DRAGON*CON, DAY ONE
~
Ohmigod ohmigod OHMIGOD
I really do not even know where to start talking about today, because it was so utterly amazing. I mean...just, I'm still squealing shrilly inside, and it was only the first day of con, there're two and a half more left.
First of all, let me just say that I had four goals in mind when I came to this con. They were:
☆ Get to at least 75% of the panels you decide you want to go to.
☆ Hang out with Kristin (one of our roommates from last year, who is exceedingly awesome) more outside the room--attend at least one panel with her
☆ Be in the same room as Billy Boyd; get to at least one of those LOTR panels.
☆ Buy yourself a decent sword (katana preferable)
What I did yesterday?
☆ I didn't just make it to all four panels/events I decided to go to, I made it to FIVE panels/events. (BONUS EVENT, WHOO!)
☆ That bonus event? I impulsively tagged along with Kristin to go to it, and it was AWESOME, and I can check off point numbah two. :] (Though hanging out with her even more would still be cool.)
☆ I was in the same room with Billy Boyd twice.
THREE OF FOUR GOALS DOWN, HELL YEAH. X'D
The goals are now slightly modified, in that I now want to attempt to get to ALL the panels Billy will be at (there's one today and one tomorrow--I can do that, right...?) and more hanging out with Kristin would be good. Still haven't been to the dealer's room at all, but Thellie and I have a trip penciled in later today. :] I actually didn't cosplay at ALL yesterday--for some reason, I just wasn't feeling it. Dunno why, guess I just felt like being comfortable and Not Stared At yesterday. I *do* know that, when I get back, I'm gonna go ahead and buy the right material for the Eowyn dress and get started RIGHT FREAKIN' NOW MAN, because I WANT that dress, and I REALLY want to be able to dress up as her next D*C. I might also go ahead and get the pattern and materials for some Jedi robes--they just look so COMFY, + another costume I wouldn't have to strap myself into and could carry around a lightsaber for? Awesome.
Anyway, the first panel I went to was an LOTR one, and BILLY WAS THERE and I got to hear that lovely, gorgeous, perfect accent of his, as was John Rhys-Davies who just has SO much character and that rich, deep, melted-dark-chocolate voice that sometimes makes a lady's heart skip a beat at unexpected times, and also Craig Parker, who...I actually couldn't match to a character at first because (not surprisingly) he looks NOTHING like Haldir really without the costume, he is SO tan and not at all...woman-ish-looking from the back, I guess? IDK ANYhoo, I got to hear Billy say "second breakfast", so my life might just be prettymuch complete now, all I need to hear him say is "It comes in pints?" and I can die a happy fangirl. Anyway, all three actors were amazing, and the last question...came from a kid who as probably about 10, and he just stuttered, and started and stopped and tried to start again with asking his question--and then he said in a quieter, oh geez I am so dumb voice, "Oh-okay, I am totally hyperventilating..." And those three guys, they invited the kid up to the front and got him up on the stage, sat him right between Billy and John, and proceeded to calm the kid down and give him Life Advice. John quoted a segment of a poem that related to the kid's name (which was Orion, which is badass) and told the kid that the key to making people like you is to be polite and when you're up on a stage or anywhere really, do your best to make other people feel comfortable. Craig chimed in with that classic "and if that doesn't work, just imagine everyone's not wearing any clothes. Of course, then...you'll probably feel uncomfortable." And John was like, have you SEEN some of the lovely young ladies here in the audience? I don't think "uncomfortable" is quite the right word! And then Billy (who'd put his arm around the kid's shoulders, awww), said, "...Oh...now I'm picturin' myself naked..." in such a way that everyone laughed. And then we were out of time! But it was all absolutely awesome.
Next, I tagged along with Kristin for a Firefly panel. I actually hadn't planned on going to a Firefly panel at all, because I couldn't find one that really fit with the other things I wanted to do, though I REALLY wanted to see Adam Baldwin because he FINALLY FINALLY FINALLY made it here this year! So I hung out with Kristin in the line for an hour and thus had an excellent time even before we got into the actual panel, because Kristin is awesome and there's just so much stuff to chat about with people you really like. :] And when we DID finally actually get into the panel, it was even better than I expected, because not ONLY was Adam Baldwin (Jayne) there, there was also Jewel Straite (Kaylee) and Sean Maher (Simon), and I just love all three of them to pieces. They were hilarious, and had Nathan Fillion on ALL their cellphones at various times (Adam was like, EVEN WHEN HE'S NOT HERE HE TAKES OVER OUR PANELS), and two different people gave them booze (one was a bottle of Firefly Sweet Tea Bourbon), so we got to see the Firefly stars double-fisting. XD So yeah, I was extremely happy I tagged along, because it was way fun.
THEN...EVEN MORE AWESOMENESS HAPPENED, because I hurried off to the next panel I'd wanted to get to, which was a "Meet With Your Favourite Star Wars Authors" type-thing, so I figured there wouldn't be a line around the corner for that and even though I was getting to be on the edge of late, I might still be able to slip in and stand in the back at least. And...I actually made it there JUST in time, settled in about five minutes before the writers arrived. (And right as I walked in the door, the MC was like, "Okay, we really need to pack in here. So if you've got an empty seat next to you, raise your hand!" And there was a guy dressed as a Tusken Raider (minus the mask at that moment) who raised his hand, and prettymuch the instant he had it all the way up, I swept into the seat, smiled at the guy, and chirped a little, "Not any more!" :D He kinda blinked at me, sorta half-bewildered, and then slowly. Lowered. His hand. In increments. lol Dunno what the deal was there, I was dressed normal and I'm not SCARY-looking but I wouldn't exactly call myself a babe either, I am just normal...so that can't've been it, right? IDK.) ANYway, on this panel was TIMOTHY ZAHN (my FAAAAAAAAAAAAAAVOURITE, EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE), MICHAEL A STACKPOLE (SECOND FAVOURITE), AARON ALLSTON (ANOTHER FAVOURITE) and KEVIN J. ANDERSON (YET ANOTHER FAVOURITE), so YEAH all four of my most admired SW writers...were sitting right there, in same not-HUGE room, all talking about writing in general and SW writing in particular.
(SPOILERS FOR THE NEWER STAR WARS BOOKS AHEAD, YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!)
One of the questions they were asked (it was a Q&A panel) was, when was it decided that Jacen Solo would fall to the Dark Side, and how did they settle on him? And Timothy Zahn was like, "He was fine when I left him at ten years old!" And Anderson chimed in and said, "He was fine when I left him at fifteen years old!" Eventually, though, they said that there was a meeting with the company and all the writers doing books for the Legacy series, and they'd decided pretty early on that someone--not anyone specific, not right from the off--should fall to the Dark Side.
...And then one of them (Stackpole I think?) was like, WELL we considered JarJar first of all... and Timothy Zahn laaaaaughed and said in a JarJar voice, "MEESA CONTROL DA GALAXY!" and everyone just DIED laughing. Kevin J. Anderson had to put his head down on the table, he was laughing so hard. THEN, making it EVEN BETTER, once the laughter had receded just a bit, Zahn said, "He could've been Anakin Skywalker's first apprentice! It could even be a musical! We could call it 'ANNIE GET YOUR GUNGUN'!" And...the whole room died again. X'D (As did Thellie when I got back to the room and told her of that. And I took it a step farther, and sang all whiny/angry-Annie-like "ANYTHING *YOU* CAN DO *I* CAN DO *BETTER!*" Then in the most evil of voices, "MEESA DO ANYTING BETTA DAN YOUSA!" And she died again. X'DDDDD)
...Aaaaand then they got back on topic, and they talked about how, in Revenge of the Sith, it was just like...a Lifetime movie sort of thing, BAM the guy falls to the Dark Side in two and a half hours. They wanted to explore that in a much deeper, more convincing way, and show a gradual fall to the Dark Side, the way it would've really happened in most cases. And they said, due to his brother's death and certain other events, they eventually realised that Jacen was the best candidate. Which was sad but still interesting, and YEAH WHAT AN AWESOME PANEL....! I sort actually REALISED IT WAS HAPPENING FOR REAL about halfway through it, and was squeeing SO hard inside, but just smiled and smiled and held it all in. Only bad thing, I DIDN'T BRING ANY OF MY BOOKS FOR THEM TO SIGN, I LEFT THEM ALL AT HOME, GEEZ I AM A MORON DX That is at the TOP of my list for next year, dammit.
NEXT I came back to the room and hung out and ate something and just relaxed until Thellie and I went to "An Evening in Bree" at 8:30, which was a LOTR panel/show thing where the band Emerald Rose plays their lovely music, tonnes of people dance, and there's a LOTR costume contest. NEXT YEAR I WILL BE IN THE CONTEST, AND I WILL DANCE. It was fun, but we left a little early because the costume contest was taking FORRRRREVVVVVVERRRRR and we had things we wanted to do before the Voltaire concert at 1:00.
THEN AT 1:00 VOLTAIRE HAPPENED AND IT WAS FUN JUST LIKE LAST YEAR, that guy really knows how to put on a show, though we were sort of crammed in up front and to one side, so my right ear is still ringing from it all. Hopefully that'll be gone by tomorrow or the next day, 'cause that crap's annoying.
ANYWAY, Sakura costume tomorrow, and 11 o'clock LOTR panel, too! So it's time for serious sleeps. :] <3333
Ohmigod ohmigod OHMIGOD
I really do not even know where to start talking about today, because it was so utterly amazing. I mean...just, I'm still squealing shrilly inside, and it was only the first day of con, there're two and a half more left.
First of all, let me just say that I had four goals in mind when I came to this con. They were:
☆ Get to at least 75% of the panels you decide you want to go to.
☆ Hang out with Kristin (one of our roommates from last year, who is exceedingly awesome) more outside the room--attend at least one panel with her
☆ Be in the same room as Billy Boyd; get to at least one of those LOTR panels.
☆ Buy yourself a decent sword (katana preferable)
What I did yesterday?
☆ I didn't just make it to all four panels/events I decided to go to, I made it to FIVE panels/events. (BONUS EVENT, WHOO!)
☆ That bonus event? I impulsively tagged along with Kristin to go to it, and it was AWESOME, and I can check off point numbah two. :] (Though hanging out with her even more would still be cool.)
☆ I was in the same room with Billy Boyd twice.
THREE OF FOUR GOALS DOWN, HELL YEAH. X'D
The goals are now slightly modified, in that I now want to attempt to get to ALL the panels Billy will be at (there's one today and one tomorrow--I can do that, right...?) and more hanging out with Kristin would be good. Still haven't been to the dealer's room at all, but Thellie and I have a trip penciled in later today. :] I actually didn't cosplay at ALL yesterday--for some reason, I just wasn't feeling it. Dunno why, guess I just felt like being comfortable and Not Stared At yesterday. I *do* know that, when I get back, I'm gonna go ahead and buy the right material for the Eowyn dress and get started RIGHT FREAKIN' NOW MAN, because I WANT that dress, and I REALLY want to be able to dress up as her next D*C. I might also go ahead and get the pattern and materials for some Jedi robes--they just look so COMFY, + another costume I wouldn't have to strap myself into and could carry around a lightsaber for? Awesome.
Anyway, the first panel I went to was an LOTR one, and BILLY WAS THERE and I got to hear that lovely, gorgeous, perfect accent of his, as was John Rhys-Davies who just has SO much character and that rich, deep, melted-dark-chocolate voice that sometimes makes a lady's heart skip a beat at unexpected times, and also Craig Parker, who...I actually couldn't match to a character at first because (not surprisingly) he looks NOTHING like Haldir really without the costume, he is SO tan and not at all...woman-ish-looking from the back, I guess? IDK ANYhoo, I got to hear Billy say "second breakfast", so my life might just be prettymuch complete now, all I need to hear him say is "It comes in pints?" and I can die a happy fangirl. Anyway, all three actors were amazing, and the last question...came from a kid who as probably about 10, and he just stuttered, and started and stopped and tried to start again with asking his question--and then he said in a quieter, oh geez I am so dumb voice, "Oh-okay, I am totally hyperventilating..." And those three guys, they invited the kid up to the front and got him up on the stage, sat him right between Billy and John, and proceeded to calm the kid down and give him Life Advice. John quoted a segment of a poem that related to the kid's name (which was Orion, which is badass) and told the kid that the key to making people like you is to be polite and when you're up on a stage or anywhere really, do your best to make other people feel comfortable. Craig chimed in with that classic "and if that doesn't work, just imagine everyone's not wearing any clothes. Of course, then...you'll probably feel uncomfortable." And John was like, have you SEEN some of the lovely young ladies here in the audience? I don't think "uncomfortable" is quite the right word! And then Billy (who'd put his arm around the kid's shoulders, awww), said, "...Oh...now I'm picturin' myself naked..." in such a way that everyone laughed. And then we were out of time! But it was all absolutely awesome.
Next, I tagged along with Kristin for a Firefly panel. I actually hadn't planned on going to a Firefly panel at all, because I couldn't find one that really fit with the other things I wanted to do, though I REALLY wanted to see Adam Baldwin because he FINALLY FINALLY FINALLY made it here this year! So I hung out with Kristin in the line for an hour and thus had an excellent time even before we got into the actual panel, because Kristin is awesome and there's just so much stuff to chat about with people you really like. :] And when we DID finally actually get into the panel, it was even better than I expected, because not ONLY was Adam Baldwin (Jayne) there, there was also Jewel Straite (Kaylee) and Sean Maher (Simon), and I just love all three of them to pieces. They were hilarious, and had Nathan Fillion on ALL their cellphones at various times (Adam was like, EVEN WHEN HE'S NOT HERE HE TAKES OVER OUR PANELS), and two different people gave them booze (one was a bottle of Firefly Sweet Tea Bourbon), so we got to see the Firefly stars double-fisting. XD So yeah, I was extremely happy I tagged along, because it was way fun.
THEN...EVEN MORE AWESOMENESS HAPPENED, because I hurried off to the next panel I'd wanted to get to, which was a "Meet With Your Favourite Star Wars Authors" type-thing, so I figured there wouldn't be a line around the corner for that and even though I was getting to be on the edge of late, I might still be able to slip in and stand in the back at least. And...I actually made it there JUST in time, settled in about five minutes before the writers arrived. (And right as I walked in the door, the MC was like, "Okay, we really need to pack in here. So if you've got an empty seat next to you, raise your hand!" And there was a guy dressed as a Tusken Raider (minus the mask at that moment) who raised his hand, and prettymuch the instant he had it all the way up, I swept into the seat, smiled at the guy, and chirped a little, "Not any more!" :D He kinda blinked at me, sorta half-bewildered, and then slowly. Lowered. His hand. In increments. lol Dunno what the deal was there, I was dressed normal and I'm not SCARY-looking but I wouldn't exactly call myself a babe either, I am just normal...so that can't've been it, right? IDK.) ANYway, on this panel was TIMOTHY ZAHN (my FAAAAAAAAAAAAAAVOURITE, EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE), MICHAEL A STACKPOLE (SECOND FAVOURITE), AARON ALLSTON (ANOTHER FAVOURITE) and KEVIN J. ANDERSON (YET ANOTHER FAVOURITE), so YEAH all four of my most admired SW writers...were sitting right there, in same not-HUGE room, all talking about writing in general and SW writing in particular.
(SPOILERS FOR THE NEWER STAR WARS BOOKS AHEAD, YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!)
One of the questions they were asked (it was a Q&A panel) was, when was it decided that Jacen Solo would fall to the Dark Side, and how did they settle on him? And Timothy Zahn was like, "He was fine when I left him at ten years old!" And Anderson chimed in and said, "He was fine when I left him at fifteen years old!" Eventually, though, they said that there was a meeting with the company and all the writers doing books for the Legacy series, and they'd decided pretty early on that someone--not anyone specific, not right from the off--should fall to the Dark Side.
...And then one of them (Stackpole I think?) was like, WELL we considered JarJar first of all... and Timothy Zahn laaaaaughed and said in a JarJar voice, "MEESA CONTROL DA GALAXY!" and everyone just DIED laughing. Kevin J. Anderson had to put his head down on the table, he was laughing so hard. THEN, making it EVEN BETTER, once the laughter had receded just a bit, Zahn said, "He could've been Anakin Skywalker's first apprentice! It could even be a musical! We could call it 'ANNIE GET YOUR GUNGUN'!" And...the whole room died again. X'D (As did Thellie when I got back to the room and told her of that. And I took it a step farther, and sang all whiny/angry-Annie-like "ANYTHING *YOU* CAN DO *I* CAN DO *BETTER!*" Then in the most evil of voices, "MEESA DO ANYTING BETTA DAN YOUSA!" And she died again. X'DDDDD)
...Aaaaand then they got back on topic, and they talked about how, in Revenge of the Sith, it was just like...a Lifetime movie sort of thing, BAM the guy falls to the Dark Side in two and a half hours. They wanted to explore that in a much deeper, more convincing way, and show a gradual fall to the Dark Side, the way it would've really happened in most cases. And they said, due to his brother's death and certain other events, they eventually realised that Jacen was the best candidate. Which was sad but still interesting, and YEAH WHAT AN AWESOME PANEL....! I sort actually REALISED IT WAS HAPPENING FOR REAL about halfway through it, and was squeeing SO hard inside, but just smiled and smiled and held it all in. Only bad thing, I DIDN'T BRING ANY OF MY BOOKS FOR THEM TO SIGN, I LEFT THEM ALL AT HOME, GEEZ I AM A MORON DX That is at the TOP of my list for next year, dammit.
NEXT I came back to the room and hung out and ate something and just relaxed until Thellie and I went to "An Evening in Bree" at 8:30, which was a LOTR panel/show thing where the band Emerald Rose plays their lovely music, tonnes of people dance, and there's a LOTR costume contest. NEXT YEAR I WILL BE IN THE CONTEST, AND I WILL DANCE. It was fun, but we left a little early because the costume contest was taking FORRRRREVVVVVVERRRRR and we had things we wanted to do before the Voltaire concert at 1:00.
THEN AT 1:00 VOLTAIRE HAPPENED AND IT WAS FUN JUST LIKE LAST YEAR, that guy really knows how to put on a show, though we were sort of crammed in up front and to one side, so my right ear is still ringing from it all. Hopefully that'll be gone by tomorrow or the next day, 'cause that crap's annoying.
ANYWAY, Sakura costume tomorrow, and 11 o'clock LOTR panel, too! So it's time for serious sleeps. :] <3333