Previous First Chapter Next
Kaieda's heart raced, as the child of Atlas charged at his daughter and Kalista without hesitation. Time seemed to slow down, as he couldn't believe he was about to witness, another one of his children killed, this time in front of him.
He was a proud man, even with his demeanour. He didn't lack in his training and responsibilities as the crown prince. However, one thing he did regret in his life, was not spending much time, with his daughter. Her older brother had died in a skirmish with the children of Atlas and he was unable to do anything, even though he was close to their battle site.
Although situations had never favoured him, he still blamed himself. Now once again, he still couldn't do anything.
Time resumed, for it never waited for him, as the child of Atlas got within a meter of killing Yori, who was not prepared. However, suddenly, dropping like an anchor out of the sky, was the Hashin guarding their shuttle, who managed to block the child of Atlas' charge.
Her skin was cracking up like Kayed's, having used the technique, to allow her to make it on time. She felt her comrade's life flash off in the distance and assumed a code zero mentality. Her priority was to keep the royal family safe and help them escape the danger. "Forbidden Art, Acidic Clouds."
Tiny sprouts opened up, all near the child of Atlas' feet, quickly bellowing out, a massive plume of acidic smoke from the planet. Surrounding him, and maintaining position, his skin burned, blistered, and peeled, as his body tried to keep up with the damage. He began to choke, then dropped to his knees, coughing his lungs out.
The Hashin spurted out blood, as one of her organs was crushed as a sacrifice. Still, she wanted to see this through and was ready to sacrifice another.
"Haha ahaha... Just kidding." The child of Atlas stood back up, as a big swirl of electricity, blew the acid clouds away from him, and crushed the ground around his feet. "Did you think, that was going to hurt me? With all the stories that I used to hear from Father, you're generation has truly disappointed me."
Her eyes grew wide in terror. She raised a massive golem of lava behind him, throwing down a colossal fist, while glancing back just once, to yell at them to run away.
However, it all happened too quickly, for them to register. She glanced back at him, as a gigantic, violet lightning strike, struck the golem down with ease and continued to converge into his hand. An object looking like a spear, was all she could make out, as he threw it with intense velocity, trying to kill the two women behind her as well.
The Hashin managed to launch them out of the way, towards Kaieda, with a clay dome, absorbing the impact. Time was still in slow motion for her, as her feet began to lift off the floor, and she finally, was able to look down. Seeing the gaping hole, centred through her chest.
"I see..." She said faintly and unleashed the last of her energy, as her body hit the floor. "Forbidden Art... Land Reformation...."
With her last breath, thousands of geysers opened up all around them, as sleeping volcanoes of the entire country blew up. In moments, the entire land was covered in lava, a burning land, with no habitable spot as far as the eye could see. The waves consumed her, as everyone else had to worry for their lives.
Kaieda kept Kalista and Yori behind him, facing the enemy, who was wary of the lava, the moment it began and took to the skies after them, keeping his distance. "Kalista take Yori with you now, you can use the opportunity she bought us to escape his reach!"
Kaieda took off his coat, letting it fall into the burning ocean, with his black sword gleaming by his side. Then, he gathered enough energy to go into third gear.
Yori, piped up between them, a tear beginning to streak down her cheek. "I can fight with you!"
Suddenly the child of Atlas attacked and kicked him with such speed it immediately shattered a couple of bones in his arm, yet he blocked it, grinning. His knowledge of iko was one of the best on Azuria, given his private lessons from his father. However, he knew immediately, that this opponent wasn't someone he could hold back against.
The wind from the force of the strike nearly blew Kalista and Yori away. The man smiled, glancing at each of them. "I don't like when you guys ignore me like that. No need for any planning. Show me your strength. What are you worth, Prince of Azuria?"
Kaieda lurched taking another strike to his stomach. He gritted his teeth and grabbed hold of the man's arm while covering his other fist with magma. Striking him square in the face and dislocating the man's arm.
He yelled out in pain, glaring at him, then smirked, as his arm popped back into his shoulder, by itself. He glared at Kaieda, but quickly regained his composure.
Kaieda braced himself. "If you know of me, then you know I won't forgive you, for what you have done to my people and the harm you tried to cause my child."
The child of Atlas shook his head. "No, it's truly an honour, I've heard stories of you ever since I was a youngling, as well as the Hashin. It's why I was excited to come to this planet... Ahh my bad, I forgot to introduce myself."
Purple lightning struck him, as he held the charge, going into first gear. "I go by Galaico, the 85th child of Atlas. I must add your skull, to my collection."
Several beads of sweat dripped down Kaieda's face. He had only felt this much power, often from his father. Now facing someone at that level, he realized, this was the moment of his life, where he had to surpass Akio, in every way.
Which meant, he had to put his life on the line. "Ahh Galaico was it? I've got to be honest with you. Getting serious isn't my style. I like to have fun. Travel the galaxy and see new things. However I've been blessed to have experienced so much and wish my daughter the same life, but better in every way." His expression changed, as a deadly aura, began to emanate from him. "You and your family, threaten her way of life. I can not allow you to live!"
Galaico smirked. "So what are you going to do? Can you even survive, my next strike?" He said, settling into a stance, ready to pounce on his prey.
Kaieda clasped both of his hands. "We'll see, I'll be giving it everything I've got!" Steam, escaped his breath as he bit down, and exploded the energy within him. "Forbidden Art, Self-Volcanization!"
His heart lit on fire, as his skin began to crack and shift like magma. Enormous power coursed through him, as volcanoes in the entire area erupted once more. His hair remained silver, as lava marks flowed through his skin coursing faster.
The prince dodged raining rocks and debris, as Kaieda raised one palm at him. "Shūchō Roar!"
A large sphere of lava had started to form in front of his palm while gathering some from below before it shattered forth. Carving out the burning sea below them, as it chased the Galaico, who was trying to escape. At some point, he disappeared with a flash, and reappeared, kicking Kaieda on his side, and crashing him down into the sea of lava.
Kaieda, immediately jumped back up into the air, as pillars of lava followed behind him, each grabbing for Galaico. Who once again zipped around, dodging each one. Blurring, with the speed of his movements, as he drew his sword and aimed to cut the Azurian down.
However, as he struck at Kaieda's body, the magma he covered himself in armour with, morphed to grab hold of his sword and hardened. Then Kaieda grabbed his arm, as he couldn't escape, burning him as he gripped tightly.
"Let go of me!" The prince yelled struggling to get free, then flipped up to try and kick him away. However, a massive hand of magma soared out of the sea like a dolphin. Then, grabbed hold of him, before crashing back down into the lava with him
"Hagye Nightmare." Kaieda said, as he turned off the limit-breaking technique, which had already shaved away a quarter of his life, and thanked the Hashin for her last gift.
He turned around to begin heading back to his daughter, when the burning sea began to shake, rippling earthquakes through the land, as lightning struck down all around him, then at him as he raised a barrier above, to protect himself.
Galaico rose out of the sea of lava, with a barrier of electricity, dripping lava off of it. His entire body was messed up, with all of his clothes burnt off.
He pointed raised one palm at Kaieda. "You're paying for that! Lightning Flare!"
A laser of electricity ripped through the side of Kaieda's abdomen faster than he could react. He began to fall out of the sky.
The prince looked at him, angrily. "That's not enough. Not yet!"
He raced towards Kaieda and kicked him harder, sending him crashing into a mountain, outside of the country.
Kaieda could barely see, his vision was blurry, and nausea washed over him. He felt multiple bone fractures throughout his body. 'This is it.' He thought to himself. 'I can't win, but I hope I bought them, enough time to escape.'
Galaico landed in front of him, standing above, with a disgusted look. "Someone proclaiming to be a prince of the Azurians and the next leader of the Rahmanaka Clan should never be this weak. I'm disappointed, Prince Kaieda."
Kaieda coughed large amounts of blood, as he sat himself up. "Maybe so, but I am proud to have served my people to the very end. I'm not sure if I'll be missed, but my daughter, will make a fine Queen one day and I don't want her to ever have to see you again."
He had one hand planted on the ground, the entire time, beckoning the lava, burning where they left, to go down under, and manipulate tectonic plates. The ground below them, started to vibrate violently, as earthquakes ripped the land apart.
"Galaico! You messed with the wrong clan!" Kaieda yelled as he sacrificed his life's entire potential.
The prince's eyes grew wide, before he spun around and began running as fast as he could, then took off into the air, but his leg was caught on to something. Rather something was pulling him back down.
Arms growing out of each other made out of titanium, clay, and different steels, extended out of the ground, with one of the arms grabbing hold of his leg. Then, like a whip it dropped him back down to the ground, as Kaieda yelled out loud. "Forbidden Art, Continental Detonation!" Then smiled, one last time, as Galaico watched him slump over to the side.
Galaico panicked as time seemed to move in slow motion for him. His life flashed multiple times before his eyes, as he cut off the arm, holding him down, and dove toward the sky as quickly, as quickly as he could. Just in time, as the entire continent erupted.
Notes:
Shūchō is derived from Shūchū in Japanese which means concentration. In this case, I was probably looking for concentrated roar.
Previous First Chapter Next

Hello! It's me,Yuri,carol,call me the way you guys want,but the reason why today i have no art is because i am having personal pronlems,and my school tests will start and i need to keep going to therapy and take medicines, this makes my time to make art shorter, so I'm going to post little art until these personal problems are over, today there won't be any art,if this get worse i might not even be online,but i can only have time to send messages on the groupchat,but making art is getting shorter,so i will try my best to try to get more free time to do art,my projects and more cool things.
thank you for reading this important text💗🤍

I'm a 2D artist with over 4 years and more of experience working as freelancer for people all over the world, i've been working on DnD characters, illustrations, splash art's, marketing art, book covers for novel authors, and also i'm doing vtubers commissions too!
If you have any question feel free to ask me!
My portfolio: https://www.artstation.com/ldanny
My socials: https://twitter.com/lDanny18
My discord for contact: danny6541
Let's work together!

Hi, I'm a lonely guy looking for a lonely girl. I'm hitting that age where life comes at you faster, and I'm starting to realize that I don't like being alone. It's not that I don't have dating experience, I've just been single for 8 years.
What I'm looking for is someone who wants to eventually be in a relationship with me. I miss the good morning and good night texts and calls. Watching shows together and laughing about the stupid stuff that happens. Sending music to one another.
Abit about me: I live in the South Eastern US
I'm getting ready to go back and finish school for a cyber security degree, in the mean time I work full time in retail heck.
I like to play games on my pc, me and me best bud have an mmo rivalry. He plays a lot of final fantasy, but I like playing world of warcraft. I play a lot of other games too though
I'm a cat/dog person
I'm a tall guy with bad eye sight. 6ft 3in with double astigmatism. Driving at night is what I imagine it feels like to be on mushrooms
Everyone's pretty political today. I don't mind people having opposing views, sometimes I think it's better because it let's you have a conversation with someone your comfortable with. Personally I'd say I fall on the left side of the isle, but close to the middle.
I feel like attraction is an important first building block for a relationship, so I'm happy to send a picture. I'd say I'm pretty average looking personally.
If anything here interests you, or you're a lonely soul like I am, feel free to dm me.

Timestamp
Good morning ladies and gents, I'm here to offer a cure for your FOMO. Spymyto #0480 got delivered to me yesterday afternoon. I ran it across a strop a few times, flipped it on the couch, and stuck it in my pocket while I played with the dogs in the yard. Has only cut receipt paper, factory edge is nice. Includes pouch, pamphlet, and sticker. I need $250 to break even.
I really wanted to love this knife but I'm just not feeling the magic. Build quality is great, fit and finish are great, action is good and will break in to be great. Just not for me. Traders feel free to shoot your shot, but I'm mainly looking to sell. Will ship in a small flat rate box Monday. PayPal F&F only.
Thanks for looking!

Every u/Local_IP_.Tracker, I imagine a u/bruh4774 where u/robopitek can be with u/Latnemis_Art in my u/Chad_Vietnam_soldier is u/Scallopro that will write a u/Repostsleuthbot of u/Nastuki_simp_06 and u/RDT-xExotics0318 The u/Realistic_Border_574 flows down into a dark u/Plentybuddy5761 Just move your u/GianXander, write the u/ReborningPhoenix into his u/Shoddlydoodler1995 But in this u/Malik_Videos08 of infinite u/JustTensuraEdogawa What will u/Classic_Individual63 take just to find that special u/BladerTCNC? What will u/Ryan567_ take just to find that special u/InfectedPickles? Has u/grantash4d found u/MonkeyBoy32904 a fun u/interweb_cat to do u/KirbyOnPaws? When youre is here, everything that we do is fun for them anyway When I can't even read my own feelingsWhat good are words when a smile says it all? And if this world won't write me an ending What will it take just for me to have it all? Does my pen only write bitter words for those who are dear to me? Is it love if I take you, or is it love if I set you free? The ink flows down into a dark puddle How can I write love into reality? If I can't hear the sound of your heartbeat What do you call love in your reality? And in your reality, if I don't know how to love youI'll leave you be
LocalIptracker you make people laugh everyday with your posting memes until dan dms me Bruh4774 the horny girl makes funny and controversial comments in the ddlc communtiy Robopitek you make funny comments on lewd posts making people smile. Latnemis art makes funny art with a subtle message for example a drawing with that says i just like her personality but the P is actually yuris posture Chadvietnam soldier adds flavor to the community with their comments Scallopro..you better not forget me Repostsleuthbot you track reposts but you are annoying when you comment on the ddlc dictionary posts Natsuki simp you make comments on natsuki art which make me smile Rdt you are found in some posts discussing things, you add flavor to the community Realistic border thanks for making funny oc edited media Plentybuddy thanks for making funny pakistan themed memes about ddlc it makes my day bright Gianxander makes nice art with a nice touch ReborningPhoenix also makes nice art with a nfws touch (thats why its nice) Shoddly doodler makes silly natsuki art thanks! Malik makes the DDLC dictionary which makes a nice touch to the community Justtensure you add flavor to the community Classic you make intresting posts that make me smile Bladertctn you add flavor to the community with funny comments Ryan567 you make funny comments being known as the antihorny person Umm myself lets skip myself yall tell me in the comments what you think about me Gran you aka the monika main makes fun comments that add flavor. MonkeyBoy32904 you comment in posts with the flair just monika more like just shapes and beats, your comments and flair make me laugh interweb_cat your flair makes you recognizable (the purple one please) its always nice to see you commenting Kirbyonpaws you comment are a great addition to the communtiy JUST LIKE THE OTHERS WHOO GIANT SHOUTOUT TO EVERYONE HERE YALL ARE AMAZING!!!!

Im planning on making a plushie of a dog with floppy ears, but I’m not sure how to go about it, which is why I made this post.
I am going for something like what is shown in the attached image, a long huggable body, with weighted limbs. Except it would be smaller and less detailed.
my main concern is how I will pattern such a thing, as I have never made a plushie pattern before. I haven’t been able to find many good patterning tutorials on YouTube. I thought maybe I could sculpt the features out of clay, measure them and then blow them up to proportion, or I could sculpt the features out of foam and pattern that. if you have any good patterning videos or free patterns that would be great.
any tips on how to add details such as eyes? Like handmade embroidery?
(I have prior experience in sewing, but ive never made a plushie)
https://preview.redd.it/bp6qitc9xszc1.jpg?width=632&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4f2fe413f75752adcb77b8846c69b6c787836477

If they're seriously trying to be able to leave YouTube, they're doing a horrible job of it in general. Keep in mind, I'm a big fan and a Patreon supporter and everything, but the last few weeks they've been showing fully how unprepared they are to step away from YouTube right now.
As a Patreon subscriber, I have 3 months free on the streamer. I went to see if they had uploaded a new episode of Survival Mode, and it wasn't posted on the front page of the streamer in the new content section at all. I had to go deep into the page for Survival Mode to find it.
I went to their social media accounts to see if they had said anything about the new episode being available. Nothing. Their Instagram has nothing since last fall.
If people don't see their content on their YouTube subscription feeds, and they aren't going to promote anything on any social media, and then people who actually remember to go looking for new content can't find it on their streamer front page, they are going to lose absolutely everyone.
I'm also a Dropout subscriber. Every time a new episode of anything on Dropout is out, they post clips and gifs and promote the hell out of it. I see it on Instagram and even Tumblr. I never miss anything I'm interested in on Dropout because they actually communicate with their subscribers. The same absolutely cannot be said for Watcher right now. They seriously need to do better or they will be forgotten even by the people who want to support them.

It's been hard to find time to write this past week, but I'm chugging along, however sluggish. I also want to give a huge thanks to u/icallshogun for telling me how to use new-old reddit, because it's already saved me a bunch of time posting this single chapter.
I have a bad habit of last minute editing before I post chapters. I'll usually go over once or twice and switch up a few things. I didn't this time. Why am I telling you this? No idea. Enjoy.
A little PSA: if the next chapter button is missing, it's most likely in the comments (either that, or the next chapter isn't out yet), because sometimes reddit likes to say posts are more than 40k even when they aren't, making them impossible to edit. I just had this problem adding the link to chapter 12.
Many thanks to u/SpacePaladin for making NoP!
Prev -First- Next
------------------------------
Chapter 13: A million miles away
- Memory Transcription Subject: Arlene Brandy, Human Refugee
Date [Standardized Human Time]: October 20th, 2136
The refugee center crested the horizon, with UN banners draped from the second story, and signs marking some of the nearby buildings as temporary housing. I wondered how exactly they convinced people to hand over entire buildings for use. One of them wasn’t even an apartment building, it was offices.
There were more humans around, of course, with the venlil population extremely sparse, only a few brave enough to be anywhere near the ‘den’. I grabbed the door, and opened it, revealing the main lobby, which to my utter surprise, had a venlil at the desk along with a human.
It feels so weird to point out when people are human or not, but that’s just how it is now. I ambled towards the pair, keeping my movements slow and calculated, not to scare the guy. He noticed, and let out a chuckle.
“No need to worry about me ma’am. I’m quite used to humans by now.”
I relaxed, blushing a little. “That makes sense.”
“What do you need?” The venlil asked.
“Oh, I’ve been meaning to get one of those datapads. I have family at home I need to get in touch with.”
“And you are?”
“Arlene Brandy.”
“Uh huh.” He clicked at the computer for a moment. “Well, you’re a little late to the party. We just got five hundred or so new residents, so we’re out of new pads, but I’m sure you can find someone willing to let you borrow theirs.”
“Shit.”
“I’m sorry for the inconvenience. You’re staying at Golden Ridge apartment 113, correct?”
“Yes, why?”
“I’ll have one sent to your door when we get a new shipment.”
“Thank you.” I turned to leave.
“Wait, we wont get more for a few paws yet. Why don’t you try asking to use someone else’s?”
I turned back around to the desk. “Can I use yours?”
"Sorry, mine doesn’t connect to the Earth networks.”
“Shit.”
“Please try not to swear so much, there are children around.”
“Sorry.”
“Don’t worry about it.”
The guy at the desk was so comfortable around me that it started making me uncomfortable. While the human at the desk didn’t even register me. I bet he was playing solitaire.
I entered the common room. People ambled, walked, teetered, and even ran around, from door to door and table to table. Seating was plentiful, but there weren’t any free spots, because the place was so packed. There really were a lot of them. Refugees, I mean. This was only a tiny fraction too.
How many more? Is there an end to it?
I searched for someone to approach, but found nothing. Everyone was grieving. I didn’t want to interrupt. I didn’t want to see it, I didn’t want to know it was there. My stomach turned in a horrible spiral, and I soon found myself bent over a toilet, ejecting breakfast. I was drooling over the bowl like a rabid dog, eyes watering and legs quaking. My diaphragm expelled one last gust of air, in a horrible coughing fit that lasted uncomfortably long.
I don’t know how I found the bathroom without help, it wasn’t marked very well. I’ve always been good at that sort of thing I guess, whatever ‘that sort of thing’ is.
On my way out, I washed my hands twice, not that it made a difference. The common room was still full of chatter and sobbing, quiet and boisterous both in their own right.
A man in a dress shirt sat alone at a table with his head in his hands. A mother cradled a baby in her arms, rocking him to sleep. In the corner of the room sat a group of people sitting on the ground playing monopoly. A boy ate a droopy sandwich next to a parent, munching listlessly. They all looked so tired. So tired that it could suck the breath right back out of you.
At one of the tables was a man with burns on his arms, and another bandaging him up. He winced when the bandages touched the splotches where blisters used to be, dry and scabbed. There was a good chance the burns were inflicted on purpose, by them. Monsters.
He locked eyes with me, his empty like all the rest. My head jerked away, embarrassment on my face like dye, the mask doing little to hide my frenzied posture. I power walked to another part of the room, behind a group of people conversing. I took off my coat so I wouldn’t overheat in the stuffy room… and also to blend into the crowd.
Staring at burn victims? What is wrong with you?
I looked down at myself. My boots were brown, my pants were black, and my shirt was as well, with a picture of an album cover on the front. My hands were twitchy, and my arm was still bandaged. I could’ve, should’ve lost the dressings by then, but I hadn’t got around to it. I put my coat back on
Since I wasn’t getting anywhere, I decided to take a trip down the hallways, into the dorms, where it was less crowded.
Down the halls, past a few turns, was an open door, with warm light spilling out, and cheerful discussion taking place inside. Taking a peek, I saw a group of 3 people, one of whom was a venlil, playing cards. The funny thing, is it was one of those grungy decks with pictures of naked ladies on them. Well, I don’t know if it was funny, but it stuck with me.
“Hello?” Spoke the venlil.
The other heads turned in my direction. I was discovered. A pang of cold crawled through my spine.
“O-oh, hi.” I tried and failed to act like I hadn’t been watching them for several seconds.
“Hey there, are you one of the new arrivals?” Asked the girl sitting next to the venlil.
“Uh, no, I’ve just been living in a different spot.”
“No wonder you look like shit.” Spoke a middle aged guy with scars. There was an ankle monitor on his leg, though I certainly wasn’t going to question him about it.
“Ben! Don’t be rude.” The girl replied.
“I’m not being rude. We all look like shit. Some of us are shit right now.” Ben mumbled.
“Well you don’t have to be so nihilistic about it.” She turned back to me. “Wanna join us? We could use a fourth.”
“No thanks. I’m trying to get in touch with my family.”
"Well if they’re here, I can find them. I know everyone here.” Said the girl, with a big grin.
"They’re on Earth. I just need to use someone’s datapad. The guy at the desk said we were out of new ones.”
“Did you break yours?”
A nervous laugh escaped me. It felt so weird to have a normal conversation. The last time I talked to a human was only a few days ago, but it felt much longer. Years maybe… or not. My shoulders felt tight, probably from the extra weight. I swallowed a lump that had been growing in my throat since leaving Earth, and my stomach got heavier as a result.
What did she lose?
I cleared my throat. “N-no, I never got one in the first place.”
“Well, no worries. You can use mine if you want. I’m Taylor by the way.” She smiled.
I didn’t smile back. The mask would’ve hidden it anyway. “Thanks. I’m Arlene.”
She handed me the weird alien phone, which I soon realized I didn’t know how to use.
The venlil piped up. “Want me to do it for you?” He stood up.
“Yes please.” I handed him the datapad.
He started tapping away at the device. “These things are super outdated. The interface is really clunky, especially the UN comms.”
I loomed over his shoulder, watching him type in a bunch of stuff into text boxes. “You have to login to make calls?”
“No, this is just the path the call will be taking. Where are you calling?”
“Wisconsin.”
“Where is that?”
“North America.”
*“*Okay, there we go.” He handed the datapad back to me. “Just type in the phone number and you’re good to go.”
“Thanks.” I started punching in the number.
“No problem. I’ve had to do it for Taylor a million times by now.” He chuckled.
“Hey, I know how to do it now!” She replied.
“Then why didn’t you show her how?”
Taylor snorted. “Because then you wouldn’t be useful anymore, and I didn’t want to hurt your feelings.”
“Whatever you say.” He flicked his tail.
“Hey, enough with the snarky tail language.” She crossed her arms.
“What did he say?” Ben asked.
“He said I was a goober.”
I looked up from the datapad. “You have a tail sign for ‘goober’?”
“Of course we do, why wouldn’t we?” He shrugged.
Ben raised his eyebrows, and Taylor laughed. I was still wearing the mask.
"Hey, do you mind if I uh… you know.” I pointed to my face.
“Oh please, you couldn’t possibly be uglier than Taylor.”
“You better be careful Talnek. You’d get a beating if you insulted a lady where I come from.” Ben stated.
Taylor punched Ben in the shoulder. “He’s just messing!”
I removed the mask, and set it down on a table. “Is it alright if I make the call outside?”
“Sure, as long as you don’t manage to brick the thing.” Talnek said, sitting back down at his cards with a snicker.
Taylor shot him a dirty look.
“Thanks again Taylor.”
She grinned like a little kid. “No prob bob!”
I stepped into the hallway, holding the datapad up to my face, and pressed the call button.
It rang.
And rang.
And rang…
Until the display lit up with the face of my dad. My lips curled up in a smile.
“Hey dad.”
“Ope!” He flinched, then grinned. “Hey there sweetie. Havin’ fun up in space?”
“Nevermind that! Are you guys okay? Did Luke make it back alright?”
“Oh we’re doing fine yet. Luke got discharged because of injuries. He got pretty banged up in a crash, but he’s alright.”
“Is mom around?”
"Sorry kiddo, she’s out of town getting gas for the generators.”
My eyes widened. “Generators? Is the power out? Have you been able to get dialysis?”
He rolled his eyes. “Oh don’t worry yourself. We’ve got diesel running the place.”
My hands left marks of sweat on the device. “You are getting your blood cleaned, right?”
“Yes, I am. Even if I wasn’t, your pa’s still got some fight left in ‘em.” He patted his bicep.
I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding. “Jesus dad, you had me worried for a second there.”
He chuckled. “Don’t be. Try to have fun up there. No use worrying about somewhere you’re not.”
A sigh escaped me. “I’ll try.”
“That’s my girl! How are the aliens treating ya?”
I frowned. “Well, if I’m being honest, most of them are assholes.”
“That so?”
“Yeah, I mean, I’ve met a few that don’t mind me, but I can count them on one hand.”
“Well that’s better than nothing, ain’t it?” He raised an eyebrow in a joking manner.
I smiled a little. “I guess so.”
“So, tell me about these nice aliens then.”
“Sure- Hold on, is Luke there?”
“He’s sleeping right now. Doctor’s got him on the good stuff.”
“Is it that bad?”
He shouldn’t have enlisted. Asshole. He’s such an idiot. He could have died! “I wanna meet aliens” my ass.
*“*The doc says he’ll be up and at em in a few days, but the pain is still kicking him.”
*“*Is he alright? Like, is he shellshocked?”
Dad frowned. “I was hoping you wouldn’t ask.” He looked past the camera. “He’s pretty bitter about the whole thing.”
My blood ran cold. I knew what it sounded like when he was downplaying something. “Dad. Is he gonna be okay?”
His expression softened. “Luke’s a strong boy. He’ll be okay.”
“He better. I’ll kill him if he’s not. You be sure to tell him that.”
Dad laughed. “Sure, sure. Back to the aliens, if you will.”
“My bad.” Warmth filled my face. “So there’s this guy who lives in my apartment building, right? I come back home after a day of trying, and failing, to get my hands on any materials, craft materials are super expensive here for some reason, by the way, and he’s coming home at the same time, so I say hi to him, and he jumps me!”
Maybe things would get better.
“Their claws are sharp! He scratched me up pretty bad, look.” I raised my arm to the camera, and my dad gasped in response.
"Whoa, that’s a lot of bandages.”
“Yeah, right? I may have put too much actually. Anyway, he charges me, and so I put him in a headlock, and I yell at him to calm down. It might have been a misplay on my part, I have to admit. What, with the venlil thinking we want to eat them and all that jazz.”
Dad nodded, eyes full of stars. This was nice.
“Well, he starts crying, and now I felt like an ass, so I try to calm him down, but he’s not having any of it. So I hand him a doll I made, but that didn’t do much either, so I ended up just having to leave him there. Would you believe it if I told you he came knocking on my door the next day? He wanted to learn felting!”
He burst into laughter, having to wiping a tear from his eye. “I have to say, you have the strangest way of making friends.”
Maybe I was worrying over nothing.
“Oh, I forgot to mention, so, I was trying to get wool, right? But there’s obviously no sheep here on venlil prime.”
“Oh, don’t tell me.”
“So I went around offering free haircuts.”
Dad started wheezing like he had sand in his lungs. He struggled to point a finger at me. “S-so…” He burst into another fit of laughter. “You went around with shears, offering haircuts to the fluffy aliens who think you want to eat them?”
“Yes, that’s exactly right. I give damn good cuts too.” I grinned, face full of mischief.
“So this friend of yours took you up on the offer? What’s his name?”
“Meba. And yes, I sheared him.”
“Okay, Meeh Baah? Are you pulling my leg?”
“Nope, that’s his real name. It means ‘little person’ in venlil, apparently.”
“You’re kidding! That is priceless! What happened then?”
“I sheared him, and then we went inside, and I taught him how to felt, and he got all flabbergasted when he saw me eat vegetables. He did this,” I held up a pointer finger, closing my eyes. “and then he said ‘You can’t eat vegetables, you’re a predator.’”
“Uh huh.”
“So after that, to skip to the good part, he has me follow him to work to *‘*protect him from humans’, and on the way back, just as we’re getting back to the apartments, he collapses in the hallway, hyperventilating and shaking.”
Maybe I could finally calm down.
“Oh no, was he okay?”
“Yeah, I brought him inside and calmed him down, but then the exterminators barged in! He stuffed me into a closet to hide me.”
Dad’s face swelled with disgust. “Ah yes, I’ve heard of them.”
“Well, they mess up the whole apartment, and they only leave because Meba is friends with their boss.”
“He’s buddy buddy with those folks?”
“Well, I don’t really know, but he used his connections to protect me, so I don’t mind. I was scared shitless the whole time. I barely kept myself still.”
“But you’re okay, right? They didn’t hurt you?”
"No, I was fine. I kind of blew up at him though. We made up though, and now he’s even comfortable around me with the mask off!”
“Mask?”
“The UN makes everyone wear masks in public so we don’t scare people.”
“I didn’t know it was that bad.”
“Yeah… it’s kinda scary sometimes.”
Home was still there.
“Don’t worry. I’m sure the rest of em will fall for your charm soon enough.”
“Yeah. After all, who could hate such an enchanting young lady?” I made a not so dignified face.
Dad shot a silly look right back, making us both laugh at our shared stupidity.
“So, since everything’s intact, when should I come home? I should be able to pretty soon.”
He smiled. “Hey, don’t worry about that. You should stay up there until the power comes back in… oh I don’t know, it should be on in a week or two. No reason to come back when the town is still out of whack.”
“What? But I can help out. Isn’t there work to be done?”
His eyes were warm. “Arlene, just have fun. We’ll be fine. Come home when it’s more comfortable.”
What?
“But I miss you guys.”
“I know, I miss you too.” He glanced off to the side for a moment. “But just wait a little longer. I want to roll the red carpet out for you. We’re not going anywhere.”
“Fine, but I expect a royal welcome.”
“Of course.” He grinned. “I better let you go, I have to make dinner.”
“Oh.. okay. I was hoping you’d be able to tell me about what’s going on in town.”
“Nothing crazy, just the usual but with flashlights instead of street lamps. Say hi to Meba for me.”
“Okay. Bye dad.”
“Bye kiddo. Try not to worry yourself so much.”
“I’ll try. I love you,”
“I love you too.”
He hung up the call, and home was gone again.
I popped back into the room to give Taylor her datapad back.
“How’d it go?” She asked.
“Good. I think.” I grabbed my mask, and handed her the device.
She smiled. “I’m glad. Want to stay for a bit? Today is pizza day.”
“I’m good. I should probably head out. Thanks though.”
“Wait a second, here.” Taylor handed me a card.
I turned it over in my fingers. It was off white with gold lettering. A business card. Very… eccentric.
“What’s this?”
“My info, so you can get in touch with me when you get a datapad. I’m kinda the self appointed caretaker of this place. If you need anything, anything at all, I’m your gal.”
I took another look at the card. “Thanks. It means a lot.”
“You’re welcome! See you later.”
“See you.”
---
I sat on the bench by the office, legs crossed, working on a mini venlil, my third one actually. Yes, I was building an army. An army of little venlil that I would use for… something. Each one measured no more than four inches tall, with floppy yarn tails, and bits of blue yarn affixed for eyes.
They say the one who folds a thousand paper cranes will be granted a wish. What do you get for one thousand woolen venlil?
“Arlene?” Meba was walking towards me. His eyes were unfocused, and his tail was motionless, like a doll’s. He dragged his feet on the ground, and his bag weighed on him like a heap of iron. To put it bluntly, he looked like shit.
“Oh hey there. Done with work?”
“Yeah. What are you making?” His voice was monotone.
“More mini venlil.”
He leaned over. “It looks like me.”
“It is made out of your wool. It would be worrying if it didn’t resemble you.”
“I guess. Does this one have a name too?”
“Not yet. Do you have any ideas?”
He thought for a moment, ears swiveling like satellite dishes. “Mulek.”
“Mulek it is. Is that a common name?”
“It was my father’s name.” He didn’t elaborate.
“Oh, speaking of which, my dad says ‘hi’.”
“He’s the… rancher, right?”
“Yeah.” I got up off the bench. “He’s not as scary as he sounds. If you met him, you’d realize his head is just full of muscles and fart jokes. Ready to go?”
He flicked an ear, and we started walking. The sheer complexity of venlil body language never failed to impress me. Not the ear flicks, those were easy, but the tail signals were insane.
“Hey, Meba?”
“Yeah?”
“What’s your job?”
“I’m a computer scientist. Why do you ask?”
“You look really tired. Six hours, sorry, I mean a claw and a half. It’s a long shift for venlil right?”
“Yes, but my job isn’t very physically demanding.”
“It isn’t taking a toll on you?”
“No.” He lied. I mean fuck, did he think I was stupid? I wasn’t, I think. If it wasn’t his job, it was something else.
“Really?”
“Yes, I just didn’t sleep well.” His eyes were drooping in real time.
Fine, be like that. If you won’t open up, I’ll just help another way.
“Do you want me to carry you?”
Meba stopped in his tracks. “C-carry me?”
“You aren’t very heavy. I could give you a piggyback ride the rest of the way.”
“I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”
“C’mon, I could use the exercise.” I crouched down, beckoning him over with my hands.
"Arlene, I can walk on my own.” He sounded offended.
"At least let me carry your bag.”
Meba sighed. “Fine.”
I stood up and grabbed his bag. “And away we go!”
We arrived at the station, just in time to catch the tube. Meba yanked his bag out of my arms to swipe his card through the terminal. This particular transport was packed to the brim with people, more than a few of them human. Meba visibly stiffened. He sat down, I remained standing.
“You okay?”
“Y-yeah. It’s just a-a lot.” He most definitely wasn’t, he was trembling like a leaf.
I stood between him and the crowd. “Better?”
“A l-little… thanks.”
“Hey, why don’t you work on the scarf, take your mind of things?”
“S-sure.” He grabbed the yarn ball from his bag, along with the crochet hook. Slowly, he removed the clip that was stopping it from unraveling, and stuck the hook through, starting right where he left off. He was definitely getting faster.
The tube rattled.
Outside, the city still breathed.
Kids coming home form school, people like us, coming home from work.
Same old same old.
In my mind, I pictured a fleet, swooping through star systems, making daring maneuvers, shooting down other vessels. So many lights. I imagined the metal stretching, and the hull creaking as it moved. I imagined the little people inside, scurrying around like ants, each wholly insignificant, but still, moving that massive shape.
I turned around to check on Meba.
He was still shaking, like a wet dog in the snow.
God, I miss Milo. Too bad they don’t let dogs on venlil prime.
I put a hand on his shoulder. “Are you gonna be alright?”
He looked up at me, with his funny little eyes. They were full of anger.
“Yes. There’s nothing to be afraid of.” He let out a breath, clenching his jaw. “It’s so s-stupid it makes me sick.”
“Sorry?”
“There’s no t-threat. I shouldn’t be scared.”
I gave him a gentle shake. “Hey, it’s no big deal. You’re doing well.”
“I’m doing h-horrible. I hate these stupid instincts.” He growled. “H-how is this supposed to be an evolutionary advantage? I can b-barely think straight.”
“Take a deep breath.”
“B-brahk this.” He muttered. “You k-know, we’re famous for being w-weak. The b-best in the whole brahking f-federation.”
I frowned. “Don’t say that.”
“We c-can’t run, and w-we can’t fight.”
“That’s not true and you know it.”
“I can’t even c-control myself. I h-hate it.” He let the scarf slide back into his bag.
“Meba, you’re the bravest venlil I’ve met.”
“What d-does that say about us? That I’m one of t-the ‘brave ones’? It’s brahking p-pathetic.”
“Don’t say that about yourself.”
“Brahk! What else am I supposed to say?” He hissed, head finding its way into his paws. “It’s horrible. Horrible, horrible, h-horrible.”
I sat down next to him, and put my arm around his shoulder.
“This is s-so stupid.” He muttered.
“Tell me what happened?”
“No.”
A sigh escaped me. This was exhausting. “Okay.” I pulled him close.
He removed his paws from his face to look at me. “How am I gonna t-talk to Gram’s friend like this? I can’t even h-handle being around a few random humans. How am I going to deal with him e-eating in front of me?”
“You saw me eating, didn’t you?”
“That’s… d-different.”
“We don’t have to go if it makes you uncomfortable. I’m sure they’ll understand.”
“N-no. I need to d-do this. I can’t keep b-being scared all the t-time.” He clutched at his fur.
I bent over to grab the work-in-progress scarf from his bag, and offered him the half finished garment.
Meba received the scarf, with eyes full of ash. “Thanks…” He continued weaving.
But before he could get into a groove, the brakes forced us to brace ourselves. We were home.
The ground still rumbled as we left the station, even with the rubbery pavement dampening the vibrations. The scent of rain was in the air, carrying with it a special tint from the alien soil. Wind was billowing now, whipping my hair and pushing against my thick greatcoat. Meba was somehow unbothered by this, thanks to his wool I assume. There weren’t clouds overhead, but that would change. My hands hid in their pockets.
‘Twas too cold madam!’ Said lefty.
‘Not for I! It’s simply more comfortable in here.’ Said righty.
We passed the yard, heading up to the second floor, and my apartment. I shivered.
*“*I think it’s gonna rain soon.”
*“*Huh? Why do you say that?”
*“*It smells like rain.”
He tilted his head, ears flopping along with it. “I thought human noses weren’t very strong?”
*“*Well, not for most things, but we can smell when it rains from quite a ways away.” I opened the door, and stepped inside, yanking my feet out of their shells. “Come on in.”
Meba followed with no hesitation, even when I deposited the mask on the coffee table. He plopped down on the couch, deflating for a few seconds before digging around in his bag for the scarf. I grabbed some snacks from the kitchen, and brought them to the couch. I plopped down beside him, and flipped the TV to a random channel. Hopefully lazing about would help both of us.
After a few minutes of zoning out to The Exterminators of all things, I managed to doze off somehow. Sights and sounds melded into goop, as my brain ceased exact function. Facts became obscured, no concrete understanding remaining. Static resonating with time stretching like putty, everything subjective, only in the moment.
A tower, in the desert, numbly stalking around crumbling balconies, arms like swarms, legs like chicken wire. No need to blink. Down below is something terrible, but it doesn’t matter. It is safe here. But snow falls, the sky tearing like an old t-shirt, is it? The weave becoming tighter, it stretches along the north, through to the south, a taut little line of cotton. Now I’m tearing too. The tower isn’t crumbling, but folding. ‘Here’s the sun’, I think, mind reeling back to wakefulness, a snout by my face. Milo?
“Who?”
“Huh?” I tried to sit up, bringing a hand to the kink in my neck. My mouth was dry with viscus saliva, the aftermath of a nap. When I made it about half way up, my skull collided with Meba’s freakishly solid face.
I fell back, gripping my forehead with a groan.
Meba jumped back, startled. “A-are you okay?”
"Ugh…” I curled up into a ball to further cradle the lump growing on my head. “Owwie…”
He started hyperventilating, almost jogging in place.
I grabbed him by the arm. “I’m fine. That just hurt like hell. What is it?”
The squirming stopped. “Sorry for waking you up. I just wanted to know if you think this is long enough.” He held up the scarf to my face, which was still partially covered by my other hand.
Jeez, more than enough. That thing must be at least 80 inches. How long have I been out?
“Yeah, need me to help you finish it off?”
“Yes please.”

any portal i try to light and go through doesn't link at all, this leads to too much portals and could ruin my server, this isn't the obfuscation thing and im pretty sure its a mod i have.
here's a full list of my mods and the footage: Sky Structures

Dark Paintings Kotlin for Forge Easy Anvils [Forge & Fabric] Dungeon Crawl Konkrete [Forge] Dangerous Stone Cutter [Forge/Fabric] [Let's Do] API AutoRegLib Chalk AmbientSounds 5 [Let's Do] Beachparty Biome Music[Forge/Fabric] Savage Ender Dragon[Forge/Fabric] SuperMartijn642's Config Lib Extra Zombie Drops YUNG's Better Jungle Temples (Forge) Skeleton Horse Spawn Serene Seasons Name Tag Tweaks Radium Reforged Bookshelf Sooty Chimneys FullBright Cloth Config API (Fabric/Forge/NeoForge) Torch Slabs Mod WATERMeDIA: Multimedia API Tough As Nails Artifacts Cultural Delights CodeChicken Lib 1.8.+ Just Enough Items (JEI) Night Lights Savage & Ravage Enchantment Descriptions Spelunkery Second Chance (Forge) Sit Naturally Spawning Vex Visuality: Reforged HT's TreeChop Make Bubbles Pop [Client] [Forge/Fabric/Quilt] Sophisticated Backpacks Pitch Perfect Not Enough Animations Better Allay [FABRIC/FORGE] [ETF] Entity Texture Features - [Fabric & Forge] Universal Bone Meal [Forge & Fabric] Another Liquid Milk Towns and Towers YUNG's Better Desert Temples (Forge) YUNG's Better Nether Fortresses (Forge) Death Knell Special Drops Portfolio Mouse Tweaks The Aethe Durability Tooltip Golems Are Friends Not Fodder Kiwi 🥝 (Forge) Double Doors Bedspreads (Fabric/Forge/Quilt) Toast Control Placebo Supplementaries Squared Abnormals Delight Clear Water Respiteful The Twilight Forest CreativeCore YUNG's API (Forge) YUNG's Better Dungeons (Forge) MmmMmmMmmMmm (Target Dummy) Edibles Aquaculture 2 Chunk Sending[Forge/Fabric] Better Climbing Server Performance - Smooth Chunk Save[Forge/Fabric] Alex's Mobs Silveroak Outpost Chef's Delight [Forge] Ensorcellation Curios API (Forge/NeoForge) True Darkness Neapolitan Berry Good Supplementaries [Let's Do] Bakery Entity Collision FPS Fix Simple Shops Realistic Sleep Rare Ice (Forge/Fabric) Better Fog TerraBlender (Forge) Texels Paintings Cave Rats Buzzier Bees Chimes Stronger Snowballs Grabby Mobs Falling Leaves (NeoForge/Forge) Sophisticated Core Clear Lava and Water Alex's Delight Nyf's Spiders End's Delight CoFH Core Every Compat (Wood Good) Cupboard Another Furniture Carry On Farmer's Delight Drip Sounds (Forge) XP From Harvest Reworked Eating Animation [Forge] Path Under Gates Hourglass Cook your food Diet (Fabric/Forge/Quilt) Despawning Eggs Hatch YUNG's Bridges (Forge) Domestication Innovation Incubation Brewin' And Chewin' Extra Delight Beautify! Comforts (Fabric/Forge/Quilt) Snow Under Trees YUNG's Better Mineshafts (Forge) Variant Tools and Weaponry - More Weapons Let Sleeping Dogs Lie (Forge) SwingThroughGrass YUNG's Extras (Forge) Better Fullbright TheDirtyStuff Blueprint Clumps Neko's Enchanted Books Moonlight Lib YUNG's Better Strongholds (Forge) Void Fog Framework More Mob Variants Villager Names CullLessLeaves Reforged (Unofficial) Lucent YUNG's Better End Island (Forge) Chat Heads Detail Armor Bar [Forge] AppleSkin Snowballs Freeze Mobs Food Effects YUNG's Better Ocean Monuments (Forge) Iceberg [Forge] Mod Name Tooltip Architectury API (Fabric/Forge/NeoForge) Snuffles Snow! Real Magic! ⛄ (Forge) Naturally Charged Creepers Just Enough Effect Descriptions (JEED) Cat Jammies Biomes O' Plenty Super Simple Voice Radio Tumbleweed GeckoLib Pet Pass: Trade Your Pets Presence Footsteps [Forge] Starlight (Forge) [Let's Do] Vinery Citadel [Let's Do] NetherVinery [EMF] Entity Model Features [Fabric & Forge] Random Mob Sizes Better Fps - Render Distance[Forge] Puzzles Lib [Forge & Fabric] Fullbright UB Collective Nature's Compass Fresh Animations Smarter Farmers (farmers replant) Easy Shulker Boxes [Forge & Fabric] Simple Tomb Amplified Nether Copperized Advancement Plaques [Forge] YUNG's Better Witch Huts (Forge) Tax Free Levels (Fabric/(Neo)Forge) Boatload Camera Mod Simple Voice Chat Better Advancements Wool Tweaks Responsive Shields Carpet Trapdoors [Forge] Duckling Contact Nether's Delight Xtra Arrows Entity Culling Fabric/Forge Do a Barrel Roll Model Gap Fix Easy Magic [Forge & Fabric] MidnightLib Just Zoom [Forge] Catalogue Blur (Forge) Notes MrCrayfish's Gun Mod Farmer's Respite Iron Chests Twilight's Flavors & Delight Dynamic Lights Item Highlighter [Forge] Forgery 

https://reddit.com/link/1cphsuw/video/loc638bacnzc1/player
Dont mind the darkness, its another mod i just fixed

just got back from our trip so I figured I’d give a recap for anyone else anxiously researching the way I was 🤪
The stay: we stayed at the sands at grace bay and we LOVED it. You’re immediately greeted with rum punch and they bring your bag up to your room for you. We stayed in a junior garden view suite and still was able to see out to the ocean from our room. The screened in balcony was super nice to hang out on and was probably our favorite part of the room. Washer and dryer in room was also nice. Three (?) pools, the big one is the nicest and has the most chairs which are first come first serve but it wasn’t busy this week so we had no problem getting chairs when we wanted them. Got a couples massage at spa tropique and it was well worth the money
The beach: we walked up and down the beach in front of the other resorts and felt like the beach and water was the nicest in front of the sands, but that might be just based on how the wind was blowing this week. Water was crystal clear and warm-ish. Shallow pretty far out, I am 5’4 and not a strong swimmer and terrified of things in the water and felt comfortable going out to chest deep water. The swimming area I think heard gets to be about 5 and a half- six feet deep at the back of it. Little bit of seaweed but not enough to make me squirm and I’m a baby about things in the ocean. My husband checked out snorkeling gear from the sands for free and swam around the little swimming area, said he didn’t see anything.
The weather: it was cloudy and drizzled on and off the first day we got there but the rest of the week was beautiful. Very very humid but not miserably hot yet
The food: we ate at coco bistro, Hemingway’s (for like four meals just bc it was on our resort), Caicos cafe, the farm, Mr. Groupers, and ate at the fish fry. All were good, no strong stand outs as a favorite. Fish fry was fun, I would compare it to like a small hometown summer fair with craft vendors and food. Spent anywhere from $100-$300 a meal for 2, but this included a drink or two a person, entree, and dessert. Got subs from the Graceway gourmet grocery store to eat before our kayaking excursion bc that had an early pick up time which were also pretty good, comparable to subway. Beans & leaves had pretty good coffee and my husband got a smoothie that was good. Stopped at turkberry which is like the old froyo shops that were everywhere in the early 2010s, no complaints there besides that it was pricy, but I expected that going in
Excursions: we did a ton this vacation! We went parasailing, booked on Viator. They pull up in their boat to your resort to pick yo up and we were up in the air for about 10 minutes. If this is something you like doing, I would do it. I personally am mildly afraid of heights and this was a compromise to not go snorkeling and while it was beautiful, I couldn’t wait to get back on the boat 😂 I did however feel safe the entire time so if you’re on the fence I would do it, it was about $85 a person. Provo ponies was booked up by the time we thought about it so we went with Heritage Tours and really liked them! I rode Patches who was super sweet and my husband rode Diamond. This was my husbands first time riding a horse and he was totally comfortable. Tour guides were super friendly, the horses knew exactly where they were going, and it was cool to see the other side of the island. I wore shorts and a tshirt and tennis shoes without socks because I figured you would have to wear closed toed shoes, this is not the case and the will even let you go barefoot if you want. We also did a clear kayak excursion to the Mangrove and Iguana island and this was our favorite excursion by far. They tow you out to where you need to go by jet skis and then it’s casual paddling looking for wildlife. I would not call myself super athletic or a particularly fit person so I was glad I had my husband with me to do the bulk of the paddling but none of the groups seemed to be struggling. We saw soooo many turtles, 2 lemon sharks, some little fish, a jellyfish, and a barracuda. Our tour guide even found a beautiful empty conch shell which I got to keep. They tell you you’re only guaranteed to see conch but definitely do their best to make sure you see things. We were the earliest group and I think that helped. The absolute highlight of our trip was walking a puppy at Potcake Place rescue. If you like dogs you have to do this, it’s totally free and they give you everything you need to have the dogs for a few hours. They check out dogs starting at 10 and they have to be back by 12:30 for nap time. We went around 10:30 and there were plenty of dogs, but I’m sure that could be different depending on the time of year. We were given Tassie and she was just the sweetest thing and had a blast walking (being carried) all over town with us and loooooved the beach. We had so much fun with her and I definitely didn’t cry giving her back and try to convince my husband we should bring her home 😉
The shell: like I said, I got a conch shell on our kayak trip. I was a big shell kid so this was the one thing I really wanted to get from this trip. Had this not happened, our plan had been to go to Da Conch Shack and see if there were shells over there. The Sands cleaned the shell for me for $10. Unfortunately we were leaving the next day so it still stunk some, it still stinks and i will be continuing to clean it today. My luggage is all in the process of being rewashed because it made everything smell despite being double bagged. It is however beautiful and was worth it. I was nervous i was going to have to check my bag bc i only had a carry on, but they told me I didn’t have to and I had no issues getting through security. Customs also didn’t make me declare it but I don’t know if that is the norm.
Phones: I have Verizon and had the travel pass, had no issues using my data but for some reason my phone wasn’t receiving calls the whole trip which I haven’t had an issue with in other countries with the travel pass? Wasn’t a big deal for me, but just something to keep in mind
The airport: oof. I was SO nervous after seeing the horror stories of cancelled flights, etc. We had no issues coming into Turks. As we were getting in the taxi to go to the airport for our 3PM flight, I get a notification that it’s bumped to 4 which was whatever, our connection wasn’t until 9 so this is actually better for us. Then ten seconds later it gets bumped to 5 and we wouldn’t land in Philadelphia until 8:40 for our 9:05 connection flight. Luckily I was able to get us a different flight that actually got us home significantly earlier, but I was stressed until we actually took off 😂 service is not great in the airport so I’m also glad this happened before we arrived. Otherwise the airport was fine, we breezed through security, were able to find seats no issue and they had big fans going so it wasn’t too hot. Ate sandwiches from the little deli and got some snacks from the convenience store.
Tips: really the only big one is to bring cash with you. We only had $60 because we miscommunicated who was grabbing cash and thought we’d be fine because there’s ATMs. The ones at Graceway Gourmet were both out of order both times we tried to go, the only other one within walking distance of the resorts we could find was at the casino at the Ritz but it doesn’t open until 5. We were planning to go to Da Conch Shack this trip but weren’t going to have enough cash to pay for a taxi there and then one to the airport so we scrapped it this trip. There are stray dogs around the island which was scary to me at first but they mostly either keep to themselves or are friendly. We walked like 20,000 steps a day so bring comfy shoes. Also some of the cover things on the sidewalk get really slick when it rains (ask me how I know 🫠)
tldr: we had an incredible trip and can’t wait to go back. I literally said “how am I supposed to vacation anywhere else ever again”

just got back from our trip so I figured I’d give a recap for anyone else anxiously researching the way I was 🤪
The stay: we stayed at the sands at grace bay and we LOVED it. You’re immediately greeted with rum punch and they bring your bag up to your room for you. We stayed in a junior garden view suite and still was able to see out to the ocean from our room. The screened in balcony was super nice to hang out on and was probably our favorite part of the room. Washer and dryer in room was also nice. Three (?) pools, the big one is the nicest and has the most chairs which are first come first serve but it wasn’t busy this week so we had no problem getting chairs when we wanted them. Got a couples massage at spa tropique and it was well worth the money
The beach: we walked up and down the beach in front of the other resorts and felt like the beach and water was the nicest in front of the sands, but that might be just based on how the wind was blowing this week. Water was crystal clear and warm-ish. Shallow pretty far out, I am 5’4 and not a strong swimmer and terrified of things in the water and felt comfortable going out to chest deep water. The swimming area I think heard gets to be about 5 and a half- six feet deep at the back of it. Little bit of seaweed but not enough to make me squirm and I’m a baby about things in the ocean. My husband checked out snorkeling gear from the sands for free and swam around the little swimming area, said he didn’t see anything.
The weather: it was cloudy and drizzled on and off the first day we got there but the rest of the week was beautiful. Very very humid but not miserably hot yet
The food: we ate at coco bistro, Hemingway’s (for like four meals just bc it was on our resort), Caicos cafe, the farm, Mr. Groupers, and ate at the fish fry. All were good, no strong stand outs as a favorite. Fish fry was fun, I would compare it to like a small hometown summer fair with craft vendors and food. Spent anywhere from $100-$300 a meal for 2, but this included a drink or two a person, entree, and dessert. Got subs from the Graceway gourmet grocery store to eat before our kayaking excursion bc that had an early pick up time which were also pretty good, comparable to subway. Beans & leaves had pretty good coffee and my husband got a smoothie that was good. Stopped at turkberry which is like the old froyo shops that were everywhere in the early 2010s, no complaints there besides that it was pricy, but I expected that going in
Excursions: we did a ton this vacation! We went parasailing, booked on Viator. They pull up in their boat to your resort to pick yo up and we were up in the air for about 10 minutes. If this is something you like doing, I would do it. I personally am mildly afraid of heights and this was a compromise to not go snorkeling and while it was beautiful, I couldn’t wait to get back on the boat 😂 I did however feel safe the entire time so if you’re on the fence I would do it, it was about $85 a person. Provo ponies was booked up by the time we thought about it so we went with Heritage Tours and really liked them! I rode Patches who was super sweet and my husband rode Diamond. This was my husbands first time riding a horse and he was totally comfortable. Tour guides were super friendly, the horses knew exactly where they were going, and it was cool to see the other side of the island. I wore shorts and a tshirt and tennis shoes without socks because I figured you would have to wear closed toed shoes, this is not the case and the will even let you go barefoot if you want. We also did a clear kayak excursion to the Mangrove and Iguana island and this was our favorite excursion by far. They tow you out to where you need to go by jet skis and then it’s casual paddling looking for wildlife. I would not call myself super athletic or a particularly fit person so I was glad I had my husband with me to do the bulk of the paddling but none of the groups seemed to be struggling. We saw soooo many turtles, 2 lemon sharks, some little fish, a jellyfish, and a barracuda. Our tour guide even found a beautiful empty conch shell which I got to keep. They tell you you’re only guaranteed to see conch but definitely do their best to make sure you see things. We were the earliest group and I think that helped. The absolute highlight of our trip was walking a puppy at Potcake Place rescue. If you like dogs you have to do this, it’s totally free and they give you everything you need to have the dogs for a few hours. They check out dogs starting at 10 and they have to be back by 12:30 for nap time. We went around 10:30 and there were plenty of dogs, but I’m sure that could be different depending on the time of year. We were given Tassie and she was just the sweetest thing and had a blast walking (being carried) all over town with us and loooooved the beach. We had so much fun with her and I definitely didn’t cry giving her back and try to convince my husband we should bring her home 😉
The shell: like I said, I got a conch shell on our kayak trip. I was a big shell kid so this was the one thing I really wanted to get from this trip. Had this not happened, our plan had been to go to Da Conch Shack and see if there were shells over there. The Sands cleaned the shell for me for $10. Unfortunately we were leaving the next day so it still stunk some, it still stinks and i will be continuing to clean it today. My luggage is all in the process of being rewashed because it made everything smell despite being double bagged. It is however beautiful and was worth it. I was nervous i was going to have to check my bag bc i only had a carry on, but they told me I didn’t have to and I had no issues getting through security. Customs also didn’t make me declare it but I don’t know if that is the norm.
Phones: I have Verizon and had the travel pass, had no issues using my data but for some reason my phone wasn’t receiving calls the whole trip which I haven’t had an issue with in other countries with the travel pass? Wasn’t a big deal for me, but just something to keep in mind
The airport: oof. I was SO nervous after seeing the horror stories of cancelled flights, etc. We had no issues coming into Turks. As we were getting in the taxi to go to the airport for our 3PM flight, I get a notification that it’s bumped to 4 which was whatever, our connection wasn’t until 9 so this is actually better for us. Then ten seconds later it gets bumped to 5 and we wouldn’t land in Philadelphia until 8:40 for our 9:05 connection flight. Luckily I was able to get us a different flight that actually got us home significantly earlier, but I was stressed until we actually took off 😂 service is not great in the airport so I’m also glad this happened before we arrived. Otherwise the airport was fine, we breezed through security, were able to find seats no issue and they had big fans going so it wasn’t too hot. Ate sandwiches from the little deli and got some snacks from the convenience store.
Tips: really the only big one is to bring cash with you. We only had $60 because we miscommunicated who was grabbing cash and thought we’d be fine because there’s ATMs. The ones at Graceway Gourmet were both out of order both times we tried to go, the only other one within walking distance of the resorts we could find was at the casino at the Ritz but it doesn’t open until 5. We were planning to go to Da Conch Shack this trip but weren’t going to have enough cash to pay for a taxi there and then one to the airport so we scrapped it this trip. There are stray dogs around the island which was scary to me at first but they mostly either keep to themselves or are friendly. We walked like 20,000 steps a day so bring comfy shoes. Also some of the cover things on the sidewalk get really slick when it rains (ask me how I know 🫠)
tldr: we had an incredible trip and can’t wait to go back. I literally said “how am I supposed to vacation anywhere else ever again”

Hello there fellow divers.
Acting captain iHeroLix speaking (I specialize as a medical officer), as just so happens our lovely crew is looking to recruit more able bodied personnel onto our relatively tiny crew now ( 3-4 divers), Right now we're still in first biome, getting closer to passage onto second one, so for people looking to join others for new or as fresh as posssible campaigns, now is the prime time.
We're piloting an Intruder Mk 6 ship, honestly it's a rust bucket and reactor is kinda a piece of s***, but it works for the most part.
Please keep in mind that this is a modded campaign, mod list is not that big, it's not overly balanced but we're all about fun, tomfoolery and making great memories.
Current Modlist
Few notable highlights:

• Dynamic Europa
• Neurotrauma and it's many modules
• Enhanced Armaments as well as its official expansion "Into the fire"
• Hazardous reactors
• EK
• Barodrama
• Real Sonar
• Barotraumatic as well as it's creature pack, and few more notable additions
• More ARTS
• Enhanced Ruins
• EuropaWar
• Anomalous Artifacts
• Improved husks

And some more... Rest are patches to make them all work nicely together.
Is this recruitment program goes, well we're looking to replace our current sub with tier 3, suggestions and more than welcome. So far we're looking between Apotheosis or Bicksborg II
Also worth mentioning is that we're all EU based, only communicate in English between us and only use IN GAME comms for communication and immersion.
If you liked/loved what you read so far, please feel free to direct DM me on reddit here, or add me on discord with same ign: iherolix
I'd be more than happy to answer any other questions.
Calm seas and happy sailing to you all, signing out.

Hey, I'm 33M from USA, married, looking for a friend I can talk with thouhout the day. :)
Music is a huge interest of mine, I listen to just about anything under the sun! I love a good documentary and binging true crime podcasts :) I also make intricate wood art as a hobby although I haven't worked on any new pieces in a while. I'm game for sending selfies right off the bat, but it's not a requirement. I don't know what else to say in this post, so feel free to ask me whatever you want! :)

Hey, I'm 33M from USA, married, looking for a friend I can talk with thouhout the day. :)
Music is a huge interest of mine, I listen to just about anything under the sun! I love a good documentary and binging true crime podcasts :) I also make intricate wood art as a hobby although I haven't worked on any new pieces in a while. I'm game for sending selfies right off the bat, but it's not a requirement. I don't know what else to say in this post, so feel free to ask me whatever you want! :)