#yesterday I made it to 9:00 and then slept until 18:00. and then slept on the couch for like 2 hours.

[running-in-the-dark]

I've given up on trying to sleep at night. it just does not work. I can't do it so I might as well just sleep when I get tired.

I don't have a sleep schedule, I'm tired all the time, I fall asleep all the time. so I might as well stay up all night painting (and watching Leverage)! I'm not getting shit done so I might as well do something I enjoy.

[ayma-nidiot]

Dawn of the Dark Chapter 18

This chapter can be found here on AO3.

Chapter 18 – You Gotta Believe

“Yawn…” Goh woke up to sunlight shining directly in his face; that was all he could see at first. He contemplated fully waking up at that moment, until the first thing he heard was Ash’s heartbeat. “On second thought, I could get used to this… Arceus, now I don’t want to wake up.”

Before Goh could fall back asleep, however, Ash’s complaint would interrupt the peaceful moment. “Ow, that hurt!”

“Eh?” Goh looked up at his fiancé, who was wide awake. “What’s wrong, love?”

“I don’t need an alarm clock.” Ash placed a hand on Goh’s bare baby bump. “These cuties are going to wake me up every morning. Did you not feel that?”

“I wasn’t paying attention,” replied Goh as he drew his head closer to Ash’s chest. “Falling asleep and waking up to the sound of your heartbeat… It thrills me to know that soon, I can be doing that for the rest of our lives.”

“I want to do the same to you.” Ash groaned – not because he didn’t want to spend time with Goh, because he certainly did. He simply didn’t want to deal with the primary reason they came to Pallet Town yesterday in the first place. “Unfortunately, duty calls. I called Professor Oak last night and promised we’d meet him at the lab 9:00 sharp. So we should eat breakfast, then leave right away.”

“I guess so,” Goh complained after he got up and began to dress. He decided on the shirt he bought yesterday and a pair of black maternity dress pants, with his lab coat over them. “I just wish we didn’t have to go so early.”

When Goh had finished dressing, Ash stopped his complaint with a quick kiss. While caressing the engagement ring on Goh’s left ring finger, Ash spoke, “Don’t worry, babe. We will have many years to enjoy quality time. Just think of how good we’ll feel when the end of the day comes.”

“Ever the optimist…” Goh loved how he can always count on Ash’s words of encouragement. “All right, let’s go!”

“…eat breakfast!” Ash pulled Goh into the kitchen, where they would find freshly made breakfast, courtesy of Delia and Lily.

“I should have known,” Goh muttered. “You like breakfast more than you like dinner.”

“Good morning, sweetie!” Delia gave Ash a hug. “How’s our newly engaged couple doing?”

“We slept well.” Ash smiled. “We’re ready to go to Professor Oak’s lab!”

“I didn’t know that you had that in mind,” Lily remarked.

“Yeah, it’s actually one of the reasons we came here,” Goh responded. “You see, in the Galar region, there’s a powerful Pokemon that I caught named Eternatus. It might awaken any day now, and we’re training to prepare for when that happens. We wanted to ask Professor Oak and Gary for any help and knowledge they might have.”

“Mind if I come along?” Delia asked.

“Mom, it’s dangerous! Eternatus is a deadly Pokemon, and I don’t want you getting hurt!”

“Don’t you think I feel the same way?” Delia pouted. “Remember all those years ago, when I asked you if you could ‘save the world just a little closer to home?’ If you can’t do that, then at least let me join and support you.”

“Okay, if you insist.”

“I’m not scared of them at all, honey. Not if it means making sure you’re safe.”

“That means a lot, Mrs. Ketchum.” Goh smiled.

“I can’t wait for you to call me ‘Mom!’” Delia gleefully offered Goh a plate of Pomeg Berries. “I’m sorry that Enigma Berries don’t grow around here, but we’ve got plenty of Pomeg Berries.”

“How did you know that I like Enigma Berries?” Goh ate a few of the Pomeg Berries. “Mmm, these are great!”

“Ash told me about how ever since you started getting pregnancy cravings, that was your favourite food. I would know, because when I was pregnant with Ash, I liked spicy food too. Why, I could eat a bowl of Enigma Berries in one sitting!”

“Betcha couldn’t eat two full bowls like I can.” Goh winked.

“That’s so weird…” Lily chimed in. “When Papa was pregnant with me, he ate nothing but Alcremie cream cakes with light spices. That explains why the both of us have sweet teeth to make a Swirlix jealous.”

“Makes me wonder what kind of cravings I would have…” Ash had almost forgotten that he, too, was capable of pregnancy.

“Huh?” Goh blinked.

Ash was embarrassed that he ever brought up that topic, so to his fortune, his Rotom Phone said it was 8:50. “Well, would you look at the time?” He scarfed down the rest of his breakfast. “Time to get going!”

“It’s already that time?” Goh ate his food even faster and nearly choked on it.

“Here.” Delia offered Goh some Oran Berry juice and a vitamin pill. “Don’t forget your prenatal vitamins too.”

“Thanks a bunch!” Goh chugged the juice, slammed the empty glass on the table, and followed Ash out the door. It didn’t take long for Delia and Lily to do the same. It was so balmy and tranquil outside; Goh was thankful for that. “I wish we could live here instead… Your hometown is so quite compared to the bustling cities of Galar.”

“Goh, I-”

Goh chuckled. “It’s okay! A move to Hammerlocke is a great idea! And if we ever needed a break from it, Turffield and Postwick are nice places to visit.”

Ash smiled and knocked on the door to Professor Oak’s lab. “Professor Oak!”

The one to answer the door was not Professor Oak, but rather one of Ash’s Pokemon. “Emboar!” Emboar greeted with a bear hug.

“Whoa!” Ash couldn’t recognize this Pokemon. “Pignite, is that you?”

“Typhloooo!” came a deep-throated voice from the door.

“Wait, what happened?” Ash couldn’t believe that two of his Pokemon evolved in his absence. “Quilava evolved too?”

“They certainly did!” Professor Oak showed himself. “They were battling each other, and coincidentally enough, they evolved at the exact same time.”

“That’s great!” Ash hugged his Typhlosion too. “You must have worked really hard! Congratulations!”

“Typhlosion!” Typhlosion lit himself on fire as he hugged Ash, who wasn’t even singed one bit.

“Amazing!” Professor Oak couldn’t believe it. “Whenever I so much as touch any of your fire types, I need a Burn Heal right away. How is it possible?”

“Actually-” Before Ash could begin his explanation, Gary revealed himself too. “Well, well, well. Should have known you’d be here, too!”

“And you’re surprised?” Gary teased Ash with a light punch to his shoulder. “Is that how you greet me after 11 years?”

“How’d your battle with Paul go?” Goh asked.

“It ended in a draw.” Paul spoke, and he and Georgio appeared at the same time. “I’ve never, in my 11 years of training, have had such an exciting battle.”

“You better take that as a compliment, Gary,” Goh remarked. “Paul’s an even bigger asshole than you. And that’s saying something.”

“You take that back!” Gary would have teased Goh in the same way he did to Ash, had he not noticed Goh’s baby bump. “Never mind that. It wouldn’t be courteous for me to hit a pregnant person, now would it?”

“How did you know?”

“Ashy Boy was frantically calling me one day for advice. Something like, ‘Dear Arceus, I can’t take his mood swings! Please, oh great and awesome Gary!’”

“I-I said nothing of the sort!” Ash was flustered.

Professor Oak broke up this mini-quarrel when he spoke up. “Goh, I have to ask you something. Ever since Gary and I found out about your pregnancy, we thought you might be a shapeshifter. Is that true?”

“It is. Here, why don’t I show you?” Goh wanted to take this moment to show off. But no matter how hard he tried to shift completely, he couldn’t. All he managed to do was sprout Mew’s ears and tail.

“Wow.” Gary feigned amazement. “Impressive.”

“That was nothing!” Ash stepped in. “How about I show you what I can do? Hmnn…”

“Oh?” Gary raised an eyebrow when Ash generated two small fireballs from his hands. “Is that it? What are you, a low-level Sizzlipede?”

“Why does everyone think that? Grr!” Ash wanted to kick a wall. “I’m a strong Pokemon!”

“I’m sure you are, sweetie.” Delia patted her son on the shoulder. “That nifty ability of yours could really come in handy in the kitchen!”

“Pfft…” Gary refocused his attention on Goh. “So, it looks like you’re able to turn into Mew.”

“I swear I’ve managed to do it once, back in Cerulean Cave. We were under attack at the time, courtesy of Chairman Rose of Wyndon. I’m sorry for not telling you and the other members of Project Mew earlier, but the reason why we haven’t found Mew all these years is because Mew has completely fused with me.”

“All that means is that Project Mew has fulfilled its mission. Congrats.” Gary clapped.

“You better tell the press about this once-in-a-blue-moon event,” Ash whispered to Goh. “Gary literally never compliments anyone except himself.”

“And my Pokemon!” Gary made it apparent that he heard every word, but then changed the subject. “I’m curious about this Chairman Rose, though. What kind of a person is he?”

“A really evil one.” Ash began to think about that Cerulean Cave battle and shivered. “He thinks he’s doing the world a favour by spreading Galar particles, but he’s doing more harm than good. Very full of himself, he is. He’s a shifter like me and has Eternatus’ powers. I’m just glad he can’t control his powers yet.”

“Eternatus?”

“Eternatus is a Pokemon that I caught 11 years ago, when the Darkest Day was happening in Hammerlocke,” Goh spoke up and showed Eternatus’ data on his Rotom Phone. “His reawakening is imminent, and we need all the help and information we can get. Not only do we have Eternatus to worry about, but Team Rocket is beginning to create a horde of Shadow Pokemon in hopes of finding Eternatus. That’s one of the reasons why I came here. Have you seen any extremely aggressive Pokemon around here lately?”

“I have, actually,” answered Gary. “Blastoise and I fought a wild Raticate the other day on Route 1. We managed to defeat it, but it took way too long for your run-of-the-mill Pokemon.”

“I was afraid of that. All this time, I thought that Team Rocket’s Shadow Pokemon Project only had presence in their new base city of Wyndon and in the vicinity of Hammerlocke. To think that they spread all the way to Kanto, even so far as Pallet Town… Gary, can I count on you to take care of any Shadow Pokemon in the region?”

“Of course! It’s my duty as Kanto’s new leading researcher!”

Just then, two groans could be heard from a corridor, saying in unison, “Ugh, why do you gotta be so loud?”

“Who else is joining this party?” Ash wanted to know. “Oh! Raihan and Hop, hi! Lily told me you’d be around here.”

“Daddy!” Lily ran up to Raihan and gave him a hug.

“Morning, princess! So, how did your sleepover at Ash’s house go?”

“It was so much fun! And guess what?” Lily couldn’t contain her joy and blurt it out without thinking, “Professor Goh and Champion Ash are getting married!”

“Really? Is that so?” Raihan looked up at the couple.

“You better believe it.” Goh displayed his engagement ring.

“Hoo hoo hoo!” Raihan whistled and wrapped an arm around Ash’s shoulders. “You’ve got babies and wedding bells on the way! What a lucky dude you are!”

“Indeed.” Hop shook Ash’s hand. “You two deserve to be happy.”

“This is the happy news we needed in the midst of this Shadow Pokemon business.” Professor Oak turned to Gary. “Wouldn’t you agree?”

“Sure, sure.” Gary patted Ash on the shoulder. “Many congratulations to you two.”

“Thanks, man.” Ash returned the gesture.

“And how about we celebrate that with a tag team Pokemon battle?” Gary suggested. “Me and Paul vs. you and Goh. Route 1, today and now.”

“Wait, what?”

Before Goh could say more, Ash accepted this challenge. “Bring it on!”

“I’m in for that.” Paul smirked at Goh. “I hope you can keep up with me.”

“I guess that sounds good…” Goh felt a bit nervous, especially since he didn’t have a proper battle in a while, let alone against notorious opponents like Paul and Gary.

“I’ll be the referee, then,” Professor Oak proposed when everyone found a suitable battling spot on Route 1. “This should be a given, but you two aren’t allowed to use your shapeshifting powers in this battle.”

“That’s okay,” spoke Ash. “I don’t doubt my Pokemon, not even one bit!”

“Pika pika!” Pikachu got off of Ash’s shoulder, ready for battle.

Paul took out a Poke Ball and gripped it firmly. “Just so you know, I’m not going easy on you just because you’re pregnant.”

“Nor I.” Gary smirked. “At long last, I will finally see if you’re worthy of Ash.”

“Not that I expected either of you to.” Goh already knew what Pokemon he was going to send out first.

“Let me explain the rules for this match,” Professor Oak continued. “Each of you are allowed three Pokemon. You are allowed to switch freely. Now, send out your first Pokemon, gentlemen!”

“Go, Rillaboom!” Goh sent out the Drumming Pokemon while Ash started off with Pikachu.

“What a well-rounded start!” Gary observed.

“Type balance is what this dream team is all about!” Goh shot finger guns at Gary.

“Yeah, well so are we.” Paul threw out a Poke Ball, and his Torterra came out.

“Here’s a guy you haven’t seen in a long time,” spoke Gary. “Go, Umbreon!”

“Wow, long time no see!” Ash was pleased to see Gary’s fully evolved starter Pokemon.

“All right, then… Battle begin!” Professor Oak declared, aiming his arm towards the sky.

“Pikachu, don’t waste any time! Use Iron Tail on Umbreon!

“I don’t think so! Umbreon, use Reflect!”

“Umbreon!” Umbreon howled into the sky as he generated a protective barrier.

“Pi… Pika…” Pikachu powered through, but only managed to deal a miniscule amount of damage.

“Hey, thanks,” spoke Paul. “Reflect affects the user’s entire side during a tag battle, so I benefit too.”

Damn… Then physical attacks won’t do much damage for a while, Goh thought. And my Rillaboom knows almost exclusively physical moves. If that’s the case, then the least I can do is lower Umbreon’s speed! “Rillaboom, hit Umbreon with Drum Beating!”

“Shadow Ball!” Gary ordered; his and Goh’s Pokemon were hit at the exact same time.

“Come on, Rillaboom!” Goh encouraged. “Drum Beating again! Keep ‘em coming!”

“Umbreon, Shadow Ball!” Gary eyed Goh warily. “What the hell is he trying to pull? Drum Beating isn’t doing much damage, so why does he continue to use it?”

“I’ll tell you what he’s doing,” Paul answered. “He and Ash are both not paying attention to Torterra. I’ll make them regret that… Torterra, use Giga Impact on Rillaboom!”

“Umbreon, you get Rillaboom too! Use Foul Play!”

“Torterra!” Torterra recklessly launched himself at Rillaboom, full force, right after Foul Play had landed.

“Rilla… boom…” Rillaboom couldn’t withstand both attacks; Professor Oak declared him unable to battle.

“Rillaboom, return,” Goh spoke with no regrets; for his next Pokemon, he sent out Inteleon.

“Very confident for someone who barely did jack shit.” Paul smirked.

“Oh, no, no, no.” Ash yelled, “Pikachu, Quick Attack on Umbreon!”

“Um?” Umbreon couldn’t detect the attack in time and subsequently got knocked out by it. “Umbreon!”

“Umbreon is unable to battle… Pikachu wins!” Even Professor Oak couldn’t believe Pikachu’s easy win.

“Juuuust in case you were wondering…” Goh started in a sassy tone, “Drum Beating also lowers the opponent’s speed every time it’s used.”

“So that’s why…” Gary spoke through gritted teeth. “You little shit. All right, then, see how you like my Nidoqueen!”

“Don’t forget my Torterra’s still in this, and he’s a Ground-type,” Paul spoke. “I’ll even be nice and avenge your Umbreon. Torterra, use Earthquake!”

Luckily, Gary anticipated something like this and ordered, “Nidoqueen, Protect!”

“Pikachu, watch out- Ooh.” Ash cringed when Pikachu fainted from the attack. He scooped him up and gave him to Delia. “Mom, can you watch over Pikachu, please?”

“Of course, dear.” Delia petted Pikachu’s head. “You did great out there! Now, let’s cheer on Ash!”

“Pika pi.”

Georgio felt like he wanted to say something but was interrupted when Ash sent out Dracovish. “Whoa! What is that thing?”

“My sentiments exactly,” Paul scoffed. “Feebas is a way prettier Pokemon than that… that… whatever that’ssupposed to be.”

“I don’t care what you think.” Ash pouted. “I think Dracovish is one of the cutest Pokemon of all!”

“Draco! Dracovish!” Dracovish chomped on Ash’s head, feeling elated from his words.

“Hey, hey! We’re in the middle of a battle, dude!”

“Dracovish.” The Fossil Pokemon let go of Ash and stood tall.

“Well, I was going to take out Nidoqueen first, but…” Goh contemplated aloud. “After hearing you say something mean about Dracovish, I think I’ll set my sights on Torterra. Inteleon, hit Torterra with your Ice Beam!”

“Intel.” Inteleon jumped in the air and shot the Ice Beam straight down. “Teleon!”

“Torterra…” Torterra was completely frozen over.

“Hmph.” Paul returned Torterra. “Good try, Torterra. Then I’ll answer with a superior type matchup… in Electivire!”

“Oh, we’re not done,” Ash chuckled. “Dracovish, use Fishious Rend on Nidoqueen!”

“Nido… Nidoqueen…” Nidoqueen didn’t get knocked out from this attack, but she did take considerable damage.

“And that’s why you don’t mess with my fiancé or his Pokemon.” Goh smirked and crossed his arms.

“Well, consider myself warned,” Paul spoke halfheartedly.

“Since we don’t have any available Grass-type Pokemon or moves, we’ll have to rely on electricity,” Gary suggested. “And at the same time.”

“Oh, I see where this is going… After you, then.”

“If you insist!” Gary refocused on the battle. “Nidoqueen! Thunderbolt, now!”

“Nidoqueen can learn that move?” Goh blinked. “I-Inteleon, counter that with Snipe Shot!”

“Intel… eon?” Electivire’s Thunderbolt not only caused Snipe Shot to careen to the right, but it continued towards Inteleon, hitting her along with Nidoqueen’s Thunderbolt. “Intel…”

“Hoo boy.” Goh recalled Inteleon and cracked his knuckles. “Things are really heating up now… Or rather, they will, when Cinderace comes onto the field!”

 I’ll take care of him later… Gary turned his attention to Dracovish. As a Dragon-Water type, Dracovish doesn’t have many weaknesses… Just Dragon and Fairy- Wait, that’s it! I know what I can do! “Nidoqueen, charge at Dracovish! When you get close, use Outrage!”

“Dracovish, quick! Counter with Fishious Rend!”

“Dracovish…!” Dracovish stood its ground, deadlocked in battle with Nidoqueen.

“Nido… Nido!” Nidoqueen didn’t want to give in, either.

“Amazing…” Goh didn’t want to intervene – not only because he thought Nidoqueen could use Earth Power, but also because he was so fascinated. “Come on, Dracovish, get her just like you did with Dragonite in the Iris battle!”

“Draco Draco!” Dracovish unleashed one last Fishious Rend, stronger than the rest.

“Nidoooo!” Nidoqueen’s Outrage grew so strong, it propelled both her and Dracovish backwards.

“Wait… Who won?” Ash wanted to know.

“Oh my…” Professor Oak had a hard time deciding a victor at first. “I-It looks like both Nidoqueen and Dracovish are unable to battle!”

“Tough, tough,” Gary commended. “That means you and I are down to our last Pokemon, Ashy Boy. And I think I’ll use my ace… Say hello to Blastoise!”

“I’ve got my Gengar!” Ash declared. “And neither of you have any moves that are super effective against her! Hahaha!”

“Electivire, use Psychic on Gengar!”

“I… uh, stand wildly corrected.”

“Blastoise, you join in too! Zen Headbutt!”

“Oh, come on-” Ash calmed down when an electric orb flew Blastoise’s way. “Huh?”

“Hey, did you forget I was here?” Goh glared at Gary. “Don’t underestimate me. Now, it’s my turn to put you in your place.”

“Babe…” In all the years he had known Goh, Ash had hardly seen his fiancé so fierce. “Yeah! You go get Blastoise and I’ll take care of Electivire in traditional Ash Ketchum fashion!”

“You got it, love.” Goh winked. “Cinderace, use Electro Ball again!”

“‘Traditional Ash Ketchum fashion?’ Wait, what does that mean?” Georgio looked perplexed.

“Hehe, you’ll see. Gengar, start using Hypnosis on Electivire!”

“No you don’t! Electivire, use Psychic and give it all you’ve got!”

“Electivire!” Electivire gave this Psychic everything she had, yet at the very last second, Gengar teleported out of the way. “Vire?”

“Electivire, you need to be careful! Gengar is a trickster Pokemon!”

“Gengar, use Hypnosis again!” Ash ordered.

“Gengar!” Gengar stuck her tongue out before releasing a short wave of psychic energy.

“Come on, Electivire, stay on her! Psychic, again!”

“Electi… vire…” By this point, Electivire was so sleepy that her next Psychic was easy to dodge.

“All right, Gengar, one more Hypnosis should do it! Go!” Ash cheered with a fist in the air.

“Gengar!” Gengar got right in Electivire’s face to shoot a Hypnosis at her, finally putting her to sleep.

“Good job! Now finish her off with a Dream Eater!”

“Gen… gar.” Gengar’s eyes glowed light blue, as did Electivire.

When the blue light surrounding Electivire faded, she fainted, much to Georgio’s surprise. “Ooh, I see what Ash did. He had Gengar use Hypnosis in short bursts so she couldn’t get hit by Psychic. Very clever out-of-the-box strategy! I gotta remember that for the next time I battle. What do you think, Sparkle?”

“Pika pika!” Sparkle chirped in approval.

“Pika, Pikachu!” Ash’s Pikachu agreed, touching tails with Sparkle.

“Great minds think alike!” Delia chuckled.

“You think so?” Georgio felt proud of himself. Out of nowhere, he started staring at Delia.

“What’s wrong? Do I have something on my face?”

Georgio replied, “A really pretty smile, that’s what!”

“Aw, stop it.”

“Mom…” Ash shook his head at this flirting.

Delia was so embarrassed that she couldn’t think of what to say.

“Anyway…” Paul tried to return Ash’s attention to the battle. “Magmortar and I have been waiting a while, if you’d like to continue the battle.”

“And would I! All right, Gengar use your-”

“Kyaaaaa!” A woman’s voice could be heard screaming, followed by quickly approaching footsteps.

“Someone’s in trouble!” Ash got worried, but let the source of the voice come to him; she was a woman with mahogany hair and dark viridian eyes.

“May?” Gary appeared to know this woman. “What are you doing here, let alone coming from Viridian City?”

“Gary, who is this?” Ash asked.

“This is May, my older sister. She’s also a Pokemon groomer.”

“All these years, I didn’t even know you had a sister… I mean, what’s wrong? Did something bad happen?”

“It’s terrible! An evil-looking Pidgey and Caterpie are coming this way! Not only that, but they are absolutely huge!”

“Wait a minute…” Goh began to fear what May was trying to imply, and to confirm his fears, small red specks started emitting from the ground. “Galar Particles? All the way here in Kanto? Is it the work of Team Rocket and Macro Cosmos?”

“I don’t know, but at any rate, I think this means we need to call off our battle.” Gary returned his Blastoise. “Congratulations, we all win today.”

“So let’s go find those Pokemon!” Ash declared.

“No need.” Paul pointed at the Dynamaxed Pokemon that showed themselves in Route 1. “They’ve found us.”

“Piiiiidgey!” Pidgey flew overhead, then landed almost directly in front of Ash, kicking up sand in the process.

“Yiiikes!” Though Ash tried to block the sand, some of it still got in his eyes and mouth. “Cough… cough…”

“Gengar!” Gengar stood in front of her Trainer, prepared to protect him from further harm.

“Gengar, your Ghost-type moves won’t work on Pidgey.” Ash sent out his Dragonite and mounted him. “I’ll take care of the Pidgey while you take care of the Caterpie.”

“I’ll help too!” Goh joined the battle with Cinderace. “Cinderace, give that Caterpie a Pyro Ball!”

“Cinder… ace!” Cinderace kicked a flaming rock at Caterpie that barely connected. “Cinder?”

“Caterpie…” Caterpie shot a String Shot aimlessly, in the direction of Delia.

“Watch out!” Georgio jumped in front of Delia, taking the hit instead. As soon as it hit him, he began to have a headache from the noxious smell. “Ugh…”

“Georgio, no!” Delia tried to pull the strings apart.

“Ack!” Georgio tried to break free of the strings but could not. “Help me! I’m stuck! Sparkle, use Iron Tail!”

“Pika!” Even Sparkle had a hard time breaking the strings.

“Look at its eyes…” Goh noticed that both Caterpie’s and Pidgey’s eyes were red. “They’re both Dynamaxed andShadow!”

“Yeah, well, they’re also Pokemon will low base stats,” Ash remarked. “We’re going to be fine, trust me.”

“Ash, of course I do.” Goh tried to encourage his Pokemon. “Cinderace, don’t give up!”

“Cinderace!” Cinderace felt proud of himself, and all of a sudden, Galar Particles began gathering around him. “Cinderace?”

“Gengar!” The Galar Particles began gathering around Gengar too.

“Ash, look!” Goh shouted. “Gengar and Cinderace have Gigantamaxed!”

“All right!” Ash felt so pumped up now. “Makes me want to battle too!”

“Bao bao?” Dragonite was surprised to see a golden aura surrounding Ash.

“Dragonite, let’s take on that Pidgey together. I want you to fly in close to the Pidgey. When we do, I’m going to jump off of you. That’s when you’re going to use Dragon Claw. We’ll strike the Pidgey simultaneously.”

“Baooo!” Dragonite shook his head in disapproval.

“I know you’re worried. But please… Please, you gotta believe.”

“Bao.” Dragonite no longer had any fear, placing all of his trust in his Trainer. He flew at Pidgey as fast as he could, sneaking up on it from behind.

“All right… Here I go!” Ash jumped off, much to the shock of everyone watching below.

“Aiee!” Delia got scared.

“Ash, are you insane? You can’t possibly-”

Paul’s doubts were put to rest when, instead of falling, Ash floated around the Pidgey, striking it square in the chest with his arms engulfed in blue flames.

“Baoooo!” Dragonite struck Pidgey’s back with Dragon Claw.

“Piii… Pidgey…” This two-pronged attack caused Pidgey to not only return to normal size, but it also purified it of its Shadow condition. “Pidgey?” Pidgey looked confused after it was normal again, then it flew off.

“Coo?” Caterpie crawled in an opposite direction from the Pidgey to avoid being attacked by it.

Ash slowly descended back to the grass, and when he did, his golden aura went away. “Is everyone okay?”

“What in the name of Arceus did I just see?” Gary rubbed his eyes.

“What you just saw was a taste of Ash’s shapeshifting powers,” Professor Oak explained. “It seems he’s slowly learning how to harness them.”

“Hehe.” Ash held up a peace sign in front of a slightly jealous Gary, and his hand lit on fire. “Betcha wish you could do this!”

“Ugh…” Georgio groaned while laying prone on the grass.

“Georgio!” Ash knelt at the middle-aged man’s side. “What happened?”

“It was the Caterpie’s String Shot. I think it was so acidic that it abraded my skin a little bit.” Georgio touched a wound lightly and it stung badly. “Owww!”

“It’s all my fault.” Delia cried. “I’m sorry that this had to happen to you.”

At that moment, Goh stepped in. “You don’t have to be sorry. I can fix this.”

“And how do you plan… to do… that…” Gary slowed down when Goh changed into Mew.

“Mew?” Goh touched the wounds. “Mew Mew!”

Only this time, it didn’t hurt for Georgio. On the contrary, he began to feel much better as Route 1 became enshrouded in sparkling water. “Whoa, my wounds are all healed!”

“The Pokemon, too!” Delia put the now-healthy Pikachu down. “What’s going on?”

“It’s Life Dew. The same power that saved me when we were training at Cerulean Cave.” Ash proceeded to explain everything that happened thence.

“Then Rose has to be stopped,” Gary remarked.

“Yeah, but now that he’s teamed up with Giovanni, things will get dangerous real fast if we don’t find where their base is. In the meantime, can I count on you to take care of Shadow or Dynamax Pokemon that might appear around Pallet Town?”

“Okay. But only because you asked nicely, Ashy Boy. Oh and uh, I believe you asked me that already. Talk about desperate.”

“And Paul and I will help take care of things in Galar,” Georgio volunteered.

“Uh, we will?” Paul didn’t seem willing at first.

“We have to. We can’t just rely on Raihan all the time; I mean, the man has a gym to run.”

“Fine, but I better get some good dough at the end of all this… whenever that may be.”

Georgio walked up to Goh, who continued to levitate in Pokemon form around Ash. “Thanks, by the way. With a powerful Pokemon like you on our side, our chances are looking bright!”

“He’s cute and strong!” Ash petted Goh on the head.

Right after Ash did that, Goh shifted back into a human. “You’re welcome, man. Any time.”

“Hey, how are you feeling?” Ash held up one hand to Goh’s forehead and another to his baby bump. “You’re not tired, are you?”

“Feeling chipper, as you please.”

“Come on, we’re past that whole Slowpoke Island thing!” Ash yawned, tired after not only a long battle, but also from using a great deal of his power. “I for one am feeling tired. I think we should go back to Vermilion City and report to Professor Cerise what we saw today. Sound good?”

“Definitely.” Goh began the walk back to Georgio’s SUV and began the long drive back to Vermilion City.

“…” Ash didn’t say anything until about thirty minutes into the drive. “So, Mom, now you know what we’re all in for. Do you still want to be a part of all… this?”

“You bet I do.” Delia gave Ash a hug. “Plus, I’m sure Mimey misses me.”

Sure enough, when the vehicle pulled up to the Cerise residence, Mimey was the first one to greet everyone. “Mime mime!”

“Mimey, it’s been so long!” Delia hugged her Pokemon. “You’re looking well!”

“I’m glad…” Georgio smiled as he and Paul got back in the SUV.

“Wait, where are you going?” Ash asked. “Don’t you want some lunch before you go?”

“Wish I could, but we gotta get back to the Vermilion airport and fly back to Hammerlocke. Thanks for the offer, though.”

“Then at least take this.” Ash fished a few energy bars out of his backpack.

“Ooh, I love these! Thanks a bunch! You all take care now!” And with that, Georgio drove off.

“Getting excited over a bunch of energy bars…” Goh chuckled. “What a weird guy. He’s even weirder than you, Ash.”

“Uh… Thanks, I guess?” Ash waved at Professor Cerise when they entered the lab. “Professor Cerise! Hi!”

“What a coincidence.” Chloe put her work purse in a corner of the lab. “I just got home about ten minutes ago.”

“Wait a second.” Ash looked around the lab. “There are a lot more people in here than I remember…”

“Ah, I guess I forgot to mention it.” Professor Cerise gestured to his two new lab assistants. “While you were gone, I recently hired two lab assistants that came all the way from Wyndon. They’ve only been with us for about a day, but they’ve already been a big help, and we’ve gotten a lot of information about Shadow Pokemon from them!”

“I see.” Goh presented himself before his two new coworkers. “Hello! My name is Goh, and I’m also one of Professor Cerise’s lab assistants! Nice to meet you!”

“Likewise.” The lab assistants looked up from their computers and smiled.

“So how was your trip back to your hometown?” Professor Cerise asked.

“A lot had happened!” Ash spoke up. “There were Dynamax Shadow Pokemon there, but Goh and I were able to use our shapeshifting powers! Professor Oak managed to get all of it on video, and he said he was going to send it to you later.”

“Hmm, interesting! I know we have quite a few matters on our hands, but with the help of my two former research fellows, we stand a good chance against Eternatus.”

“That’s not all. Take a look at this.” Goh held up his left hand.

“Oooh!” Chrysa took a liking to Goh’s engagement ring. “So Ash finally proposed to you?”

“That’s very sweet.” Ren clapped. “Congratulations, you two.”

“I’m so happy for you guys. My two best friends are gonna get hitched.” Chloe teared up a little but shook it off. “Ash, please don’t procrastinate on the wedding plans, or you might end up getting married in some random forest.”

“Now that you mention it, that sounds romantic!”

“Haha! You do you, then!” Chloe laughed.

“I’m not going to procrastinate on that, or on my training.” Ash thought of his Typhlosion, Infernape, and Emboar. “I’m not gonna give up on honing my powers… Not even after we fend off Eternatus.”

[shytiff]

Jan 2021 Wins

ive “journaled” for 6 months now. it started as small ___ wins because when you feel rly empty, even doing the bare minimum feels like a win. written down some of the wins. i think until now i’d like to keep the “win” part. a win against my shadow sometimes. a win in life. some things to be grateful for. a win for remembering it later in the future. i know some days im just basically doing nothing.  there are a lot of wars not won by me. but im still tryna ✨manifest✨

1 - woke up. watched bts’ 2021 seasons greetings. read trap city. afternoon nap. pupuy’s mbah passed away. i got DOMS in my body even though i did the barest of exercise yesterday (frail, i know). shower, matcha latte.

2 - the x banner atikah and i sent for racil post thesis defense has arrived lmaoo. mom made delicious (and sweet) fried banana. did some studying (more than usual, bcs the bar is on the floor)

3 - ate muesli, 3 risols. Kopsus coklat at flavola. Stayed there from 12-ish to 17:30 lmaooo. weekly bahas soal w/ fi. Rapat nemo

4 - first day of collab module. Barely cicil ukmppd. My mood is normal-ish but i hardly have the will to study. Dinner is fried fish with mentai sauce, potato wedges, and saladdd by mom

5 - collab module, qa presentation for rsui reps. finished reviewing tryout 2 solid. did padi pretest (got 66,5). ate chicken porridge, a bit of muesli and vsoy, tan ek tjoan bread, matcha latte, fish and chicken and potato wedges and salad, fried banana. i ate well today lol.

6 - slept during collab webinar, went to clara’s place to study osce and attended padi together. i ate well at clara’s placeee lol. ate nastar, kusuka, white kwetiaw with soup (?), and lele goreng. went back home @ 9 pm. i feel refreshed. even though we’ve half studied half mukbang all day. human interaction rly does heal me. i need human interaction more than i think. at night i dreamed about going to bali, to waterparks, seeing sea creatures, watching a movie displayed on a concert-like stage and screen at the front row. 

7 - woke up at 07:55, finished my part for collab group work. felt a bit tired today. the rest of fam went to DM, and when they were on the way back i HURRIED my way out, not even taking a shower lmaoo. got pistachio matcha latte at starbucks dm. now im more skilled in searching the best spot in a cafe to distance myself from people lmao. the matcha latte is served with some sort of pistachio cream and sprinkled with nuts on top. its like when sbux had taro matcha latte and it had purple cream on top. the pistachio taste is quite strong. reviewed TO 1 padi, sent proposals for nemo sponsorship.

8 - did syndrome try out and padi 2 web try out. studied for osce and padi @ clara’s place. wanted to order pizza since clara bought me food before, but she insisted in ordering lmaoo. so dinner is pizza hut

9 - woke up at 11.00 lmao. havent had breakfast. lunch is muesli with the brand new delishhh chocolate granola and cimory banana milk. did one shot try out, got 71. had a google meet with Prof Agus (that ethics book ghostwriting job from a year ago is not finished until now huaaa) that went from 20.00ish and finished at 22.30,,,,, reviewed syndrome try out along the way. havent made my collab self reflection hhhh. i also need to study for osce. also havent edited article for bukang solid. and there goes my saturday nooo

10 - i swear i keep waking up late lmao. Flavola w atikah, racheel later came with wawa. Kopsus coklat and ukmppd class w dr yudo. After class i just talked at flavola (and ended not studying osce at all for sunday). Went to racheel's to pray and talk some more. Hurriedly went back for booty call with fi, watched konser dies natalis first. Tryout and sum study with fi and clar that went from 20:30 to 00:10. Powered by left over kopsus and 2 snackit pia. Rip my sleeping schedule

11 - woke up at 10:30 ish, the lack of meal and horrible sleep pattern (for my standard) produced stuffy nose during the day and a bit of headache that went away for a bit after i ate. Late bfast is muesli, drank protein, ate tan ek tjoan, plus 2 brownies in the evening. Tht coaching w dr niken. Did self reflection for collab. Had dinner without rice, as usual. Ukmppd class w dr ayu. Finished reflection at 21:30 lmao (deadline is 23:55). Tryna sleep and my nose is still itchy and i sneeze a more often. i hope it goes away 2mrw

12 - DV coaching, scele tryout, took a nap before padi cause my head kind of hurts. Les padi while drinking matcha with vsoy less sugar and no added sugar. I can withstand the horrible sugarless cy matcha taste bcs theres a taste of soy. Didnt do anything else. Havent studied osce on my own until now. Astagfirullah

13 - my head still kind of aches. Its goes away when im eating. im eating so well during the weekdays that i gained 2kgs lmao. lazed around the first half of the day. padi. finally tried saint matcha and damnn its an amazing upgrade from Cy matcha. the green color is super different yall. Cy’s green looks sick and tired compared to saint matcha. the taste? immaculate (although coco deli is more fragrant). caffeine? hits. awake and feel normal? yes. messaged an ao3 author and got replied and turns out she’s making a sequel for my fav fic of hers. yay

14 - osce practice w ara ren ness. bedah and anak osce coaching. had 3 of mom’s cinnamon rolls and matcha latte for the afternoon. cicil osce DV. edited some pld articles. did nothing else basically

15 - wasted my day, didnt have the courage to study osce (i feel like i procrastinate on it bcs it feels overwhelming to me), TO FKUI 2, hurriedly reviewed to 1 before, les padi. i feel like this is the least focused im being in a les. maybe its the too few matcha powder.

16 - woke up at 9 am. breakfast is muesli. reviewed to 2 fkui w apa salahku (finished at 12 pm, there goes half of my saturday). tried fried chicken master. its good and tender but i still prefer moon chicken. 

17 - breakfast is muesli, banana and 2 martabak tahu. snack is keripik pisang aduuu wenak (and picking bits of meat cooked by mom). went to devi’s place w/ racheel silvi. brought RJ to be wrapped. we watched okay madam and its super fun, hilarious and full of twists anddd a bit of cutesy romance. just the right balance to enjoy and let the stress out. late lunch is moon chicken yay!! went home after maghrib, did to padi 6 w/ fi and matcha latte. talked about a senior’s wedding and eating healthier til 22:30

18 - To fkui 3, wasted my afternoon playing my phone, finally mustered some will to study after ashar. My progress is rly slow today. Watched hilarious jessi interview with eric, heechul. Im telling u, i thought tiktok is the funniest internet content but i was wronggg. Seeing heechul flustered is hilarious. Tried to study again at night but only learned 1 disease hiks

19 - had no idea what i did before dzuhur lmao. went to racheel’s to surprise atikah. actually napped at her place lmaoo why do i feel so sleepy. gifted rj to atikah. we ate fried chicken master and pempek on a small green table and talked. its like korean movie lmao. we talked while im simultaneously listening to padi lol.

20 - woke up at 8, chicken porridge + muesli and low sugar vsoy for breakfast. arrived at clara’s @10am. to fkui 4. reviewed it. reviewed general physical exam. finished up to padi 7. tried bombo donut. studied osce. i felt sooo dumb in osce (and clara is already super smart). superrr motivated to learn after going back home (arrived at 7) but i ended up opening youtube and drinking protein lmaooo and its suddenly 9 pm

21 - matcha latte at starbucks dm. Studied osce. Obgyn coaching w the super kind dr ilham. Les padi. Read angel buddy and played with my phone til 12 pm

22 - to fkui. padi as usual. had low motivation, so i did the tryout that day close to the actual course.

23 - left home at 06:30 to study together in capitol. had breakfast in mcd first. thank god i ate rice + chicken and breakfast wrap cuzzzz. studied osce together w ara, ical, kelvyn, dio and kak ilonka til about 2 pm. WALKED to bk bcs my parents are there. apparently simply driving to capitol is too much for them. immediately ate muesli at 4 pm cause i didnt eat anything in capitol. did nothing else after that. did not pray maghrib together lmao somehow mom had mercy on me and let me sleep som more. mom bought sate padang but i didnt eat it. i cried in bed because as yoongi said, “this is the real you and this is the real me”. did not shower/wash my face at night bcs i felt like shit lmao rip my face (its a week before bukang photoshoot)

24 - i feel tired, lazy, and just wanted some sleep. like all that’s in me is drained. ate muesli with strawberry milk. tried fitmee beef. its better than i thought. because the noodle is chewy you spend more time to chew. also ate fried chicken and daun singkong. usually i cant wait to go to flavola but even at 12 pm i just feel like laying down. finally mustered the will to shower and go out. its raining a bit on the way. colddd. 

25 - to fkui 6, osce briefing, covid lecture (that was actually for ppds), padi

26 - spaghetti for brekkie, coaching neuro and ophthalmology, cicil osce

27 - cicil osce, the second to the last padi omg. the fastest padi ever

28 - obgyn osce practice at kak ilonka’s place (that nice kosan at forkabi) with ara, ren ness, kelvyn, dio with mannequins from og dept, tried meokja salemba that serves bulgogi rice. quite good. after arriving at home, studied neuro together with menno til about 20:45 an and i just dont have the energy lmaooo so i gave up and slept

29 - today is bukang photoshoot at bintaro. put base make up on the way. even put glue on my eyebrow. got eyebrow, eyeshadow and blush done by renata. took lots of photos. nebeng om coro afterwards to bxc to meet mom. we ate at genki sushi (renata ara kris mendel oca regan geordie eka). i missss road trips hua. did tryout fkui on the way back home. after shower and prayer proceeded to review TO with apa salahku. Last padi (havent done the questions beforehand so i sprinted it out while on the actual course). Muhasabah osce with kak widia afterwards lmao. Studied osce with clara

30 - studied osce with ara ren ness @ merra. I ate eatlah, moms muffin, kemplang, tango. I ate so welll. Its a productive sesh, neuro and infectious disease. At home i studied osce w clara til abt 22:15 ish. I feel like i miss my me time lmao its been 3 days. I can still go on w clara but i dont wanna get myself sick

31 - simul osce in the morning. Osce study with clara almira. Cicil osce alone. Played my phone at 10 pm even though i still have mental clarity post matcha latte -___-

[izumiscurry]

92 Things Tag

RULES: FINISH THESE 92 STATMENTS AND TAG 20 PEOPLE. Thanks @maxwellbaemont @pbophelia @lanapowellblog @mermaidwarriorqueen for tagging me. Sorry I couldn’t uplode this earlier I was at the beach all day and ive been getting cought up with stuff.

THE LAST:

1. Drink: Water 2. Phone call: My Mom 3. Text message: Talking to one of my friends about comics. 4. Song you listened to: “Still Livings You” By The Scorpions 5. Time you cried: 1 ½ months ago.

HAVE YOU:

6. Dated someone twice: No  7. Kissed someone and regretted it: No 8. Been cheated on: Never and I won’t let that happen. 9. Lost someone special: Definitely 10. Been depressed: Nope 11. Gotten drunk and thrown up: No

LIST 3 FAVORITE COLORS:

12. Red 13. Aqua 14. Purple

IN THE LAST YEAR HAVE YOU:

15. Made new friends: Yes every year I make new freinds at school. And online I have to. 16. Fallen out of love: Yes every crush I have. 17. Laughed until you cried: Yes all the time I hang out with my relative’s. There really funny. 18. Found out someone was talking about you: No, I’m one of the nicest persons at school. 19. Met someone who changed you: Yes’ this year my new freinds made me get into manga and anime. Its good. 20. Found out who your friends are: Some of them but most of them have a great personally. 21. Kissed someone on your Facebook list: No, I haven’t missed anyone yet.

GENERAL:

22. How many of your Facebook friends do you know in real life: All of them, I only add people who I know.  23. Do you have any pets: I have two Red Eared Slider Turtles there so cute.  24. Do you want to change your name: Never in my life. My dad gave me a really unique name and I will cherish it till I die. 25. What did you do for your last Birthday: Nothing just have cake. 26. What time did you wake up: 10:00 am in the morning. I slept at 1:00 am yesterday and that’s why I slept so late. But I usually wake up at 8 or 9 am. 27. What were you doing at midnight last night: Watching “Wreck It Ralph"  28. Name something you can’t wait for: Episode: 68 of Siren’s Lament. And season 3 of “Attack Of Titans” 29. When was the last time you saw your mom: 5 minute ago. 30. What is one thing you wish you could change in your life: Being really shy. when it comes to being in front of people. Also the pack of being adventurous. 31. What are you listening right now: “Adventure Time” 32. Have you ever talked to a person named Tom: No, I don’t know anyone with that name. 33. Something that is getting on your nerves: People who are in front of you and walk slowly. And also tumbler folowers who are NSFW and it’s gross. 34. Most visited Website: YouTube and Tumbler. 35. Mole/s: I don’t have any moles. 36. Mark/s: Many beauty marks on my face. A small birthmark on my left arm. A scratch that is healing on my right knee. And many scars from scrapes or cuts I had in the past. 37. Childhood dream: Becoming and Artist, Super Model, Photographer, and Baker I had many dreams as a child. 38. Hair color: Light-ish brown hair. 39. Long or short hair: Short right now but it us to be long. 40. Do you have a crush on someone: Not right now because I’m not in school. 41. What do you like about yourself: My creative mind and my great personality. 42. Piercings: Yes, one on each ear the average pressings. 43. Blood type: Idk I have to ask my doctor about that. 44. Nickname: Laly 45. Relationship status: Single and Happy. But sometimes I want someone to like me. 46. Zodiac: Aquarius. I’m a February baby. 47. Pronouns: She/Her 48. Favorite TV Show/s: Star Vs The Force Of Evil  49. Tattoos: No I’m pure but many in the future. 50. Right or left hand: I’m Right Handed 51. Surgery: No I will not get it unless it is for my health. 52. Hair dyed in different color: Never dues my hair. But if I was I would just lighten the tips or get red/orange tips. 53. Sport: I don’t play any sports but I like to play badminton and American football. 55. Vacation: I would ether go to Greece,Paris, or Hawaii. 56. Pair of trainers: Yes I have many trainers/sneakers I don’t wear them that much because I don’t go to school.

MORE GENERAL:

57. Eating: Chips 58. Drinking: Water 59. I’m about to: watch YouTube. 61. Waiting for: New Chapter of Lookism. 62. Want: Everyone to accept everyone for who or what they are. What they believe in, what race they are, what gender they define as, and who they are attracted to. I’m Pretty much saying for people to not be homophobic or just respect everyone as a human being. 63. Get married: Yes it would be a dream. I don’t want to be lonely in life.  64. Career: Ether Criminal Justice, Modeling, Photography or be and Artist. 65. Hugs or kisses: Hugs are for anyone who deserves it and kisses are for someone special but hugs all the way. 66. Lips or eyes: Eyes one of the first thing you see when you walk to some one so eyes. 67. Shorter or taller: Taller I’m 5'3 ½ or 5'4 and i have a really tall family comepared to my other cousins or realitives. 68. Older or younger: Younger   70. Nice arms or nice stomach: My weakness is abs so I’d go for stomach. 71. Sensitive or loud: I’m sensitive in curtain subjest but loud in other’s. 72. Hook up or relationship: relationships are for the best for me. 73. Troublemaker or hesitant: I’m hesitant really hesitant. I never get in trouble at school.

HAVE YOU EVER:

74. Kissed a stranger: No and never will unless I know them.  75. Drank hard liquor: Nope an never will, till I’m older. 76. Lost glasses/contact lenses: I ALWAYS lose my glasses in my house then end up being in my bed in the corner so ya. 77. Turned someone down: Yes when I was smaller someone likes me and I didn’t like them. 78. Sex in the first date: No and never will happens make it being together for like 4 years or so. 79. Broken someone’s heart: Nope and never will. 80. Had your heart broken: Many times when I realize my crush will never like me. 81. Been arrested: No and I hope that will never happen.  82. Cried when someone died: I would but I haven’t anyone close to me parish but when it happens I would cry. 83. Fallen for a friend: No but in the future if I have a good looking guy freind maby……

DO YOU BELIEVE IN:

84. Yourself: Once in a while. 85. Miracles: Yes 100% 86. Love at first sight: No I personally believe we can be attracted or have a crush on someone at first sight. But for me I’d have to get to know that person alot to be in “love” with them. 87. Santa Claus: No, never have. I didn’t have a chimney as a child in my old house and my parents would write there names on the gifts so yah. 88. Kiss on the first date: Maby if me and the date really connected. But if I want to be hard to get maby a kiss on the cheek would leave him wanting more. Omg what am I writing. 89. Angels: Yes 🙌

OTHER:

90. Current best friend’s name: Sonia, Karla, Adriana, Lily, and Joselyn. I have many best freinds but these are my main gurlz. 91. Eyecolor: Brown 92. Favorite movie: The Lorax and Pitch Perfect 2 

I had fun writing the answers and I will pass on to the next 20 people to enjky and a few more people 😉. And also this took so loooong to write. @diamondsaregold @gayforgayle @elenasanchez @eleanorwiferley @jappyshappyplace @queen-kenna-rys @zigbadboy @choicestrash @endlessraj @jakemckenzie @xxchoicesxx @xo-endlessmayhem-xo @zahranamazis @zigisbisexual @jakemckenzieappreciationlife @andromeda117 @jakecollins @jakemckenziefanclub @alwaysanotheroc @justthatlass @kaitloyalist @mariathecoices

[raaven-nerd]

92 Questions

Special shoutout to mary @tempus-fugit-so-study for tagging me in this! 

rules: answer the questions and then tag 20 people!

LAST:

1. Drink: water :)

2. Phone call: my mum

3. Text message: my friend Sabrina 

4. Song you listened to: Wait For It from Hamilton

5. Time you cried: i genuinely have no clue.. I laughed so much that I had tears in my eyes yesterday if that counts, but I don’t remember the last time I actually cried

HAVE YOU:

6. Dated someone twice: lolnope I’ve never dated anyone 

7. Kissed someone and regretted it: no because I’ve never kissed anyone

8. Been cheated on: nope because I’ve never dated

9. Lost someone special: sadly, yea 

10. Been depressed: nope

11. Gotten drunk and thrown up: i’m not of legal drinking age yet so nope

LIST 3 FAVOURITE COLOURS:

12. pastel pink

13. pastel blue

14. pastel purple ( i like pastels lol)

IN THE LAST YEAR HAVE YOU:

15. Made new friends: yup!! 

16. Fallen out of love: i mean i’ve never been in love so

17. Laughed until you cried: pretty much every second day

18. Found out someone was talking about you: so many times omg

19. Met someone who changed you: yepp

20. Found out who your friends are: yee

21. Kissed someone on your Facebook list: no because i’ve never kissed anyone

GENERAL:

22. How many of your Facebook friends do you know in real life: all of them, bc i only friend people i know in real life! cybersafety is important!! 

23. Do you have any pets: yee I have a pet dog 

24. Do you want to change your name: when I was little yes, not anymore tho,, but it is annoying when a friend continuously calls you Michael bc a teacher accidentally misread your name

25. What did you do for your last birthday: my two closest friends came over to my house and we went on a huge walk around all the parks and stuff with our dogs

26. What time did you wake up: 8:00 AM bc it’s the weekend and there’s no school so I slept in :D

27. What were you doing at midnight last night: sleeping

28. Name something you can’t wait for: the holidays (lmao its literally 3 weeks into term) and also fantastic beasts 2.. which comes out next year

29. When was the last time you saw your mom: literally right now (we're in the same room lol)

30. What is one thing you wish you could change in your life: i wish i could be a little bit taller :( short jokes get kinda annoying when you have to deal with them for 3 years

31. What are you listening to right now: the Hamilton soundtrack

32. Have you ever talked to a person named Tom: Thomas that was a real nice declaration-- um I dont think so?

33. Something that is getting on your nerves: people who act like they know everything but actually don't know anything and aren't cooperative (can you tell that I have a bunch of group assignments right now?)

34. Most visited websites: tumblr, youtube, facebook and gmail lol

LOST QUESTIONS. I JUST PUT IN RANDOM INFO ABOUT ME.

35. Mole/s: yep

36. Mark/s: yep

37. Childhood dream: to be an artist and a doctor 

38. Hair colour: black

39. Long or short hair: long (mid back length,, but i want to get it cut)

40. Do you have a crush on someone: not right now

41. What do you like about yourself: how i can easily get settled into a new environment and make friends

42. Piercings: yupp! i’ve got my ears pierced, just normal earrings with one on each ear 

43. Blood type: i.. actually don’t know.

44. Nickname: michy or mich but one of my closest friends calls me micjelle because i made a typo when typing my name into her contacts list so yea

45. Relationship status: i mean i’ve never dated or fallen in love,, so single?

46. Zodiac: cancer 

47. Pronouns: she/her

48. Favourite TV show: i don’t really watch TV,, but the simpsons is always good :)

49. Tattoos: nope and i don’t plan on getting one..

50. Right or left hand: right :)

51. Surgery: yepp i’ve had surgery on my left arm before

52. Hair dyed in different colour: no,, but i’d like to dip dye my hair one day

53. Sport: sure, why not? especially if it’s soccer :)

54. no question?? not questioning the no question

55. Vacation? yes? i’d really like to go to london or japan one day

56. Pair of trainers: Nike

MORE GENERAL:

57. Eating: well, right now i’m not eating anything so ? 

58. Drinking: water lol

59. I’m about to: finish off some homework

61. Waiting for: my friends to email me so i can figure out what their opinion is on the script that i wrote for the assignment

62. Want: less assignments (i have 9 right now and i’ve only been at school for 3 weeks)

63. Get married: one day,, in the future

64. Career: medicine,, or psychology,, or veterinary.. something along those lines

65. Hugs or kisses: hugs!!

66. Lips or eyes: eyes

67. Shorter or taller: taller

68. Older or younger: older

70. Nice arms or nice stomach: umm idk? 

71. Sensitive or loud: a nice mix of both

72. Hook up or relationship: what 

73. Troublemaker or hesitant: a nice mix of both :>

HAVE YOU EVER:

74. Kissed a Stranger: i’ve never kissed anyone,, let alone a stranger

75. Drank hard liquor: heck no i’m underage

76. Lost glasses/contact lenses: i mean i’ve been like i can’t find my glasses,, but they’d be in my hand or smth 

77. Turned someone down: how does one turn someone down without having been asked out? 

78. Sex on the first date: what no 

79. Broken someone’s heart: i don’t think anyone’s ever loved me so no 

80. Had your heart broken: nope because i’ve never loved anyone

81. Been arrested: lol no 

82. Cried when someone died: yes,,, multiple times

83. Fallen for a friend: i’ve never fallen so no 

DO YOU BELIEVE IN:

84. Yourself: yea sure

85. Miracles: yes???

86. Love at first sight: nah dude love blossoms you don’t just love

87. Santa Claus: nah dude

88. Kiss on the first date: ehhh maybe 

OTHER:

90. Current best friend name: Christine and Sabrina

91. Eye colour: brown

92. Favourite movie: ummm.. Can I say the entire Harry Potter series + Fantastic Beasts bc i don’t want to make a decision? 

NOW, TAG 20 PEOPLE: um okay i’ll tag @thecakestudyblr @tiny-notes @intcllectual @studitiious​  @serenitystudies  @the-ravenclaw @joannastudies @bloodystudys @journalits  @mugglstudies @hystorically @bioblrnotes @typicalstudyblr @raven-studies @chickencursivecalligraphy @ashlyn-studies @alistudys @meg-is-studying​ @bellaandherbujo @inquiry-studies​  If you’ve already done this, then just ignore this xx

[ecotone99]

[RF] The Isle

(ANY EVENTS OR CHARACTERS IN THE STORY ARE NOT BASED OF ANY REAL LIFE PEOPLE OR EVENTS. ANY CONNECTIONS ARE COMPLETE COINCIDENCES. THIS IS A COMPLETELY FICTION STORY.)

Chapter 1 The Time Before

10:30 AM June 18 1989

The weather that day was horrible, the storm thundering outside the window. The pitter patter of the rain against the bedroom window. A small boy with messy brown hair atop his head slowly woke out of his slumber. He tossed and turned for a good bit before eventually giving up and sitting up. His emerald green eyes opening to see the room. He was tired but not tired enough to not notice the smell of bacon upon the air. He pushed the blankets off himself and swung his legs over the side of the bed and into his slippers. The warmth felt through his toes and up the rest of his foot. He stood up with a yawn and stretched his arms and began to walk down the stairs from his bedroom. His mother was down there cooking breakfast, her ginger hair cascading down her shoulders. “Good morning Matt sweetie, did you sleep well?” said His mother. Matt replied, “Yes mamm, i slept quite well. What's for breakfast?”. His mother showed him the bacon and eggs. She finished cooking breakfast and set the food down on the plates for the two of them. He thanked her and finished his breakfast in around 10 minutes. The two were going on vacation to Hawaii that day. They had been working and saving for it for quite some time. Matt helped clean out the dishes. He had a smile on his face. His thoughts running rampant throughout his head of the vacation that was to come. He had packed the night before so there was nothing to worry about packing. He had packed his pocket knife in his luggage. They lived in San Francisco so they never lived far from an airport. He walked back up the stairs to get dressed. Pulling a red t-shirt over his head and pulling on some jeans. His mind spinning still from the prospect of Hawaii. He couldn’t believe that this was going to be the life he lived for the next two weeks. They were gonna be staying with some family there so they didn’t have to worry about hotels and such. Matt helped his mother load the bags into the car. He was a bit wet from the rain but it wasn’t much. He soon got into the passenger seat of the car. The obvious smile on his face. He was definitely optimistic about this trip. It had been oh so long since he had seen his aunt last. Whom they were staying with. The car began to move as his mother drove their way to the airport. His mind wanders the possibilities of the trip. They arrive at the airport, parking the car on the 7th floor. They unloaded the bags and eventually made their way to the bag drop off and took their stuff to the security check point. Matt looks around the security area. There were 3 lines with three metal detectors and 3 x ray machines. He set his filled book bag onto the conveyer belt. He turns to his right and walks through the metal detector without any problem. Picking up his bag on the other side. He waited for his mother on the other side. She soon came through. They gathered their belongings and began to walk down the long corridor to their gate. They waited until their group was called to board the plane. Matt looked down the light gray metal jetway. He looks out onto the large jet. He was throughly excited for the flight. He gives the gate agent his ticket and walks down the gateway. His mind spinning from the joy of being able to fly for the first time. He was smiling widely. He got on and put his bag overhead and sits down in the chair. He felt tired all the sudden. Come to think of it, he didn’t sleep much last night. He was generally a quiet person and such. He was what you would call a nerd. He liked being calm versus being a party guy. He laid his head against the hull of the aircraft, and fell into sleep… Chapter 2

Chapter 2 The Isle

Matt was soon awoken by the shaking of the cabin. The seatbelt sign dinging signaling that they were to stay in their seats. Matt brushed some of his brown messy hair out of his face. Looking around the cabin, he then looks out the window seeing the wing starting to shake. Fear flooding his senses. He could feel every painstaking movement from the plane. One thought running through his head, ‘Don't snap, Don't snap, don't snap!’. Well that was more of the censored way it was going through his head. The next bump got even worse, his worst fears were soon confirmed by the sudden spinning of the plane. Everything stuck to a wall someway or another. Matt’s head started pounding trying to withstand the force that was felt. The wing he was right next to snapped off the plane. The sound of tearing metal and other materials ringing through his ears. That wing pulled a chunk of the hull out of the plane. Sucking passengers out. Matt held on for dear life until a seat buckle hit him hard in the face knocking him unconscious. His limp body fell from the plane into the sea below. Several hours later he felt himself come back to reality. Remembering the whole ordeal. He could pull himself together if he tried. He eventually pulled himself out of the wet sand. He then vomited profusely. This comes from the immense amount of sea water that he swallowed. He couldn't think straight. Flashes of home and the plane flying through his head. He pulled himself up again, now more conscious than before. He looked around the beach he was on. His eyes wide thinking about how lucky he was to be alive. He glared at the jungle and then thought about what had been taught to him when he was in the boy scouts. God that was a long time ago. He looked around for something to use for a walking stick. Only one thing was on his mind. Water. His throat was dry and scratchy. He found a good stick to use as a walking stick. It was around 4ft long and straight. He began to trek through the wilderness of the island. This island wasnt that big. It was only like a mile wide or so. It was quite small. He searched and searched until he heard that magical sound. A running river. Or a stream he wasnt sure but it had to be fresh water. He ran quickly into the direction of the noise. Seeing the stream from a few feet away overjoyed him. He didn't care about when the next episode of Cheers, Golden Girls or Doogie Howser was (How many of you guys know what those are?). All he cared about was the fact that he had water. He collapsed on the side of the bank. Drinking the water directly from the stream. He had water. He just had to remember where this was. He looked around and eventually found a spot that he could set up his camp. He began to place sticks and twigs around in a pyramid fashion. He worked for at least 3 hours in just this tiny horrible shelter. It didn't even work. Seeing the sun setting over the treetops he laid inside his shelter. And fell back into sleep.

9:30 AM June 19th 1989 His eyes slowly opened to the glaring sunlight. He thought the entirety of yesterday was a dream. He stood up from his shelter. Realizing that yesterday was real. That though quiet kid collapsed on the ground once more. One thing running through his head. His mother. He began to sob. “M-mom… mom where are you!” He said, starting to sound like a small child. Tears streaming down his face. He screamed out into the forest. “WHY ME! WHY AM I STILL HERE AND SHE ISN'T!” He screamed out in a sad loud voice. His loud voice soon dwelled back deep inside him. He cried to himself. Not thinking about his next meal. Not thinking about anything else. Only thinking about his mother. Whom he presumed was dead. He couldn't think properly. He curled back into a ball and muttered to himself. ‘M-mom….’

Chapter 3 The Pig

3:00 pm June 19th 1989 Matt’s mind was acting like a broken record. He was only stuck on her. He got himself together after his well, episode this morning. He let himself get back to work. Drinking the water from the stream once again. He was clear minded again, now taking a second look at his shelter thinking that he needed to redo it thought of one thing now, the beach. Maybe he could find something that could help him. He used sticks stuck into the ground to mark the way back to camp. He wanders around the beach. His heart began to beat faster when he saw what he hoped he would see. Luggage, and debris. He began to pick up anything he found. Several suitcases, metal from the plane, parts of pallets and so far the prize of the crop. 2 rolls of duct tape. He brought his treasure trove back to camp. He began to sort through the luggage. Only finding clothing and stuff you would take traveling. Not much he could use but it could work. One thing he was overjoyed to find was a lighter. It didn't work cause it was waterlogged. One of the best things he found in that whole luggage was a pocket knife. That was his only weapon. This island could try to kill him but as long as he had that knife he felt unstoppable. He eventually found a large branch to start to dig a hole in the ground. Thinking that it would be easier to do than to have to engineer a whole other shelter. He worked on that for another 3 or 4 hours. He placed a few pieces of metal from the plane over the whole to make a roof. He sat down on the side of the bank. He listened to the water running down the stream. He felt it extremely calming. He felt his stomach start to cramp from not having enough food in the past day and a half. He looked for that stick he had used the day before as a walking stick and used the knife to make it into a spear. Hoping that it could work. He made a few extras with nearby saplings and then went off deeper into the forest. One roll of duct tape around a strap he made with some of said tape to hold it. He listened mostly for the sound of an animal that he could possibly kill. One thing he knew was meat was quite nutritious. And it could keep him alive. It was then when he saw it. A pig or a hog. He couldn't tell. He readied his spear raising it above his head. Looking at it. It soon turned around and looked him right in the eyes. This look, he couldn't do it. He wanted to kill this creature but he couldn't bring himself to do it. He lowered his spear and approached the pig. He soon realized that it wasn't a pig or a hog. But a small piglet that was all alone, he now knew why he couldn't kill it. He picked it up in his arms and took it back to camp and let it roam about. He began to feed it and tried to make sure that it was safe. He left it in the shelter and soon went out to the beach. Using his spears to try to spear fish. He did eventually catch enough food for that night. He used grass and berries to feed the piglet. He eventually named this piglet George after realizing it was a male. He went to sleep that night with that piglet in his arms.

Chapter 4 The New Life

August 24th 1991

It had been three years since Matt had arrived on the Isle which he had come to call it. George is still doing well. Each day he goes out, feeds and comes back to sleep. Life had been well quite uneventful for the past 3 years. Matt had scavenged during his time, he did eventually find a notebook and a pen and began to write. Writing down his own story. His mind wasn't ever the same as it was. Matt had no longer cared about his mother’s death. His life got quite boring and he killed things just for the adrenaline. He survived because that's what he found quite interesting. He just couldn't seem to die. His cycle went day in and day out with the same routine. He was wondering one day if he should try to escape..

September 19th 1991

Matt awoke one day to something that he couldn't ever comprehend. The sound of children playing. That sound he remembered oh so well. The only thing he cherished was his childhood. Matt was now a 19 year old man. He no longer comprehended compassion or love. Matt wandered out to where he heard the voices, he saw what he had hoped to see. People. A boat. A way home. He screamed out. “FINALLY! I KNEW SOMEONE WOULD COME!” The family who had visited the isle took him and George back to where they were staying which happened to be Maui Hawaii. This was the end of his time on the island. But not the end of his story.

Epilogue August 12th 2017 Dear Reader, I was welcomed back into society with open arms. What was left of my family that i visited both before and after had said that i wasn't the same as before. i said the following in an interview years after my incident. “I am a different person than when I went in. I admit it. My mind is broken. I have never been the same since I woke up on that island. Even after I learned to live with my worst mistakes. I did things on that island that no human should ever have to go through. The only thing that kept me going w-w-was…” I had begun to tear up. “The adrenaline of killing things. I was going insane. In a way bloodlust was what kept me going. I am actually glad that I was the only one on that island. Because I think I could have ended up killing another human being…. I was becoming a mindless killer. I-i-i didn't want that to happen to me. But the human mind isn't something you can easily control, it's like a bucking bronco, thrashing around in moments of stress and trauma, And if it hurts itself it doesn't heal.” Within the time between this interview and a few documentaries’ that were done on My behalf, I was in therapy to try and reverse the effects of the island on my mind. On that island, saying life was difficult is an understatement, it was torture. I suffered years and years after, mentally and physically. I haven't traveled since in fear of what could happen. I am not a psychotic killer anymore. My life got better. And with that I leave you with this… “Life is more than just surviving, life is thriving. Don't let Life get in the way of you thriving.”

Yours Sincerely, Matt Halladay

January 1st 2085

To Whomever it might concern,

Matt lived as normal of a life after the letter above. This book was made in his memory. Seeing that the isle was sunken many many years ago, I believed that it was needed to tell my grandfather’s story. My grandfather was a kind man who had eventually married a sweet woman who gave birth to my mother. Who then married my father who then gave birth to me. His stories were what taught me about how awful the quality of life when you are stranded or not have any human contact for years on end. I hope that this story can inspire you to remember that life isn't going to stop for you and your mind isnt going to cooperate with you all the time, but it can do the best for you as well. Thank you for reading this.

Yours Sincerely Rebecca Jones-Halladay

The END

(ANY EVENTS OR CHARACTERS IN THE STORY ARE NOT BASED OF ANY REAL LIFE PEOPLE OR EVENTS. ANY CONNECTIONS ARE COMPLETE COINCIDENCES. THIS IS A COMPLETELY FICTION STORY.)

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[eurotraveltales-blog]

Day 10: Lyon

We didn’t have much on the docket for today, we just mostly had to figure out transportation to Lucerne for tomorrow. It’s our first time using the Eurail passes, so we’re a little nervous about using them, even though we know cognitively how they work. I just feel like there’s always so much fine print they don’t tell you about until you do something wrong and then get screwed.

But anyway, we slept in this morning. Woke up at about noon, ate the same breakfast as yesterday, and played with Neva of course. She could not BE any cuter. I don’t know if I can leave her tomorrow. It’s going to be a very sad day. Virginie told us that she, Ben, and Neva were going out tonight and would be gone from 18:30 to about midnight, and told us to feel free to use the kitchen to cook dinner. She also asked us what time we’d be checking out tomorrow, and our train leaves at 10:37, so we said we’d leave the apartment at 8:45-9:00. She recommended that we take the metro, since the train station is quite far a walk, so we will heed that advice.

The only food we still needed to eat in France was crepes, so we decided to stop at a crepe restaurant called Savanah on the way to check out the train station. We both ordered savory crepes. Apriet got a Ghandi, which was a crepe filled with chicken, creamy curry, and potatoes. I got a Basquaise crepe, which was a crepe filled with onions, tomatoes, bell peppers, ham, and an egg. The crepes here were unlike any crepe I’ve had in the US, which are usually folded into a cone with all the filling inside. These crepes were squares, and the texture was also slightly different than US crepes. They were delicious.

After eating, we continued on our way to the train station. There was a mall right across the street from the station, so we stopped in to use the bathroom. Unfortunately, you had to pay 0.50 euro to use it. We decided not to go because we figured we’d find a free bathroom somewhere else. We continued to the station, and it was the most crowded place we’d been in Europe so far. It was actually difficult to get where you wanted to go because there was just endless people walking in all directions. We just wanted to get our bearings and familiarize ourselves with the station so that we would have an easier time finding our train tomorrow. We found the Departures screens, and also went upstairs to a train platform to see what they were like. There were also Departures screens up there, and it was far less crowded, so if worse comes to worst, we could always come up onto this platform again just to use the screen to find our train. Once that was taken care of, we looked for the bathroom at the train station. Surprise - you also had to pay to use it. So we went back to the mall to use those bathrooms, since Apriet had also seen a store earlier that she wanted to go in. We felt kind of stupid after using the bathroom because we didn’t know we had to press a button to go back out the turnstile, so we waited until someone else left the bathroom to follow their example.

The store Apriet wanted to go to was called Primark, an Irish clothing company. I figured I’d take a look too, since I could use another shirt. I only brought three on the trip, and I’m finding myself needing to do laundry a little more often than I’d like. We didn’t actually end up getting anything, but it was cool to see the differences between European and American clothing. Though Apriet did say she’d seen a Primark in Boston, so clearly it’s spreading to our side of the world. After leaving Primark, we sat and watched the fountain in the middle of the mall do its scheduled 19:00 dance. It was pretty cool - the largest geyser in the middle of the fountain shot water all the way up to the top floor of the mall, which was where we watched it from.

We left the mall and walked all the way back to our airbnb, stopping in the same market we stopped in yesterday. Apriet picked up a Nutella B-ready and I got a curry-flavored cup noodle called Banzi noodle for dinner. I made it as soon as I got back to the house, and we spent the rest of the night just straight chillin’.

Tomorrow we leave Lyon for Lucerne, Switzerland. Au revoir, France! Can’t wait to go hiking. Woo!

[jennifuryz]

Finally writing about summer vacation to see the bats

I wrote this  almost four months ago and never got around to adding it to my blog. Well, here it finally is.

For our 20th anniversary, The Hubby took me to Austin to see the bats. Actually, he decided to make a family vacation out of it and we took the boys and the RV.  We did not take the pets.  The dogs went to a boarding kennel (Sukey is living with us again) we boarded the ferret at the vet, and one of my older son’s friends took care of the cats and the newt. It was an interesting trip. Hubby and the boys were often cranky, but seeing the bats was amazing.   First we saw the Ann Richards Congress Avenue Bridge, which is home to over one million Mexican free-tailed bats.  Then I got to go to Bracken Cave.  Bracken Cave is not open to the public, but since I am a member of Bat Conservation International, I was able to sign up to see it with my family.  Bracken Cave is home to the largest colony of bats in the world.  About 15 million Mexican free-tailed bats live here, and they are all mothers and babies.  

So here is the journal I kept during my trip:

 OK today is Saturday, July 15, 2017 and I am waiting at the auto repair shop after dropping off my car. They are going to check it out and fix my driver side window while we are on vacation.  Hubby and the boys should be picking me up in the RV any minute now. I wonder what's taking them so long. I can't find the place to drop off the keys.  

Later: Ok, Hubby picked me up and showed me where to leave the keys and we are heading back home because he forgot his headphones. 

8:39 am. Here I am travelling in an RV with a bunch of sarcastic ass-sticks.  They were all hangry. Stopped at McDonalds. I was not hungry, just thirsty, so I ordered a fruit and yogurt and a Hi-C.  They gave me an empty cup, I went to the drink machine, no Hi-C. Then the boys told me McD’s no longer serves Hi-C. I had to get a blue Powerade.  Then the boys got pissed because they shorted us a hashbrown. The boys are refusing to use seat belts in the back and Hubby told them they don't have to. 

11:47 am   Well I fell asleep and Hubby missed the split of I90 and I39 and was halfway to Chicago when I woke up. He said it was my fault because I told him to stay on I39 until we got to I55. I told him that was what we were supposed to do.  He told the boys that I got them lost. I told him we just needed to find the quickest route back to I39.  He said, “You mean we are not on I39?”  I said, no, we are on I90.  He said he guessed it was not me who got us off course after all. Hubby found a way to get directly onto I55, so we took that.  I made a sandwich when Hubby stopped for gas. 

July 15, 2017  6:49 PM An RV park somewhere in Missouri.

This totally sucks!  Just left on our vacation this morning, and my phone died.   Not sure where I can get WiFi.  Otherwise not sure how I will look up information and send messages.  

 Sunday, July 16, 2017 7:22 am Rolla, Missouri

Hubby said we could stop at a Best Buy to try to either fix my phone or get me a new one.  Last night we went swimming in the Campground pool and went to bed by 9:00. I got up around 6 and went for a walk. They have a pretty pond here. Luckily I brought two other cameras. After that I took a shower at the campground showers so I don’t have to take the scooters out of the RV shower.  Now Hubby is taking a shower and the boys are still sleeping.  

At 8:00 the office opens. I am going to bring my computer there where I can get WIFi and explain to everyone why I stopped communicating.

10:31 am  About 50 miles north of Springfield, MO.

Well, my older son managed to resurrect my phone. Right now it is charging.  My last phone used to do this when I used the camera.  I guess I will avoid using the camera until we get home.  

The boys are yelling at each other.

 Monday, July 17, 2017   7:10 am   A Hampton Inn in Sherman, Texas.  

So far my phone is working.   Yesterday we left before 8:00 am.  We drove to Springfield, Missouri and stopped to let the boys go to one of the best skateparks in the country.  Unfortunately, it was geared for much more advanced abilities than my boys are able to get in our community, where the only thing less common than skateparks is skateparks that allow scooters.  This place also allows BMX bikes, but my younger son did not bring his because we would have had to carry it on the outside of the RV. My younger son was afraid it might get stolen, or worse, rained on.  Plus it was 92 degrees out, so we only stayed about 45 minutes.

           We drove through Oklahoma.  The Interstates were not bad, especially the parts over old Route 66. But when we turned off to a Highway 69, the road was even bumpier than the roads in my own state.   I slept in the back for a while and bounced quite a bit, but still managed to fall asleep.  I did manage to live out my childhood dream of riding in the bed above the cab.  It was pretty cool, but my neck got tired from lying on my stomach and looking out the window.  

           Twice the boys talked us into stopping at Walmarts, just so they could go in and record themselves being obnoxious.   I remember my friends and I acting silly in public when we were teenagers, but we were not THAT bad.   They told me it is because Walmart is not an ethical store and they don’t treat their employees well.  I pointed out that by going in there and causing trouble, THEY were not treating the employees well.  

           On Saturday I drove for a couple hours.  Yesterday I drove for about 3 hours.  My shoulders and neck got sore.  Maybe it was from keeping the big RV steady.  Hubby does not seem to have as much trouble, but he has longer arms than I do.

           We stopped at a hotel last night because Hubby wanted to take a shower. We have not tried using the RV shower yet (mainly because we would have to move the cooler and scooters) and the showers at the campground were not so good. The boys were upset to find out that the pool at this hotel is under construction.   I fell asleep right away last night. Now it is morning and I am the only one awake.  We are about five hours from Austin.  

5:19 pm Oak Forest Campground outside of Austin.  

Well, we made it.  Settled in and went swimming in the tiny pool.  The pools down here are too warm, but still refreshing.  Now we are on our way to meet someone Hubby used to work with to go to dinner.  My older son has been complaining a lot about how bored he is and did not want to go on this trip.  He is really acting like a 15 year-old boy.

           Last night I saw several Great-tailed grackles.  I saw lots of them when we were in Costa Rica.  Hubby saw a lizard, and I just saw a fox squirrel.   In Oklahoma I saw a dead armadillo by the road.  

 Tuesday, July 18, 2017  8:23 am.

Last night we went out to dinner with someone Hubby used to work with. I saw a white-winged dove. The boys went to another Walmart to record themselves acting obnoxious.   This morning I woke up before anyone else and took a load of towels to the laundry building.  I ate breakfast outside and saw a mockingbird.  

Later: We checked into a hotel in downtown Austin, right next to Congress Avenue Bridge. I can see the bridge and the Statue of “Nightwing” from my window.   I found a spot in the park by the bridge early and did some drawings. When I walked under the bridge I could hear the squeaking of the bats.   Hubby and the boys joined me at around 7:30. At about 8:15 the first of the bats started to emerge; just a few at first, then more and more.  Most of them came out over the river and not where I was sitting, but I still saw lots.  After the first wave, Hubby and the boys went back to the hotel, but I stayed until way after dark.  When the crowd started to disperse, I went and watched from up on the bridge.  The bats were closer there.  I stayed until it was too dark to see anymore.  

 Thursday, July 20th.

           Wednesday was our 20th wedding anniversary.  In the morning, Hubby took the boys to a skate park and I walked through downtown Austin, did a little shopping, and went to the Capitol building.  It was in the upper 90’s and I was pretty hot.  We went out to dinner at a nice restaurant near the hotel, then we walked to the South Congress (SoCo) area.  Most of the shops were closed, but it was neat to see SoCo at night and hear the music from the clubs.  We got some ice cream.  

Meanwhile, the generator went out in the RV.  Hubby called a bunch of places before he finally found a place to fix it.  He took it in on Thursday morning.   I went back to SoCo and looked at some shops, but could not find anything I wanted that was affordable.  But the shops were neat.  It hit 102 degrees that day and the walk back to the hotel was challenging.  

Before we left on this trip, I gave Hubby a list of campgrounds near Bracken Cave, which is between Austin and San Antonio.  Somehow he ended up reserving a campground north of Austin, an hour and a half from Bracken Cave.  Then he decided we should stop and eat on the way from the campground to the cave.  I was really worried that we would not make it in time because the email told me that they close the gate at 6:45.  Then the electrical box from the generator started acting up and making sizzling, sparking noises.  I am not sure what I was more worried about, missing Bracken Cave or the RV combusting. But we made it at 6:40.  

Bracken Cave was one of the most fascinating experiences of my life!  When we got there we got to go on a tour near the cave and learned about the history of the cave.    The cave entrance was smaller than I expected.  Even though it was early, bats were already flying around the entrance of the cave.  I started drawing a picture of the cave, but then a few bats started to emerge. Suddenly a whole wave of bats came pouring out of the cave, circling in an upward spiral high up into the sky and flying off into the distance in a glittering cloud of bats.  It was amazing!  More and more bats followed.  Sometimes the “batnado” was very thick, then for a while the emergence would thin out, then another huge cluster would follow.  Sometimes the wind would blow in our direction and the bats would be just over our heads.   Some bats stayed in a close cluster while others would fly off in other directions on their own.  Once in a while several bats would return from the sky and drop back down into the batnado.  A few bats, probably the young bats learning to fly, landed on the ground and had trouble getting back up.  But the vortex of bats helped them to get off the ground and join the other bats.  We saw one bat clinging to a tree.  I took a few picture of her, but could not get the picture to focus.  

           The guide informed us that there were a few albino bats in the colony.  My older son saw three of them, but I only saw one. It was still pretty neat, though.  We also saw a skunk come out of the cave, but it was just an ordinary striped skunk. I had been hoping to see a hog nosed skunk or spotted skunk.

           I would have stayed much longer, but Hubby and the boys were getting bored and we had a long drive back to the campground.    As we were leaving we could still see a ribbon of bats weaving through the sky.

             Friday, July 21. Hubby woke me up early and we left before 7:30. The nice thing about travelling in an RV is we did not have to wake up the boys. We just drove off with the boys still sleeping in the back.  

           After several hours Hubby and I switched driving.  We were driving though the edge of a town in Oklahoma.  Now, the RV is hard to steer and often weaves around. We have a back up camera and I used that to make sure I was within the lane.  Turns out the back up cam leans to the left a bit.  Well, I don’t know if it was a gust of sudden wind (Common while driving through Oklahoma) or what, but the RV started swerving and I tried to straighten it out, but ended up hitting the curb and blowing out a back tire.  I quickly pulled into the nearest parking lot. Hubby was irate.  He did not believe me when I told him the RV suddenly started swerving and yelled at me for being too close to the curb.   While he was looking up AAA I realized that we were in the parking lot of a tire store.  I pointed this out to Hubby. So he went in only to find out that the worker just quit.  Luckily there was another tire store just a few blocks away and since we have double tires we were able to drive there.  The mechanic at that shop told us that the highway running through this part of the city is very narrow and large vehicles hit the curb all the time.  He pointed out places where the curb was worn out from being hit so many times.  Anyway, he had the tire fixed in less than an hour.  While we were waiting the boys actually put their phones away and we all conversed with each other. We told stories of vacation disasters of the past.  Then the tire was fixed and we were on our way again.

7:45 pm. Arrived at hotel in Springfield MO. 

Later: We checked into the hotel and went out to eat at a BBQ restaurant-very good! Then we went back to the hotel and went swimming.  This was the first pool I have been in on this trip where the water was not too warm.

 Saturday, July 22  10:57 am.  On our way home driving through Missouri.  

           We left this morning around 9:30.  With luck, we may make it home by tonight.    

           My older son has spent at least half of this trip complaining or getting mad about something.  I suppose that is normal for a 15 year-old boy.  

 Sunday, July 23. We made it back on Saturday night. On Sunday I was able to take my older son and one of his friends to the County fair.   My son talked me into going on this ride called The Fireball. A woman sitting next to me told me it was her favorite ride.  It WAS fun. I went on it a second time and my son went on it three or four times.   Then I left the boys to themselves for a while and I went to look at the exhibits.  When I met the boys later, my son asked me if I had his phone.   I did not have his phone and he realized it must have fallen out of his pocket while he was on one of the rides.  He did not expect to find it, but I decided to look under the rides. I saw something green next to the Fireball, and sure enough it was my son’s phone. It had landed on a pile of cables so even though it was bent slightly out of shape, it still worked.  He has been having trouble with the microphone, but it is amazing that we found it and it is still working.

           Before we left the fair we bought lemonade and mini donuts.   I got home in time to go pick up the dogs from the kennel.

 On Thursday, July 27, we found out that at the Ohio State fair, The Fireball broke, killing one person and injuring seven others.   We were pretty shocked and horrified.  

[shytiff]

Mar 2021 Wins

1 - Work againn except the medical record ran out. So we went back at 12 am. Relaxeddd at home. Fasted today (still got 2 fasting debts to go). Meeting with dr dafsah dr bayushi and dr debby at 20:30. I embarrassed myself lmao,,, and what you can say as "asal bunyi". Let the overthinking and fear begin. I actually woke up 3 times during the night, lmaoo is it anxiety? Never happened to me before.

2 - we need to take care of administrations to get more medical record so we did. Wasted almost half of the day but we finally managed. Immediately fell asleep at home lmao

3 - the usual day in harkit. Asked more medical records. Planned to go to cp to see slip ons but the tj i wanted to ride went straight to kalideres so like the sane person i am of course i went back home. Timing is very222 great sometimes in life. Zoom meeting with the ever so kind dr eva. Mahmud and dela joined the assistant gang

4 - magang. Met dr eva in pediatric icu. late late evening lunch was kungpao chicken sec bowl (which i exclaimed as sweet. And then my friend said kungpao is supposed to taste like that. Huh). I was picked up after maghrib. Laid down in bed, playing my phone until 22ish and i fell asleep. Damn i shouldve slept earlier yknow

5 - magang. Ate spicy salmon onigiri from lawson for lunch. Went to btkv basecamp with mahmud since RM was a bit crowded. Not even 10 mins in, and we excused ourselves because misuh2 btkv near the computer on our table. Went to nonama in le meridien after magang with ara ness gen cal hanin amal alya. The sushi was so so (too much rice). Yay for lots of sashimi. Salmon kushiage was tasty. Salmon aburi cheesy stuff was tasty. Soba so so. Takoyaki explodes in your mouth. While waiting for mom, saw live piano performance in the lobby. Shes playing alone. I hope she knows someone out there appreciates it *oddly melancholic*

6 - slept in. Felt good. Hurriedly showered and got ready bcs i thot it was getting a bit late and turns out i arrived in halte kalideres 9:11 am lmao. Breakfast slash lunch was penyetan cok ayam. The sambal was not THAT spicy but my tongue has weakened now. Picked up some data in RM. Went to central park with my heavy ass bag to search for slip ons. Didnt find one yet. Went to kkv for the first time. Went back home and its heavy rain on the tj but dry in kalideres. Snacked on fitz cookies (its basically vegan tuffis) on the bus since i felt hungryyy. Juan bought chicken satay and when i arrived theyre all eating but i didnt feel like eating with them lmao (its been a while since i last did) so i just went upstairs, finished that fitz cookies, fell asleep in my mukena (after maghrib) and skipping isya :(

7 - didnt feel like doing anything when i woke up, but forced myself to open laptop for nemo. Played a bit of keyboard. Ate last nights satay. Rly was in a rut until i managed to shower (i last showered yesterday morning,,,) and felt a bit better. Even did night skin care and mask (which i didnt do lately)

8 - magang as usual while listening to curhat babu. I was still feeling "off" even though i was outside already. Felt a bit more normal after i had lawson's ice arabica gayo covfefe. Lunch was spicy sec bowl with extra chicken. Coffee's effect is amazing im just blown away. Like im not tired. I feel normal. I dont feel like immediately going to bed when i arrive at the house. Read and finished starving anonymous before bed. Its... A lot to take in. Especially before bed lmaoo

9 - mencret2 in the morning and i blame it on spicy sec bowl. my pace in magang is so slow why :( lunch is carbonara spaghetti from Barilla (29k with discount). It does make you feel full, and it is creamy. But the beef bacon is so few 😐 it will be more delish if it has more bacon. Picked up by mom after maghrib today. At 19:30 ish my stomach hurtedddd bcs of rising acid.its been a while since it happened. Thankfully mom bought tan ek tjoan and brownies. The ache dissipated after i finished my bread. Its so cold in the car tfff or is it my poor metabolism

10 - magang til after isya since tomorrow is a holiday. powered by lawson’s arabica gayo after lunch (good habit’s minimal-taste fried rice lol). while on the way back, kapjagiii ukmppd result announcement. alhamdulillah i passed. congratulated by some. slept late seeing people’s social media update.

11 - woke up late. didnt feel hungry, so i ate at 13:00 ish (tuna, peanut-chocolate sandwich). slept after eating. ghosted mahmuda calling me regarding after zuhur liqo. didnt pick up atikah’s calls. cant seem to talk lmao. rly rly tried to do dr dafsah’s excel this day, but cant seem to start my day. i was like “i’ll take a shower” but i didnt. “i’ll start the excel at 20:00″ i didnt. i just slept. and woke. and slept. dreamed about going to dufan with clara but we bailed since there was no promo. i practically didnt no anything today lol

12 - finally showered (that was supposedly done yesterday lmao). my pink flats broke down. i was the only one who come lmao. did dr dafsah’s excel and finished at 10. went to TA and tried popolamama’s ayce. tried chicken arabiatta (very tomato-ey taste, not a fan), pepperoni, bolognese and banana caramel with vanilla ice cream. Managed to eat 4 small pizza out of 9 flavor choices. While eating i remembered i came to celebrate passing ukmppd. so in my mind i pat myself in the back and said (not out loud) congrats for passing ukmppd. it felt bittersweet, but a nice validation. tried to search for slip ons again but didnt find one. bought a black top in uniqlo. started reading here you are

13 - lazed and lazed and jhs friends wanted to meet up but i cant even muster the courage to shower lmao. after zuhur was the meet up time but i slept at 12. lets go. come on. out. suddenly i have to build up a will to socialize just like with running. and i managed. left the house at 13:30-ish. went to ali kopi dm and got thai tea. slowly warming up my social battery. and then things felt a bit better. and we moved to flavola (got the somay). and talked we did, until suddenly its near isya. and then i had to go back bcs mom was being restrictive as usual. if it werent for that i would stay longer w atikah and pupuy. felt energized afterwards, read more of here you are and slept at 00:00 ish

14 - woke up, played some keyboard. im not prepared for another monday. Mangago is down. Unboxed my knockoff airpods that arrived couple of days ago. The sound and function was ok. Showered near the end of zuhur.

15 - magang as usual. Got out of my gloomy (felt a bit better) after going out. Lunch was ayam pedas lawson with added fried chicken. Also bought arabica gayo. Went back home before maghrib. Why must i be here while my dad talk about whatever before sholat maghrib. I hate it here. Ara and redita stayed over bcs theyre 'supposedly' going to rsut to pick up samples. Except it was cancelled and in the morning they went back to rscm,,,

16 - its only morning but i yapped abt worrying in our future to poor ekal who just sat there lmaoo. I told him how i realized im easily bored. Tried K-Chop for lunch, bought kimchi bokkeumbap, pajeon and kimchi jeon. The fried rice tasted like fried rice but with a hint of kimchi. Kimchi jeon was good and refreshing. the pajeon was basically egg with added ingredients. But it did make me feel full. Suddenly felt like singing life goes on with the keyboard.

17 - tried fitfut for lunch. Got mushroom chicken steak and katsu wrap. Their katsu is,,, simply put, tasteless. Like those HEALTHY healthy foods. The (small) chicken steak was ok. The mushroom sauce tasted good. Zoom call with dr dafsah at 12 am. More work i guess,,,

18 - fasted today. Still got 1 debt to go. Sahur was indomie, banana and protein shake. Did not feel hungry in magang but i kinda felt lightheaded. And then i cant take it anymore and went home at 2 pm. Arrived after ashar. Theres PLENTY of time to do stuff, right? Nope. I just laid in bed playing my phone til maghrib (iftar was chicken noodle) and continued until i fell asleep. My dream was absurd lmaoooo

19 - had custom salad hut for lunch. felt suuuper fult. bought pop cookies since it was the last day of grabfood’s 50% promo. was picked up after isya by mom. we talked with the resident who’s doing his thesis stuff and it turns out he’s from the same shs as mahmuda lmao. he bought kopsus and donat kampung for us, how kinddd :”) i said “mantap ni kakak kelasnya mahmud” and he said “kamu kan adek kelas saya juga”. kind seniors. i hope they have great careers and be successful and im learning to be kind from kind people. i dont know, im just easily touched by simple gestures lmaoo. first time trying tuku’s coffee. it’s smooth and creamy (like the milk and coffee unites (?)) and it doesnt separate when you leave it. its milky but has a strong coffee taste. Slept at 11 pm-ish, playing my phone

20 - lazed. saw long covid webinar. ate mom’s salmon mentai, pop cookies matcha cream cheese and dark chocolate. the dark chocolate one, especially a bit cold, taste soooo good wtf. concentrated sugar and chocolate at its finest. played some keyboard. saw youtube vids about the genius jacob collier. lent my byu phone number so ara could use it to catfish in coffee and bagel lol. bought sbux green tea and caramel macchiato 1 L for 100k + delivery fee and my bro said it tasted good

21 - tried pop cookies red velvet this time. Its super sweet yall and i thought martabak orins was the epitome of d40 bolus. did pamela reif 10 mins calorie burn that wont kill you. except i got doms WITHIN the day of work out. also attempted sun salutation and my leg is so damn stiff. did some work on sunday!!! wow!!!! (after wasting 2 weekends) finished skimming air gear lol. it still made me feel glorious. 

22 - volunteered to help vaccination at rptra planet senen w akis els yud kind. Finished at about 13:30. We got chicken noodle, nasi padang and mcd lol. Went to senen bus station. Prayed there. Called mahmud and turns out theres no new medical record so i went straight home. Ate the mcd and lazed in bed

23 - vaccine volunteer again, this time in sd 01 kramat, w regen nagit red adita. Observation table again. Except its twice the amount of pt compared to yesterday. Nebeng redita to gang IX and walked to nessa's place. Went to GI and we watched violet evergarden (tif gen ness kris indah ara). The ac in the screenX cgv theater wasnt even on. Picked up by mom at 20:30 ish so i hurried down. The movie was hilarious w indah's commentary

24 - sooo sleepy and lazy but finally went to harkit. Waiting for pak oji to get medicak records, i shopped at sociolla lol. Bought eyebrow pencil, eyeshadow palette, blush since i dont have those (i only have cheap 3 color mizzu eyeshadow). Did some work. Met kiki in RM. "planned" to do the rest of magang work at home and arrivd back at 3-ish pm but we all know thats a lie. Lazed. Maghrib. Bought sbux 1L to have some caffeine through the green tea. Sinau airway class by dr zeta (focused thanks to the caffeine). Had some "awake time" left and did not feel sleepy til 10:30ish pm but i had to sleep since i got 1 more fasting to go 2mrw. No progress on magang work aaaaa

25 - had indomie, boiled egg, banana and protein powder for sahur. magang. emir took a while to pick me up even though i already told him the time im arriving and i ended up ordering grab lmao and he showed up right before the grab. liqo w kak kartika and mahmud while sipping caramel macchiato. did some translation (job by dr triya)

26 - picked up pld medal, gown and buavita (lol) at salemba and then went to harkit. met kiki again. lunch was k-chop. quite good and fulfilling. waiting for mom to pick me up before maghrib. Was lazying around at night and it turns out clara came w kefas. She called but dumb ass me had my phone on silent. She surprised me and came all the wayyy with a little tayo cake and a line friends pillow. I was awkward w kefas bcs im awkward w new people :):):) she went back and then i cried afterwards in my room. Fianti sent me a wish before midnight (somehow havent fell asleep) and then i close my eyes and go to the dream world

27 - had mie goreng for breakfast. fell asleep again. woke to silvi and racheel calling me and as usual my phone was not ringing. there’s racil silvi devi reza outside the door lmao. they (including atikah) surprised me with gift (a bag). i asked them to come with me to gi since im gonna eat w regen. we tried yakiniku like and the meat was juicy and yum, better then kintan. racil dkk ate marugame udon just below. wanted to get banban but it was so crowded. went back by grab. racil and atikah stayed over. talked until like 12 am. forced myself to pray isya. 

28 - talked for hours like we usually do, tried some makeup bcs i need to practice for pld lol. tarik tiga to their place bcs i needed to borrow pld clothes lol. rearranged my room and i was sweating. i should’ve drank macchiato and did some work but i cant bring myself to so i just sleep. hangovers post feeling normal are never the best feeling

29 - woke up super late. cant bring myself to go to harkit. i feel like shit. sick and tired of feeling sick and tired ((quoting jhene aiko)). mustered some will to shower. rode my on bike pretending im going to harkit except im going to mcd. got big breakfast and lemon tea. went to flavola, ordered kopsus coklat and indomie + telor. Went back home after isya. 

30 - Binge watching sean and kaycee’s vids lol it all began with their leave the door open dance :). went to harkit by TJ after the redcap was unaccessible at 09:30ish. lunch was truffle belly chicken mushroom (somehow there’s 50% disc). Took some needed data and went back home at 14:20. did (new) translation for dr Triya. finally drank homemade matcha latte after a while. 

31 - originally intended to go to flavola after zuhur, but i just cant muster the strength. did dr triya’s translation work. didnt do any ecmocard today. felt like shit. ate the tayo small cake from clara. quite good and not too heavy. gladi kotor pld today. did green screen using mukena lol. fell asleep. skipped isya and the next morning’s subuh :( basically i ended march feeling like utter shit lol