chicken and iced coffee. (spoiler alert: tomorrow i got mencret2 lmaooo). read my suha and beyond the skidipapap its actually rly good

19 - went to RSF (with mom as usual. quickly snapped RM pictures while mom was waiting. went with her to mami’s house bcs she and uwak will fly to banjar. finally got to meet haekal, he’s such a smiley babyy its basically free therapy. planned outing with nisa lmao. from soekarno hatta we went to vintage vibes lmao since we’re already out. vintage vibes is more crowded now. and there’s less good findings now. went back emptyhanded. ate chicken arirang since there’s no food. fell asleep at like 06:30 until early morning lmaooo

20 - woke up at 2-ish am, played my phone, fell asleep at like 9?, woke up again at 11 lmaooo. went to sbux. had matcha latte. did some inaco work. todays the most productive ive been this week.

21 - went to gi with febby to also meet up with fi, bought falsies and glue (later proved to be of a horrible quality), siraman and pengajian almira (first time seeing an actual siraman), went to blok m w nes ren ara gen. Tried naruto takoyaki at little tokyo, went to daitokyo (i didnt eat anything), and got matcha cake, sakura and mango raspberry gelato at kebun ide. Picked up by mom. Renata gifted me bts 2021 winter package photocard 🥺🥺

22 - iluni internship webinar by dr naldo. Grabbed fried chicken master. Stupid time management etcetc made my start makeup at 12 (febby went out at 13:30). My falsies and hijabdo was done by herrr thank god for the help. Went to swissbel. Didnt take a pic w almira bcs time. Almiras wedding at damai indah golf pik. My skin was TERRIBLE at the wedding. The make up didnt stick prolly bcs of vitacid. Thank god for masks,,, went back home w febbyy. Made tiktok lmao

23 - lazed. Went to flavola. Its finally daytime caffeine again w kopsuscok. Did dr triya's translation work and finished it at home. She transferred the fee at like 11pm

24 - off to RSF with mom. no new medical records. wrote fuad’s name on the medrec borrowing form. continued to nisa’s place w mom. lazed, played w haekal, put some patient’s phone number on the inaco excel. Off to GBK with nisa and sarah. parked at abc field (shouldve parked near GBK’s H gate). saw moja museum 2.0, took lots of pics. mo paint (moral lesson: draw the background first!! not the foreground). finished at 16:30. ashar at masjid al-bina. nisa dropped me off at gbk tj station. prayed maghrib on the bus since the traffic was so ughh. met atikah in lippo puri. decided to eat seirockya so we walked to puri. talked about a certain someone along the way. we rly talked about it while walking until we arrived at seirockya. atikah treated me uyeyy since she and racheel will stay in depok for 2 weeks starting tomorrow. got the shoyu ramen and gyoza. took the taxi to atikah’s place. mom’s waiting there lmaoo i was like “noo dont wait at jco, just wait at atikah’s”. still felt energized that night in my bed. no sleepy2. like 100% awake. 

25 - woke up at like 9:30. i basically did nothing today. didnt even shower lmao (i showered last night). read the good teacher in one go. zoom meeting w dr eva. i rly need some structure in life, goshhh

26 - showered and went to mcd. got nasi uduk, breakfast wrap and milo for 26k (thanks mcd app promo and mcd duta garden’s menu machine, i dont have to interact with another human). planning to do dr dafsah’s excel after all the data is complete, and still no new inaco data, so i ended up.... online shopping at bobobobo....... (bought outer and white culotte). tidied up the writings on my stickies (plenty of words has accumulated). ordered onejai for emir juan (expensive!!! 79k no promo lolll but free delivery. i was baited by gojek’s 1k 2 week subscription and felt like hmmm i should get something since we live in the middle of nowhere and free deliveries felt significant at that particular time when im holding my phone lmao). fell asleep after drinking vsoy + matcha lol its soft caffeine no longer works i guess

27 - woke up late as usual, went to sbux at 1 pm. tried white peach matcha frapp. the peach overpowers and u can barely taste the matcha. tried to read something useful (in medicine) but skimmed 2 ppt and then i saw solid’s bitly for isip. finished reading banana fish. couldnt bawl my eyes out because im outside.

28 - checked out rsf. Still no new ones. Immediately went back. Lazed and wasted my time

29 - iluni webinar. Here comes the impending life crisis. Ate nasi uduk and mie goreng telor today. Tried vsoy golden grain with matcha. It has almond aftertaste. Line call with kris for almost 4 hrs until 11 past sumn pm.

30 - more iluni webinar. Dr Eric, SpPD, PhD was rly cool. Tried daily box (butter soy chicken). Quite tasty. Mkg w regen. Videocalled in the mall w silvi racil bcs its ale and nadaa's wedding today. Bought gooma 500ml matcha w gofood pickup discount. Ate sushi go (the shoyu has mirin btw). 50k+ you get 6 piece of sushi (2 salmon) and matcha cake and ocha. Quite a nice deal. Talked abt cryptocurrency lmao. Went back and forth w TJ. All hail tj

31 - planned to do at least some productive stuff at home. turns out nila is outside and had some time to spare. so we went out. i met her in citra 6. we went to pik’s white beach. its scorching hot since its 2 pm. spent like 15 mins there. we had wanted to stop by monsieur spoon but THERES A QUEUEEE even if its a hot afternoon. so we ate tom sushi at green sedayu. talked a bit afterwards in nila’s place and then i was picked up by emir. tried gooma’s matcha. its not sweet like sbux. approved by mom (who doesnt like sweets). but its more expensive than sbux’s 2L 100k promo lol. (45k after gopay pickup promo for 500 ml). reread bj alex lmaooooo found new tidbits

[ecoamerica]

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[the-cryptographer]

Screw it, I'm asking Malik Ishtar for the meme thing! (Only if you want to, of course...)

THANK YOU :D

How I feel about this character:

My secret favourite!!! I think I tend to likecharacters that are all about BIG UGLY EMOTIONS, and Malik is a lot of those,lol. For me, he’s an effective villain – both really terrible and really understandably so. I think the way he gets so energetic about pursuing the God Cards and the Pharaoh, and then gets in over his head and has to abandon ship on his own revenge, and then continues to see through his role as tombkeeper because he’s just so worn out from trying to fight it – aaaaagh! It’s so upsettingly believable.

In terms of characterisation, he’s floating around brilliant but lazy territory for me. He’s intelligent, but also an idiot, andalso all he really wants to do is ride around on his bike and sleep alone inhis room and live comfortably. He’s capable, but not very ambitious. Not much of a visionary, lol.

All the people I ship romantically with this character:

Ryou. Yuugi. Shizuka.

…well that was a very short list for me. I can also enjoy theifshipping to a certain degree, although I’m not really very interestedin it as a postcanon or endgame ship. And the potential for Malik’s torture ofMai to be sexualised is something I think is both interesting and not that farfrom its canon presentation – so I guess that may count as shipping them insome kind of messed up way. And I guess I also I find myself conceptuallyinterested in Ishtar sibling incest, but I haven’t run into any that treats thesubject matter with the kind of tone I’d like.

More on the ships though: Malik doesn’t directly interact with Yuugi or Ryou much in canon, but both ships seem to have the ability to be about softness and healing to me. Since Ryou and Malik have both experiences a violent and upsetting possession of sorts, them coming to move past that together has the potential to be pretty sweet. And since Malik has a kind of troubled relationship with ‘the Pharaoh’, and how he feels his life has been shaped by these ancient politics, I think Yuugi’s kind of in a unique place to be able to understand both the past and Atem’s journey and his ownplace in the present to be able to help Malik contextualise that in a waythat’s meaningful to him.

And Malik & Shizuka is a nice ship if what you’re going for is exploring Shizuka’s massivedisillusionment. Leaving aside the way that a nice trip to visit yourestranged brother suddenly turned upsettingly full of ugly complicated feelings and murder, I think Malik tends towards a frankness that doesn’t sit well with Shizuka's ideals. This is a fun ship~

My non-romantic OTP for this character:

Ishtar Siblings!!! Malik’s relationship with Rishid is at once so lovely and so heartbreakingly upsetting. I think they struggle to find the balance between how they see each other as siblings and how they see each other in this hierarchy of master and subordinate – the way they come through for each other at the end of the story is just so touching. And Malik and Isis aren’t as close, but I like that their conflicting values, and understanding of their responsibilities, don’t compromise their love and the desire to protect one another. Ishtar Siblings!!!

I also like Malik & Yuugi & Ryou as a BrOTP. And I have a strange interest in Malik & Jou broing out or coming to realise they can’t bro out because he murdered you and tortured your best lady friend postcanon.

My unpopular opinion about this character:

I’m not really sure what constitutes an unpopular opinion regarding Malik, but I have several that might count.

(1) The Millennium Rod only exacerbated problems hewas already having due to the effects of trauma and a shaky headspace. YamiMalik is the product of Dissociative Identity Disorder in relationship to Borderline Personality Disorder, and exists in a reactionary way to Malik rather than being a distinct person.

(2)  He’s about as culturally Egyptian as your standard Amish person can be considered culturally American. (Or, idk, I think the Hutterites are a more apt comparison in a number of ways, if I’m sticking to offshoots of Christianity. More research on different religions is needed but, in terms of daily living, you can take all sorts of cues about the tombkeepers from different isolationist religious “cults”.)

(3) He’s a deadly serious character really –cerebral and ponderous. His sense of humour is along the lines of dry andsarcastic, rather than laugh-out-loud.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon:

I ALSO WISH THE ISHTARS HAD BEEN IN DSOD THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!

I think it would have made sense to mention them in relationship to what Seto was doing in Egypt at the very least. Seto was rooting around in Ancient Egyptian ruins that the tombkeepers had the right too, yeah? I feel like it might’ve been an interesting political/business deal he struck with the Ishtars. Maybe Isis needed money to help in the process of reintegrating the tombkeepers into above-ground society? I don’t know, but I feel like there’s a story there~

Also, it might be obvious from some of these other headcanons, but I wish the conclusion to Malik’s story had been more on the side of ‘the hate you’re feeling is valid if completely toxic’, which is why I like the idea of Yami Malik running amok in his head postcanon, even though I think the manga leaned heavily towards a canon interpretation where he was freed of Him.

my OTP:

Malik/Ryou edges out Malik/Yuugi by a little, but not by much.

my happy ending for them:

Not part of this meme, but you made me realise I wanted to write it all down~

Given my incredibly depressing diagnosis for Malik, I think managing his life will always be somewhat of a struggle. Yami Malik is probably here to stay. Malik will likely always have outbursts, and always have a cruel and violent streak. At his worst, the most I can say is that he and the people around him will be aware of the warning signs and be able to restrain him ahead of time instead of having to do so in the middle of an episode. At his best, I think Yami Malik might appear once every month or two, and just kind of storm around the house/apartment being sullen. I don’t think Yami Malik has the same kind of emotional range or needs as one would expect a completehuman to have – so he doesn’t need much more than to be acknowledged by the others and then left to his own devices. I don’t think he likes being touched, but he may someday accept a hug from Ryou or Yuugi or Isis and take a small comfort in the fact that he isn’t hated. Rishid is a lost cause, and will have to stay away during those times, because Yami Malik will without question react violently to him. I think, in a way, a direct reflection of Malik’s own desires– for his hatred and pain to be acknowledge and accepted by those around him, by all except Rishid, who Malik would most keenly like to be less hateful person for. Malik does not want Rishid to see Yami Malik, and so Yami Malik pushes Rishid away with a lot of force… potentially lethal force.

In terms of the more mundane things, I imagine Malik goes through a period where he wants to travel everywhere and see everything to kind of make up for the fact that he was confined to a dark hall his entire childhood. I think he’ll travel Africa and Europe and see more of Japan at thevery least, but who knows where his travels might take him~ But eventually Iimagine him settling down somewhere, since I don’t think his affinity fortravel is about travelling as much as its about taking in the world’s breadth.As long as he can enjoy bike rides and the wind and open sky and the company of those he likes, I think he’s fine being anywhere. He and Rishid are veryride-or-die so they’ll definitely stick together, I think. Him and Isis is moreiffy, but I’d like to see Isis and him also remain close and live close together.

In terms of a job, he’s really not into forty hour work weeks, lol. He wasn’t raised under the expectation he’d be part of a contemporary work force. And he’d additionally have trouble balancing that amount of stress with his mental healths. He’d take odd jobs here and there, or work part time in something pretty low pressure. Depending on how lucrative the limited amount of work he does is, he may or may not need to rely on his siblings or lover for support. In terms of what he does…? Tinker around a souvenir shop maybe? Or he runs errands for or does translations for the museum, through his connection with Isis?

And I don’t think he’d want kids, or make a verygood parent for that matter. He’s satisfied with being the weird uncle to his nieces and nephews.

my cross over ship:

I don’t have one, sorry~

a headcanon fact:

Hasn’t everything I’ve said thus far been me taking my own headcanons way too seriously?

Coptic, Arabic, French, Japanese. Rishid is the same, except he’s not as fluent in the last two, and also not as well studied in Ancient Egyptian scriptures. Isis is the only one of the Ishtar siblings that speaks English.

Oh, jeez, he is pretty much universally hated by his tombkeeper peers. Even when he was little he was a divisive character with how harsh and cruel he can be at times. And then he was shadily involved in the bloody murder of his father. When he left to form the Rare Hunters with Rishid, he bitterly alienated most of his extended tombkeeper family, but some of them followed him to join his crime syndicate. And then those who had followed him took poorly to the way Malik abandoned the Rare Hunters, and followed Isis back home with his tail between his legs. Literally everybody he grew up with except his siblings hates him and Malik spends the time from Battle City to the Ceremonial Duel hiding out in his room having Rishid bring him his meals because the tomb keepers are done with him and he’s done with them. And he’s technically their ‘leader’, but Isis made a bid for being de facto leader when he skipped out years earlier and, disappointed but resigned, she continues to carry the position when Malik’s returned. “She’s a great leader (even though she’s a woman),” everyone says. They all love her, lol.Rishid is more polarising, since he’s generally so mild and polite. Some of the tombkeepers see what he did as betrayal, but a lot of them view him with a sort of condescending pity and kindness - poor boy, led astray by his association with Master Malik. This makes Malik even more angry. ‘We are brothers and equals!!’ he yells. Even though he isn’t completely free of blame when it comes to treating Rishid as lesser.

Also, it’s totally canon that somewhere along the line he makes some big fuss and his criminal record from being involved with the Rare Hunters gets dragged out of the closet, and the Egyptian Government tells him to gtfo of our country… right?

#thank you again for the ask #i feel like i'm rehashing what i've already told you #but i appreciate this opportunity to let my Malik feels escape #headcanon parade #Malik Ishtar #save me from this card game hell #DeLurk words the meta #meta #ask #long post #so long...

[outrospecting-blog1]

Week 6

- This last week in Hanoi was a blur... on Sunday night (after we came back from Ha Long Bay), it’s after dinner and our host family tells us that we’re doing gifts at 9:30, which got me all sentimental a full week before we were actually leaving.. The gifts were customized pillows with our freaking pictures on them - mine said “so cute Celine”, and Heather and I were in shock for a good 5 minutes before we commenced a photo shoot in their room.. I’d never forget this family and this homestay experience anyway but this pillow guarantees that.. complicated my luggage situation a bit, but probably one of the most thoughtful gift i’ve ever received, and i’m gonna get all nostalgic every time I see this back home - Had a bunch of assignments due (every one of which I decided to start past 1am on the day of deadline).. One of these was an ethnographic paper where we basically were supposed to walk around the city and make sense of the space by documenting little details and assigning meaning.. I fell in love with the city all over again doing this, it’s kind of beautiful how people become their own authors of public space and start owning it as they see fit - i ended up near a lake and people were sitting on step stools (that they use at restaurants as well) drinking beer and had their own makeshift restaurants on the grass area and i feel like you don’t ever see this in urban American cities but i love it so much.. interesting how “unregulated” this business-scape is, in a sense because Vietnam is technically still under a "communist” gov - Also had a group case study presentation which we logged some coffee shop hours putting together.. (cong caphe has this coconut blended iced coffee which we were all obsessed with.. and a really nice bookcase aesthetic.. so literally all of us were in there working on case study on Thursday afternoon) Our case study topic is “psychosocial and emotional well-being” which everyone has been calling mental health because that’s essentially what it is.. so we started out with questions about whether people feel depressed/anxious and why and how they deal with it, but quickly realized that depression and anxiety aren’t concepts in vietnam, and tried to replace it with words like sadness/stress (which also didn’t really work because it just isn’t “normal” to think about these things). I was familiar with this frame because it’s where i come from - which was the beginning of a set of epiphanies about my background and cultural roots.. our western notion of “mental health” is quite medicalized, but i don’t think this means that the non-western views should be seen as “backwards”, as much as i’ve experienced it negatively in the past. It took some processing, but we found that people, students specifically, view stress as normal (which it is) rather not pathological, and therapy/counseling isn’t considered until it’s a serious mental disorder where the person clearly cannot function and go about everyday life - which is also subjective, i realize. Our in-country faculty were actually working on a research project trying to test the effectiveness of a workbook in helping people deal and cope with their depression, moving toward the set of beliefs about mental health that we’re familiar with at spaces like my school and many other American areas (not so much my hometown, i don’t think).. For our case study project’s sake, we pretty much abandoned the focus on mental illness which really wasn’t transferrable, and started thinking about mental well-being - how do people find meaning and happiness in their life? - a more universal concept than “depression”.. the people we interviewed were very diverse, and we interviewed them for different reasons - students at Hanoi Medical University (to learn about their thoughts/knowledge about psychiatry? which wasn’t very productive lol), a bunch of people in the Thai and H’mong villages (to learn about their lives!! see last post), the director of a psychiatric hospital (to learn about what care for mental illnesses looks like and how people in general approach it)… so our preliminary “conclusions” were very broad, but i think the most valuable takeaway was that we really need to step outside our own frames and put on a new set of goggles to understand people from their own frames of reality on what everything in their life means (or doesn’t mean) to them - Another one of our pretty obvious conclusions was that stability (in terms of external conditions) is necessary for positive mental health - like stable family life, stable job, stable home, etc… which is so unfair how many people don’t have this. But I also thought about lots of cases of depression i’ve encountered that could be attributed to over-stability? stagnancy? idk what the right word is but i’m thinking of people who have a “stable” life but want more in life and feel stuck and become depressed because they need change? i realize it requires a lot more privilege to fall into this state, but I also don’t think it should be downplayed due to its context. probably not something we’ll dig into in our case studies (well who knows) but this is of personal interest, as well as the biology behind it - On Saturday I had planned to go on a day trip (to Ninh Binh) for boats and caves and sightseeing, but I decided against it and stayed in Hanoi because I wanted a final day to be in the city and finish crossing things off my list. So I went to this cafe in Old Quarter called Note Coffee where sticky notes covered every wall, every table, every square inch of ceiling.. i wish i could’ve stayed here for a full day and read as many notes as possible.. loved reading cliche quotes and love letters and random weird bits from people all over the WORLD like what a concept... I sat here and felt like I was in 20 places of the world at once.. it was like an organically created museum of traveling humans :’) - I’d planned to spend the day exploring Hanoi alone but that morning, Gwen - our lovely program volunteer / case study translator messages me asking if I’m free and asks to hang out!! So we met up and she took me around on her motorbike to her favorite food spots so I could try things i haven’t tried yet (had the most amazing fruit desserts), and we went to the Temple of Literature. We had such good conversations that I’ll probably never forget -- we talked about literally everything, and it was actually incredible how much we had in common. She’s perfectly fluent in English, which she mostly learned through watching American movies / reading books, and because of this she understands and actually identifies with American culture a lot? which I thought was really interesting. Didn’t know this before, but she’s also fluent in French, (even more so than English), she started working for a (pretty big) travel agency this year, but before than she was a language teacher while she was going to school. She wants to get her Master’s next year either in France, Canada, or Switzerland - this gives me hope that maybe we’ll meet again soon, but until then I promised myself that we’ll keep in touch and be pen pals :’) - Saying goodbye to Hanoi was so hard, I didn’t realize how attached I got to the environment and to the people. When I was asked which country I was most excited for, I said either South Africa or Argentina because I honestly knew nothing about Vietnam and didn’t know what to expect/be excited for. But these were some of the most beautiful, epiphany-filled four weeks of my life, and frankly I don’t think SA or Argentina could beat it. People on the program have asked me why I loved Hanoi so much, and I haven’t been able to give a straightforward answer, because as much as I fell in love with the food and the motorbike rides on the crazy streets and the alleys lined with cheap clothing and gift stores, it’s the intangible things - what I learned about myself and where I come from, and what I learned about people and the world - that give this experience so much beauty, and I am grateful beyond words for the moments I felt on top of the world, for the lessons I’m taking away. Hope we’ll meet again one day :)

[another-beautiful-disasterrr]

1-100 go!!

1. If there were one word which was automatically to your name in Google searches, which word would you want it to be?bubble tea2. What is a goal that you recently met?started listening to kpop..? it sounds stupid but whatever3. What is your favorite time of day?nighttime4. Name a celebrity you find attractive.Kim Soo-Hyun5. What is one of the best pieces of advice you have ever received?6. What is the ultimate gesture of total trust?talking about something you don’t tell others7. What is the best compliment you have ever received?idk…that it’s easy for people to rant to me about things?8. What is something you have changed your mind about?having sex before marriage9. What is something you’ve never changed your mind about?i hate vegetables 10. Rewrite the end of a fairy tale.rapunzel and her prince never find each other. instead they keep wandering and end up forgetting each other11. Choose one: you will never misunderstand the meaning of what someone else is saying OR nobody will ever misunderstand what you say.never misunderstanding what someone else is saying12. If offered irreversible immortality, would you take it?no13. In your opinion, what are the most important qualities of a good friend?trustworthiness, being comfortable with them, loyalty, support14. If you could be a founding member of a space colony, with the caveat that you would never be able to return to Earth, would you go?no15. What is your favorite superpower? Why?mind-reading, it’d come in handy as a psychologist16. If you were a book, which book would you be?idk, one that gets forgotten a lot17. If you found out that your life was a book, and you met your author, what would you say to them?why do you put me through so much shit?18. How would you prefer to die?at an old age19. What is your favorite paradox?n/a20. Tell us five facts about your first love, or, if you haven’t had one yet, invent the story of meeting your first love.~ he was my first bf/first kiss~ we knew each other for a year before he asked me out~ he played french horn in band~ his only interests were anime, gaming and badminton~ he had to have a surgery on his knee21. If you could live anywhere for a year, where would you live?Seoul, South Korea22. If you could visit anywhere for a week, where would you go?thailand or indonesia23. You can only read one genre of books for the rest of your life. Which genre do you read?young adult24. Define “love.”caring so deeply about someone that you’d do anything to make them happy25. Define “justice.”crimes are duly punished instead of the offender getting away with no time or little time served in prison - but at the same time an offender isn’t overly punished for a crime either (eg 20 years for stealing a loaf of bread)26. Define “truth.”something that’s an actual fact or reality27. Define “art.”it’s not limited to just something you see at a museum - it can be music or food28. Define “good.”something that’s pure….or tasty?29. Define “obscene.”idk lmao30. What one thing in the world would be hardest for you to give up?food31. What is one thing you regret?not ending things with my ex sooner32. What is something that you have done that you are proud of?studying abroad33. Is it easier to talk or to listen?listen34. When are you vulnerable?idk 35. If you met God, what would you say to God?is there a purpose to life or are we just here?36. Would it be harder to tell someone you loved them if you weren’t sure how they would respond, or have to tell someone that you didn’t love them back?i think it’s harder to tell someone you love them37. Excluding romantic love, when was the last time you told someone you loved them? Who were they to you?idr38. What is your worst quality?i get attached too easily39. What is your best quality?being a good listener40. What is your most immediately noticeable quality?idk 41. What is the first thing you notice about other people?idk42. Describe one of your closest friends, and explain why that person is such a close friend.I’m going to talk about W. I didn’t really notice her much during our first meeting but we became closer over the course of Sem 1. She’s like the big sis I would’ve wanted and she lets me rant to her about boys and shit. She’s very rational and calm in comparison to me and also shares my love of ramen and bubble tea. 43. What happened in the last dream you remember?I was taking an art class in NYC to do a GE44. What was your most memorable dream?Someone special was coming to SFO and I was on my way to go fetch them from the airport45. Two truths and a lie.I smokeI was only allowed to start driving friends this summerI lost my phone twice within the first 4 hours of landing in Taipei 46. If you were having a baby with the love of your life, and they insisted that the child be named after a place, what would you name your child?Charlotte or Sydney if it was a girlidk about boys lol47. What is the last lie you told?“I’ll do the dishes” 48. Is it possible for you to love someone you don’t trust?no49. What motivates you most?idk 50. What is your favorite narrative trope?idk 51. Describe the ultimate dystopia.idk 52. What story (book, movie, game, etc.) have you learned the most from?bloodlines53. What is something you wish other people could know about you without you having to tell them?i really hate socializing sometimes54. Describe a moment you experienced something unexpectedly beautiful.when i sleep…? then i don’t have to think about anything55. What is the biggest challenge you face when trying to form relationships with people?not focusing so much on myself56. How close do you think your perception of yourself is to how other people perceive you?idk 57. What is something you used to be afraid of, but aren’t anymore?the dark 58. What is the most important emotion?love59. Do you think humans are any different than very advanced organic robots? If so, how?idk60. If you had to move somewhere else, what would you miss most from where you are now?my house”61. If you were a videogame character, what would your iconic weapon be?a sword62. What is an aspect of your personality now that would come as a surprise to your younger self?slightly more outgoing? 63. If you could eliminate one event from the last month, which event would it be?dealing with the anon hater64. If you had to forget the entire last year except for one 24 hour period, which day would you chose to remember? (Other people would remember, and you would have anything you wrote down or recorded during that time period - you would just have a form of amnesia.)april 5th 65. What is the most upsetting thing anyone has ever said to you?”you’re too needy”66. If you had to pick only one ideal or cause to work toward, what would it be?ending domestic violence?67. Are there any unforgivable actions? What are they?betraying someone’s trust68. Under what circumstances is keeping information secret acceptable or morally required?to save lives. or for a surprise69. What is one of your favorite ways to relax?reading a book70. What is something you find difficult to talk about, even though you know you should?idk 71. What is an easy, default topic of conversation?the weather72. What is your favorite sort of conversation?casual ones73. What is a version of you in an alternate reality doing right now?going on a date74. What was the last adorable thing you saw?cat videos

75. Would you prefer for people to hate you or for people to be completely indifferent to you?people to be indifferent76. Would you prefer to be yelled at or ignored?yelled at77. What is your favorite word and why?don’t have one78. What is your dream job?clinical psychologist79. What is the most difficult thing you’ve done this month?haven’t done anything difficult80. When was the last time you were really scared?starting up a convo with someone81. What do you want most?more time with someone 82. Describe an ideal day.hanging out with friends, eating a meal together and going to a place with a nice view83. If you could speak to any real (non-fictional) person, living or dead for one hour, who would it be?cleopatra?84. In general, are you happy with the person you have become?no opinion85. Do you want to be a parent?someday 86. What is something unusual about you that not a lot of people know?i hate bean sprouts87. What makes you you?my sass88. Are you lonelier when you’re with people or when you’re alone?alone89. What makes you feel safe?being in my room90. What was the last bad decision you made?i make a lot of bad choices91. Who is someone you have utmost respect for, and what is it about that person that makes you esteem them so highly?n/a92. What was the last thing you laughed uncontrollably at?my love from another star93. Your friend tells you that they are suicidal, and asks you not to tell anyone. Is it more of a betrayal to tell someone, or to keep silent?keeping silent is a betrayal94. What song speaks to you most? Why?idk 95. What basic values or principles do you turn to when faced with moral dilemmas?haven’t really been faced with moral dilemmas 96. If you had a tagline, what would it be?hungry all the time97. If applicable, what do you look for in a romantic partner?someone i can be myself around and not worry about them being weirded out98. Who is your favorite author?richelle mead99. Who is the one person you know who is most similar to you (in terms of personality, beliefs, attitudes, mannerisms, etc)?no one 100. What are you most excited about right now?nothing to be excited about

#ask

[theadventuresofhelena]

China 🇨🇳

We arrived in China on Jan 31st and immediately were so thrilled to get off to see the city that right when we got done with immigration we left the port terminal to go explore the city(And by we I mean: Molly, Yuhwa, Allie, Allison, Nabs, Hoku and I). We walked around for a bit looking for money exchanges and ATMs and in the process began to walk further away from the city centre. But, that turned out to be a good thing because we got to ride a ferry across the water to get to the other side and that was the first ferry that my friend Molly has ever been on! When we finally made it into the city centre we crossed a huge area that had different food places open. We had arrived during the Chinese New Year which meant that there was a lot of business that were closed. We decided to try these dumplings at one of the restaurants called Yang’s Dumplings. I freaking LOVED them. They were so good, the inside has a lot of liquid inside so it’s super flavorful and ugh-they were amazing. After we ate we walked around trying to figure out the address to a part of a city that is called the French Concession, it’s known for being a cool area to walk around in and just sort of explore. So we got wifi at a Starbucks, got the address, and left to go to a little taxi area. Because the group was so big, we had to split up. So Allie, Yuhwa, and I went into one taxi and Molly, Nabs, and Hoku went into another. On the way there, we lost them in traffic and weren’t sure where they were. Our taxi driver wasn’t extremely friendly, but dropped us off and we got out. However, as Yuhwa was getting out of the car she realized she didn’t feel or see her phone, so she walked back over the the taxi to peak in the window to see if it was on the car seat. I looked over and I saw the taxi driver look up to see her looking in and immediately he floors it and speeds off. Allie and I try to help Yuhwa find her phone in her bag and other random little pockets, but it became very obvious very quickly that the taxi driver most likely had stolen it. Yuhwa tried to run after him to get it/his license plate but he had gone off too quickly and she couldn’t catch up. Also, we hadn’t seen any signs on Molly, Nabs, or Hoku so we weren’t sure where or how to find them. We decided to find wifi to contact them to let them know whats happening with us and hope that they see it. We had been standing outside for quite sometime, most likely looking very distressed, when a man and a woman from a small building that read “Volunteer Shanghai” waved us down to come over. So, we walk over there and begin to explain what has happened. And these people went out of their way to help us, it was so so so nice of them, it just blew my mind. First, she tried calling Yuhwa’s phone and tried using the iPhone tracker, she asked us if we remembered anything about the license plate or if we had a receipt from the taxi driver which they are suppose to give out to you (he didn’t give us one). They then proceeded to walk us to the police station and they stayed with us to help translate while Yuhwa talked with the police. This event took close to 2 hours long, and during it I was taken back a moment because it just really showed me how many good people there are in the world. Yes, there was one bad guy who stole a phone, but we had nearly 10 people trying to help us somehow catch the driver/his taxi license. Although it was a stressful and unpleasant time (especially for Yuhwa) it was really beautiful to see that the majority of people aren’t bad people. Once we were finished talking with the police, we decided to head back to the ship because it was getting close-ish to dinner time and then we would be back once Nabs, Hoku, and Molly were back (because we still couldn’t get in contact with them). So we figured we would have dinner on the ship and then get all dolled up and go out to make the night slightly better than the beginning of the day. We got back, had dinner, finally met back up with Nabs, Hoku, and Molly we all shared stories of our days and then we got ready for the night. We all left and walked to the Hyatt hotel that was only a few minutes away walking distance. They had a bar at the very top called Vue Bar where (as I’m sure you can probably guess) there was an amazing view of the city, so obviously, we had to go. And wowzers, it did not disappoint. It was incredible to see the whole city lit up. Plus, the architecture is just insanely incredible, so it honestly was just marvelous. After we enjoyed our time at the top, we decided to go to a club for some dancing! But we didn’t realize that nearly every place was closed down because of the Chinese New Year. So it ended up taking forever to find a good club, but we found one called Bar Rouge and it was really fancy on the inside. When we first got in there it wasn’t super packed, but there was still a decent amount of people plus other SASers. More SASers ended up coming and we all ended up taking a few shots together and then heading straight to the dance floor, which was a lot of fun with the ladies. The next morning we decided to go on a mission to find the infamous black market. All we knew was that it was underneath the subway system near the museum. So, we got a taxi to the museum (Side note- normally I never take taxi’s at all and use the metro system only, but taxi’s in China are SO cheap! The most we paid for was $7.00 collectively, so we took taxi’s a lot in Shanghai) and once we got to the museum, we couldn’t see any metro signs anywhere so we just decided to walk around the museum. I’m not quite sure how we got so lucky, but we were standing around talking trying to figure out what to do when Nabs saw there was some stuff at the back side of the museum. It wasn’t large enough to be called a market but there were food stands and other stands that had random things people were selling. We went to go check it out and as we get down there I see the signs to a metro, it was straight across from the back of the museum building. So, I ended up getting this weird crunchy tortilla-but not dish outside and it was so delicious, I took a video of the lady who makes it! It’s pretty cool. Once we were done looking around we went straight into the metro station to see what we could find. As we were passing by shops, a man comes up to us and he just knew exactly what we were looking for, so we followed him through this subway station. Left one market and went to another and it turns out this black market we went to wasn’t sketchy at all. We all felt very safe. So this man brings us to a small locked off room and is showing us bags and we ask him if he has any shoes. He takes us to another shop and we were there for way too long lol, we tried on so many different pairs of adidas, yeezys, nikes, but we didn’t love any of them so Molly, Allie, Yuhwa and I all went to and kind of dispersed while Nabs and Hoku stayed behind to see if they could get 3 pairs of shoes for 400 yuan. And wowzers, they sure know how to haggle! They were screaming and yelling at each other for at the very least 10-20 minutes! Hook got her price though in the end so I was proud of them because I could never do what they just did lol We spent the rest of the day at the black market shopping, I definitely got a pair of yeezy’s (slightly ashamed tbh but slightly not) and then a really cute lulu lemon zip up. We took a cab back to the ship, which took forever because the cab drivers kept declining us. We aren’t sure why specifically it happened, but it happened to a lot of different SASer’s. The cab drivers would just say no to us. So we thought we were going to be stranded for a second there but finally one came along and brought us back to the ship! That night we decided to go to this karaoke bar that everyone had been talking about. It was definitely a low-key night so I just went in my new lulu lemon zip up and leggings. This karaoke bar has a deal where you spend $15 and you can get unlimited beer for the entire night. So, that’s what everyone was doing. We got to the bar and there were a good amount of SASer’s there already, we got our beers and I knew the two gals who were already on the dance floor, dancing and singing along to the karaoke so I decided to stay with them and I’m so glad I did because I had SUCH a good night, it was so much fun. I stayed on the dance floor all night long and just sang and danced to old songs that I use to be obsessed with. I did end up losing my voice which was slightly funny for the next couple of days. The next few days were spent exploring the city, we decided to do a Hop on Hop off bus touring and it turned out to be so much fun. We got to go to the Observation Tower where we got a full view of Shanghai in the day time. We also went to this one street that was near the Yu Garden and that was jam packed with people, but really cool to walk around and explore. That night we join Allie’s roommate and went to a restaurant that has little stoves in the middle of the table and you can order a soup and they bring everything out in front of you and cook it! It was super cool to see, they also made the noodles right in front of us! The guy literally danced with them to make them get longer, he was swinging them around everywhere (I’ll attach a quick video bc it is super entertaining to watch). Everyone at the restaurant was extremely friendly to us, which was quite abnormal for Shanghai so that was also really nice to experience! That night we were exhausted, so we just passed out once we had gotten back to the ship. The next morning we went to the Yu Garden which was probably one of the most intense moments of my life. We were packed into these lines like sardines, there was no space for anything. I felt like we were being cattle from one end of this place to another. But once we got out of the line and entered the Yu Garden it was really beautiful! We also did some exploring in another area of the city where I got chocolate for my cabin steward on the ship (his name is Rommell and he is just adorable and when I ask what he wants from each port it has nearly always been “milk chocolate”). That night Molly and I were still tired from going out the first two nights so we decided to have a movie night in my cabin and get snacks and just have a relaxed night. So, we went to the grocery store, got chips and salsa and some candy then headed back to the ship where we invited Sara (my roommie :)) to join us and then we all proceeded to watch a few episodes of Gossip Girl before falling asleep. The next day Molly and i decided to go to the Natural History Museum. And wow, that was a treat in it’s own. So, we’re not quite sure what really is going on in this museum, but some things just aren’t right. We were walking past an exhibit that had lions in it and I think Molly was the first to point out that.. something didn’t look quite right. I took a picture of it and will gladly post it on to here. It also happened to some wolves and another animal species I’m not too sure about. Something went wrong when they were stuffing them and the eyes just aren’t quite right. We were in hysterics at some point laughing at home odd these stuffed animals were. There was a really cool butterfly exhibit and then a random part of the museum that was temporary and we decided to check it out and it was kind of a place where they set a bunch of random things together. There was a container that had a buffalo, conch, and something else all together in one. There was tigers, dogs, cats, rats, and more just sort of randomly placed throughout this space. We were slightly confused, but it just added to the funniest of what we’ve been seeing. We had planned to go to the other museum nearby but we had run out of time, so we went back to the ship to eat food and get ready before going out. It was our last night in China and the New Years was nearly over so there would hopefully be more locals going out as well as SASers, so we were very excited for the night to start. We decided to go back to the karaoke bar to pregame and that was fun, I had almost fully recovered my voice but lost it again that night because I can’t help but sing along to songs when they’re playing. Some random kid announced that everyone was leaving in 5 minutes to go to a club called M1NT. So, after a while later of being there we took a taxi to the club. We had to stop by an ATM because a friend name Lily needed some cash, on our way out of the ATM we ran into some SASers and they informed us that we wouldn’t be able to get in unless we had made a reservation. Sara, being the wonderful human she is, wouldn’t take no for an answer. So, we stroll in and a woman walks up to us and asks if we have a reservation, Sara answers for us and says “No, but we’re from Finland” (everyone loves the Fins) and I go “And we’re so excited to be here” She asks us if this is our first time and we say yes. She then proceeds to unlock this red rope and welcomes us into M1NT. To say we were ecstatic is a slight understatement. We were led to a lobby area that had elevators on both sides of the walls. When one opened we all piled in and I look to the buttons for directions as to which floor M1NT was on. To our surprise, it was on the very top floor. I press the button and as the door close we all begin to giggle with excitement. We were one of the few groups of SASers who got to get in for free, without a reservation. When the doors open, theres a bar with a lounge area and to the right we can hear music and see flashing lights. We go to the lounge first and buy a drink before heading over to the club area. On our way over to the club there is another group of SASers we see whom we know, so we stop and talk with them and take a couple of shots before heading to the dance floor. That night, we had so much fun dancing. It is by far one of my favorite memories I have with everyone. Also, I guess at this club there was a shark tank, but I was really distracted the entire time and never noticed it lol. Kinda disappointed I never saw it, but I also heard it was a little sad so kinda not disappointed I missed that part. We were there for quite some time and just danced the night away, I had a few too many shots so I don’t quite remember coming back but I wasn’t drunk tanked so yay! The next morning I wake up and it’s 10:15am which I thought was a joke because I have never slept in that late before so I didn’t believe my clock. But sure enough, it was. Molly, Allie, and Allison come into Sara’s and I’s room and we all began discussing the night and everything that happened. Sara and I had left over Twizzlers so we were snacking on those while laughing over the random stuff that happened the night prior. That day, we got off the ship probably around 11-12ish and walked over to the Hyatt hotel and used the wifi for the day. I joined Allie and Molly at the cafe they had there, where Allie and Molly ended up ordering a bottle of rosé, chicken nuggets, and truffles. Weird combination, but I just sat there and facetimed my friend Tori while Allie and Molly would give me their leftover food and wine lol. We had to be on the ship I believe by 4pm so once that time came around, we left to get back on the ship. That night we watched from the windows in the Kaisersal us leaving Shanghai. Overall, I had an amazing time. China was much different from what I expected, but there’s still so much to see in this huge country. Luckily I have a 10 year visa so I can come back soon :)