So I climbed, I fell, and climbed again, and found the cake! And it is glorious!
Licorice Chocolate cake! 
The Cake
I found the recipe about a year ago. And canāt say it went to planā¦ But hey, itās cake!
The batter has big pieces of liquorice āboatsā in it, a whole bag!
Had to be done two separate cookings, cause the liquorice falls to the bottom it said
They were not wrong!
Cream on top has liquorice powder known as Hocke pulver in it! As well as lots of melted chocolate
Some of the candy used
First layer, with a middle layer of chocolate covered liquorice balls
The Decoration, V1
Needed more liquorice =P
Theā¦ not so glorious side XD
I donāt think I got the topping right. Way too fluid! I bet most will be on the plate (or worse!) by morningā¦ Iāll update later XD )
If the number can still be seen tomorrow Iāll be very surprised! Eh, I have the photos =P
One of my friends, who will help me eat the cake, are vegan. The cake is very much not!
So also made muffins! These turned out great!
That cream, wow so yummy!
All vegan muffing, cream and decorations
Cake edit: ok, 1 hour in the fridge did the trick! It stopped running and was very mouldable now, so managed to fix it up, and looks like it is staying!
I managed my (latest) goal; Make it within 5 years 
Iāll share my story. It doesnāt include any helpful links and such jazz, just the story of how I stumbled my way to the top.
Bio
I guess I should start with a short bio.
Iām gender fluid, any pronoun. I own a house where I live with a whole zoo of pets. I live off rent and a disability benefit due to my Autism and ADHD, and chronic fatigue because of them. I have my good days and my bad, and it definitely affects my recollection and concentration. If I push myself too hard I get a burnout, which makes my brain unable to take in anything for a while.
My WaniKani Progression Story
When I first joined, February 2017, I instantly decided I wanted lifetime access (which, at the time I had to pay in full. Worth it, and So glad I did! ), yet foolishly though I could speedrun it 
I went near max speed of 7 day levels, got to level 19 before burning out completely! When I get a burnout I can have it for months, so decided to reset once I got better (luckily only about 2-3 months later). But didnāt actually learn, so went full speed againā¦ This time I actually contracted a virus, that then sent me into burnout. I was around level 23. I thought āonce I get over this stomach bug I can continue, lets just level by doing only the kanji while we waitā. Well, I didnāt get better for months, so decided to reset again when I get better yet kept doing the kanji for fun and exposure while I wait. Most got forgotten again of cause, by not doing the vocab to help remember them. I pushed to level 42 for the heck of it and waited there till I was ready. Did another full reset, all the way back to 1.
This time I stopped doing lessons and only did reviews for about a month every 10 levels or so. Still hit another snag at level 31. Didnāt want to reset again, so instead I pushed through the reviews by not letting them fail, no matter how wrong I was. I hoped getting the pile down would be enough, (and could fail them again next turn around) But nah, the burnout lasted a bit again so decided to push to burn, and then unburn level by level instead or resetting. Well, it kinda worked, cause here we are!
I started unburing, and then had an extra good period so started leveling at the same time. I reached 42 (for real this time) while still at 0 burns 
But then the workload got too big so stayed there for nearly a year. A year of actively doing reviews at least! When my workload finally got small, and my real burns passed 50%, I slowly continued on. Spent a full year on the last stretch =P
Cause of my speed I am now at about 80% burn as I cross the finish line 
I still have most of level 59 vocab left, as I only did those unlocked at start, then did the kanji in short succession so they just got in. And all of level 60. So 183 items to go. Iāll get them the next few week, preferably within November. Of the items I have left in circulation a large portion are leeches I still need to kill, so reaching an all burn is still a long way away (and yes, I have burned some failed items still. The baseball ones, I just couldnāt bother XD And the military ranks, Iām happy if I remember it is āone of thoseā and how to read it, I donāt know who is who anyway XD )
The road Forward:
Grammar
So, my next step is to learn grammar! 
Yeah, no way I could do both at once
I already have lifetime on bunpro (I begged them to include it and was one of first to purchase 
)
I have finished Japanese From Zero 1, and have up to book 4 (of 5 currently)
Iāve started book 2 long ago. Also started Genki, and a whole bunch of other series (cause Iām a hoarder of all the things XD ) My ADHD craves new books to start, and gets a new spark every time! Justā¦ need to find the spark again for those I already have rather than keep buying new ones ^^;
My goal is to finish Japanese from Zero series,as those seem to hold my concentration the longest. Might attempt some of the others too, and hopefully one day actually finish them all (repetition and different angles, so doesnāt hurt. Iāll skip the āoh gosh this book sucks!ā ones though 
They havenāt all been good. )
Reading
I have gotten lots of reading practice in! I started out with graded readers (purchased shortly before joining WK)
As soon as I joined I made one of my first topics: Recommendations for mangas without furigana!
I bought many of the recommendations I got, havenāt read a single one yet XD
I might do them soon now, 5 years later =P
Then I found the very first book club tentatively trying to start up. I joined, read along (ignoring the fact that it had little furigana and was WAY above my level. ) I somehow read about half of it, despite only understanding a few words here and there. Purely for exposure. I didnāt look anything up, didnāt spend more time on it than it takes to just read through it, ignoring the kanji I couldnāt read for the sound even. Iām not sure how beneficial it was, but then reading the comments helped me sort of keep up with what was going on, and was fun trying to guess what was going on based on the little I did get. I enjoyed it, so wasnāt a waste. I did try the second book as well, but fell of faster this time around. Not long after we got the first splitt, and beginner book club was formed, with material I could actually keep up with! Well, with my lacking grammar knowledge and general not that high proficiency yet, I guess I still pushed through more than anything. I did the dual read, Japanese and English of same manga. I still do this, rather than look up words (I am so bad at it XD Iāll get there, when there are fewer word % that needs looking up) But wow do I notice an improvement over the years!
First manga: Bubble by bubble (Japanese then English then Japanese again)
Later: Whole page (Japanese English Japanese)
Even later: Whole Chapter, (Japanese English)
Now: Whole Chapter, (Japanese, skim the English just to see I didnāt miss something)
I still get tripped up by books, but have finished my first whole book: The Girl Who Leapt Through Time
I understood enoughā¦ Didnāt have an English to lean on though, so what I missed got me confused, so thanks to all who commented on the book club for helping! I have a tendency to read more than I comment, but wow do I love the comments!)
I have also almost finished Kiki, twice! XD
Second time I understood SO much more! So was interesting to see the improvement! Now if only I can get through the last few chapters so I can call it done! XD
My bookshelves are STOCKED with Japanese books and Mangas, I hope to get through them all eventually (or at least most, rather than the small % I have now)
Iāve finished some whole Manga series though!
Yotsuba and Chiās Sweet Home 
Being such long series I could notice the difference in understanding and reading speed from first manga to last. On a good day I can read a whole manga! (done it with Boruto, Chi and Fruits Basket)
Thanks
I donāt want to name any names, in fear of forgetting anyone. And half of you have changed your names 5 times over and I canāt keep up!
So a big thanks to the people I met early on, who made me feel welcome when I clicked the forum just to see what it was. I had no idea I would become an active member!
To all the book clubs who helped me get some reading in
To poll fam, oh poll fam is what keeps me coming back here even when in burnout (if anything Iāve been MORE active in the forums while in burnout, as I do less āoff computerā stuff)
To the kind secret Santa for the lovely gifty
To the WK team for this amazing platform (both WK and the forum!)
To the magical script masters who lets us customise everything to our hearts content!
And all other forum members Iāve met across the many fun posts
Stats Screenshots
See, knew Iād forget something!
This doesnāt show my first 6 months, where I went from 1-19, crashed and reset. Stats wasnāt saved at the time.
It is 2 am, and I am just rambling on. If you read my whole essay, thanks! If you didnāt, I understand
I might edit and add to it at a later point, Iām sure I forgot something
*got an error on firt try, hoping I donāt post twice XD
And donāt worry. Iām not going anywhere. Been here for 5 years, Iāll stay for many more! I spend more time with WK fam than my real friends most days =P
Iām not crying, y-youāre crying!
Finding a licorice cake looks amazing! Well, deserved for sure! 
Still remember when you were level 42 for such a long time. Congratulations! 
