#did he not watch last season and see how quick everyone turned on monte for VERY SIMILAR BEHAVIOR???? WHY WOULD YOU REPEAT THAT.

[thewingedwolf]

hey lemme thirst post over blue some more she’s so pretty

[annakie]

-----------

We're back for part two!  Remember the last time how I said....

And after that game... I parted ways with my friends once again.  Because I had tickets... to Critical Role.

Well... not only that, but I was finally meeting @thievinghippo​ IRL to see it!

CRITICAL ROLE (aka Friday Night)

I took off right after the previous game had ended and headed for the show.  My one big frustration was that it took 30 minutes for my Lyft driver to arrive from AROUND THE BLOCK (ok, about a quarter of a mile, but still).  In retrospect, I think he was hoping I'd cancel so he could get a bigger fare or something.  I think he just fucked himself over because he could have done that route twice in the time it took him to come get me.  So I got there with just a few minutes to spare and no time to get in the merch line.  But hey, I found Hippo and met a few other people from Tumblr whose names I recognized!  

It was so great to finally meet her, but we had almost no time to talk beforehand (but when we did, it was all about how mad we still are about Jaime / Brienne and also I tried to catch her up to what's happening in CR since she's pretty far behind.)

The show was AWESOME.  It was so fun to see live!  It was particularly awesome when the entire audience sang along with the theme song (See this video if you haven't yet for those of you not there: https://twitter.com/PhoenixHeart815/status/1157446225223962624 ).  It reminded me a lot of singing along with the Sparks Nevada theme the last few TAH shows, I got a little misty-eyed.

The bad?  It was really really hot in the theater.  At intermission I bolted out to the bathroom and buy cold waters.  I was about to get in the merch line but the lights already started flashing.  SIGH.  I gave Hippo a water and before we could settle in much, the show started again.  I told her my plan for the end of the show, though.

I will admit, my lack of sleep from the previous two nights was starting to catch up with me, and I had no caffeine available to combat it with.  I almost ducked out of the show early because I felt myself nodding off with the heat in the theater masked with the dark of the theater and that the second half of the show was less exciting (but still fun!) than the first.  Seeing the show live was amazing!

Just as Matt said they were ending the show there, I hopped out of my chair (I was in an aisle) and went into the lobby.  I was dying to get a set of the metal dice... and they were sold out of EVERYTHING except the big blue d20 and some pins.  ARGHGHGHGHGH.  So I got the d20, and watched the rest of the show including Liam's very surprising win, on the monitors.  (I'd voted for Liam because I assumed Sam would win.  I was pleasantly surprised at the outcome. :)  Though I love Sam to bits.)

Hippo joined me outside in the lobby early, and we left the theater just ahead of everyone else and she waited and we chatted while I called a Lyft.  She wanted to get out before traffic got too crazy, too, so she took off.  I am VERY MAD I didn't get a pic with the two of us at all.  Next year?!  

Then of course my Lyft driver didn't come to where I was exactly (literally at the Lyft pickup/dropoff designated location) and I had to walk around and look for him and by the time I found him, he'd gotten boxed in so we had to wait in traffic anyway.  Ah well.

At least the freeway was re-opened that night heading back to the airport, and thus, my hotel, for a shorter ride.  I ended up not falling asleep til close to 2.

I loved my evening and would do it all again but that Jeremy and Marcus told me that the Starfinder game they played in that night was AH-FUCKING-MAZING and was literally one of their favorite games of their entire lives, both of them.  It was a multi-table megagame that had a pass-fail condition and would shape the next season of the Society, and I'm sad I missed it while being really glad I did what I did.  Sometimes it's feast or feast, and you gotta pick which awesome meal you want.

I didn’t take many pics, just one as they were settling in after Sam came out in his costume, and one during intermission.  It’s all on Twitch, anyway!

SATURDAY

Oh man, for some really dumb reason we'd scheduled our Saturday morning for 8AM... but it was Starfinder!!  Uh, I will say I consumed more caffeine on that Saturday than maybe any other day of my life.  But it was needed.

What also helped keep me awake that it was FUCKING FREEZING IN THE ROOM.  The game itself was an absolute blast, though.  It was a brutal slog through a dead planet with hostile aliens everywhere and we had to stealth through, collect information and get out.  This was the game I felt the closest to death in all weekend, I'll say that for sure.  But we did it!

The very kind Felice(sp?) who was at the table decided she didn't want to carry her hoodie through the dealer hall, where she was going next, and her husband was working the main table at the Pathfinder room, so she told me to leave it there with him when I was done with it.  Since our next game was also in the Paizo room, I took her up on this offer and was warm and comfy the next few hours.

Our DM, an Operative, and Felice, plus the Hoodie of Warmth +2.

A very rare picture of me, on the internet, along with the guys.

And our next game was our first Pathfinder 2 game!  We were very excited to try out the system, and were put at a table with a father and son duo.  Jeremy and Marcus were excited because the DM was the same guy who'd DM'd their Starfinder game while I was at Critical Role.  

The only bad thing that happened here was that the El Paso Cielo Vista shooting news broke.  I grew up in El Paso, from when I was 12 to 22... it's Middle School through college for me.  Even though I've now lived in Dallas twice as long as I lived in El Paso and I haven't been there in like ten years, it's still... a little bit home.  So I left the table for a little bit to get on Facebook and make sure my friends there were all okay (they are), and text with my mom to make sure a family member who still lives there is okay (she is, though she took awhile to answer mom so we were worried.)  I have a lot of thoughts though, which belong in another post, and I'm still angry and upset about the shooting, even though it didn't affect me personally.  But for now, that's the end of talk of that terribleness.

At our table were a father and ~10 y/o son, who I'm cutting out of the pics because posting pics of minors without getting permission is not OK.  Also, the game was SHORT.  It turns out it was designed as an intro to Pathfinder 2 or maybe even RPGs in general so we knocked it out pretty quick, like 2.5 hours.

One very cool thing that Pazio was doing was that when you played in a game, you got a wooden token that you took up to the prize table, and rolled a d20 + d10.  No matter what you rolled, you got a prize, though most of them were cool little boons for your official characters.  However, if you critted, you got to pick a physical prize from the table.  Well, we played so much that Jeremy and Marcus both critted twice.  They ended up getting ALL THREE Token boxes (like cardboard minis, very nice quality) for Starfinder, plus the Starfinder Beginner's Box.  Pretty sure those four things together retailed for over $100.  Score!

So after the short game, with time to spare before our next game, the gang decided it was Dealer Hall time, literally the first time Jeremy or Marcus had time to go AT ALL.  I volunteered to be the stuff-holder.  After dropping off Felice's hoodie, I found a comfy seat near an outlet that was near the dealer hall and let everyone dump the stuff they didn't want to carry with me.  They came back and left stuff with me, and then after a couple of hours, also brought me dinner from the food trucks.  It was a fair trade.

I also asked Jeremy to stop by one particular booth and pick me up a set of dice I'd decided on, Blue Turquiose stone dice from Metallic Dice Games.  I took some pics of the dice below, though the next day I did have Jeremy swap out the d20 at the booth because I didn't like how some of the faces looked (by far the angle in the pic is the best side, there was too much solid color on the other sides of the die.)  These are going to be my official dice for my 4e character, who is a storm sorcerer reskinned as a druid.

LOVE THESE DICE, can’t wait to roll ‘em.

DM, Dad and blurred-out son.

A blurred-out boy and my guys.

Our final game of the day was the Cypher system, which is made by Monte Cook (one of the original D&D designers).  Cypher is a fairly simple system which mostly just uses a d20 and d6, and the DM never rolls dice.  The original system was made for a game called Numenera, which we'd played the beginner's box adventure for a few years ago but didn't feel like we got a good feel for the system, so we wanted to give it a go with a DM who knew the system well.

Overall, we enjoyed the game, it definitely wasn't "bad"!  But the problem was, we all agreed later, that the module that was being run was the kickoff module for a much longer campaign, there was a huge lore dump near the end and we also didn't really "get" everything that was going on.  

It also had the most memorable ending, though.  We ended the game by trying to escape from a base while being chased by some guys who greatly outmatched us.  My character was a pilot, and we needed to leave via a shuttlecraft.  One of the players who we didn't know was on the "get the door open and provide covering fire so everyone else can get to the shuttle" team.  And then he needed to make a roll in order to also GTFO and get to the shuttle.

He rolled.  Got a 5.  There's a mechanic where you can spend a card that you've collected in order to re-roll.  So he did that, got a 2.  Someone else gave him a card to re-roll.  He rolled a 3.  Someone else did.  He rolled a 5.  I was the last one with a card on the table, so I slapped it down.  He rolled a 4.

It was amazing.  Amazingly terrible rolling.

My pilot already had the craft powered up and was waiting for only him to get on.  I sighed, looked the player in the eye and said...

"I'm so sorry, but my character sheet says that I have a personality flaw.  I'm impulsive and impatient and have a setback to anything that requires patience, concentration or willpower.  I'm not waiting for you."  I looked at the DM and said "I decide that he's sacrificing himself to save us, and take off."

So I left him behind.  

The player was 100% cool with it, we had a laugh about it, and he agreed it was what my character would have done.  So it was kind of a tragic and funny way to end the game.  Also Brian needed to get some sleep that night so he hadn't come to that game, and Marcus left a little early to tend to the family, so just Jeremy and I closed out the night.

DM on the left, players I didn’t know in the center, and one on the right.  The guy in the bright blue shirt in the center?  I killed his character.  Sorry not sorry.

SUNDAY

The next morning, sadly, was the last day of GenCon.  We only had one game scheduled that morning, our second Pathfinder 2 game.  And EVERYONE was gonna be at the game!  

I hadn't even SEEN Gwen or Laura the entire con, and when they arrived at just about the same time Jeremy and I did, we joked that we hadn't believed the others were at the convention.  

We'd hoped that they'd let us put all 7 people at the table (Kirstyn had left late Saturday night to fly home and be at a concert she was playing in.)  They did not.  So we split up "Kids" and "Adults".

Sadly, this didn't work out super well for either table.  Gwen/Brian/Ally's table had a DM they did not enjoy and also a married couple who actually fought with each other uncomfortably at the table(!!).  

We had a good DM, but also an old guy who... I did not like.  At all.  He talked over the DM, even when the DM was explicitly trying to answer a question we'd asked him, things like rules questions on how game mechanics in PF2 had changed from PF1, since, you know, it was a system that had released THREE DAYS AGO.  Also, he was very... helpful... in telling me how skill checks worked and also questioning my decisions on how I was playing my character.  (YES, thanks I did consider carefully before casting Sanctuary on myself, and yes, it WAS THE RIGHT CALL.  I was the only healer in the party and had gargoyles flanking me, THANKS.)

I literally told the guy (as nicely as possible) "Sir, I've been playing RPGs for over twenty years, I'm well aware of how RPGs work, thank you" the second time he told me how skill checks worked as I was adding up my die roll with my skill modifier and took two seconds to do the math. And sure he'd probably been playing for thirty or more but um... I know how to roll a skill check.

After a short break, I told my friends I might need to leave the table.  Instead, Marcus and I switched seats so I wasn't sitting next to him anymore and the DM tried to refocus the game a bit.  It helped me at least.  I just did my best to ignore the guy.  I'm pretty sure he just didn't have the greatest social skills in the world but sometimes my tolerance for people like this can be... low.  His brother was also at the table and seemed okay, at least.  

The game itself was pretty good, ignoring everything having to do with that guy.  After the game the DM thanked me for sticking around and basically empathized that he was getting pretty annoyed, too.  

Not the greatest way to end gaming at the con, but hey, it also could have been worse.  I took pics of that game but decided not to put pics of someone I didn’t like on the internet.

Gwen, Brian and Ally's game ended like 45 minutes before ours (sadly, much to their relief) and they'd left to do one more run through the vendor hall and then left the con to start their drive home.  I had Gwen pick me up a set of dice that... I haven't even seen yet... and they were hella expensive.  I'm kinda feeling buyer's remorse about them right now, I didn't need to spend that much on dice this con but... well, we'll see how I feel when I see them in person.  If I hate 'em, I'll resell 'em.

All weekend long I'd been texting with my BFF from High School's husband, who is also my friend.  He was at the Con as well but doing his own thing and we'd been trying to arrange a meetup.  Well, we finally did it!  He came and saw me, and we hung out for about 45 minutes, just talking about the con, and old times and what we're doing now and the family etc. etc.  So that was great!  I was really glad to see him and catch up.

It’s Richard!

After he left because he had to go help tear down the booth he'd been working at, like the day before, I set up "basecamp" in the same place as before.  I had thought about going back to the vendor hall where Jeremy, Marcus and Laura were, but I'd already sent Jeremy off to ask him to pick me up the one last thing I wanted (the official GenCon dice tray.  I have a Wyrmwood Lacewood dice tray for home use, but wanted a nice travel dice tray.  I had a leather one for Kraken, but I'm real unhappy with Kraken Dice now and wanted something else.  I don’t plan on buying from them ever again in the future.  The official 2019 Gencon tray is very nice, and Jeremy had gotten one the day before, so he picked me up one as well.)

POST-CON

I only had to wait about an hour for the end of the con, and by that time the only ones from our group left were "the adults."  So once we were all gathered back up, the four of us headed out and walked a couple of blocks to a restaurant, which we couldn't get into, so we went to the restaurant next door, the Yard House.  

Wherein we had comically bad service, but they were very nice about it, and also WE were really nice about it, and ended up getting about half our meal comped.  Like our waiter had put in all the drink orders for all his tables to our table, so we had the wrong drinks delivered about five times.  We never got water refills.  Marcus had half a beer spilled on his leg (not even his beer, just another wrongly brought to our table), Laura's Appetizer-as-entree came out as an appetizer.  We asked for more chips for the chips and guac and queso we'd gotten as an app and never got it, etc.  Also while the manager was there assuring us we wouldn't have any more drinks brought to our table we didn't ask for... drinks were brought to our table we didn't ask for.  It was actually hilarious by that point.  

The waiter was brand new (his second day) so we got it.  It was just one of those things.  But they took care of us, we tipped well, it was all OK.

So that was the end of Gencon.  Back at my hotel, which Jeremy and I had long decided we wouldn't stay at again, I'd taken a shower very early Saturday morning after Critical Role.  Sunday morning when I showered again, the water still hadn't drained from the tub(!!) but I was in a hurry and just showered in gross cold water at my feet.  Then told the front desk.

They hadn't even been in my room all day to even clean up the room at all, much less do anything about the bathtub when I got back to my room Sunday night, so I switched rooms.  And then the room next to me had left the alarm clock on, and it went off at 9pm.  And my phone in that room didn't work, so I had to go downstairs a second time to get someone to go shut it off.  Also the AC in that room never turned off, the controls seemed to do nothing, so it was like 60 degrees in there the entire night.  It was actually a relief to leave the hotel the next day.  Next year... we'll pay a little more for a bit nicer hotel.

Annnd.. the next morning Jeremy and I got to the airport early enough, flight was full but not delayed, and had no problems getting home.  Spent most of the day from getting on the plane to going to sleep that night with a massive migraine so I spent the afternoon at home sleeping and drinking lots of water.. but yay... no con crud!

I miss the con, but being back in my own bed with my kitties is all worth it.  Still, I can't wait for Gencon again next year. :D

[13rwbabes]

Montgomery de la Cruz x Reader Imagine (Part 3/?)

Hi guys, thanks you like two previous parts. This part is a little mess I feel, but everyone interrupted me like a million times so I don’t know.

Quick reminder that English is not my first language, s I’m sorry for any mistakes. And for any mistakes at baseball terms, cause I don’t know a shit about baseball.

One more question: Do you prefer parts to be shorter and be published more often or longer but not posted as often?

Part 1

Part 2

***

At first he was a little shocked, then he put his hands on my hips and slightly pushed me away.

“What happened to you today?”

“You always do that?”, I asked. “I mean, girl basically jumps on you and you push her away? Do you even get laid or just talk about it?”

Monty chuckled.

“Alright, so I treated you the way you did treat me week before and now you wanna fuck?”

“I’m just done with this teasing”, I this point I almost shouted. “We’re gonna hook up, get over it and move on with our lives”, I said with demanding tone.

He didn’t say anything, just stared at me.

“And we’re not leaving this bathroom until you fuck me”, I crossed my arms and wanted to go and sit on the egde of bath.

But Monty’s hands, still on my hips, suddenly tightened, he pulled me closer and kissed me roughly. I tangled my fingers into his hair, when he squizzed my butt.

“Oh, and I’m done with your stupid rules”, he said between kisses, then his lips went down my neck and sucked my collarbone.

“Do you have some collarbone kink, or what?”, I hit his arm.

He grabbed my wirst a little too strong, but suprisingly I didn’t mind.

“Can you just shut the fuck up?”, he asked, looking into my eyes.

“Make me”, I dared him and didn’t have to wait long until he basically punched my lips with his.

The kisses got more and more sloppy, our breaths got heavier, Monty’s hands went all over my body. I unbottoned his shirt, took it of him and threw somewhere behind, it didn’t take long until he took of my dress. 

He pulled me up and pinched me to the wall, I wrapped my legs around his hips. My hands went down on him, to unzip his pants, and that’s all it took for him to hardened. He reached to his pocket and took condom out of his wallet. He tried to open it, but his moves were so sloppy I thought I was gonna go crazy.

“Oh for fuck’s sake”, I snatched it from his hand, opened with my teeth and put it on him, all of this while looking straight into Monty’s  eyes.

“Go on, Monty”, I nodded my head letting him get inside me.

He pulled my panties down, slowly slided in, I bit my lips trying not to make any noices.

“God, you’re so tight”, he whispered putting his forehead on mine.

My legs wrapped stronger around him as he started thrusting in and out. I was about to start moaning, when someone knocked the door.

“Y/N? Are you there?”, we heard Jessica asking. Monty put his hand on my lips before anything came out of my mouth.

I looked at him with eyes wide open. He took a deep breath and said, “She’s throwing up”, trying to sounds normal.

“Oh my God, Y/N, are you okay?”, she asked really concerned.

I nodded my head, letting Monty take his hand off my lips.

“Yeah, I’m good, I just need a minute”, I said.

“Why… Why is Montgomery in there?”

God, just fuck off, Jess, I thought.

“He’s holding my hair away from my face”, I quickly made up a response.

“Don’t worry, Jess, I’ll take care of her”, he said with cocky grin on his face, as his hand was rubbing my thigh.

“Okay, Y/N, listen, there should be spare toothbrush in the shelf above the sink, you can brush your teeth, when you’ll be done”, I rolled my eyes, waiting for her to go away. 

Suddenly, Monty thrusted in me, I had to bite his arm trying not to moan.

“Montgomery, don’t”, I whispered into his ear. 

“I brought you water”, Jessica continued,”I will leave it here for you.”

“Thanks, I love you”, I said, hoping she would finally go.

“Be quiet, or everybody will find out”, Monty rubbed his nose on my neck.

He started thrusting in me again, I scratched his back trying to keep him as close to me as possible. Heavy breaths were all we could go away with, but it was harder and harder to stay quiet.

“Mont…”, I moaned as quietly as I could.

“Fuck”, his hands tightened on my body. He started pumping faster. “You feel so good”, he whispered. One of his hand started rubbing my clit.

“Oh my…”, my body shook. “Monty, I’m gonna…”

“I know, come on, babe”, he started kissing my neck as if he knew it was my weak spot.

I clawed onto his arms, he scratched my hip, and when final wave of pleasure came for both of us he kissed me and I bit his lips so hard I could almost taste his blood. 

My muscles loosened up, Monty stopped thrusting into me, and laid his forehead on my shoulder. I played with his hair, trying to calm my breath.

“You can put me down now, you know?”, I giggled.

He gave me one last rough kiss and put me on the floor. I dressed up again, Monty threw used condom and wrapping to the bin.

“Your hair looks like shit, you know”, I said, looking at him. Well it definitely wasn’t his perfect hairstyle anymore.

“Have you seen yourself in the mirror?”, he asked. “You basically have ‘I just had sex’ written on your face”.

I came up to the mirror.

“Fuck”, I groaned.

My hair were tangled, my cheeks were blushed and I had weird, definitely not post thowing up, glow on my face. I opened a shelf a took spare toothbrush Jessica told me about, found toothpaste and started brushing my teeth. Montgomery looked at me confused.

“What? I’m brushing my teeth after throwing up”, I mumbled with mouth full of foam.

I took last quick glance at his abs, when he starting bottoning his shirt. Not quick enough though, cause he noticed it.

“You like some good abs, huh?”, he smirked.

“Not gonna lie, girls like some good abs and jawline”, I shrugged my arms.

“You know, you can call me some time and I can some you some abs, you can show me some other things”, he came closer behind me and put his hands on my hips.

“Monty”, I turned around to face him, “it was one time action, alright? I teased you, you teased me, we finished it in Jessica’s bathroom.”

“Don’t you say”, he looked down at our hips touching.

“Let’s go”, I said, moved away from him and went to the door. As I was unlocking, he quickly grabbed my ass. “Stop doing this”, I patted his hand.

“I didn’t hear you complaining few minutes ago.”

“You’re a dick”, I opened the door, stormed out of the bathroom, grabbed bottled up water Jessica left for me and went downstairs…

***

On Monday during lunch break I was sitting with few people when suddenly Jessica came up i basically threw her phone on the table.

“Look at this!”, she shouted to all of us pointing at the picture on her phone.

“What are we looking at?”, I asked.

“This is the corner of the condom wrapping”.

“Aaaand?”, Jeff encouraged her to keep talking.

“Somebody had sex in my bathroom!”, she shouted again.

“Jess!”, I tried to keep her quiet while looking around to check how many people had turned around.

Oh God,I’m screwed, I thought.

“What’s up boys and girls?”, Justin and Monty came to the table.

“Somebody…” Jess started shouting again.

“Somebody have some fun in Jessica’s bathroom during the party and left something”, Sheri interrupted her with quieter tone and showed guys the picture.

“Jess, it was a party, things like this just happen, don’t make drama”, Montgomery rolled his eyes.

“Okay, cool, but can people at least clean after they’re done?”, she crossed her arms. “ I’d be dead if my dad found it”.

“But he didn’t, another happy ending in your bathroom”, I put my thumb up and stuffed my mouth with food, which was typical for me - stress eating.

For the whole time I didn’t even looked at Monty, being paranoid someone would somehow found out. I ignored him to the point, when he said he’s gotta go for a chemistry, I waved at him while scrolling through my instagram feed.

“Hey, Y/N”, Justin kicked me under the table.

“Ouch, what?”, I started rubbing place on my leg he kicked, knowing the bruise would show up before the end of the day.

“Don’t you two have Chemistry together?”, he asked.

“Right. Yes. We have”, I patted my head and giggled nervously. “See you later guys”, I grabbed my bag and went with Monty, who was cracking up trying not to laugh.

“To be honest, I don’t have to do anything, you gonna give us out with your weird actions” he said when we had left the cafeteria.

“Shut up, I’ll start acting normal, it’s just that piece of wrapping…“

“There were probably more people in that bathroom that night, some of them probably had sex…”

Some freshman kid accidentaly walked in Monty, and him being, well, him, grabbed kid by shirt and pushed to the wall.

“Watch where you’re walking”, he said.

“I’m… I’m… I’m sorry”, kid picked up his books from the floor and quickly walked away.

“I’m embarassed just by standing next to you”, I said. “What was that for?”

“He walked in me”, Monty clearly didn’t see anything wrong about his hehaviour.

“That’s not what you do, when someone walks in just by accident!”

I spotted girl walking down the hall, looking down at the phone, I started walking towards her, pretending I’m looking for something in my bag and soon we walked into each other. After few ‘sorry’s’, ‘no, no, it’s okay”, she walked away. I turned to Monty.

“See? That’s what you should do.”

“I have reputation, I can’t loose my face”

“Reputation of a bully. You know more people would like you if actually stopped bulling everyone”.

He didn’t say anything, just rolled his eyes.

***

When lessons had finished Jessica, Sheri and I went for cheer practice.

“Okay girls, we have busy next week”, coach told when we were stretching before practice. “We have an assembly on Tuesday, basketball game on Wednesday and baseball game on Friday and we’re doing all of them.“

“Since when we do cheerleading on baseball games?”, Sheri asked.

“It’s still just an idea, we’ll do it once and see if it works. There is one more thing”, Mrs. Montez chuckled. “I spoke to the teams’ coaches and you know, it’ll be firsts games of the seasons, and the opponents are hard, um, that’s what they said, so they asked if you could, you know distract them a little bit?”, she was clearly uncomfortable asking for that.

Oh, somebody thought cheerleading is all about supporting your team and spreading good energy or something? Bullshit. It was mostly about distracting the other team with short skirts and splits.

“I guess we can shake ass a little”, Jessica snorted.

We performed on basketball game during halftime. We danced to Selena Gomez’s Me & My Girls* and let’s just say that me winking and mouthing lyrics, and I always lip sync during performance, like “I know we’re making you thirsty” or “You can look but don’t touch, I’m not here to hook up, I’m just here to turn on” did not help the other team stay concentrated on the game.

Monty was watching everything from the bleachers, I glanced at him few times just to see him basically eye-fucking me. Liberty Tigers won, with Zach being MVP of the game, as usual, after few celebrating jumps and handsprings I started picking up my stuff.

“I have a question, but promise you won’t slap me”, Monty suddenly showed up next to me.

“Just hearing this makes me wanna slap you”, I said without looking at him.

“Whatever, I’ll take the risk. You wanna hook up sometime?”, he asked.

“Subtle”, I sighed and turned to face him. “Thank you, but no. See you around”,

I took my bag, passed him and went to my car.

“Oh come on, you liked it last time”, he cought me up.

“Monty, half of the girls in this school wish they could make out with a devil, it’s you, go molest someone else”, I rolled my eyes.

“Then why did you teased me with that winking and cocky smiles during dancing?”

I bit my lower lip. Fine, maybe I was teasing him a little bit again, but this little fucker deserved it.

“You’re sucker for this cheerleader suit, huh?”, I laughed throwing my bag at the backseat. “Fine, maybe there is some sexual tension between us”, I finally admitted, “but it doesn’t mean we have to do something about it.”

“It’s unhealty, you know?”

Suddenly I came up with something. He played baseball and damn, he was good, but not THAT good. Plus home run wasn’t easy to score.

“Okay, we’ll make a bet”, I said finally.

“I’m listening” he smiled and leaned on my car.

“It will be baseball metaphor, and I’m not too good at it, so focus”, I cleared my throat. “You do home run on Friday’s game, you get third base with me”, I said looking him straight in the eyes.

He squinted his eyes, took a deep breath, and answered, “Deal”.

***

He fucking did it. Not only that he got home run. He got two. We did the same performance we had done at basketball game, I lipsynced, winked, when he was going to batter’s field I accidentally droppen one pompom and bent down to reach it, knowing he was looking at me, everything just to distract him at least a little bit, but no, the second he hit the ball, everyone new it was gonna be a home run.

“Fuck”, I mumbled at it took me good few seconds before I realised I should cheer.

Before his second home run, he literally pointed at me.

“What was that about?”, Justin was seating at the bleacher above the place where cheerleaders were standing and he could talk to us.

“We made a bet”, I said. “About, umm, chemistry project”.

Before he could answer something Montgomery Fucking de la Cruz got his second home run.

“Well, looks like he’s not gonna do much about that project”, Foley said after everyone stopped cheering.

“Yeah, looks like whole work’s gonna be on me...”, I sighed as I spotted Monty winking at me.

***

*This song is dirty as fuck, just like this whole fandom, trust me

Let me know what you think, hope you like it even though it’s a mess lol

[survivormontenegro]

Episode 2: “In all seriousness, I think I’m just stupid.” - Mo

Oop, so Madeline went bye bye without hitch. And Mitch lol sort of popped off a bit which turned out rub some people the wrong way.

Well as long as it doesn’t endanger me, it’s ok. Except for the fact that Michael brought up my name to Julia as a potential target just because we haven’t had good talks.

Honestly tho, talking to Michael is hard because he’s like a robot or whatever. He really is a big blue robot or whatever.

Right now, I think I’m in a good spot to not be that worried on Michael. I’ve got an alliance with Jason and Julia. Though we haven’t solidified a duo or whatever, Jared and I are working together as well probably. I’m getting closer with Ali and Benji and I have had talks of watching each other’s back.

So far the potential targets if we lose are Mitch and Noah. I have talks with Mitch and I think he’s sort of a lose cannon but right now he trusts me I think so yeah. People are leaning towards Noah because he talks the least with people.

But I do hope we win immunity, UgH!! I blame Drew for not putting me on a dominating tribe grrrr where’s the monte Rosa winning streak power when you need it.

AHHHHHH BEEEP BOOOP BEEEP BOOP. This twist sucks. There is a power dynamic that is going on.  Julia, Ben , Ali , and I are in an alliance. Seperataly though. I don't think they are aware of how much strategy I talk with Julia (which is how we want it). It seems Ian Jason are the biggest threats since they are liked and have numbers. BUT I CANT TAKE THEM OUT BECAUSE OF THE TWIST AHDHEUEJIDKD. So it seems Mitch is the target but I can't let Ian and Jason stay too long otherwise I am fucked. It's only a matter of time before they realize what I'm doing and I become a target (maybe even next tribal). BEEEEP BOOP BEEP BOOP

So last tribal went super smooth. Madeleine bye girl, but you were a ticking time bomb and you needed to go. And you also threw MY precious name out to Jared. In my first confessional I said I didn't want you here, and I got what I wanted. Now we are on this round. A puzzle challenge for immunity? Seriously? This has me FUCKED up boo. But I don't know weather to worry or not about tribal council. Last round, after I stirred the pot a bunch for the Madeleine vote she had an elaborate plan to get Mitch out that I myself pressured her into doing. I let Mitch know about her plan and at tribal shit got interesting. He blew the fuck up on the girl. And this was beautiful. It put a target on his back. So I might just be in the clear. His name will definitely be brought up just for that. This tribe doesn't like crazy explosive people (lol me in crossroads). But I also have gotten so far on this idol board, I might have the chance to snatch that bitch up. Lets pray everything goes well for me!!!

I realize in hindsight that im coming off as really mean in my confessional, but it was just like,,, in the moment? Yk??? A more concise version - usually when people like JJ fly high and take control early on, people get mad and they crash and burn really quick. So as much as it might break my heart, I might have to let that happen.

Forgot to mention thoughts on relationship statuses atm: Jules says she trusts me Alex says he trusts me Mo says he trusts me JJ says he trusts me Tom is iffy but I feel like we have a stronger relationship? Especially if he’s closer with JJ (which I personally believe he is) he’ll feed him info that’ll go back to me I have a good relationship with evan for the most part ? We talk on and off but we’re both just busy lol Caeleb my grandson/angel and I have a great relationship - we talk about Pokémon a lot Willow and I are iffy but like a fun iffy And David is the most innactive, but we bond over not talking on calls sometimes

So first things first thank GOD we won immunity I was not getting good vibes from people so I think I would been gone. Anyhoot, I definetly feel like there is an alliance already formed between Tom and JJ for sure and then possibly Jones Jules and lets throw in Alex, Those 5 seemed to be so comfortable and non scrambly this past tribal that im SUS. Going into this challenge wowie a math puzzle, not good for me and it showed! I definitely think we are losing now so I really have to push the vote for like Evan maybe because a bitch wants to stay and he's probably more inactive than I. Listen guys I really want to be on more but as Rihanna said I just gotta Work Work Work Work Work Work so that's that on that. I just hope they let this bitch stay!

Okay so let's get INTO this:

I know that my biggest weakness is the fact that I don't do a great job at times of talking to people. Ever since Day 1 though I've been making a solid effort to speak to every single person on my tribe two or three times every day.

So let's start with the first reward challenge. I tried really hard because I wanted to make a good first impression challenge wise. I feel like if you put in a solid performance in the first challenge, your tribe will be more understanding if you struggle in a future challenge.

As soon as I saw the flag part of the first immunity challenge, I knew that we were going to probably lose it no matter what, and there was strategy behind me wanting to take it on. Everyone on my tribe was already hyping up the fact that the other tribe had that part in the bag, so I knew that if I put in a solid effort and lost, it would be seen as "He stepped up for us and tried hard even though he had no shot" rather than "he fucked it up for us". I had to step on Madeleine's toes and kind of be rude to make sure that I got to do the flag, but that didn't really concern me since nobody seemed to like her anyway?

Now when it came to the first vote of the season, pretty much the whole damn tribe told me they wanted to do Madeleine. I think the fact that she really didn't talk to anyone until she NEEDED to is what played a major part in her elimination. Honestly, I didn't really like her at all LMAO, so I didn't mind seeing her go home.

The fact that Madeleine was already basically screwed and confirmed to go home was great bc it gave me the opportunity to take advantage of that situation for myself and build up my trust/credibility with other people. Madeleine came to me just a couple of hours before the voting deadline with her plan to get a group of people to vote against Mitch and send him home. I basically just was like "yasss I agree that's a great plan sis omg you're MIND". I asked for a list of who her 'numbers' were before agreeing to vote with her, and of course with her being desperate, she had no choice but to comply. Sis sent me a whole ass list of her alleged allies, and I was gagged becuase literally all of them had been shit talking her and saying that they were voting her out ALL DAY.

I took that information to Mitch and let him know about her plan, which gained me some brownie points and trust building with him. And then I went to the people she listed and was sort of like "Hey, I just wanted to let you know that she's going around telling people who she thinks you're voting for". Overall, I think that Madeleine's messiness really benefited me and my connections with the tribe.

Following Madi's elimination, if I had to rank my tribemates in terms of who I trust most to least, it would work out like this:

1) Julia 2) Ali 3) Mitch 4) Jason 5) Ben 6) Jared 7) Ian 8) Michael

Julia, Ali, Mitch & Jason interact with me the most. They always respond when I message them to start a conversation, and they aren't shy about hitting me up and initiating conversations. Ben, Jared & Ian won't really initiate conversations with me, but if I message them first they'll always message me back pretty quickly and engage with me. With Madeleine gone, Michel is now the most difficult for me to socialize with. Our conversations tend to die quickly if I don't put in maximum effort, which is kind of annoying, but I'll keep trying because I relaly don't want to end up like Madi and have everyone vote me out because I didn't try with them.

I'm kind of nervous at the moment with this vote just bc nobody is really giving me names yet? I'm hoping that the reason why is that they are waiting for tomorrow morning and just don't want to throw out names too early. I feel a bit like Sandra in the sense that as long as it's not me, I don't care. I'm not sacrificing my game for ANY of these people. That's what I love about these TS orgs; these people aren't my friends and I don't feel bad at all about sending any of them home LOL.

I'm really hoping to form a more formal alliance soon, but I want to be VERY cautious. I'd rather keep it small with just a few people that I trust not to go throwing me under the bus and leaking shit. An ideal situation would be me, Julia, Ali & Mitch as a strong foursome, but I need to talk to them separately as individuals first and try to figure out if any of them are already in group chats/alliances before I try to pull them into a commitment. The last thing I want is to try to form an alliance with people that are already set in other groups.

Anyway, I'm just going to try to continue being super social and hope that it plays out in my favor. BTW this twist is evil and I despite it, but I'm just going to have to work with it and adapt.

tom was really drunk and messaged me all these nice things so i really want to make him my ally now even though he's messy!!!

Well, today we probably lost the competition. Considering I was 4x faster than my maze partner. Willow doesn't know how to do math. David probably hasn't done his competition.

But in the same light, Evan and I did really well in our competitions. So, who knows? I might actually like to lose a competition. It would be interesting to see if people's heads are actually where they say they are.

I’m so upset, I always get fucking challenges in games that I CAN’T do I don’t know how to do it. Then we talk about our scores and Evan was like oh I did it in a minute but I could of done it quicker if I had a mouse and I’m just like I SCORED 16 MINUTES AND IM FINE BECAUSE I DIDN'T SCORE OVER TWENTY MINUTES.

In all seriousness I think I’m just stupid. Like when I was doing the challenge I was confident. I always go in with a “I’m gonna do great!” attitude and then I hear about how well the others did and it’s like getting hit by a car.

I'd also like to give an update on how I feel about everybody in this game.

Alex seems like he's the person I'd like to work with most, but he also seems the most hesitant to commit to any kind of long term alliance. Jules & Jones are really difficult to tell apart, but they're both lovely people. They seem to be super open to working together, and they both compliment me out the butt hole. Tom is really sweet. He seems to be very easily woo'd by attention and compliments, which shouldn't be too difficult. He's like. Super cute and very fun to talk to. Mo is cool, we share a lot of the same sense of humor, lots of the same references. Its also super comforting that he's also on the same timezone as I am. Evan seems really cool. I feel awful about never responding to his messages on time, which could really hurt my game. Caeleb is so fuckin cute. Like he's just a wholesome lil bean, I don't know how he's going to survive in such a cutthroat game like survivor. Maybe that's his strategy, have everyone underestimate him. Maybe he's scary and spooky. ^ Y'all really got me out here talking like a tumblrina.. Anyways, onto Willow. We seem to have the same conversation everyday and it never really goes anywhere. Awkwardddd. For David, whenever he does go on call, he never talks, and it just becomes this awkward silence, he really brings down tribe morale.

https://youtu.be/71NJ9oc-WrI <- Video didn’t embed

Video afterthoughts: According to Alex JJ seems more interested in the idea of a swap happening and is now turning onto the idea of voting David? I’m gonna actually talk to jules about how they feels tho bc they said they trust me and I wanna like,, show the trust in return? I want them to feel good w me as much as I feel good w them

It seems like me and Julia created the vote once again, and AGAIN it is not traced back to us. Michael is under the impression he created the vote (lol) which is good for us, no blood on our hands. The reasoning behind planting Mitch and Michael as targets into people's head was to see how they scrambled so we could flush every alliance. We now know Mitch and Michael are working together. If all goes well it should be unanimous (if we even had to go to tribal).

We didn't go to tribal the first time around so David got to stick around. I have an odd feeling that we didn't win immunity so tonight will be the actual chance to do so. I really do think it'll be him because he's so inactive and I think its best to keep our tribe active and playing rather than scrambling and weak. Plus I have talked to many people about it so it would be a pretty big blindside if it was someone else and I would be left aghast!

JJ is clearly an influencer in the tribe, and I think he likes me and wants to keep me around and I am perfectly fine being a number in his game. At least for the time being, because at this point that's a strong strategy for me. I think I am making real genuine connections that I can profit from, both strategically but also personally because we have some fun people here :).

okay so this is the end, hold your breath and count to ten. i'm going home. i can just sense it, its my time and i can feel it hap-hap-happenin'. the vote is theoretically noah, but everyone is going quiet so i think its me. my takeaways are that i was too wishywashy, and left myself vulnerable due to my poor social game.

in other news, if the vote is noah i will be SHOCKED. i think we will probs swap too, so we will see. I think it wont matter this is the end, I'm going byebye very very soon rippy rip!

https://youtu.be/KdBeFE1iYWg <- Video Confessional from Day 6

https://youtu.be/ZQZ1ktG2lU0 <- Tribal Council #2 Vote

(Both did not embed)

Day Numero 6; Honestly nothing is popping off in this game for me! So hard to type a confessional because i could be highly naive about my position in this game and i could be getting votes tonight but i have not heard any names except for david once again. 

[genruns]

VMM 2016 - A Mountain Marathon to Remember

Hanoi and Sapa, 21-27 September 2016.

Like most runners who never learn, the memories of pain and suffering from past races somehow give way to stronger cravings for new goals and adventures. Despite the hiatus I promised myself after the UTA in May, I found myself signing up for the Vietnam Mountain Marathon (VMM) in September. This was a 42km event in the mountains of North Vietnam, a beautiful place called Sapa. 

I signed up for this with Danny and Vince. This would be Vince's first trail race, and he had only started seriously running barely a year ago. His last marathon was 10 years ago. I admired his bravado and secretly thought him mad. We were joined by Eus, who signed up for the 70km, having done the marathon event the year before. Andre signed up for the 100km race to obtain the remaining points he needed to qualify for a ballot in his dream event, the 170km Ultra-Trail du Mont Blanc (UTMB) in 2017. In comparison, my running aspirations are considerably meeker. I am content with taking part in and completing 50km races and marathons. For the foreseeable future I do not see myself going beyond this milestone until I feel that I could clock a reasonable timing for such distances. 

Hanoi   

Visiting the city of Hanoi was an event in its own right. When I first set foot there, so much about the city offended my sensibilities as an urban planner, and derailed my senses as a Singaporean. This was a city governed by basal human instinct and a ruthless desire for making a beeline for one’s destination. Elements of civilisation such as sidewalks, traffic lights, pedestrian crossings, one-way lanes, double yellow line markings are but mere physical presences that mean nothing to the locals. The sidewalks are, if not rendered completely inaccessible by multitudes of parked motorbikes, plied by multitudes of speeding motorbikes. One can never tell if a lane is meant to be single or multi-directional, because motorbikes are going left, right, diagonal - you name it. It is easy to tell which pedestrians are local, and those who aren't, from the way they cross the road. Locals tread the tarmac with an instinctive feel for the speed of oncoming cars and motorbikes, expertly weaving through the confounding mess of vehicles and incessant honking. Foreigners take a brave step out onto the street, falter and freeze as five motorbikes nonchalantly hurl their way, fall back onto the safety of the path, mumble a quick prayer, and nervously start afresh. By the second day, becoming more familiar with how things work here, I felt that I would never have a problem jaywalking at home again. I learnt that the moving vehicles were already primed for pedestrians who blazed through the traffic adopting a fuck-all attitude, and that in order to survive this concrete jungle I had to, similarly, appear 'fuck-all'. 

Traffic and a blatant disregard for rules and possibly human life aside, Hanoi holds a third-world charm that is perceptible from its architecture and vibrant street life. In the French quarter, remnants of its colonial past can be seen from its buildings. Views from some of the wider streets even bear vague resemblances to Paris's tree-lined boulevards. Women donned in traditional Vietnamese dresses and straw hats heaving up loads of street food and other wares on sticks walk the streets. And it is amusing how us Singaporeans often rave about al-fresco dining being a strictly western luxury ("It is just too humid here!"), when all over Hanoi, roadside stalls spill out onto the sidewalks where masses of people sit on puny little plastic chairs and eat at just as puny tables. Some lay back on their chairs, enjoying cigarettes as they watch the maniac traffic scene before them. Can it get more al-fresco than that? Here we have it, the established western principles of what is considered to be good urban planning: density, vibrancy, street life, diversity. 

Of course, one has not been to Hanoi if one has not sampled their street food. To be honest, Vietnamese cuisine had never inspired me much - Pho felt to me rather bland and comfort food during a cold at best, and bahn-mi - my limited experience of them was from the little restaurant next to my apartment when I was living in London, i.e. expensive salad-filled baguettes proclaiming their authenticity just because they added sour chilli sauce and some rice noodles. Boy, was I wrong. In Hanoi, we had the most mind-blowing pho in an unassuming little restaurant. The broth tasted like it had been steeped in spices for a long time. One mouthful was all it took to dissolve in the burst of flavours, herbs and spices (beef, coriander, basil, spring onion, lime...ahh). On this trip, I learnt what proper street ban-mi was meant to taste like. Pate, with a heap of spices and herbs and delectably seasoned meat, sandwiched within toasted fresh baguettes, made all the difference. And yes, we had to go the bun-cha restaurant made famous by Obama's visit. 

Sapa

We spent a day in Hanoi before the 5-hour journey to Sapa. I learnt on the way that Sapa is dominated by the Hoàng Liên Son range of mountains, which forms the eastern end of the Himalayan range. i had no idea that I was going to be running in the Himalayan range! That thought got me really excited. Arriving in Sapa town that evening at about 9pm, we were in for a pleasant surprise. All except Eus who had been there the year before (for the 42km event), we had been expecting a mellow mountain town. Instead, we found ourselves in a bustling lively town with neon lights and street life. It was an interesting blend of tourists and Hmong tribespeople adorned in their traditional headwear and clothes, selling their wares on the streets. The streets were alive with bustling roadside food stalls with all sorts of meats and seafood grilling on coal barbecues, and there were touristy bars crowded with people. Many persistent tribes children were touting their handmade crafts to tourists, following us closely as we walked. 

The next morning, we had breakfast in the hotel and were presented with a spectacular view of the mountains. It was exciting though a little nerve-wrecking to think that in less than 24 hours, we would be running up those staggering slopes. We boarded our van for a jerky one-hour ride from Sapa Town to the Sapa Eco-Lodge, where the finish line would be. It was extremely beautiful scenery with perfectly sculpted rice terraces sloping down from the Lodge, and it gave us an idea of how exhilarating the finish would be. However, I wasn’t having a spectacular time as for some reason (probably due to the street food from the past 2 days), I was having the runs. We did not linger there too long, and travelled back to town immediately for some rest before the race. That evening, I sent Andre off for his 100km race. 

The Race

I suppose it was the adrenaline but on the morning of, I felt pretty good despite having about 4 hours of sleep. Breakfast at the hotel was meagre, with a plain baguette and some butter and jam. It was a blessing in disguise that the chronically late Vince forgot to switch his clock one hour back. He had been up an hour too early, and met Danny and me out on the street just on time. After a 45-minute bus ride, we arrived at the race start. As usual I was too charged with adrenaline to be able to snooze. The race start was a track road flanked by hills. Many of us took off to empty our bowels in watermelon farm which everyone mistook to be a designated dumping ground thanks to a misleading “WC” sign (which we eventually realised pointed to proper sanitary facilities about 500m down a curved road).   

Not long after, the race started with only a 5-minute delay (that is pretty punctual from experience). It started with a 2-3km hike upslope. We turned past a rubbish dump, and straight for a 3km downhill stretch. This stretch was strewn with huge and slippery rocks, and the runners were reduced to a single long trail, each and everyone single-mindedly focused on the task of not slipping on our bottoms. We had lost Danny by this point. The guy was too far ahead to be seen, which really impressed us as he had not trained in the months leading up to the race due to a foot injury. When I stopped to use retrieve my trekking poles (an amazing carbon fibre light-weight pair - a gift from Andre - that I soon realised were key to my survival in this race) from my hydration bag, I lost Vince as well. Having trained largely in a country where ���off-road’ meant paved nature trails, I was really not used to this terrain. However, images of runners from the past year struggling here knee-deep in mud and terrorised by heavy rain did make me feel grateful for the wonderful sunny conditions under which we navigated this narrow trail.   

Exiting this horrendous labyrinth, we found ourselves embarking upon more beautiful mountain scenery, where we confronted numerous switchbacks, hills adorned with wild herbs and flowers. When I was about 9 or 10km in, I ran into Danny and from there we kept a close distance to each other. However, I was feeling weak during the whole time - possibly due to the tiny breakfast (I am very much fuelled by what I eat), and the runs from the day before. To make matters worse, I could not stop sniffing. My nose was running like hell; I had not fully recovered from a bad cold I’d caught a week ago, and I felt awful. Nevertheless, I persevered on, distracting myself with thoughts of an early pre-20km race withdrawal, and a self-dignifiying image of myself attaining enlightenment on what was important in life - good health and a strong state of mind, not a mindless rat race to the end! This did not happen of course, but the thoughts did serve its purpose to distract me from my despair. 12km in, I remembered I had tailwind on me. God. How could I forget.. I took a swig; the miracle formula enriched me and I inched on towards the first checkpoint at the 14km mark.   

There, I was happy to find Vince waiting. Danny caught up soon after. The villagers sold refreshments - soft drinks, bananas and sweets. I ran into some of the guys doing the 70km run here - runners from higher race categories never fail to impress upon me as a different breed of humans. They ran the bumpy terrain like I pounded the pavement from the MRT station to work, spurred on by my impending lateness at a meeting. After filling up my hydration pack, the 3 of us were off. 

Whilst the feeling of lethargy had not left, I was feeling much more motivated having hit the first checkpoint. This next section was an interesting one where we followed an undulating road track which led to a beautiful karstic landscape. Here, the ground was awash with naturally sculpted white-grey limestone, spaced between little narrow streams that flowed within fissures widened from years and years of erosion. Here, it was extremely slippery and tricky. Runners would call this terrain “technical” (which basically means it’s not very runnable - people like to throw in some jargon now and then for the heck of it). Several people slipped and fell here and I remember this fellow racer who did, laughing, “Yeah, I get it now!” It was funny at that time because the landscape, though beautiful, did indeed feel punishing. 

The trail then brought us running along the thin edges of the terraced paddy fields, where we had to keep our balance to prevent ourselves from falling headfirst into the flooded fields. This was fun and extremely scenic, but I found it extremely difficult to keep up due to my overpronation issue. A probable result of bad walking posture that accumulated over the years since my childhood, it has been difficult to correct the tendency of my feet to land, with more force than is efficient or safe, on the inner soles. This makes it difficult to keep my balance and run efficiently on bumpy and soft ground, and I felt like tipping over many times here. It definitely slowed me down, and I was overtaken by several runners at this point. After ungracefully pounding through the rice fields, I finally reached the road where we were drawn through several hills before we hit the second checkpoint at 20.5km. 

Here and again, I met Vince who was lounging on a plastic chair and eating a banana. Apparently he had been there 10 minutes before me. The race volunteers were serving instant noodles, which I happily downed for all its warmth, salts and (some) carbs. We spent a bit too much time here chatting and filling up our hydration bags, and it was 15 minutes before we left the checkpoint. The road after was a 6km-long continuous uphill with >300m elevation gain. I actually felt really good from here on. Maybe it was the noodles and the MSG (hey, it’s not always a bad thing), but damn I felt on a roll. It took me 20.5km before I finally felt right again, and I definitely wasn’t about to quit now. 

Even though it was all uphill, I really enjoyed myself at this stage. The months of training were paying off, as I scaled the mountains with a sense at last that I might prevail. I overtook several runners and luxuriously took in the breathtaking scenery, even snapping pics at one time on my iPhone (i never ever do that during races). Apart from several short downhills, it was just uphill all the way. I felt marvellous and while in pain, I was in control of that and could manage it. As compared to the weak tingling feeling I experienced earlier, this was a real boost. Vince (that guy overtook me again) was almost always within sight, while Danny was close behind me. It was a little over an hour by the time we got to the third checkpoint at 27km. I was thanking God at this stage for having brought me this far. This time, we were efficient with the checkpoint - we always learn this too late in the race! - spending just five quick minutes on a brief rest and filling up the hydration bag.   

We were now led to a steep and continuous 7km of downhill route (total elevation loss of 400m). We broke into a run here. Though my ankles and legs were tired, I felt liberated from the non-stop uphill trudging and gave into speed. I probably overdid on the hard running at this stage, and promptly sprained my ankle on soft soil. This happened in the middle of a forest path, where there was a construction tractor digging up the soil (don’t ask me why). The two workers standing close by grimaced as I sprained my ankle, and kindly sat me down at a soft spot. Though it really hurt, I knew this wasn’t going to last for very long. My ankle had been weak since I sprained it years ago in school (during a soccer game). Spraining it during races seems to be a mainstay (it happened two years ago in Rinjani as well). Still, the two workers looked concerned, as did a group of Singaporean runners whom I’d overtook not long ago. I assured them I was fine, and would take a rest before going any further. After about 5 minutes of stretching, I felt fine again, bid my thanks and goodbye to the workers, and carefully continued my way to the next checkpoint. This period of stopping, resting and slow-walking after spraining my ankle slowed me down a lot, and probably affected my final timing quiet a bit. By the time I got to the fourth checkpoint, Vince was nowhere in sight. Nevertheless, I did not feel demoralised as I knew my aim was not to finish with an impressive race time, but to end in one piece within the cut-off time. 

Crossing the final checkpoint at 34km, I arrived at a steep uphill forest track. This was at least a 40-degree incline. I wryly imagined congratulating the race organiser on a job well done for leaving the worst bit to the last, as I ascended the trail slowly with aching calves and crying quads. This was a punishing 300m ascent for 3 kilometres, with no break or downhill in between. I made a Vietnamese friend along this trail, who was also attempting this race for the first time. We continued together, and chatting about the race and why we were doing it lifted my spirits and egged me on harder. It felt like ages before we arrived at a pseudo, non-official checkpoint at 37km. I wasted no time here, and taking just the amount of water I needed, went straight to finish the remaining 5km. 

From here on, it was a beautiful downhill run to the end. Just like UTA, the last 5k never feels like 5k. Winding down and around the never-ending switchbacks, I gave it my all - pounding the tarmac racing downhill even though my legs felt incapable of any further stress. I passed several on this final stretch. Though hills and villages on the other side were visible from the track, I simply could not make out where the finishing point, Sapa Eco-Lodge was. I gave up and focused single-mindedly on the objective to end the race. I was really proud of myself for persevering even though my legs felt like stinging lead - I had no clue where this energy and determination to push my battered body came from, but man I felt in control! During the very last few hundred metres, I crossed paths with finishers wearing medals around their necks, and knew I could not be too far off. A finisher warned me that a slight uphill lay ahead, but at that time I could not be arsed to worry about anything. I was so close to the end. Finally, the route took a slightly steep turn to the left, and lo and behold, I was confronted with a familiar row of manicured trees and country flags flanking both sides of the path. We were just here the day before checking out Eco-Lodge. This was exactly the last 100 metres or so of the race. I was feeling amazing - while completely battered - as I sprinted the final few metres past the finish line. 9:59 was my timing - Damn, just one minute to 10 hours. I know that I could have done better without the cold, and had I not felt hungry and weak at the start of the race. Still, I gave it my best shot given the circumstances and that was what mattered. 

The first face I saw was Winnie’s, Danny’s wife, who cheered me into the stands. The sun seemed to be a few minutes from setting then, and was I glad to not have run into the night! Winnie told me Andre was not done yet, and we were still waiting for Danny. Vince was already there with his wife Charlene and 6-year-old daughter Sarah. I ran over to hug and congratulate him on finishing his first mountain race, and also pretty much out of this new-found sense of camaraderie of having suffered together, and seeing each other at our worst. (Though, yes, to be fair, he was mainly the one witnessing me ungraciously blowing my snot into my wrist buff throughout the race. I still claim that was done out of pure ethical reason - I could not and would not blow my snot onto the ground!) Sarah whispered conspiratorially to me, “I’m not supposed to tell you this but I got you flowers.” I didn’t think much about what she was talking about and simply chuckled in response because she looked so cute when she whispered. 

Ten minutes after I crossed the finishing line, Andre did. There were tons of cheering and applause from the crowd as apparently - and I would find this out later - my boyfriend came in 6th place in the 100k category (18:46)! Rushing to meet him at the finish line, the familiar feeling of relief overwhelmed me. (Even though this was his 3rd 100km race, I still could not help but worry about his safety en-race.) We hugged briefly. I'd expected a longer and more affectionate embrace and then a beeline for hot food - as it usually turned out. However, he seemed fixated on one thing - getting a photo taken at a good spot before sundown. Puzzled but too tired to clarify, I followed his lead. 

How I Got Engaged

By the time we found a scenic spot for photo-taking (which seemed the priority of the evening really), Danny had completed his race - turned out we all did within ten minutes of each other. Andre steered me to stand next to him, while our friends just stood on the other side taking pictures of us. Besides feeling completely exhausted and sweaty, I was really puzzled as to why we were the centre of attention. I thought we were supposed to take a group photo. I was also beginning to feel a little shy and self-conscious, even a little selfish as to be ‘grabbing’ all the good light before the sun set.   

In the middle of all this photo-taking, Andre turned to me and said, “Thanks”. “For what?” Well, okay.. not quite sure what I did in the last 10 hours except suffer entirely for my own benefit. 

“For everything.” Huh? Strange time to be so emotional. 

Friends still snapping pics away on their phones, Andre suddenly did the completely unprecedented. 

He got down on one knee, and holy moly it is happening. NOW? I feel so unprepared. I don’t even smell right. I am so effing tired. 

All those thoughts completely arrested my response and when he said, “Will you marry me?” I stood there, stunned. Completely unprepared for this. I knew the proposal would take place at some point in time, but I just never thought it would be September 2016, Vietnam. This was a quick local race we would get into 2016 to obtain the remaining points each of us needed for our targeted races the following year. Of course, that was why he had been so anxious to get a “good spot for photos” right after completing a gruelling race. I just thought he would have proposed at some spectacularly romantic moment on my birthday that December, or perhaps even during the trip to New Zealand we would soon go at the end of the year with his family. I would be dressed up, looking worthy enough to promise a lifetime of marital bliss. Not covered in sweat, mud and not to mention, my snot (all ten hours’ worth). Then again, this is so typical Andre. Making me work and run 42km before I may manage to get engaged. 

I realised I had been quiet far too long thinking these thoughts, when he nervously piped, “Uh, so will you?" 

Feeling simultaneously unrehearsed and guilty for making him wait so long, I replied, “Of course!” The answer was always a yes, yes and a yes. Yet, the usually effusive person that I was had stumbled for a reply to this simple question, managing to fudge it up with such a fickle-sounding response, and even giving him the wrong hand to put the ring on (it is so unintuitive to reach your left hand out as a gesture of acceptance!). Even when the immensity of what had just happened - truly a life milestone - dawned upon me and triggered a twitch in my tear glands, no real tears could come to my eyes as I was truly dehydrated from 10 hours of racing. To hell with the picture-perfect proposal scenes you see on movies. This is real life! 

Still, it was a truly beautiful scene. Where we stood, the mountains were serenely shrouded in blue mist behind us. Next to us were beautiful straw cottages. What a perfect setting for us both. And it was a quiet spot, with no one apart from our friends and ourselves. Our friends cheered and clapped as I accepted his proposal and ring. Sarah came up to me and gave me a lovely bouquet of flowers. Apparently some wits and charm had been deployed to acquiring those - she had gotten the rose from a restaurant manager by sweetly asking for it, while Charlene cleverly matched it with a bunch of small yellow wild flowers she’d retrieved from some bushes near her hotel. I later learnt that Winnie had safe-kept the ring from near the start of our time in Sapa - Andre had inconspicuously handed this to her through our adjacent balconies! - and nervously transported it from the hotel to the race finish point. I also later learnt from Andre that prior to asking my hand in marriage, he had tried to make a little speech (“Gen, you’re the one...”) - to which I had callously waved him off, saying “Can we leave that for later please?” (I recall looking very much forward to a shower at that time.) 

That evening, heading back to our hotel on a very bumpy ride in the van, we joked about how both Andre and I nearly came close to giving up during the race, and how he would have then to come up with a Plan B. At the same time, I had so much to think about and to thank God for. For seeing me through the race in one piece, and for emerging victorious at the finish line not only with a finisher’s medal, but also with a new status as Andre’s fiancée. I felt proud, and marvelled at the determination of Andre and my friends who all did so well during the race. At the same time, a certain pride extended more deeply within, knowing I was now engaged to this beautiful, wonderful man. I guess I had never fully appreciated the weight of the terms “engagement” and “marriage” - having always viewed it as a rite of passage, some kind of mandatory process of social labelling - till that very evening, when I truly felt the simple significance of the little piece of metal (and very nice rock) secured to my finger. 

In more ways than one, Vietnam 2016 will always be a sweet memory - of a race well run, and a very important engagement well made.