I arrived late. My friend VJ was kind enough to fetch me.

The first people I saw were the Armada Hardy Boys. Pola looks good with his new haircut. Chio looks so chinnori. Moli looks so briar. And Hi-Jak looks so “happy”.

They were all talking to marts , my longtime YM chatmate; and Dats, resident baldur forum trash talker. I got introduced to marts by Hi-jak for the first time since first talking to him in YM a year or so ago. I couldn’t get a glimpse of his eyes, as they were so small and located so far, far up the space above my head.

Then came my other Armada guildmates who just arrived from tournament practice, bringing with them our friends from Bozanian Beastfighter. It was quite a group. I singled out Chaze (who plays RWC Armada’s champion char) immediately but he didn’t seem to recognize me. Or he was just shy. Chaze PM’d me a few months ago while I was cooking in-game without knowing who I was. He is reputably a karir boy in Loki server, and with good reason too (he’s so cute).

Skeelo arrived and the mood instantly changed from somewhat mellow to comfortably insane! He’s always been the life of the party and this EB is definitely a memorable one because he graced us with his presence and wit. He’s talkative and laughingly sarcastic as always, but also passionate when he talked about politics in pRO and his views on playing styles for different jobclasses in the game.

Pepper and Kwissy were there an so were toto (Zhendreti) and Chukubu. Chukubu’s name is very familiar to me because I still remember being yelled at in YM when I posted a particular hot seat question without chukubu’s name on it.

All in all, the night was great. I met a lot of interesting personalities, and even got to hear the age-old statement “Ha? Akala ko lalake si Polgara!” from the party host (Voodoochills) himself. It was sooo fun hearing that~

Some got drunker than others. And I even got to practice my mothering skills during the end of the party. Woohoo, I’m such a good frantic child pacifier (*hugs self*)…. with soothing words like “ah-ah, wag ka muna tatayo, you’re not well yet, baka matumba ka”.

Seriously though, I really have great respect for CD’s Pepperhost for braving the wrath of a ‘disoriented’ guy who was way bigger than him by refusing to let him drive (by hiding the keys!) while still under the influence. He got me into the plan and was enlisted as “bantay” for the duration of the guy’s fit. Pepper told me “Wag mo sya iiwan ha, at hindi ka sasaktan nyan kasi babae ka.” Rightly enough, the ‘disoriented’ guy still acted like a gentleman even during his fit *wink wink*. Kudos, Pepperghost!

The nice memories may have been illuminated by a mellow, surreal light due to the high amount of alcohol I also consumed, but I remember the faces and the smiles, and yes, even the hugs I readily gave to my friends. Online meetings and teamwork may be great, but nothing beats the real thing.

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