#OOPS I... did it again! I went on too loooong

[ramuoto]

TOP 10 MANHWAs

if anything good came out of 2020, it’s my discovery of manhwas. 

well, it’s not like i’ve never read a single manhwa in the past 15+ years but tbh, the ratio of manhwa:manga i consume on a weekly basis has jumped exponentially this year. previously it was like 1:99 and now it’s like 90:10 LMAO. 

so, just to remind myself that the world is still full of good things, i had to make this list. which i will probably edit in the future, if i can be bothered to. :) 

anyhow, this list was not made in any particular order, just whichever came into mind. it’s loooong so be prepared! (I’ve read way more titles than mentioned but just included the ones worth checking out)

for whoever stumbles across this list, i hope some of these resonate with you and i hope they make you as happy as they made me. 

pic credits: https://geekculture.co/geeks-guide-to-transmigration-novels-avoid-death-at-all-costs/

1. Ebony

https://mangadex.org/title/41838/ebony

Bahahah omg he looks evil there! But our dearest archduke is hardly that aww. Soz, I just ripped off the covers of the manhwa cos I can’t find a panel I liked more than another. I mean, this manhwa is a GEM. I can’t even begin to describe this because everything about it blew me away. This is not something you read when you are craving for fluff, or just wanna have something brainless after a hard day at work or if you just wanna have some eye candy lol. This is something you pick up on a weekend, when you have time, because you need those hours to digest, appreciate, clutch your chest, tear a little because you find yourself falling in love with these characters. It doesn’t have any of that cliche isekai, romance, revenge themes going on. It has a solid plot, backed by incredible characters, beautifully woven by the authors and artist with incredible pacing that keeps you on your toes and keeps you looking forward to the next chapter. Maybe I would have been happier if I found it after it was completed lol. HAVE I CONVINCED YOU ENOUGH TO MAKE YOU WANNA READ IT?! like, idk, just go. JUST GO READ IT GDI. 

p.s. it says there romance but naaaaaaah, dont go in with that expectation. :) this story is so much more than that. 

2. Bring the love

https://mangadex.org/title/44472/bring-the-love

This...this!!! THIS MANHWA NEEDS MORE LOVE. If you need a lot of fluff, a little, ok maybe quite a bit of sadness and tragedy, sweet sweet romance, cutie pies, please, look no further!!! Again, pacing, character development are so important to me and this manhwa aces it. I love the 2 MCs very much. And the side characters too. :)

3.  A Stepmother's Märchen

https://mangadex.org/title/39474/a-stepmother-s-m-rchen

When I first read this, i fucking cried. like please don’t ask me why. it’s not like its an absolute tragedy but I was just rooting for the MC so much and I really want for everything to go her way. That’s how much I adore this MC!!! I LOVE HER. I LOVE HER MORE THAN YOU DO NORA! HAHAHHA. okay soz. I need to keep this spoiler-free.

Anyhoo, there is nothing typical about this time travel plot. Sure, she goes back to try to undo the stuff that went wrong but phew, she certainly changed things so much everything that comes her way have made it so her previous experiences can hardly help aaaaaaand that’s what makes it fun! I sometimes wish the pacing could be a little more consistent, and there could be more characters I could love a little more wholeheartedly (so i wont have to be in so much despair when i read this sometimes lol) but omg the art, isn’t it pretty?! I’ve re-read this soooooo many times but the art blows me away all the time. And have I already mentioned how much I love her?! I LOVE YOU SHULI! AND I WANT YOU TO BE HAPPY!

4.  Lady Baby

https://mangadex.org/title/34691/lady-baby

I literally LOL-ed when I saw this cover. WHO THE HELL ARE THEY. WHAT LADY BABY?! ehehehe. okay anyway, uhm, this is already incredibly popular. im not sure if i need to elaborate but yes, it’s adorbs!!! i dont think i like the MC as much as i love her family lol. and everyone else who adores her. im looking forward to when they get older. :) actually not really. please stay cute for as long as yall can! but yeah, i do wish the plot can move a lil faster. i want to see more character development in the other kids too COME ON! 

5.  Death Is the Only Ending for the Villainess

https://mangadex.org/title/47754/death-is-the-only-ending-for-the-villainess

am i allowed to reveal how shallow i am rn? like the previous choices were all like ‘wow-deep-plot’, ‘wow-character-development’ and this one i just included cos of AESTHETICS ALONE?! the novel covers are breathtaking!!! the manhwa art is amazing as well. and the harem is great! LOL. as for plot... uhm... it’s alright. it’s pretty engaging and i quite like the MC, she’s smart and independent and i love how she views them all antagonistically at all times HAHAHHA. her past is kinda... weird though and i do wish they’d stop referencing it. cos... girl why do you wanna go back to reality!!! stay here! it’s way more exciting! 

i love the whole isekai/reincarnate/transmigration theme and this is honestly one of the better, not-so-cliche or cheesy ones HA.

6.  Beware of the Villainess!

https://mangadex.org/title/47286/beware-of-the-villainess

do you already see the whole villainess theme?! am i suppose to start feeling embarrassed about my choices?! NO! cos this one is AWESOME!

again, another wildly popular title. for good reasons. it’s hilarious, our MC is as real and candid as it gets and LOOK AT THAT BLUE HAIRED BEAUTY. DO YOU SEE HIM?! IMPLANT HIM INTO YOUR MEMORY NOW!

it’s highly entertaining and breaks all isekai-reincarnation-villainess plot stereotypes. definitely one of the titles i look forward to every week.

7.  Who Made Me a Princess

https://mangadex.org/title/32506/who-made-me-a-princess

what? why did i choose this?

BECAUSE OF CLAUDE OF COURSE. ahahaha. okay aside from the amaaaaaaazing art and the beautiful people, the plot is not too bad. a little extreme at times but it’s interesting enough to keep me going. it’s currently on hiatus though and i was highly annoyed by how the first season ended. (YOU WANNA KNOW WHAT HAPPENED? NOTHING.)

i hope the plot can move faster in the next season! and that our dearest MC athanasia can you know, finally be a little more useful... like omg just tell lucas already!!! and tbh girl, no matter which guy you choose, i approve. :D 

8.  The Flower That Was Bloomed by a Cloud

https://mangadex.org/title/37648/the-flower-that-was-bloomed-by-a-cloud

i featured this before, mostly out of frustration HAHAHA. do you see why i chose this cover?! yeah, i support this (unpopular) pairing okay! the other one is doomed!!! no matter what the author is trying to do now!! I DONT SUPPORT IT!!! lol.

anyway, i had to feature this cos the art is unique! and the story is great. :) and i looooooove listening to the ost while i read it. it starts out kinda slow but as the pace picks up, you won’t be able to stop. and you find yourself conflicted at various points. it did win an award for a reason. 

no matter what, i still think dowun is best for her okay. it’s dowun or nothing. he’s devoted to her, we all know that! he just needs to ditch that annoying female guard!!! ok yknw what, maybe nothing is better. :/ *cries*

9.  Solo Leveling

https://mangadex.org/title/31477/solo-leveling

why do i even bother? this manhwa is popular enough. 

the art is great. the MC is great. i use him and his gang as my wallpaper. 

im just not sure i like how this season’s plot is progressing. :/ but i guess it brings us nearer to solving the mystery in the first leg of the manhwa. i just enjoyed the whole part of him leveling up and now that he isn’t really leveling up anymore... idk. am i hoping for more plot shit like bleach (oh wow now u quincy?)... idk man. anywho, no regrets starting on this series and marathon-ing it to death. 

cross fingers the plot picks up and doesnt get too complicated for its own good.

10.  The Reason Why Raeliana Ended Up at the Duke's Mansion

https://mangadex.org/title/31606/the-reason-why-raeliana-ended-up-at-the-duke-s-mansion

okay, tbh, by the time i reached 10, i still have like 15 other series i was considering LMAO. i even considered lengthening this top 10 to top 15. but that would just be more of me and my nonsense. so... why did i choose this?

COS I LOVE THE 2 MCs!!! they’re adorable. the plot is again, kinda far-fetched at times (i literally laugh my head off at some parts) but it’s isekai-reincarnation okay! anything is possible in whatever magical crap country you end up in! lol. and i like how straightforward it is... in the sense there’s no 2nd lead. like okay i mean they are there but we all know they have no chance. oops. sorry!

and cos i can’t give up on the other titles i have, imma just list them down, without pictures... cos im tired. HA. 

11. Doctor Elise 

https://mangadex.org/title/29474/doctor-elise 

Kudos to the huge improvement in art style lmao. The good... lovable MCs, engaging plot. The bad... sometimes lengthy, incredulous medical moments (i work in the medical field so i... idk. sometimes this borders on iryu LMAO and i need to remind myself this is romance) otherwise, this is a highly highly entertaining read.

12.  Seduce the Villain's Father

https://mangadex.org/title/46775/seduce-the-villain-s-father

This is another of my ‘father-love’ whims. MC is adorable and ML is handsome. enough said.

13.  The Villainess Lives Twice

https://mangadex.org/title/49644/the-villainess-lives-twice

This is like a lesser version of Ebony and Bring the Love combined HAHAHA. The plot and premise is great and it’s awesome to marathon! I don’t find myself loving the MC as much as I should but the ML is a darling! I just find her a little toooooooo gloomy. Like come on girl, be more spunky! 

14.  The Stereotypical Life of a Reincarnated Lady

https://mangadex.org/title/46790/the-stereotypical-life-of-a-reincarnated-lady

I dont know why I like this so much HAHAHAHA. It hardly has a plot. I just find the MC and ML amusing i guess lol. 

15.  I'm Stanning the Prince

https://mangadex.org/title/45586/i-m-stanning-the-prince

Sometimes I wonder if I should be ranking this higher but I kinda feel this manhwa is trying to achieve too much with an underpowered MC. I love her... but I just don’t like how she’s just a pawn of everyone else and I dont know how she can change this situation of hers. It’s cute though. the MC and ML.  and the ML reminds me so much of american/jap Mackenyu. 

16.  The Villainess Reverses the Hourglass

I HAD TO. the art is so pretty! but girl, dont use the hour glass so much! you look a little too old! i would appreciate it if MC stops basing too much of her moves on the “past” tho like idk you are gonna sound unoriginal soooooon like develop your own thoughts soon okay? <3

17. Inso's Law

ANOTHER ONE. omg. im a lil on the fence regarding this but i like MC too much. and her harem LOL. i dont see where the plot is going either but i just hope for a happy end... ):

18.  Why Are You Doing This, Duke?

HAHAHA. this is sooooo sooooooo cute, i would have ranked it top 15 if it wasnt licensed by tapas tho cos they are a joke. WHY NOT TAPPY GDI. 

19.  Miss Not-So Sidekick

Uh-oh. Is this a top-20 list now? anyway, the MC for this series is GOLD. im not liking where it’s currently heading tho thus the lower ranking.

20.  IRIS - Lady with a Smartphone

omg IVE NEGLECTED THIS FOR TOO LONG. lemme go buy more chapters hahahaha. it’s a tad too lengthy... otherwise i like the MC and yummy ML!

still not enough?

Special Mentions - Okay, these will be unranked cos I don’t think these are that good but probably still worth a read.

I've Become the Villainous Empress of a Novel - this is new, im looking forward to how it progresses wheeeee.

Lady to Queen - It’s a ruthless manhwa. There was a point i started reading all sorts of sadistic content (i was running out of content i swear) and this was one of the better ones. I appreciate the MC very much. the plot now is a little weird and im a bit wary of the MC’s sister... hopefully the ML can be more useful. he’s pitiful though. but dude come on, dont rely on the wrong gal.

Goodbye, In-law - I’m not sure if i like the current progress buuuuuuut MC and ML are cute so who cares.

The Duchess' 50 Tea Recipes - plot is still engaging. MC and ML are cute. i dont know where the plot is heading towards though. 

A Falling Cohabitation - this is interesting and fun but a lil lengthy.

Light and Shadow - the sequel is out!!! i highly enjoyed this entire series!!! i would have probably ranked it a lil higher if i did this post earlier but too many series have overtaken this in my heart lol.

This Girl Is a Little Wild - is the hiatus ending yet? i would add it back to top 20 if it came back LOL. it’s highly entertaining tho. ML is adorable.

The Duchess With an Empty Soul  - pretty nice. MC and ML are a little boring. i think it can end soon. LMAO.

A Capable Maid - it’s amusing how she gets her powers for all sorts of situations lol. the prince is creepy tbh. and im secretly rooting for the other king hehe.

Beware of the Brothers! - it’s cute and heart-wrenching at the same time! not too sure im digging the latest plot development but okay... i’ll take it. they’re all cuties.

Living as the Tyrant's Older Sister - hehehe. it’s cute. duke is kinda silly but the latest chapter made me squeal!!!

The Evil Lady's Hero  - idk where the plot is going but MC and ML are adorable!!!

The Dragon Next Door - HAHAHA. it’s hilarious.

The Youngest Princess - she’s growing uppppp noooooooooooo

Virtues of the Villainess - ginger is hilarious. i dont see where the plot is going tho... and cant say i like the ML yet. i dont even get to see him much, hello?!

The Justice of Villainous Woman - pretty wholesome... i like the MC! (the ML is fine. no one else to contend with so...) can u end already?! lol.

Amina of the Lamp - hey, what happened to this? it’s pretty inconsistent but i do like the MC and ML... and the art...

The Villain's Savior - this is some sadistic shit. i reserve it for when i feel sadistic. i pretty much wanna see MC happy but idk if she’s making the right choices. :/

I Don't Want to Be Empress! - HAHAHAHA uhm it’s getting interesting. i just want ML to step up more... 

La dolce vita di Adelaide - I FINISHED THIS! and it’s wholesome, feel-good and cute. some parts felt a lil extra but ah whatever.

The Black Haired Princess - plot. move. faster!!! otherwise the MC and ML are pretty cute.

The Abandoned Empress - im a lil on the fence but i know how popular this series is. it started out HORRIBLE. i hated the ML so much. and then i found the green hair boy creepy. like MC, you need better taste in boys. it’s certainly getting more interesting now though. so please, continue to make my money’s worth!!!

Lucia - i. am. not. guilty. of. anything. *smut warning* anyway go read the novel. it’s better. hehehe.

What's Wrong with Secretary Kim - i do not need to elaborate any further. 

Past loves 

I created this section just to remind myself, that what i could like one day, i could hate the next LOL.

The Monster Duchess and Contract Princess - I know this is wildly popular. but i lost interest in it once she grew up. i dont think she’s particularly lovable. soz.

Survive as the Hero's Wife - another popular choice. I find the plot kinda boring now. MC and ML are cute though. 

Sincerely: I Became a Duke's Maid - another popular one. again, boring plot. like cant it end yet? oh you mean we need to wait for the real female lead to show up? dont need luh.

I Am a Child of This House - wow. the plot is shit now. and i do not support the MC and her guard. soz. she’s OVERPOWERED tbh. 

This Is an Obvious Fraudulent Marriage - idk what happened but my enthusiasm for this died.

Charlotte and Her 5 Disciples - i don’t get it. i dont get their obsession for her. 

[stilldreamx]

I have since then gained a couple of follows after returning to tumblr!

Hello @infxnitybxtch, @irnsebastianstan, @sparklewings (oops I can't seem to tag you), @naaliahivernal, @monalib491 , @luckystudentnightmarethings, @jovialtraveler, @quintothiscumberthat, @comely-universe, @awesomeravishingposts, @dc1956 (can't tag either), @agusic2009, @momoert, @darbonow, @jenabean75, @legendarymoonstudent (can't tag), @luci-n, and @embrrssed-love!

I think some are bots but y'all are welcome as well! We respect equality in this house.

My name is Min. A lot (maybe 95%) of my posts are about Supernatural. I am Castiel trash. A big portion of Jack Kline trash, too. Started out as a Dean Girl (I believed for many years that Jensen's face is the perfect male face as a FACT), and then, you know, this one little baby in a trenchcoat came along. And of course I part-time as a Sam Girl cos why the hell not rofl

I started tumblr around 2007 or 2008, (it think it was 2008 tbh) went on hiatus from probably 2013 til early this year. A lot has changed, and I'm slowly making it my home again!

I mostly do gifs and info/media sharing right now, and am gradually getting back to art so expect a sprinkle of fanarts here and there, too!

I also drafted a couple of fanfics (I don't really do that for my other fandoms but somehow SPN became an exception) that are yet to see the light but we'll try it... somehow.

I'm also a Rowena Girl. It's a thing.

I'm planning on taking requests for art of y'all's faces with your fave character btw! Stay tuned!

That, and a lot of other things. OBVIOUSLY I tend to over extend, I kinda lack some SPN friends both on and off line (I did take a loooong leave from being active in fandoms) but I wanna make up for that. 😅

So... hi. Oops.

[suckitsurveys]

it’s been a minute! Still here ya’ll.

Do you frequently add people to your friends list that you don’t know? Nope. I have it set where you can only add me if we have mutual friends.

How do you feel about girls that post half naked pictures on Facebook? Their life.

How did you spend last year’s Halloween? I dressed up as Princess Carolyn from BoJack and went to a Halloween parade with my nieces. And then on Halloween weekend went to a bar.

Was it fun? Very.

Is next weekend going to be exciting? It’s my birthday weekend AND a three day weekend so YES.

Can you text fast? Enough. I make so many typos though haha.

Are you excited about the first snow? NO.

Do you plan on moving soon? If so, to where? Not super soon.

Is there anything you want to change about your life? My fucking weight.

What is your favorite kind of gum? I don’t have one.

What’s your favorite ice cream flavor? Butter Pecan.

How many sodas a week do you have? Ugh I started drinking Dr. Pepper again and I need to stop.

Have you ever considered changing your sexuality? You can’t just fucking change it you potato.

What’s the last big project you did? Made a rainbow photo wall for my niece’s birthday.

When did you last chew gum? Ages ago.

Do you say things are hardcore? Not really, no.

Does your mum try to be cool? She was cool.

Do you spell it mum or mom? Why? Mom because that’s how I was taught.

Name some random words you use: ????

Do your friends use them too? -

Spend more time on hair or face? Hair.

Do you get the veggies and fruit you should everyday? Lol.

Do you cry often? Nah.

Do you show your anger or hide it? Eh.

Have you ever just completely freaked out and had a meltdown? Yup.

Are you afraid to sleep in the dark? No. I just prefer a soft cool light.

Do you feel the need to constantly talk when someone sleeps over? No one has “slept over” in a loooong time.

Ever thought about changing your gender? No.

Do you eat ice in the summer? Not exclusively in the summer.

Ever paint paper plates when you were little? I’m sure.

Do your lips get dry a lot? Do you do anything about it? In the winter. And yeah, I used chapstick.

Rather be alone or surrounded with people? Depends.

Do you shave in the winter? If I’m going to be in a swim suit or something.

Are you attracted to the last person you kissed? Very much so.

How do you respond to being nervous? I pace or I play with my hair.

What is the most consecutive miles you have ran? hahahahahahhahahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahahahahahhahahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

One person people think you look similar to? My sister and my dad.

What is the worst physical pain you have ever felt? I don’t remember.

Lyrics to the song you are listening to? None.

Do you have pictures up in your room? Yeah.

Is there anybody you think is hot over the age of 40? Oops. Hello Will Arnett. and David Harbour. And Paul Rudd.

Who is the most inappropriate person you know? My coworker.

Have you ever been punched in the face? No.

What is the latest you have ever slept in? I don’t know. 5pm?

Do you have to watch yourself in the mirror while you brush your teeth? I guess I do?

What year in your life do you think you were the least attractive? My teen years.

Did anything bad happen to you in August? I don’t know I can’t think of anything.

Who in your phone has a heart after their name? No one.

Has someone ever told you they love you and you didn’t say it back? Probably.

Whats your favourite drink & alcoholic drink? Root beer and Pina Coladas.

Are you satisfied with what you currently have in life? Enough.

What was the last movie you watched? With who? The House Bunny. Mark was in the room but wasn’t really paying attention.

Have you ever been rude to someone without even realizing it? Probably.

Anyone you’re giving up on? I already did.

Who was the last two boys to text you and what did they text? My husband and my boss.

Is your bed against more than one of your walls? No. I miss sleeping against a wall but our bed placement makes the most sense the way it is.

If your parents searched your room, would they be angry at what they’d find? No because I am almost 30 and he’d have no reason to just come over and search my room.

If you had a tree that could grow anything you want, what would it grow? Rent money or sushi or kittens.

[hockeytrashgoblin]

Found you (AustonxAshley)

Author’s notes: Am I aware that this timeline is fucked? hella. However I don’t really care that much. Sorry if you do but oops.

I was laying on the floor of my kitchen scrolling through my instagram. The day at school had been absolutely horrendous and sometimes you just get in a mood and need to cry on your floor for a bit and need someone to care for you. Nothing wrong with that. Except that I had no one to take care of me and I was just moody on the floor but oh well that didn’t matter much.

I kept scrolling through my instagram until I got a text from my friend.

‘K I couldn’t care less about your sports shit but like some hockey boy is looking for you and I think you showed me his butt one time?’

Almost immediately my mind went to Auston but it couldn’t be, there was no one way in hell he even remembered my name let alone be trying to find me.

‘Sure Leah whatever you say, I really believe you.’ I replied to her rolling my eyes.

After a little while of laying on the floor I got up and started making some pasta for dinner before the hockey game. I called Grandma too to talk to her about how awful the people of my program were today and to talk through the hockey games.

“What games do you get tonight?” I asked her while stirring the pot.

“I get the Capitals vs Vancouver and eeeew the Leafs vs Nashville.”

“Oh yikes. Which are you gonna watch?”

“I’m gonna have to watch the leafs, I can’t stand Ovetchkin.”

“Poor grandma.”

“I hate the leafs but I hate the Capitals more.”

“I know you do.” I said putting the phone on speaker and sitting down to watch the game.

“And who are you going to root for?”

“Nashville of course.”

“Oh no but what about Fredrik Andersen? And little sunshine william? Oh and who could forget Aaaauston.” she was teasing me, knowing that I made a special exception for those three. And sometimes Mitch depending on what he was doing.

“Yeah, yeah whatever. I love them. They are the exception. Go Nashville and Freddie and Auston and William. That’s it.”

“You better not be rooting for the leafs tonight.” Grandma hadn’t liked the leafs in a long long time. She got me into the sports I liked and she let me know who we like and don’t like. Sure I was able to go off and like whoever I wanted but the leafs sure made it easy to not be a super big fan of, messing things up all the time. But those three were my boys and I was always rooting for them and Grandma knew that.

“I won’t, God. But if Auston gets a goal I’m gonna yell.”

“Like he did when you punched him in the face the other day?”

“Grandmaaaaa I didn’t mean to! It was an accident.” my whole family had been teasing me about this for the past two days and I was still just as embarrassed about it as I had been when I called grandma frantically from the ramp as soon as I was out of Auston’s sight.

“A vicious little thing.”

“No I’m not I love him.”

“Tell that to your fists.”

“You’re annoying.” I said with a big mouthful of pasta making her laugh at me.

“I’m just teasing, dear.”

“Speaking of annoying I don’t like this person singing the national anthem.”

“When do you ever?”

“When George Canyon does it.” and with that the game started and we just talked about the game, me not having enough hockey knowledge to completely understand everything going on and some of the calls or rules. I was relatively new to hockey and this was my first full season watching. They kept showing Auston and everytime they did I got teased again. It was a loooong first period. A bunch of commercials came on and I was walking around my house still talking to grandma.

“Ooooh Ashley, they’re interviewing Auston.”

“What?!” I yelled running over and jumping on the couch. “I almost just fell off the couch trying to get here to see him.”

“Oh my god did you do that to his face?!”

“It was an accident! How many times do I have to say it uugh.” I was about to continue but was shushed. I pouted but then paid attention to the tv.

“So Auston you’ve got quite the bruise right now, what happened there?” the reporter asked him, he nervously chuckled before answering with a smile.

“Yeah uh a girl punched me in the face. Scratched me too.” he said it with a fond smile. “When I went to the Jays game with uh Mitch. She was standing in front of me ya know at the high valley concert and she got excited and stuff. She didn’t mean it. She even took care of me after to make sure I was okay.”

“That was nice of her. Does this mystery punch girl have a name?”

“Yeah Ashley.”

“Are you going to be seeing this Ashley again?”

“Uh haha I uh I hope so. I’ve been trying to find her. But uh who knows? She turned down my offer to sit in the suite with me, Mitchie, Freddie, and Will to sit in nose-bleed seats so really who knows?” he was still smiling though.

“Alright well thank you for your time and good luck finding her.”

“Yeah no problem, thanks I appreciate it.” Auston got serious again and left for the dressing room.

“Hellooooo?” Grandma said on the other line.

“Um hi yes? Hello.”

“Did you catch all that?”

“Um yes I think?”

“Auston is looking for yoooou.”

“This is nuts. No way. This is the literal best news I’ve heard in my life.”

“You know what else is nuts? You giving up a chance to sit with all your favourite boys to sit in your seat with all those party poopers around you.”

“Okay but I didn’t know they’d be party poopers and the seat was great. If the Jays had won it would’ve been perfect.”

“Well you’re a jinx.”

“No I am not!” just then grandma let out a big laugh. A suspicious one for sure. “What are you laughing at over there?”

“They just showed video of you punching Auston Matthews in the face.”

“NO THEY DIDN’T.”

“Yes they did so!”

“Oh no.”

“Could you be any less graceful do you think?”

“No probably not.” I groaned going back over to the tv to see it again. “That really wasn’t very graceful was it?”

“Not even a little bit.”

“Literally everyone I know is laughing at me right now.”

“I’m sure it’s not that bad.”

“No grandma you don’t get it. Every person I know is messaging me laughing at me. This has gone all over the place and now I keep getting texts and messages about it. I’m never going to live this down ever.”

“Oh come of it. That’s a little dramatic don’t you think?”

“If I were laying on the floor, THAT would be a little dramatic. This is the perfect amount of dramatic.”

“Are you gonna try to reach out to him?”

“ARE YOU CRAZY?! NO!!”

“What do you mean no? You’ve been all about Auston this whole season and now he’s trying to find you.”

“Why would be ever want to find me? That would be so dumb of him.”

“Stop that right now. Did you see the big smile on his face when he was asked about that bruise?”

“Yeees.” I said quietly blushing and smiling.

“Just try it.”

“I’m going to put one thing on social media. And if nothing happens, then I guess that’s it.”

“Yes do it. I really think you should. Get your hockey boy.”

“Alright fine. I just need to think of the right thing to say first..” I thought about it for a while during the beginning half of the second period before I found what I thought was the right thing that would let him know for sure it was the same sarcastic girl he met the other day. I took screenshots of my phone blowing up and then went to twitter and I wrote out ‘Thanks to @AM34 and @sportsnet for exposing me to all of Canada lmao’. I thought it was funny. It made me laugh at least. I went back to watching the game and during second intermission I paid a little more attention.

“I wonder if anyone has seen your post yet.”

“Yeah I dunno. I guess we’ll see.” I was really nervous about this. A lot more people than usual had retweeted my post and just overall interacted with it last time I had checked but still not enough to really make any impact I didn’t think.

“Did you really need to be that sarcastic?” Grandma asked laughing as I ran back to the tv.

“God I didn’t think it would be on tv jeeeeeeez.”

“Well on the plus side I think that Auston is gonna see it for sure now.”

“Look how many people tagged him! This is crazy. I’m gonna die.”

“Now THAT is too dramatic.”

“I don’t think so. I feel like I’m gonna die.”

“No you don’t. You’re just nervous. All you can do now is wait, my dear.” she said still laughing at me. “Let’s just watch the game and see what happens. You’ll have to keep me updated on this one though for sure.”

“Well duh. If this works out you get to meet Auston Matthews. Are you excited?”

“Oh yeah thrilled.” she said sarcastically.

“I can hear you rolling your eyes at me. Stop it.” we watched the whole game with lots of teasing of course to me about the whole thing. I continued to cheer for Nashville though. “Wow Kevin Fiala is a beautiful man.”

“You’re ridiculous.”

“What?! He is!” I said defensively.

“If this goes into overtime I’m not gonna be happy.” she said changing the subject.

“Why not? Overtime is fun.”

“Oh pfft sure. This from the same girl that just yells the entire 5 minutes.”

“Oh wow well I woooonder who I got that from?”

“I’m sure I don’t know.”

“Of course you don’t. It’s not like you were the one who made me love hockey or anything.”

“Nope not me.” I rolled my eyes as the clock was running out.

“Looks like we get some overtime Grandma.”

“Darn.” after the break they came back for it and I was excited.

“I love overtime.”

“No you don’t. You love shootouts.”

“K, well yeah but I need to go through overtime first.”

“No shootout. I have to get up early tomorrow.”

“Yes shootout.” we watched the overtime and it was almost done and I was getting more excited for the shootout that would follow but with 15 seconds left Auston got a goal. “YES WOW YAY.”

“What was that?!”

“Oops.”

“Oops she says. God I thought you were rooting for Nashville.”

“In my defense I did say that if Auston scored I was gonna yell.”

“You’re a goofball. I’m going to bed, I’ll talk to you tomorrow and you can tell me all about what happens the rest of tonight.”

“Okay, bye grandma, love you. Goodnight.”

“Love you too. Bye sweetie.”

I hang up the phone and continue watching sportsnet. They interview Auston again and I pay very close attention to that although I didn’t care for his lame nervous hockey answers, I wanted to know if they say anything about my post. They don’t until the very end.

“One more thing Auston and then we’ll let you go. During first intermission you were talking about a mystery girl named Ashley. She reached out on twitter.”

“Wait she did? Uh what did she say?”

“She thanked you and us for exposing her to Canada with screenshots of her family and friends messaging her about it.”

“That sounds like her for sure.” he said with a laugh. “Well if it makes her feel any better for ‘exposing’ her I dedicate that winning goal to her.”

“So now that you know that she was watching how do you feel about how you played tonight?”

“Well uh pretty good. I mean like, I scored the winning goal and I feel like I played really well tonight so I’m glad she chose tonight to watch.” he said laughing again.

“Alright Auston Congratulations on the win. And thanks for your time.”

“Yeah of course no problem.” Auston left for the locker room and I was freaking out. I went into my room and changed into my pajamas. I got snuggled up into my bed trying to answer all the teasing messages I had received when I got some twitter notifications. The ones that killed me though were the ones from Auston. One was him retweeting and the other was a direct message from him. After talking back and forth a couple times I gave him my number and he called me.

“Hi Ashley.”

“Why hello there Auston.”

“I found you.”

“I would’ve made it easier if I had known I was being looked for.” I said making him laugh.

“Fair enough I suppose. What are you up to?”

“Well it’s like 11 so I’m in my pajamas cuddled up in bed right now.”

“Oh sorry, where you going to sleep? I can never sleep after games, I forget.”

“No don’t worry about it. I get too hyper after games to go to bed. I just like being cozy.”

“You’re ridiculous.” he said laughing again.

“Yeah you aren’t wrong. So what are you up to?”

“I’m driving back to my place.”

“Aah fun times.”

“Yeah I guess. I like driving after games alone. It settles me down. I’m glad Mitch went home with Steph because there is no calming down when Mitch is in the car.”

“Yeah I believe that 100%.” I said laughing.

“He’s like a child on a sugar-high. It’s fucking crazy.”

“He does seem like a lot from what I saw at that ballgame.”

“Why didn’t you come with me at the game?” he asked abruptly.

“Um well I didn’t know who you meant by other friends first of all. I get nervous around groups and didn’t want to be all awkward and annoying to everyone. Besides that I had a really good seat.”

“You don’t like groups and you went to a game by yourself?”

“Yeah.” I said simply.

“How was that different?”

“Baseball games and concerts are the only groups or crowds I can be in without panicking and that’s because I’m just having too much fun to care.”

“What about hockey games?”

“I’ve never been to a hockey game.”

“What? Never?”

“Nope. I can’t afford to. Baseball tickets for where I like to sit are never more than 40$, hockey tickets are hella expensive. Plus I just got into hockey.”

“Hockey tickets aren’t that expensive.” he said quietly.

“Maybe not for you. I’m living off OSAP right now my guy. Not a lot of extra money for hockey.”

“Oh shit I guess not. Alright well I’m back at my place and I desperately need to shower. Can I take you out sometime? Please? Without you punching me in the face this time preferably.”

“Oh my god shut up.” I exclaimed making him laugh. “I’m really sorry about that.”

“I’m not. So what is your answer?”

“I’ll allow it.”

“Okay cool. I’ll text you tomorrow, bye Ashley. It was nice talking to you again.”

“You too, Auston. Bye.” I said with a big smile on my face as I hung up.

[panrose]

roxy lalonde canoncall!

hey guys im roxy and im lookin for p much everyone! I miiight have found my dirk and callie but nothings official yet! i am an adult so keep that in mind if itd make u uncomfy! if u wanna find ur roxy please click the read more!

if any of this seems familiar pleeeeaasseee hmu!!! 

some basics about me:

   - i think I was a cis female? all i know for sure is that I used she/her pronouns lol    - i was pansexual af I luved everyone    - i was about medium height and had a curvy body type w wider hips than my bust    - i had tan skin and full lips    - i had blonde curly hair which I dyed pink most often but also other colors    - check the bottom of this post for some pics that look close to how I did!    - i liked to blep a lot    - i was extremely affectionate, i loved to show my friends my love but id never do anything they were uncomfy with    - i looooved makeup, i always at least had eyeliner and lipstick on. i usually stole the makeup from the past oops. i got into makeup because my mom left some in the house and i wanted to feel closer to her    - frigglish was an extremely affectionate cat, he loved being pet and sitting in my lap and was very vocal! he didn’t really like anyone else in my hometown tho. i think he only liked humans    - i looooved video games, esp nintendo, esp gamecube and ds games and esp pokemon, super maio sunshine, and paper mario!    - i needed to recharge my social battery a lot especially when i first started being around other humans. i was v much a people person but i just tended to get drained when around people for too long    - pre game i let my laptop die a lot and then would disappear until i got it charged again

basic facts about my timeline:

   - timeline made it to earth c, im p sure i came from a game over tl originally    - all the sprites had a faint glow, i remember loving the pinky purple glow fefetasprite had    - on earth c we had gaming nights and i’d love to play mario kart pokemon and smash bros esp    - we had allooottt of movie nights on earth c, we loved to watch bad movies a lot of the time and just roast em but we also often watched all our favs!    - on earth c i would initiate strilonde hugs all the time    - i think it followed canon p closely?

general alpha kids memories:

   - pre game i met dirk first, then jane, then jake    - i voicechatted with the other alpha kids before entering the game p often    - i had a crush on literally… all the alpha kids at some point iajak i had a crush on dirk first and that lasted for awhile but didn’t go anywhere, then i had a tiny crush on jake but it was p short lived, my longest crush was on janey. i flirted w her lowkey and highkey and wanted to date her so bad, but once she told me about her crush on jake i kept it to myself for the most part (and sometimes dirk lol) and backed off    - jane tried to teach the alphas how to cook on earth c and we were all TERRIBLE LOL I was more focused on decorating and dirk was tryin to make the portions perfect and kept starting over and jake… tried his best sdjsdj    - on earth c, i was watchin a movie and i laid my head in jakes lap w dirk above me on the couch and jane let me lay my legs across her lap. jake played w my hair i think it was an action movie    - (WARNING NSFW) the alphas had a foursome while in trickster mode, we all highly regretted it afterwards tho skjsfkj we weren’t in our right minds and years of romantic and sexual frustration poured out at the moment

dirk memories:

   - he was lanky and tan w freckles and blonde hair he bleached blonder    - we watched mlp:fim pre game on a rabbit type website, mostly for his enjoyment but it was cute and I enjoyed it    - pregame i used to dye my own hair and it was a mess, after i finally met people i got them to help me, usually it was dirk and when i retrned the favor and bleached his hair id sometimes play w it and make it into shapes and stuff    - dirk was vvvv good at singing, but also v shy about it    - getting hugs from dirk was enveloping and warm and trusting i felt so safe in his arms    - jake and dirk got married

calliope memories:

   - callie was a tiny short thing, probably around 5’ or under and by far the smallest    - me and callie were eating breakfast one day in this house that was v stereotypical of suburban america (it was probably john or janes house) and callie stuck out her tongue to eat a hard boiled egg and she looked up and noticed i was staring lovingly at her and she blushed    - we were together! im not sure if we ever got married but we def dated for a loooong time!    - callie got so shy about romance and relationship stuff, i was v patient w her tho and tried not to go out of her comfort zone    - i feel like me and callie went flying sometimes? like id attach her to me somehow and we’d go flying    - callie looooved tea, we’d have tea parties w rose and kanaya    - we went on a lot of double dates w kan and rose!

jane and jake memories:

   - jane was shorter than me, around rose’s height, and a big girl    - I think jane might’ve been asian?    - jake was the darkest of any of the kids, as was jade, I believe they were pacific islanders?    - jake and dirk got married    - i think jane was too busy w her business to worry about relationships tbh    - jake was vvvv closed off about his feelings, it took him forever to feel comfortable enough to talk about them

rose and kanaya memories:

   - rose was shorter than me with blonde hair and kinda chubby    - kan was v tall and lanky    - kanaya and rose got married, although I don’t think we went trickster mode afterwards like in canon    - me and callie went on double dates w them a lot    - we also all had tea parties together a lot    - rose was a really good singer but she didn’t like to show it off    - one time i was watching a movie and rose was sitting in front of me and i just played w her hair and we were so content    - I was rose’s mom figure but id sometimes slip up and call her mom, esp at first

dave and karkat memories:

   - dave liked to call me mom a lot, I liked it and embraced it    - i loved to tease dave when he went on dates w karkat bc he got so shy about it, he’d often invite other people on their dates bc he liked having people to fall back in just in case

if i didnt list any specific mems of u i still def would be pumped to find u!! i just havent had any mems yet!

some pics that look close to how I did:

art by vriskart!

art by lime-time!

art by salty-neon-oranges!

art by rox-art! this callie is also v familiar! (not sure about the jane thats why i cropped it!)

art by my potential dirk! the body type is v accurate! (even tho the description about dirk isnt >:( )

[the-last-airbadger]

My 2017

The end of the year is in sight, and so it is time to, once again, write a long post in which I look back on the past year and get all sentimental and stuff. It’s fun! And since I’ve kinda made an annual tradition out of it, why the fuck not?

I’m gonna be using the same questions/categories as I did last year for maximum comparison (and so I know what to write about), so if you want to read last year’s post, I’ll link it here: (x)

The Beginning of 2017 vs. Now I definately think that there’s a huge difference between the beginning of the year and the end. When this year started, I was sooooo busy with school. I had multiple test weeks coming up and I was behind on almost all my subjects. The stress of all that stuff caused me to feel really unhappy, and apart from that my transition also wasn’t really moving forward. And now? Now I’m five months on T, finished with school, and even though work is still stressfull at the moment and I’m still not really happy, I can say that I’m a lot happier than I was at the beginning of the year. I also feel like at the beginning of the year I was kinda stuck in a negative mindset. I felt lonely all the time, and I had just started to realise that I was a very insecure person and I felt really lonely and busy and isolated and I just wasn’t in a good place, ya know? And I feel like in the past year I’ve become better at dealing with my insecurities and with jealousy, which has increased the value I have of myself, which has definately improved my quality of life. 

So, to summarise it: Since the beginning of the year I’ve reached multiple of my goals, reached some milestones and, most importantly, I’ve grown as a person.

Best things about 2017 So many good things happened this year! I don’t even know where to begin, so I’ll try to start with things that happened at the beginning of the year and just see where it leads me. I hope I won’t forget anything lmao.

Okay, so first of all, Voltron season 2, 3 and 4 were all released this year! Three seasons! That’s crazy! I didn’t really enjoy the last two that much, but damn, season 2 was really fun! Other tv shows that got new seasons this year were Stranger Things, Doctor Who (I can’t believe I’ve only finished the tenth doctors seasons this year! I can’t believe I’ve not been into Doctor Who for more than a year! It’s so much funn!!!!), Brooklyn Nine-Nine (which reminds me, I started watching “the good place” this year! Amazing show!), and Sense8! Speaking of sense8, I only started watching it in the beginning of this year, and it has easily become one of my favourite shows ever! I’m so glad I got to watch this show this year! 

Then in february, I discovered the band One Ok Rock, which is one of my favourite bands at the moment. It’s crazy to think I haven’t even known them for a year, because they’ve become such an integral part of my music library. And so have Lindsey Stirling and Ed Sheeran by the way! I went to a Lindsey Stirling concert in March and have become a huge fan of her latest album “brave enough” ever since then. And Ed Sheeran’s album “Devide” had some amazing songs on it that I connected with instantly and have helped me through some hard times. I really can’t believe I’ve only been listening to these songs for like nine months or something. It feels like it’s been forever. The same goes for a certain musical genre by the way, but we’ll get into that later!!

Then in may, two amazing things happened, first of all I got to perform on a huge stage with my choir, and met some famous dutch people there! Roel van Velzen for example! That was crazy! We were on TV!!! 

The second thing is, I finished my exams and was done with school! This made me feel sooooo much happier. I instantly just felt a lot better and suddenly had time to do stuff I liked, like read and write and play the piano. Honestly, those months (end of may - end of august) were some of the best months I’ve had in a loooong time. I wish I could go back sometimes lmao.

So yeah, I graduated, turned eightteen, went to Ireland for the first time. All of that stuff was amazing. Then, on the 28th of june, I went to the hospital and got one of the best surprises I’ve ever gotten. I COULD FINALLY, FINALLY, GO ON T! If I had to pick my best day of the year, I’d probably choose this day. Testosterone has already improved my life so much and I’ve only been on it for five months. I can’t imagine how much it will change me in the next year and I also can’t wait to find out!!

Oh, and after that, I GOT INTO KPOP! I started really listening to Day6 during my vacation to ireland, but around the end of august/beginning of september, I started to get really really into SHINee, and in extention, to kpop. Honestly, this might sound dramatic, but Day6 and SHINee have added so much to my life. Their music and just their personalities never fail to make me smile, and they bring me comfort when I feel down. Since a few weeks, BTS has also been added to that list. Their music and the members just really mean a lot to me, so I’d say kpop is definately one of the best things that happened to me this year. 

Then I got a job in september, and I can’t really remember if anything big has happened since then. The only thing I can really think of is I SAW JACKSEPTICEYE LIVE! That evening was such a fun evening and it was awesome to finally get to see one of my heroes in person and to be in the same room with him and see that he’s actually real, haha. I don’t think I’ve screamed that much anywhere else this year. 

Oh, and I also went to my first pride this year! Sadly, I couldn’t stay there very long because of work, but it was amazing and I can’t wait to go again!

I also started my youtube channel this year, which is cool. I really love making content for it, but unfortunately it takes a lot of time that I usually don’t have. I hope I’ll be able to keep it up for another year!

So, I think that’s it for this year. If you look at it like this it’s actually quite a lot of positive stuff! That’s always good.

OH AND HOW COULD I FORGET I went to london with my mom this year! It was only two nights but it was amazing and I had loads of fun there! 

And another thing I wanted to add is I feel like I’ve become a lot closer with my friends this past year. I guess that’s just what happens when you know them for a year longer, but idk. We see eachother a lot less than last year and despite that we’ve only become closer and I think that’s a really amazing thing.

OH, and I started to watch the You’re So Brave podcast by Chase Ross & Aaron Ansuini and oh my god have these dudes helped me a lot in the past year. Thank you guys so so much!!!

My resolutions for 2017? I haven’t looked at my resolutions for this year since I posted them last year... oops. But I remember quite a few of them and I believe I’ve achieved some of them so I’m just going to copy-paste them here and adress them all individually

Go on Testosterone, for real this time - Did that!! I went on T on the 28th of July 2017 and am now Five months and Three days on T!

Write more! - .... well I guess I failed that one. I wrote exactly four pages in the past year

Save money and buy new jeans, flannels and hoodies - I did save money, and bought my favourite flannel, hoodie and jeans this year, so I guess that counts

Finish School! - DID THAT

Read a lot of books! - Sadly, I didn’t manage to achieve my reading goal on goodreads. I only read 22 books this year when I wanted to read 35. Last year, I read about the same amount, so I’d count this as a fail.

Stay Hydrated! - Idek if I did this lmao. I did become more aware of what I’m eating and what I should eat more and less to stay healthy, so I’m going to count this as a win

Try to make my tumblr blog a safe and positive place for everyone - I’ll let you guys be the judge of that

Stay positive - I’ve definately tried this, so that’s good enough

Try to be the best person I can be - I’ve become a lot more self aware the past year, and I did find out what my flaws were and how to work on them, so I think I did this.

Fight my insecurities - As I’ve stated in the beginning of this post, I think I’ve become better at dealing with them, so I’d say yeah, I did that!

Reach 200 followers on tumblr!! - Did that! I’ve got about 280 followers now!!

So yeah, overall I think I did pretty good in the past year! Better than I expected at least haha

Expectations for 2018 Okay, let’s see. I’m expecting I’ll keep my job until around june/july. I’ll turn nineteen in june, and I’m going to see Paramore, Markiplier, Ed Sheeran and Dan and Phil live this year! Really looking forward to that!! Then in september I’m going to start university, and I think that I’m going to have Top-Surgery somewhere between september and december of this year. Apart from that I don’t really know what to expect. I think university will be quite easy for me education-wise, and hard social-wise, since I’m not good around strangers and might have some slight social anxiety. But apart from that I don’t really have a clear vision for the future. I am probably going to start learing how to drive so I might get my driver’s liscence this year. Who knows? It’ll be a mystery until I’ve lived it guys.

2018 Resolutions? I am feeling ambitious rn so I’m probably gonna set the bar too high but oh well who cares let’s do this

Finally decide what to study

Get Top-Surgery

Write at least 100 pages of a story

Accomplish my reading challenge on goodreads (I’m gonna try 35 books again)

Start University

Make new friends

Stop with my acting classes

Learn how to drive

Improve my drawing skills (maybe make a comic?)

Reach 300 followers on Tumblr

Get more than 20 subs on Youtube and consistently create content for my channel

Learn Divenire on the Piano

Dye my hair

Continue to shower every day (Hygene is important!)

Start working out/exercising regularely

Get new glasses

And yeah, that’s it! I hope you’ve all enjoyed going along on this journey through my past year with me. Looking back on the past year is always one of my favourite parts of new year’s eve. It’s so good to look back and see all that you’ve accomplished in a year and it just makes me really sentimental and stuff and I like that. 

Anyways, I hope you all have a great evening, and I’ll see you guys next year!

[disnerdkatie]

Continuing the saga of Katie’s First Trip To Disney In Fourteen Months! Yesterday I talked about our trip through Thursday, so today I’ll cover Friday to home.

As is the key theme for a runDisney weekend, I was up way, way too early. I think I “slept in” until almost 3:00 a.m. for the 10K. Yeah. Only at a runDisney event would 2:53 a.m. be considered “sleeping in”! But it was fine, I made it to the staging area just in time to join Nikki and Lisa in line to see Sporty Mickey. Uhh… I’m sure he has a name that doesn’t make him sound like an honorary member of the Spice Girls, but whatever. He was sporty Mickey. Even though it was crazy early, the race went well enough. I was worried because it was during the 10K a couple years ago that my knee went out, but no issue this race!

After the race, and after I showered, Michael and I headed back to the expo to grab some visors for the half and full, and to look at the official runDisney merch when it hopefully wasn’t so crowded. We had reservations at Beaches & Cream at noon, but it was early enough that we weren’t worried about taking bus transportation. And in fact, we got to Beaches & Cream a full half hour early!

Now… normally I’d spend a whole post writing a review, and I still might for Our Disney, but I’m just gonna rant here for a minute. This was the absolute worst dining experience I have ever had in a dozen years of Disney vacations. First off, we got there a solid 30 minutes early, and once we checked in we went over to the wall less than 10 feet away from the hostess podium. We were right there… and they never called our name. They never texted that the table was ready. So even though we were waiting for over 30 minutes, since our actual reservation wasn’t until noon I didn’t bother going up to ask what was up until closer to 12:10. Guess what the hostess told me? “Oh, you were a no show.” What. The. Actual. Fuck? I was fuming. I didn’t say anything (because I didn’t want to be a bitch, and if I started to complain full bitch would have come out), but Michael says that if looks could kill then no one at the restaurant would still be alive. Oops. Did my face say that?

So, we finally got seated, and it took almost 10 minutes for the server to come take our drink orders. I know, because I actually started the timer on my phone. I told Michael if she wasn’t there by the 10 minute mark I was walking out. She came up with just a minute to spare. Even Michael ordered water, because holy shit I kid you not, the sodas were $4.29. Even for Disney’s overpriced pricing that just seemed insane. I got excited when I saw they had my favorite cider, but since they were selling it for TEN DOLLARS for a bottle, yeah, water it was. Anyway. So. We ordered waters and our food, and sat there.

Side note: the table next to us was piled with dirty dishes when I looked in the window at about 12:05, and it was still piled with dirty dishes as we sat there waiting for our food… at 12:45. And that wasn’t the only table covered in dirty dishes. I kept fixating on the cherry stem stuck to the booth back next to Michael. At that point, between sleep deprivation, extreme hunger, achy legs, lowgrade headache, and extreme frustration with the situation, I was literally in tears. You can sort of tell in the one picture I took inside the restaurant, the selfie with my sandwich. I only took that because I wanted photographic proof that we were there so we didn’t get charged a no show fee on top of paying for the shitty ass lunch.

Okay. Well. Moving on…

After leaving Beaches & Cream we just sort of piddled around the resort for a while before swinging by the pool. I had thoughts of sitting in the hot tub with a drink, but the hot tub was looking pretty crowded… so I got a piña colada to go and camped out in the amazingly huge jetted bathtub in our room. After a while I was calm enough to get ready for bed, for yet another really early morning.

The morning of the half wasn’t a great start. Maybe it was karma kicking my ass for my death glares the day before, but traffic was worse than I’ve ever, ever, ever encountered on race morning, and it took me about 45 minutes to get from Old Key West to the start staging area. Nikki and Lisa were waiting for me with coffee, and we got into the corral and waited for go. It was a long, slow race with lots of walking and lots of character stops (I literally did double the character stops in this race than I’ve ever done in all my previous runDisney events)… but the frustrations always go away when you start running down Main Street at see Cinderella’s Castle waiting for you at the end. That just never, ever gets old.

After the race, Michael and I headed out of Orlando over to Bartow. He knows the owners of the Lenny’s out there and wanted to stop in. That was fine with me, I was pretty desperate for a chicken philly at that point. I might have threatened to cut a bitch if anyone got in the way of my chicken philly, actually. Even though I didn’t throw out my knee, it was feeling a little bit wobbly and so Michael let me borrow his brace. It didn’t last much longer than lunch though – wearing it made me walk so funky in compensation that I was afraid it would do more harm than good.

And for the last day before we headed home… Sunday… Marathon day. Spoiler alert: I again did not complete the Walt Disney World Marathon, and I again do not have that beautiful Dopey medal. But at least this time I stopped without an actual injury. I might have been hurting, but I wasn’t broken. And then I might have stupidly told Michael that I would never try for a challenge again. Yeah. I’m already regretting those words. Ugh. Someone engage that filter in my head so I won’t say stupid shit like this anymore.

Anyway… after a long day of napping and limping around Disney Springs, we met up with all the roomies and with Lisa and Nikki for dinner at Artist’s Point, a very nice, swanky, sit down restaurant at Wilderness Lodge. Not to be confused with Artist’s Palette, the also very nice but totally counter service restaurant at Saratoga Springs. Artist’s Point is a character dining experience where you can see Snow White, the Evil Queen, Grumpy, and Dopey. Yeah, we went there for Dopey. But I felt a little more affinity with Grumpy that evening.

After dinner we finished packing up, and crashed hard. No more before dawn wake up calls! YAY! But we still needed to get up fairly early to say goodbye to Natalie et al, and load up the car and get on the road ourselves.

On Monday, we had a loooong drive home, but we did it all in one day. Michael did most of the driving, because the one time that I started driving we hit insane traffic combined with torrential downpours and I kind of freaked out. We were in his car and it is an actual car, lower to the ground than my nice big SUV, and I panicked. But eventually we made it home, back to my babies and my kitties!

SORRY IT IS LATE! But here's the quickie lowdown of what Michael and I got up to during the second half of our recent Disney vacation. Continuing the saga of Katie's First Trip To Disney In Fourteen Months! Yesterday I talked about our trip through Thursday, so today I'll cover Friday to home.

[avadakedavrabiatch]

Hello everyone,

Wow 2 months of 2017 have already passed! We’re getting closer to the summer. I honestly cannot wait to swap my sweaters for tank tops and t-shirts. Don’t get me wrong I love sweaters but at one point you’ve seen them right? You’ve worn the same sweater over and over all your summer clothes are staring at you like: wear me! Or is it just me? Anyway if you’re subscribed to Noobbellas you probably  know that I had this monthly post called Looking back at… I’m going to continue that over here but in a new jacket! c:

This February was not very special. Even though I had a week off, nothing really happened. This is the first month of me using my Bullet Journal and it honestly is something I really like to do! Oh and how could I forget! This was the first month of my new blog!

Favourites

I am not someone who gets a new nail polish or a new mascara every month. Mainly because it takes way too long to finish the nail polish an my mascaras and beside that if I’m keen on one product I usually buy it again… This month I did however get a few favourites!

Lipscrub from the Hema I absolutely love how soft my lips feel after them, besides I have always wanted a lipscrub and this one was only 4 euros! I frequently have dry and broken lips and honestly this is a bit of a solution.

My tubes The amount of messages I got after sending out and snapchat including the text my new tubes is huge. I got these tubes for a photography project and I honestly can’t wait until the weather gets better so that I can go outside and actually start the project!

My picture frames I finally have some shelves on my walls and 2 out 0f 3 are still empty therefore I bought 2 picture frames. I only have forgotten one thing: I already had purple on my frames and I went with an absolutely different color. Oops

My plant pots They’re from my work and they basically were almost thrown away so fortunately I could buy them for 50 cents! I love the color but once again forgot about the purple on my shelves.. I’ll figure it out haha!

Bellona chocolade Okay I have always been addicted to Kinder Bueno’s. Unfortunately they are a bit expensive but I have found a replacement. Bellona tastes exactly the same and it it waaay cheaper. I’m sorry for my international readers as I’m not sure if they’re being sold anywhere else. I got them from the ‘Lidl.’

February happenings

Like I’ve said this month wasn’t very special. I finished up this big project and I’m glad that’s over. The highlight of this month actually was a birthday party of a friend because beside that haven’t done anything.

Books read

Openly Straight by Bil Konigsberg    4/5 stars Hersenschimmen by J. Bernlef          3/4 stars

Music on repeat

This month has been good on the music field. There were many songs that have been on repeat however I would like some new music now (Thank you Ed Sheeran for your album release haha!) Here is what I’ve listened to:

How far I’ll go ny Auli’i Cravalho Another Mans Eyes by Andy Jordan Water under the Bridge by Adele Never give up by Sia Raging by Grace Grundy Chained to the Rhytm by Katy Perry

March goals

Yes the goals are continuing as well! There will be a small modification, I will post 5 goals instead of 10. 10 was a little bit too much. I had months were I basically did not had any goal inspirations.

Train No, I will not train insanely hard for the perfect summer body as I never really do that. The only rhing I work on is a tan hehe. However this time I will train, mainly because I have found this small 3 minute exercise. I can miss 3 minutes of my life by training. Beside that I have joined a group for a planking challenge. You know those monthly things. I’m doing this because it is good for your sleep schedule if you actually use all your energy. Not that I have much energy but that has to do with it too probably.

Go outside and take pictures I’ve been wanting to do this so long! Unfortunately the weather was awful whenever I had spare time. I’d like to take my bicycle and just see wherever I end up. With my camera obviously.

Finish the 2nd chapter of my book Which is on Wattpad, but hey it is still a book right? Anyway I’m translating and improving my previous story and I haven’t written in a loooong time.

Study die hard The last exam week (It’s so odd how ‘tentamens’ are translated to ‘exams’ In Dutch ‘examen’ means finals so it confuses me a little bit but these aren’t finals. They’re still important though and it is my last change to get my grades up before entering the actual finals. Beside that I can’t do it over and my grades aren’t that high.

Finish my drawing I have recently started a drawing and this actually is the first time that I’m only using a picture instead of an actual drawing. However it looks horrible, yet I have to continue it. Practise, practise, practise. And perhaps the result will look more okayish. Hopefully.

How was your month and do you have any goals for the upcoming month? Let me know in the comments, I’d love to hear about you!

Love, Sharon

      Ronna Talks: February Hello everyone, Wow 2 months of 2017 have already passed! We're getting closer to the summer. I honestly cannot wait to swap my sweaters for tank tops and t-shirts.

[chacusha]

Final Fantasy I liveblogging (3/?)

From Gurgu Volcano to Sea Shrine.

Well, here we are. I’ve been through this dungeon like 5 times at this point, trying to gradually get farther each time. The part at the beginning with a bajillion treasure chests was really hard, especially since my armor inventory is very close to being full so I often can’t even open the chests.

I’m currently at over 200k GP and 4 Houses and I’m still like, nope, gonna go back to town to save. That’s my emotional support stash of Houses.

Some bold words from Kary. All right, here we go.

188 damage to my White Mage??? Oh hell no. (Can’t believe I survived that.)

Kary went down pretty quickly. Despite being blinded, my Fighter kept hitting like 4 times??? In his last hit, he did over 200 damage o_O

I went back to the Sages to see if they’d give me some more tips, and so far, no... They just seem to have more backstory about the crystals, maybe?

Okay, I’m in the Ice Cave, see the Wizards and am like “Hell no, these guys instakill, I’m running.” But I can’t run! And these Wizards are buff as hell and keep on wailing on my Thief.

I’ve put my Thief in slot 4 but I think he does less damage there? Or am I imagining? I’m waiting for when he becomes a Ninja and can actually wear armor.

(My White Mage is in slot 2 because ever since I put the Gold... Necklace? on him, he’s been impossible to kill.)

Oh wait, nope, it’s the Sorcerers that instakill, but you CAN run away from them. Which I will do.

*sees a Frost Giant and Frost Wolf* Well, that looks scary.

Hm but overall, I’ve actually been able to gain back health from them.

Oh god Frost Wolves have a group attack magic spell NOPE NOPE NOPE.

OMG NO I went up the stairs and they literally took me all the way back to the entrance!! Okay, I still have my save state, everything is fine.

Hm, I got stuck in a random encounter where it was a Mage with surprise attack that always instantly Rubbed my poor White Mage. Ended up reactivating an enemy tile to get the game to give me a different encounter, because I’ll be damned if I let them kill my White Mage.

I finally escaped those horrible Mage encounters. Done with the Ice Cave!

Thanks to the FAQ I found the buried airship. I have no idea how I would have figured out what to do if I didn’t have the FAQ.

Hm... a town that I still can’t visit.

This Gaia has a LOT of new info. And some quite cute and interesting pink townspeople sprites. Like, there’s a babushka telling me a fairy at a spring was kidnapped, a pirate(?!) saying he sold the fairy to a caravan, some monks(?) talking about a town to the south that speaks an unintelligible language, something about a castle in the sky, a broom asking me if I have great power... o_o

Oh wow, I thought the Pro Ring was armor and it replaced the Necklaces(?) but it’s a gauntlet and replaces Gloves!! I am buying these up stat.

Oh wow, I landed in a small patch of desert and found the bottle. I’m guessing this is the kidnapped fairy... “Pop! A fairy appears and is gone.” Cool.

“My legs are beautiful! It’s so nice to have legs.” A completely normal thing that a human who totally is not at all a mermaid would say. Oh and it looks like there’s some kind of sunken shrine that mermaids used to live in. Hmmmm!

Second mention of a shiny thing falling. A robot near the waterfalls?

I like how Death attacks are called “Rub” in this game I guess because of space constraints and also rules against saying “death”/”die”/etc.

“You have legs!” Okay now you’re just weirding people out.

“I made a submarine to save the mermaids.” You what???

Ah okay, a bit of order is revealing itself: OXYALE -> go underwater -> get SLAB -> talk to Dr. Unne -> go to town that speaks Leifenish -> castle in the sky. Oh I missed this person in Gaia. Looks like rescuing the fairy -> OXYALE.

Okay, after a loooong corridor, I got the class upgrade but I... don’t like it?! They look so buff?? I want my cute little chibi party back. ToT But my poor Thief really needs the upgrade... Okay, fine.

(I like how these holes in the ground are little dragon houses, though. But is it really okay for me to take all their money...?)

Gotta experiment with putting each of them at the front of the party. The Knight has swooshy hair. The Ninja looks cute. Red Wizard looks much the same, maybe slightly more buff. The White Wizard looks very different with his long hair and sage robes (despite the name, looks less like a member of the KKK now).

Aww their victory poses are cute. And their “low” pose is quite nice too. The Knight looks like Kenshiro.

I’m not liking these poison-inflicting mobs, though. (Glad I still have my super supply of Pure. And Pure on both my Red Mage and White Mage. I think I’ll be fine.)

On to the Sunken Shrine!

NOPE I do not like these Ghosts.

Oops, I forgot to sell my equipment. There’s no armor/weapon store here!

Going back to some older towns to sell equipment and also buy magic and better equipment for my Ninja. And picking up that Ice Shield I left in the Ice Cave because I didn’t have room for it. My Ninja is quickly turning into a second tank!

Oh, the Knight can learn low-level white magic too! Better pick some up as well.

Back in the Sea Shrine again. This is not too bad as long as I aggressively heal so that my Knight doesn’t get killed by those Ghosts.

Kraken wasn’t too hard, mostly because it spent most of the time trying to blind me instead of actually doing any damage? Three orbs down!

Took the SLAB to Dr. Unne. Oops, maybe I should have gone to Leifen first and saw what happens if you tried to talk to people BEFORE you get the slab... Too late.

[sailingbrisa]

Shelter Bay and the Panama Canal

We arrived in Shelter Bay Marina on Friday … sent an email to the Eric the agent who would help us get through the canal and did our Customs clearance and immigration after a taxi and ferry ride into Colon. Easy and friendly… wouldn’t say fast though. We had to wait until Wednesday to be measured and spent our time exploring the jungles around Shelter Bay, swimming in the pool and meeting fellow cruisers from all over the world on their way to many different destinations. Significantly for me.. most of the people here were a different type of cruiser to what I was used to. Mostly the St. Martin cruisers are used to sailing around the Caribbean, always fairly close to land and a bar. In panama they cruisers were more exploration oriented and had stories of great remote little anchorages all over Central America. Elwin and Ross went for a mega hike… I think in all about 18km round trip in brutal heat and humidity, out to the old fort. Lots of cool animals and good memories.

 We finally had everything we needed so we packed up and shipped out for a 132 nmovernight hop to Boccas Del Torro. A surf/ party destination. We arrived, had a Red Bull and went for a walk around. There were a lot of hostels and Europeans and commercialization, so we zoomed across to one of the nearby islands and explored the mangroves. We were hoping to see lots of dolphin, but we were only welcomed in and out of the main channel and didn’t see any others. We decided to pull anchor and head off to Bluefields Lagoon… supposedly a beautiful anchorage filled with fish and fairly remote. It got its name from a Dutch Pirate… so Elwin was happy. WE went snorkeling and climbing around a big gannet hatchery.. loads of fish everywhere and beautiful warm water.. Almost too warm I think! We got back to Brisa and ross had managed to get 6 lobster for 7 dollars… good size ones too so we got stuck into barbeque lobster with garlic butter off of the grill. LOVING IT! The bay was beautiful and we enjoyed watching the local school kids in uniforms so white it hurt to look at paddling across the bay in their little traditional dugouts. They would all stop by to say hi and get some candy from us! I gave one of the bigger kids who was learning English a book about Babara Kendals windsurfing history…. He didn’t believe I knew her, but said he would take it to his school for the English library… now apparently they had 12 books in English! He was very excited.. so Babara.. if you ever wash up in Bluefields I imagine the kids will now who you are. J We anchored very close to a little fishing village in deep water. That night we had a flashlight on the ladder… but crazy jumping fish hit it and knocked it off the boat and it sank to the bottom in 50 feet of water, leaving just a faint glow. As we were right beside some mangroves and had heard of big crocodile stories… I wasn’t about to go in there and get it.. but came up with a plan to use one of our sinking lures to hook the string on the light. I was sitting there for about half an hour bouncing the jig of the bottom and I had only caught a couple of plastic bags, when all of a sudden there was the unmistakable strike of a big heavy fish… I handed Elwin the rod and he pulled … but nothing moved. I think we hooked a big ray or Nurse shark.. because it wasn’t even noticing it had been hooked. Sadly we snapped the end off the rod trying to get it up to unhook it… and then the line broke too…. Needless to say I didn’t go down there to get the light……

 We pulled up the anchor and motored off to Isla Escudo DE Veraguas…. A little island about 25 miles off of the Panamanian Coast. 5 hours later we anchored in a spectacular little island. Beautiful sand beaches, awesome little islands and caves and bays, potential for surf.. but we didn’t manage to time the swell well. We brought more lobster and went exploring the island.. snorkeling incredible reefs filled with fish and lobster, touched nurse sharks… and napped in the evening. The next day was my birthday and we spent it eating lobster, snorkeling and windsurfing on the JP convertible stand up board as there was only light wind. Elwin was a pro after his first couple of hours of trying. I received a great hammock, a thermos to keep my water cold and my midnight watch coffee hot and a great mug from the boys! Awesome gifts. I have to say I enjoyed the day there very very much with a great crew doing exactly what I had always dreamed of doing with Brisa.

 We sadly left the little island.. but knowing we would soon be crossing Central America in the Panama Canal started to sink in and as we motored ( yeah that’s all we do these days as there is almost no wind anywhere here ) back towards Shelter Bay I told Brisa to enjoy her last few days in the Caribbean salt and to get ready to explore a new ocean.

 Now I wish I could say the trip back up was routine… but this time of year in the tropics we have massive land mass thunderstorms.. slow moving very active and covering between 6 and 10 miles. Darkness really makes these monsters impressive as you can see the forks of lightening very clearly and they were slowly getting closer and closer. WE were about 20 miles out to sea but the closer we came to the marina the less distance there was between the storms and the coast .. leaving us about 2 miles offshore in the middle of a big thunderstorm… luckily we made it through with no damage and popped out the other side and made out entry into the breakwater by the canal just as the storm we just went through came back and got us again. It was now about 130am… puring rain and I was driving around using the radar to know where I was… I found a big ship and went over beside it figuring if the lightening came this way it would hit that big boat before Brisa…great idea until Ross comes up and asks me why we are sitting bobbing around in the thunderstorm by an LPG tanker… lol. Zoom off we go and arrive in the tiny entrance to shelter bay with about 500 yards visibility and lightening everywhere. The dockmaster standing there at 3am flashlight and radio in hand smiling at us form under his raincoat. Thanks Dockmaster Frank! You rule. We tied up.. I took a shower under the rain and curled up in bed about 430 am after a loooong day. The highlight apart from making it in one piece was just after dinner… literally as I Said “ Ross thanks great meal! Now all we need is to get lucky before sunset.. “ at that very second the reel took off and we hooked a great little spearfish… basically a marlin with a little nose. Thirty minutes later he was by the boat, we gave him a little slack in the line, the hook fell out and I didn’t have to wrestle any angry pointy nosed fish again! Ross had requested to catch a marlin on the trip so we ticked that off the list! I think for Elwin he was pretty damn happy with having enough lobster that he could throw one in with his ramen noodles…J For me the highlight was the night thunderstorms and dodging them .. and making it into Shelter Bay marina in the middle of it all. Great fun.

 The next day we spent getting ready for the Panama Canal crossing. Checking the engines, receiving the buoys and long ropes we would need for the locks… 3 up +100’ and 3 down – 100’ and about 37 miles of motoring through the canals with all the big ships. And about 5 pm we motored across the canal and anchored at the flats anchorage awaiting our advisor to arrive between 4 and 5 am the following day. Debbie and Bob were also onboard as our line handlers. I went up[ the mast to see why the anchor light wasn’t working and basically the wiring fell apart in my hands… oops .. maybe I should of waited until we got through the canala to “fix” that eh? I spent a very rolly hour and a half up there fixing the little wires back together and … voila problem not solved. Still no anchor light. So we had a look the next day in the control box in the anchor locker, joined a broken wire and voila problem fixed.

 The advisor didn’t show up until about 1pm.. and with him onboard we followed a big ship up the canal and said our goodbyes to the Caribbean as we passed the construction of the new Panama Canal bridge and entered our first lock. We were with a big boat, a tug and a beautiful sailboat called Altos. WE tied up beside them and uneventfully passed through the three locks. We had to tie up to a mooring ball for the night in the Gatun Lake and as the sunset we spotted some manatees playing close to the boat, got some great photos and had a few Balboa beers as a reward for leaving the Caribbean. Brisa sitting 100’ above sea level in a fresh water man made lake!

 The next day at 745 our next advisor showed up and off we went across the Gatun lake.. about 26 miles from start to the next lock… it was beautiful scenery, cool to see the huge new panama boats and be up close and personal with all the commercial traffic… but Brisa didn’t skip a beat. N fact since we left she has been nothing short of exceptional. We showed up at the next locks a little early so tied up to another bouy for about an hour waiting for the other ships we would go down the next locks with. We went in first, the dockhands threw us little lines on monkey fists and then pulled back out lines. As we would go through three locks, each about 30 feet down, we would need to pay out line evenly on all four corners to keep the boat straight. The three locks went by without incident and we pootled out into the PACIFIC! Brisa motoring under the bridge of the Americas and we took a mooring ball in front of the Balboa Yacht Club, went to TGIF and had some food and beer and then back to Brisa for a good sleep.

 Bob and Debbie were a bit sad as they knew this was possibly the last time we would see each other for a while… but like all sailors.. they knew it wasn’t the last time. We really had a lot of fun going through the canal.. and it was an amazing feeling to see Brisa floating there with the Panama canal behind us and the Pacific Ocean calling her name. I guess that is one right of passage for every sailor, but not every boat.

 The next day we went to Casco Viejo to take care of some paperwork with the rental of my little apartment there. We all stopped into the Red Bull office to say hi to everyone. Was great to see the guys and girls again!

 Next we picked up some parts that had been ordered and went to the fishing shop to get a couple of our reels that were there being repaired, brought Elwin some flippers, a three prong spear gun and a replacement fishing rod for the one we broke in Bluefields. Heheheh. Great fun.

 That afternoon refueled and relocated to the other side of the Amador Causeway. Interestingly the Marina wanted to charge us 21. Usd to park our dingy while we brought supplies and had dinner at their restaurant and shops….. ??? Huh? Incredible. So we told them we didn’t like their attitude and off we went to climb up the rocks and go get some supplies. Red Bull, beer, bread and coffee. The next day Ross and I zapped off to super 99 in the mall for some resupplying. WE had a great time there buying up everything we needed and an even more entertaining time while we watched the lady at the register try to work out how to use the Vale Panama food stamps that I had been keeping from my time working in Panama. Was pretty sad when even with a calculator the lady had to count 110 little $3 vale panama tickets 8 times to work out how much I had given her….. even with a calculator she couldn’t get that 10 x 3 = 30. It literally took us 40 minutes for her to sort that out and eventually the packing boy helped her count as obviously he had finished high school.

 Then we head outside and I wont take the little yellow taxis in Panama. They continuously try and rip you off and have shitty attitudes. So I walk out with Ross and the bagging guy form super 99 that can count, and dial up an Uber. At least 40 taxis stop while im there and ask if I need a ride and a big police man comes over and asks why im not getting in the taxi. I explain the shitty time ive had with Taxis and that id wait a week for an Uber before getting in the taxi and he gives me some shit about Uber not being legal. The Uber dirver shows up, the cop stops him and asks for all his papaers… lol. Everything legal and the cop calls his boss… who explains that it isn’t illegal and the cop lets us go, saying Ubers time is almost up in Panama. Jajjajaja. The driver was super cool and wished the officer a lovely day.

 We got back to the boat dropped off the food and I went for dingy gas while the boys organized the food. AS soon as I got back we started the engines and headed for Las Perlas Islands, showing up around 430pm and straight into glassy clean lefts and rights. Not so big, but just me and Elwin in the lineup. Lots of waves ridden before sunset. Very positive start to our surfing mission in the Pacific as the goal of it all is to surf un-crowded remote areas…. And this definitely was one of those.

 Today we got up early and went for a look around the island. Dragged the dingy up the beach a little and went for a twenty minute walk.. when we came back the dingy was 20 feet up the beach. Huge tides here are something that will take us a while to get used to. We surfed a little bigger waves this am, but the wind was a little onshore in front of a big thunderstorm, so we came back, had lunch and played gin while we waited for the lightening to stop! Now as the tide drops we are foaming for another glassy evening surf session!!!

[dac-bonj]

Lesotho Infinity And Beyond: 2 January 2016: Zimbabwe- Victoria Falls for New Years with PC crew

              Who doesn't?

           I got to Shoestrings Backpackers and set up my tent under a tree ($7/night camping), then wandered around a little bit to see the place, as it’s pretty big. A few strings of lights were hanging in the restaurant area and a tiny tree sat on the counter. It was Christmas day, after all, but the decorations were subtle and not obnoxious and in-your-face like they would be in the US. People didn’t really seem to make a fuss about it being a holiday, and that was nice. It was just a good day to relax. After I was done looking around at the artist displays in the back, I came around the couches in the lounge area. Two guys were sitting there, and one glanced at me and said, “You look bored,” in a distinct Irish accent. Correct you are, sir. So I sat down and talked with them.

The Irish one was living in Vic Falls for a few months as a rafting guide on the famous Zambezi river, having gotten a degree in criminology and forensics and not using it in any capacity. Instead, he works as a rafting guide going all over the world, switching hemispheres following the season. I mostly hung out with them for the day, as there weren’t many other guests at the hostel. The other guy, a Zimbabwe-born bar manager of the hostel, told me that the hostel would soon be overflowing with people coming for the same reason my PC Lesotho friends and I were coming for: The Vic Falls Carnival, a music festival/New Year’s party. That wouldn’t start for a few days, though, so the town was still relatively empty. I would be meeting my PC friends in a few days, and I was very excited not to be solo on my travels for once. Temporary friends are nice, but they’re nothing like getting to hang out my PC crew.

                That night, sure enough, the creatures emerged from throughout the town for a festive night of dancing at the hostel. Along with a nice Australian woman, I helped the bar manager DJ the party. And by DJ, I mean lining up Youtube videos on the laptop connected to the big speakers, strategically learning to read the mood of the crowd and see what we should play next, accepting and rejecting suggestions, etc. It got really fun and everyone was dancing, and we didn’t even notice that it was almost 2am (even though the bar is supposed to shut down at 12. Oops.) The night ended with, what else, a few of us jumping in the pool to escape all the itchy mosquitoes. Oh man, are there ever zillions of mosquitoes here. Bug spray for days.

Fire poi

Me + manager + Australian

                I still had a few days before all my friends came, so I did a few things around town, ya know, other than the main attraction of the falls, because I wanted to wait to go with them. One morning, I went to see the “Big Tree,” which was, surprise, a big tree. It was a huge 1000+ year-old baobab. The rest of the day consisted of doing a little barefoot run (I didn’t have any shoes but Chacos) with the two guys around town and then, again, jumping in the pool. In this heat, pools just give you life. That night, it was much like the night before, but a little calmer, with me meeting more Zimbos and travelers around the pool table, and I even got to meet some of the coordinators of the Vic Falls Carnival, which was cool.

Might I take a moment to mention how awesome all hostel dogs are. Every hostel should be required to have at least one resident dog. They just add so much to the personality of a place. Shoestrings had two, a big old one named Morgan and a little limping one named Mojo.

Mojo-jojo

                Turns out that even 2 days past Christmas continues to be a public holiday here, so I couldn’t get a sim card to whatsapp my friends and coordinate with them. Fortunately, Shoestrings had (paid) wifi. It being limited, I spent a good chunk of time reading and writing, as I was used to doing in this internetless life. I got bored, so I walked up to one of the hostel staff guys who is also an artist, and asked for a recommendation on somewhere to walk to and visit. He was immediately like, “Yeah, let’s go for a walk,” and just decided to come with me. Well there you go. A personal guide to the town- perfect. He must have been almost as bored as I was. We went to the Elephant Walk, which was an area of shops and artists selling all kinds of locally-made crafts and things. There’s a crocodile cage diving place, and though we declined to actually get in the water, we were able to walk across a rickety bridge over the tank and watch these huge crocs swimming around. Then we went to the schmancy Vic Falls Hotel and, from the back lawn, saw the iconic bridge that goes from the Zimbabwe side to the Zambia side of the river. After that, we briefly went to the Overlook Café, which looks out over the gorge and the mighty Zambezi below.

These warthogs were just wandering around town

The back yard of the hotel with the bridge in the distance

One of the crocs was an albino

   It was the day my friends were arriving from Lesotho on a loooong series of bus rides. They wouldn’t arrive until the evening, but it was my job to find our Air BnB. I was up pretty early at the hostel and packed up as tons of other people were coming in and setting up their tents. My mission was to find this house we had rented before the crew showed up on the Intercape bus. I carried my stuff down the road to the street where I was somehow very convinced, but very wrong, that the Air BnB was on. I had no address, just a (wrong) street name and some vague instructions. I knocked on several houses, whose residents directed me to several other houses, without success. I went to the nearby convenience store where this lady led me around to another street to a house where the very nice woman inside called the dude in charge for me (remember, I hadn’t been able to get a sim card, so I couldn’t call anyone myself). She asked him to meet me at that convenience store. Anyway, I met the guy and he was sweating because he sprint-biked over to meet me. Man, everyone was bending over backward to help me and were so friendly. I was a lost traveler in need and everyone I encountered did their best to get me pointed in the right direction. People rock.

                The guy walked me to the house and I was so happy to have finally found the place after a couple hours of wandering around. I just chilled out in the (air conditioned!) house, watching Hunger Games on TV, using as much wifi as I wanted, and just enjoying the total luxury life that I didn’t even know I had been missing for so long. The crew finally showed up and I was so happy to see them! Like I said, vacation friends are alright, but actual friends are awesome. It was just for a few days, though, then it would be back to solo travels.

                It was ten of us in this little two bedroom place, and even though they moved in more beds for us, one of us still had to sleep on the couch and two on the floor with our trusty sleeping bags and pads. And there was only one bathroom for all of us. But we made it work.

                The next day was rafting day. So awesome! The eight of us who wanted to go rafting got our own boat with our stellar guide. We spent the day paddling 30km down the “mighty Zambezi” following the directions of our guide. He yelled paddle and we paddled. While going through some particularly intense rapids, he yelled get down and we got down. After conquering each rapid, he yehawed and we yehawed in return, all raising our paddles to do a group high five. We went over 19 rapids in total, up to class 5. We had a couple people fall out (or intentionally jump out…) on the big ones. At one point, we had to get out and hike around a class 6 rapid called “commercial suicide,” and just watching them send the empty boats down it made us all thankful we weren’t going through that one. At the end, we jello-leggedly climbed up the steep gorge to be welcomed at the top by an awesome lunch. After eating, we went back to the rafting office in the truck while we got rained on. It reminded me of getting soaked in the Okavongo. We jokingly shouted “get down!” as we hid behind the bench seats to avoid the rainy spray. White water rafting down the Zambezi was one of the coolest things I did in Southern Africa. It was such a great day!

Hold on!

Get down!

Yeehaw!

Yep, we survived

                              That night we went to Shoestrings backpackers for the opening community party for the Vic Falls Carnival. It was insanely crowded, but I managed to say hi to the staff I had been hanging out with a few days earlier when I was staying there. At one point, one of my friends and I went around to the bar to get some drinks and were told that happy hour was over, so the drinks were double the price they were just a little while earlier. This being Zimbabwe, I started to negotiate with the guy. Ok, if you won’t give us drinks for $1 each like they were before, how about 3 for $4? I was kind of joking, but he shrugged, sure. Somehow I just got a little too carried away with the friendly haggling, and the bar guy was either really nice or had stopped caring about enforcing prices, and we ended up getting something like 4 for $5. Hah, I love this place.

                While a bunch of other crew members went to the Devil’s Pool (a natural pool on the edge of the falls), the others of us who didn’t feel like shelling out over a hundred dollars for that went into town. My friend Jen was so sore from the rafting and climbing up the gorge, and she didn’t even want to move, so we dropped her off at a restaurant. The two of us left, Danielle and I, went to see the famous falls themselves. It was $14 per person for the SADC price (thanks, Lesotho), and I think $20 for the international price. The park was awesome. It was a rainforest on the edge of the cliff. Looking out, you could just see SO MUCH WATER! And this was the low season! But it was so cool, with mist flying everywhere.

Danielle

Me

Water water everywhere

And even mist rainbows

                That afternoon, we all went to the train station, yes the same one where I arrived from Bulawayo, to get on the afternoon train to the “bush party.” The train was filled with Carnival goers ready to party. After about half an hour, we arrived at a field with a DJ/stage in the middle, a bar on one side, and a couple food stands on the other side. We met lots of other PCVs from other countries, among Zimbos and other travelers. At one point, I found some people I had met at the hostel, Zimbabweans who hung out there a lot, who told me that they didn’t want to pay for the entry to the party and instead gate crashed by taking an overland truck out there. I just laughed; that’s the spirit. It was pretty fun, but by around 9pm, having been there for 5 or 6 hours already, we were bored and got on the train back.

Getting off the train

Yay friends!

                New Years Eve day, we didn’t do much, mostly just wandered around town to the fancy hotels and took photos, then went to the 3 Monkeys restaurant for pizza and burgers.

Behind the hotel

Colorful flowers everywhere

On the rickety croc bridge

All day, every day

4 monkeys

                Our Air BnB was only a few blocks from the school where they were having the New Years Eve concert, so we walked over there. We all got into the spirit of New Years by channeling our inner Kesha and glittering ourselves out. The concert was really good, with Southern African bands like Kiffness and Goodluck. Well after midnight, I started walking back with one of my friends. After a longer-than-expected walk, we thought we were starting to get lost. I hadn’t brought my phone for fear of it getting stolen out of my pocket (a few other people did end up getting stuff stolen), so I couldn’t break out maps.me to see where we were going. After a while, luckily, a car passed, stopped, then reversed and pulled up next to us. They asked where we were going, and when we told them, they said that this was definitely not the right road, and that if we continued, we’d just walk right into Botswana and run into animals and lions and things on the road. They offered to drive us home. My friend said no thanks, but I was like yes, please and thank you. So we both got in the car and they drove us through the bush on these dirt roads all the way back to our house. We were very grateful, and thankful that, again, every single person here has been so nice and helpful.

Glitter-fied

                New Years Day started slowly, and we eventually made it to the Overlook Café for lunch. I got a crocodile kebab, which was pretty tasty. Those who hadn’t been to the falls went to the park, and the rest of us went back to the house for a lazy day of naps and watching movies on TV.

Meanwhile, at the falls...

                The next day, the rest of the crew got up early to leave for their bus. They had almost 40 hours of travel ahead of them, and I did not envy them at all. I did have a twinge of empathy for them; it was like when I had gone on vacation and it was time to come home, how I had this overwhelming, impending sense of doom to leave the fun to go back to my relatively boring and lonely life in Lesotho. But thankfully I still had a few months of traveling ahead of me. I stayed and cleaned up a little bit in the house, then walked back to trusty Shoestrings for another night in Vic Falls before I would head out into Zambia.

As I walked down the streets, most of the tourists were gone by that time, so I was once again approached by tons of guys in the street to buy old Zimbabwe Dollar notes, jewelry, statues, bracelets, what have you. Being on a backpacker budget, I told them that I didn’t have money to spare. They offered trades, wanting to trade for my water bottle, shoes, hat, any t-shirts, towels, anything. It’s so hard to get quality things in this country, especially with there not being any money, so trading was just as good. Then if I told them the truer truth of me literally not having any more room to carry these crafty things as I traveled for months, they would sigh and bid me good travels. I did end up buying a few old Zim Dollar notes, as they were very small, and seemed like cool souvenirs.

Official gazillionaire

One of the most interesting conversations was at the hostel with some staff members about what they thought of the new bond notes. They were only introduced about a month earlier, so I was curious. People really don’t like them because they don’t have any value outside of Zimbabwe. Other than the country not being able to pay foreign debt with them, people can’t use them to cross the border to Zambia to buy things like they were used to doing. The government only brought around $50,000 worth to Vic Falls, which is definitely not enough for the needs of a town this size. And even though the bond notes are tied to the USD now, they wouldn’t be for long, and people feared runaway inflation again.

I was avoiding setting up my tent for only one night, so I decided to lay on the bug spray and sleep in my sleeping bag on one of the couches outside. The mosquitoes decided that this wasn’t happening, so after a while, after one of the security guys came over and told me that I’d get eaten alive, I broke down and set up my tent, AKA my mosquito-free haven.

The next morning, just a few hours after I had set it up, I took my tent down and packed up. I walked to the border across the bridge, stopping to watch people bungee jump off of it, and shortly got my $50 single-entry visa into Zambia. I’d officially been to all the countries in Southern Africa Woo hoo!

Zim/Zam bridge

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