Hiya papayas!!

Been a bit since I got back from the trip. I'll make it short and sweet since I'm working on some stuff at the moment. I forgot to do this earlier cus the trip was kinda hectic.

As always, I go with my boyfriend @Rozebud. I'm glad we can go together, it's fun having him by my side. We took a bus to Toronto. It took about 14 hours? It was long and a bit uncomfortable, but it was a neat experience. I've never traveled on a bus like that before. Also it had been about 3 years since I've been on a bus in general.

We found a nice place to stay in the Oakville area. Things were cheaper around there than we expected. Our room was nice and came with a jacuzzi, which some of our friends found strange. The tub next to the bed is not weird, I swear...

On Saturday, Rozebud and I went to the park to the meetup. We were primarily looking for @crocid and @penkaru (if that is his account). I felt a bit awkward at first because there weren't many people there I recognized from the TMG meetup. I started talking to @punkape though and he was really cool! We also spotted CuckyDev there and we hung out with him throughout the day until we got to the bar.

At the park I also met @wandaboy, @cadaver, @snackers, @mikelzNG, and a few others. I drew some doodles in some sketchbooks and let others draw on my iPad. I wish I could've gotten more drawings, maybe I should bring an actual sketchbook next time. Would probably be more convenient.

I adored meeting @vhsdreamland! I didn't think I'd find a person in this community that loved virtual pets as much as I do. We talked about Webkinz primarily, and I told her that I designed one for the game in a contest almost ten years ago now. She thought it was awesome and we took a picture together. I'm really glad we met!

At the theater I had a bit to drink, I thought it would make the experience more fun! It did, apologies to those who did not enjoy my cackling laughter. It was a little much, I admit. But everyone else was laughing and having a good time, so hopefully it wasn't much of a bother. It helped me discover new cool animators here on NG!

I'm not sure how to embed videos on this, but my favorites were Mother's Waltz, Cavefolder, A Den for Sick Moths, and Cream, out of all the ones I hadn't seen previously. I'm a big Sublo and Tangy Mustard fan so of course I watched that. Same with Punch Punch Forever. I also love Gentles and Lunar Kicks, I'm glad they were shown.

Speaking of Sublo, I got to meet Aaron Long and Kevin Doan. I asked them for a pic and I seem to be very not photogenic in pictures others take of me. So I'm not gonna post my pics here, but there's a chance you'll find them elsewhere.

After the theater, we went to the bar, where I sat with @wailer, @magibauble and drypeg (not sure where his NG account is). I also invited punkape over. I mostly talked to Drypeg about anime and stuff. I had a few passing convos to @postboy and Snackers too about anime. I mostly stuck to Rozebud, since it's a bit hard warming up to people, but everyone was cool. At some point I saw @arkoirisangel and I adore her too!! She is so cool. I wish we could've hung out more.

I took shots with Wanda and a few others by the bar. It was awesome! We toasted to our Newgrounds bond and such. It feels good being a part of a community that helped shape me into what I am in a creative sense. Without this site and its many contributors, I may have never wanted to learn animation or do game dev stuff. It just took me a while to come out of my shell, to be confident in posting things. It also made me a bit of a bitch, but sometimes you gotta be :P

On Sunday, Rozebud and I hung out with Croc and Pen, and it was fun there too. We played Mario Kart, Smash, and Mario Party. I won Mario Party (don't ask me about the other two. I'm balls at Smash). it was cool seeing them in real life and I hope we can hang out again next year! Also Pen got us pizza. Pen is great.

This was a bit longer than I expected but we came home Monday morning to wrap things up. Next time I definitely wanna take a plane. But overall it was a fun experience and I'm so glad we were able to go. I hope I can see you guys again next year!! And hopefully stay a bit longer.