15/03/25 - HTTYD concert

Oh my god I am literally having the best day ever right now!! my friend met Neil Newbon, my fave actor of all time who has played one of my all time favourite video game characters: Astarion. They mentioned me to them and I'm just rolling around kicking my feet thinking about it. Apparently the conversation went something like: "My friend Marzipanne (a pseudonym I've been using online recently) really loved your work as Astarion." and he replied "Mazipanne is a beautiful name, thank them for me!" AND IM JUST. AHHHHHH!!!! I don't know if I'll ever meet him but it feels weird knowing he knows I exist in some capacity now. I do hope I get to meet him someday. Though, with my history, I'll likely freak out so bad from excitement and go temporarily mute (which has happened before when meeting people as a kid I considered important or "celebrities"). I just get so overwhelmed talking becomes impossible. But, maybe by then I'll have a service dog to help me out! 

My mom and I have been working to get me one for some time now, though it's been hard with demand for them being so high. However, I was recently officially diagnosed with CPTSD, a dissociative disorder, and some other shit that doesn't really matter as much LOL, so I think I'll have a bit of an easier time getting the dog given how dire the diagnoses are as opposed to "just" autism (and, quite frankly, I really do need some sort of service animal to function alone in public). My ultimate wish is for it to be a doberman for the added benefit of safety and generally loyalty (I'm also just a huge fan of the breed). Some other autistic people with service dogs swear by dobermans as a service breed which is awesome, honestly. It's unfortunate that my psychiatrist and therapist are both a little ignorant when it comes to obtaining a service animal. Just because if they were savvy with it, it would really streamline the whole process. But, regardless, I will get that dog. My mom is pretty determined, not to say I'm not, but she really wants me to have independence. With all my "issues" it's really, really difficult to function most days. My teachers have thankfully been extremely understanding about it and I've been able to achieve really high grades! The prospect of independence keeps me on my feet. I can't wait to go to university and have my own place, I can't wait to be working in a field I adore and have strived to be a part of since I was a child (dreams of being author aside, at my core I've always wanted to work with animals).  

Anyway, anyway. This day has been so good not just because of the whole celebrity thing and living vicariously through my friend, but I went to a live orchestra concert for How To Train Your Dragon with one of my close childhood friends today!!! Something that's been on my bucket list for YEARS. Apparently this is the first time that symphony has come to my city which is really remarkable. We got tickets back during I think November-ish. It was really on a whim. I had just watched my friend's concert (she plays violin) with the rest of the group, and after I mentioned how I dream of going to see a HTTYD live orchestra. My friend looked it up and discovered they were bringing it to Canada (they hadn't announced it for our city yet) and we immediately jumped on that shit. As soon as tickets dropped she called me and we booked it. Ended up only 5 rows away from the stage for, like, $118, which is crazy. HTTYD honestly has one of my favourite scores of all-fucking-time, and seeing it LIVE??? I was so emotional the whole time. Not just from the music, but seeing the movie again in a theatre experience which I haven't had since I was 7 years-old. The audience was as ecstatic as I was, in fact the girl next to me had the cutest Toothless plushie and was humming along most of the time (which, I would've too if I wasn't so self-conscious haha). It was just... incredible to experience. I'm going to be thinking about it forever. I knew Test Drive would definitely make me emotional, but Forbidden Friendship (which I'm listening to as I write this) and Romantic Flight came out swinging. My friend and I cried so much. We also got a sneaky recording of Test Drive hehe which I'm really happy to have! After the concert I got a chai latte and we went back to her apartment to debrief (the original plan was to get ice cream, but my loafers gave me blisters so walking was way too painful for that unfortunately). I really, really hope they do this for the sequel, too, I would genuinely kill for that. Donnnnn't really give a fuck about the third movie though to be frank with you LOL. 

There's also apparently an Isle Of Berk experience at Universal now??? I don't know how I'm just hearing about this, but my friend and I discussed potentially going together if/when prices go down next summer. Not sure if this is one of those times where plans don't make it out the group chat, but I hope they do, I'd really love to go with her. Even as someone who doesn't particularly enjoy theme parks. Oh and we're seeing the live action film together! I have mixed feelings about it, because on one hand the whole concept feels extremely disrespectful to animation as a medium, and quite frankly I am just not a fan of the changes I've seen so far, but on the other hand.... monkey brain see dragon movie, monkey brain like dragon movie. In particular I don't like how Toothless's design leans more toward the ugly "marketable" third movie edition, as opposed to his former---and much more appealing---first movie design with the sleek head and spotted patterning. I wish they just would re-release the original movie in theatres LOL. I'm glad the og director at least stayed on board with the sentiment that it would be made with or without him, and he'd rather try to stay true to the original material (but then... why would he make Toothless look like thatttttt AHHHHHHH sorry I'm lowkey really peeved about that choice). Anyway. Just an awesome way to end off the break. I'm probs going to binge watch Invincible s3 tomorrow and/or SU Future. We'll see what seems most appealing.

 song of the week: Test Drive - John Powell on How To Train Your Dragon