#guess who took a neat 2 hour nap right around midnight?

[unproduciblesmackdown]

hmm here’s me talking about su sort of lmao like i said i’m not here to be particularly scentamentle?? just say funney stories....and some opinions.....it’s really been a hot minute and i haven’t been making Long text posts about things so i can throw one out there even if it’s got no thesis statement

also like i said i just so happened to like, actually watch the first ep on actual tv when it actually premiered....all i super remember knowing about it beforehand was like “oh rebecca sugar getting her own series right on” and i was gonna check it out on that alone and then also i remember before it debuted there was an article about it in the wapo in the sort of “local”-ish section b/c it was like. hey this is based in uh yknow the dmv....delmarva area.....this whole Region.....and i (from nova and in nova at that time, and flipping thru the print wapo every day) was like haha. neat. also god damn it was 2013, hell of a year. i can tell you little about it b/c it was so crappy i just like did not bother much with things like “distinct memories” lmfao. great to have like, a weekly thing towards the end of that hot mess (november??? or smthing??) back when....god........it aired weekly.........anyways yeah i was pleasantly surprised from the start i don’t Get when people are like “can’t watch this in order :/ the first few eps don’t sell it well” like okay speak for yourself god dman....more on that later i’m sure lmfao. hot takes

my brother started watching it too just cuz he’s game for shit that way and i was keeping up with it. like i remember i thought cheeseburger backpack was extra fun and i think i showed him a rerun and i remember he thought it was funny lol the Raft Gag......and when i was watching tiger millionaire i kept For Real Laughing and he came over like what is going on.....and i think he was signed on from there........again pretty fun for it to be this weekly thing. also maybe i’m not here to be Sentamental but i was also like “oh no that Spoke to my feelings unexpected :(” during tiger millionaire when amethyst was all “you can’t let anyone make you feel like garbage” and “i only feel how i wanna feel” like guess who was in the early stages of “my self esteem is so crappy it’s starting to circle around into [trying to increase self esteem]”.........like i said hell of a time. though then that’d be 2014 by then i think?? still a hell of a time

started to get “i think i will draw the same character one million times” about it at some point in 2014 too lmfao......every instance of [me drawing the same shit one million times], which is the only way i ever draw anything, then like, benefits whatever i draw later cuz like. sure get some practice out of it. and even though like, it wasn’t quite as huge an Internet Thing as it was gonna get once i started to draw shit, it was already like, classic-me Kinda Niche to be like “hey gang who is going ham about the bored dumbass teens”....not so niche that there weren’t other people going “yeah i am” at any given time tho. and then we put our hands in the middle and go Yeah!! and jump up hsm style. it was also a great time for something Fun and (easier than marble hornets lol) to draw b/c. it simply was a good time for it.....struggling to draw shit back then even more than is like, usual. oh and also i forget but i had sort of Withdrawn from the mh fanbase b/c it got this whole influx of randos after fjsfdking the Video Game we all know the one and i was like. i am gonna.....sidle over here. nobody Likes to be in a fandom actually lmfao. and i mean even while su was getting to be A Whole Thing i was like. bro i am over here in the Donuts section and it is a little quieter and i use the tag sometimes but i’m all set, thanks. still the least Niche niche i’ve been in probably lmfao....see: the fact that probably still way most of my followers are here from su times even tho idk who’s even active still

also had a high time making some great Long Text Posts. i kind of always fail 2 grasp that even as much as my drawings that stuff leads to me actually getting to interact with people, b/c like, those text posts have me actually saying Words in them, which helps lmfao..........i think it’s like, these posts are probably Not That Fun for most people, but then for the people who Are like “oh sweet this is something that i actually want,” that’s obviously a helpful way to find a kindred spirit lmao.....like hey cool you already know i can’t shut up and am opinionated and obviously a lil much? fantastic let’s do this. plus idk it’s fun to Not Shut Up Actually. like, not the biggest deal. ppl can just Scroll Past. or not

speaking of “getting practice Not Shutting Up and Drawing Shit”.......hilarious when in late 2018 i find myself like. oh so you’re telling me this excellent character who is a self-sabotaging struggling-to-know-how-to-cope-with-shit-and-connect-with-others insecure af Teen is not appreciated / ignored / deemed Awful (and then ignored) by the majority of the fanbase?????? hahaha you don’t say....but No Problem. let me just talk about how this person has Complexity actually and is a lot more sympathetic than not and i hate all of you omg like do we have to do all of this ourselves lmfao........guess so, Fine

what am i talking about funny stories who is this funny to lmfao. okay no but okayyy what an experience when the island adventure preview came out and for like the next 4 days i did not experience depression lmao........i Jumped on the opportunity b/c it was like, early fall i wanna say??? i think sept?? 2014 and i was kinda mulling over going to gmx (which was this convention the Marble Hornets gang kept getting invited to & i’d been 2 twice b4 but missed the previous yr coz it was 2013 and i was way not thriving) and yeah jumped on the “depression / (as much) anxiety who???” superpower to Ask if it was cool if i went to a friend’s wedding in georgia for a weekend. there was no friend’s wedding in georgia. and then i went to gmx AND. ironically (not really im sure. idk what irony means and idc) gmx weekend ended up being the same weekend island adventure actually aired and when i left that morning (gmx being in nashville) my lil bro (getting up for school) was like GO GO and i actually made it in time to catch it in the hotel room but. they didn’t have the channel despite it being listed on the channel guide. i about flipped lmfao but i did see it later that weekend and flipped again. gmx was an a-okay time as well lmao that was the last time i made it

they may have never sold a licensed Lars S1 Green/Purple Snake Tee but look when i have this green racerback with a neat snake print & this necklace of purple quartz crystals and also when i was at gmx i bought this necklace with one (non purple, non actual crystals but plastic shaped like it / glossed) pendant In The Spirit Of It All and it gets compliments. anyways the point is. indirectly representing

speaking of crystals = lars i’d just like to reiterate that i’m always right. like sure i was like “look i don’t know how lars could have Crystal Magic in him but something is up with the fact he’s = pink magic flowers with crystals inside them Means Something.” i think it’s reasonable to Not have predicted he dies and gets revived w/ crystal magic that’s in him now. but that’s still a Win for realizing somethings up....tfw as early as like s2 times i’d be like “well the donuts gotta get involved in the center of adventure at Some point and also i Know it is important that steven is just lars’s rly annoying little brother and y/n do you think lars would die to protect him i think he would...” like. i didn’t wanna be That right :/

tfw me and my brother were watching rose’s scabbard while my mom was napping it out in the armchair and like silently Sharing A Look at the whole “she was beautiful” thing like. lol harold

i still don’t know how much of a Thing(tm) magfest is but as far as i can figure it it’s No Comic Con (like, thank god :| ) but still kind of a thing. anyways i learned of it cuz i saw there was gonna be a couple su panel thingies & i looked it up & we were less than an hour away and so it was like midnight but i ask my brother like hey wanna swing by this thing on this one friday. and he was like Sure. so i made it happen and he was 17 so we had to drag our dad to the bank to Notarize a form that he was allowed to be there accompanied by me. it was a big place and it also took us a while to find Registration or whatever and when we tried getting sandwiches later it cost like $7 each go figure. anyways but we were just there for the one Event & there was a room like filled with arcade games and a bunch of other consoles (also Retro though. like old computers n stuff) and they had Galaga, thank fucking god. we 2 playered that shit and wandered around and also 2 playered a game called toobin, which was funny. real gamers know. 

when we were in the (pretty long) Line to get into the Panel, i actually like. spotted a then-mutual who i (was pretty sure i) recognized from her occasional selfie lol and who i guess had travelled all the way from the west coast for the weekend. when we were actually Seated she happened to be a couple rows back and both of us on the end of the aisle and i asked my brother if he could read her nametag (to verify lol) and i bopped over to have the cringe and fail exchange of “hey do you have a Tumblr” and then i was like “haha i’m milo i’m ummmwine” and she got up to hug me and then i had to scamper back to my seat cuz shit was starting lol

like my life was not changed by this event but we had fun and. the Hilarious story is that it was also partially a Q&A and i had a Q and my brother encouraged me by again whispering “go go” as soon as the first syllable was spoken implying Line up For Questions.....i was in like, the last idk, haaalf dozen or so ppl who made it to the mic? and look i knew i was gonna be asking a niche question that like 3 other people of the hundreds in the room would care about but So What. deal with it gang, let’s have some Variety. but i was still nervous. and when i’m nervous, i a) Have A Script and b) get even chattier. and right after the person Right In Front Of Me got their answer, i guess it was noticed that it was getting down to the wire so they were like “haha okay lightning round :)” and i was like NO.......GOD..........lmfao like too late im sorry i Can’t make it lightning round. i was muy anxious.....just that, again, hundreds of people there, i have the floor, nobody’s gonna Like my quastion......and they didn’t know the answer (which i figured was v possible lol) so i was like oh no sklfjd hope this entire room doesn’t hate me. i mean of course i didn’t care if they did too much but, Nerves....also im valid, but were the like half dozen people who asked prior to me about shit that would CLEARLY be too spoilery to answer valid????? no lmfao. cmon. that’s what’s Really cringe

well here we ffw a bit b/c Mid To Late 2015 is certainly a time for me and it doesn’t really make for an interesting story so just to tldr it lmao like, got some beautiful moral support from someone as i was makin a Lifestyle Change lol and continued to get beautiful moral support from that same person and i continue to benefit from it....You know who you are!!!! tyvvm....and it occurred to me that the reason i am where i physically am is via someone i met thru su-posting.......which is true of the You Know who you are person too, which is why i brought it up lmao

uhh god not as many Stories after that lol.....def got to engage in “i’m ___ i’m gonna [draw the same character i always draw] so i won’t be so ___” during interesting times lol. love that for me

tbh the uh. Wanted arc was truly one of the best Serial Arcs, just dramatic & solid af and also it’s lars time and for a second i go “god well at least maybe now ppl will acknowledge lars is a gr8 character” and then a second later i go “Oh No they’ll only say he’s a good character *Now*” and that’s exactly what happened lmfao but well we still got as much lars fanart as we ever got outside that couple weeks aftermath... l o l . . . i had to wait One Zillion Years for my little brother to catch up to this b/c. he was watching via hulu i think where like, a full season would come out a good while after the finale. seriously i think it took him almost 2 years. im like dammit lmfao this is What Matters dfslk....fond memories when hulu was free / no login req’d / shit would be available like the day after airing

uhhhHHH crazy how this show muscled through the weird scheduling change where it was like “no weekly eps Only Erratic Hiatuses”......ppl were so foolishly Into the first “5 eps in a row” release and i was like “no i don’t like this” and then a year later i was like “you see. You See.” rip

i think we can even ffw to sutm at that point lol....im like im in this for lars okay lmfao kinda Shrugggg @ things by this point lol like finale shminale. where’s he at. and i really wasn’t paying a world of attention to like, prior-to-release lore n announcements so i was just plunged into this chaos of like sorry???? excuse me?? of all the people in the world sarah stiles?????? lfsdj like noooo don’t show me these tweets lmfao......truly it’s fine i’m being Hilarious but it’s also very real that like, when i see things like “showtime(tm)” or “SHO” or “billions content” i’m just doused with Dread b/c i hate this series lmao i swear to christ. but it’s really Fine lmfao like. i was kinda “eh :/” to “yea this is alright” about the rest of it but spinel was The Highlight lmfao and having $50 to go ham on her animation was great but really the voice acting Made It.....like the entire takeaways was uh the other friends sequence and fuckin uhh this part. fuck it up ms. stiles........hit it out of the park..........cain was the first funny bitch and spinel was the second. that thought just came to me and i will not elaborate. call that a revelation. oh and also it was a relief cuz i was like “i s2g if this Antagonist is like, aquamarine-style annoying af....i will die” but No. spinel is annoying af in another way which is her rights and i don’t want to die about it lmfao. she’s good.......i don’t even resent the “how come whenever some rando shows up ready to literally kill everyone for no good reason, all of you are ready to be like ‘wow an icon’ and we can’t have 10% of that energy for the teen who’s kinda bitchy b/c he’s annoyed by life and crap???” thing b/c i mean, she had her whole Arc all at once and also is good enough for it i think. the nadir was when the one rando shows up for like One episode like “i Don’t want to kill everyone :3 syke >:)” and for some reason people were like “omg iconic. call them on their ‘don’t kill everyone’ bullshit” like lol i hate you guys

well i like lars’s [last outfit we see him in] and i feel like it only backs up the bi agenda. another epic gamer moment had been when it became a Popular Hc that lars is trans b/c he is lmao. and everyone was all “why is everyone sayign this why would you want him to be trans he sucks” like get good grandma!!!!!!!! it’s too late. well that’s the end of my post. me in 2014 being like “wow way to have something to keep up with b/c now i have to outlive it to get all the dnads content i guess” and here i am. but it’s almost April 2020 so. haha 

hmm what’s a less ominous ending. oh shit another thing that was funny is i was like So about these Skull Plugs featured in this semi-official drawing of lars once and then horror club came out (fun b/c i like horror) and had the skull plugs for Real & they were glow in the dark. that was a big day for me even seeing the promos lmfao. except then i guess it was foreshadowing, so again i end this with Death. don’t we all

wait no lsfdjs What tf was matthew moy talking about “i like your hair.” dude dropping an i-guess cut line on us lmfao. alright alright im done

[oh-barcelona-blog1]

Middle of nowhere, Portugal !

My newly minted boyfriend is Portuguese. So last weekend, we embarked on a 24 hour adventure to surprise one of his best friends on his 30th birthday.

Day 1:

We landed in Porto at around 1300. It was my first time in Porto, so I had some important things that I needed to see! We only had 4 hours to be tourists, but my dude is pretty awesome so we managed.

The fanciest McDonald’s in the world

Had the taxi drop us off there. Saw the eagle. And off we went immediately after to do more touristing!

(not my pictures - grabbed off the internet/pinterest. if you know the owner let me know so i can credit)

Lunch was in a small place somewhere where old people (locals) were eating. Always a good sign. And a ton of food for 2 was just 20€ (a lunch menu in BCN will probably be 12-14/person)! Don’t even get me started on the food... More on that later.

The Duoro River

Water, post-card friendly view, a ton of tourists eating by the water, and seagulls. SEAGULLS. A TON OF THEM. Stealing food from tables. It was hilarious. It was also warm which was nice. Considering it’s still the middle of February.

Livraria Lello

One of the oldest bookstores in Portugal. And one of the prettiest too! Neo-gothic feel. Lighting done right. And tourists mostly inside. To be honest, it has a Harry Potter feel to it. Didn’t buy anything. Sad.

One of my favourite things from that 4 hours of touristing was the street-art. Gotta give props to Porto local government for encouraging street artists to put their work on street structures to make them more easy on the eyes.

Meeting the friends

So this is the first time I’m meeting my boyfriend’s friends. All Portuguese, of course. My Spanish isn’t even good enough to have a casual conversation in Barcelona. It didn’t allow me to survive in Portugal. I know they speak a different language --- but if the dude can survive in BCN with his Portuñol --- i should be able to do the same the other way around, right? Wrong!

We met up with Nuno’s (let’s use names now, it’ll be easier) friend from Lisbon so we can all drive together to Cabeceiras de Basto -- or as I would like to call it: Middle of Nowhere, Portugal. It was a 1hour drive from Porto - a small municipality which has a population of probably less than 20k (and maybe less than 5k in the town center). 

I spent the entire drive up to CdB, fighting off sleep. Which was pretty hard considering we just had a company offsite the day before (a nice way to say drinking with your co-workers for 2 days straight). I was hungover and sleepy, which were not good things when you’re trying to impress your boyfriend’s friends ---- in a mix of Spanish, Portuñol, and fast English (because fast is the only speed setting I have when I’m feeling anxious). 

Fast forward to the actual party and many glasses of wine later --- we were asked to wear robes. Monk-ish robes. Birthday celebrant was part of a cultural/theatre group in CdB so his surprise birthday party was an elaborate event more fitting for a wedding rather than a 30th birthday party. But with costumes. And it was great! It was the first time I was meeting the dude too so I felt like an outsider in a sea of friends who somehow all knew each other. And then there’s me. New face. Definitely not the face of a European. It was pretty hard not to stand out when all I wanted to do was just blend in. 

I did manage to get over my anxiety and my shyness though. Most of Nuno’s friends were pretty cool. Making sure that I’m having fun. Or that I know what I’m eating. Getting invited to join them for a smoke. I did the Limbo and nearly broke my back. I danced -- as in really danced. Because bobbing my head and pointing a finger at the ceiling wasn’t enough dancing for these guys. And as much as I tried to avoid drinking any alcohol (because I’m still drunk from the previous nights) -- the abundance of good wine, plus the open bar at midnight was just too much to resist. 

I have to say that these guys know how to party. And eat. And drink. Everybody keeps talking about the Italians and the Spanish and the French when it comes to food and wine. With the Italians I think they’re right. With the Spanish though? Meh. But I think the Portuguese are Europe's best kept secret (I just hope my boyfriend never finds out that I said that. Otherwise, the gloating will never end) when it comes to food and wine. The food is mostly simple. The kind of food your grandma will make for you on a rainy Saturday afternoon. Comfort food. And their rice. These guys know how to make their rice! Cooked in olive oil and onions! The red wine is strong and fruity and full bodied. The green wine is actually white but delightful. And their pastel de natas! And let’s not forget their coffee. OY!

We had to chip in for the party of course. 25EU/person. To pay for the buffet of starters. The overflowing wine, and sangria. The open bar. The 3 course dinner. And the 12 types of desser that were served. All these in ballroom, on top of a hill that we had to ourselves until 4am. 25EU. That’s a lot cheaper than a normal dinner I would have here in Barcelona at a Mexican restaurant. 

By 4am I was ready to pass out. But we were staying for the night at the celebrant’s house -- and well I didn’t want to be the boring girlfriend that Nuno introduced them too I powered through. Sneaking in little naps as much as I can. Like during the 15m drive we took from the venue back to the center so we can go to this “underground” (literally) club for more drinking and more dancing. I was barely standing up. 

Small towns are amazing though. I heard the celebrant ask the owner of the bar/club for the bill so he can pay for everybody’s beers but the guy just blinked at him and said “Happy Birthday”. Perks of everybody knowing everybody. 

There were 2 more clubs after that and I barely remembered what happened during those 2 hours. Except for 2 things: 1) me grabbing every chair opportunity I can find 2) and one of Nuno’s friends saying to his other friend “She’s from fucking Philippines” while pointing at me, after he found out where I am from. I didn’t know whether to be offended or amused. I chose the latter instead.

It was nearly 7am when they finally decided to head home. Them still brimming with energy and chatter. Me, nearly dead. I guess it’s hard to be on the same page of enthusiasm when a) I just met them b) I have no idea what they’re talking about most of the time. Standing there, nodding, smiling, while my brain furiously tries to translate it an exhausting ordeal. 

Day 2:

How they were up and awake and actually alive before noon was a huge mystery to me. But suddenly we were in a flurry of getting ready for a big lunch. 

And lunch was a huge ordeal of 6 tables put together to accommodate our big group. Wine for lunch. Beef with mushrooms. Cotolette. Some sausage. A ton of fries. And even more ries. Coffee, of course was served after. And nobody even blinks at indoor smoking. There were still left over cake from the previous night’s party. Energy was high - even though everybody looked fogged over. 

And just like the bar/club from the previous night -- payment was made in the form of a blink, a handshake, and a back clap, along with the reassurances that the birthday celebrant can pay whenever he’s able to swing by. 

Cabeceiras de Basto had a tiny museum that we went to after food. It was a town museum just to show the history, topography, and neat facts about the town. Of course it was cool. I’m also a huge sucker for these things. We ended the tour with a short tourism video about CdB -- which of course was in Portuguese so I just appreciated the images instead.

We still had some hours before we had to fly back. So we went back to the house to chill and smoke some more of course. These kids (I would say kids because most of them are a year or 2 younger than I am) have such strong lungs! So we talked about (well they did, I just listened and tried to contribute to the conversation every once in a while) the rent in CdB (200 for their entire apartment which was a 3 bedroom, 2 baths, beauty compared to my 850 mess in Barcelona), the small town life, and some stories from their childhood here and there. 

It was nice to see my boyfriend in his element -- with his friends, relaxed, not bombarded with big city annoyances. 

Then it was time to go home. 

Hugs were exchanged. And a promise to learn the language so not to be left out of the conversation anymore next time. 

TLDR;

Went to Portugal for my boyfriend’s friend’s surprise birthday party. Took a quick tour of Porto before driving up to Cabeceiras de Basto - a small municipality an hour away from Porto. People were awesome. Food was even more awesome. The wine was divine. And I had a ton of fun.

Of course by the time we got back to Barcelona I was practically crawling to my apartment. And I remained dead for the next couple of days.